The discovery of the Great West

Front matter

FRANCE AND ENGLAND IN NORTH AMERICA. A SERIES OF HISTORICAL NARRATIVES. BY FRANCIS PARKMAN, AUTHOR OF "HISTORY OF THE CONSPIRACY OF PONTIAC," " PRAIRIE AND ROCKY MOUNTAIN LIFE," ETC. PART THIRD. BOSTON: LITTLE, BROWN, AND COMPANY. 1869. Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1869, by Francis Parkman, In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the District of Massachusetts. CAMBRIDGE: PRESS OF JOHN WILSilN AND SON. THE DISCOVERY OF THE GREAT WEST. BT FRANCIS PARKMAN, AUTHOR OF "PIONEERS OF FRANCE IN THE NEW WORLD," AND "THE JESUITS IN NORTH AMERICA." BOSTON: LITTLE, BROWN, AND COMPANY. 1869. Entered according to Act os Congress, in the year 1869, by Francis Parkman, In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the District of Massachusetts. TO THE CLASS OF 1844, HARVARD COLLEGE, THIS BOOK IS CORDIALLY DEDICATED BY ONE OF THEIR NUMBER.

Preface

. The discovery of the " Great West," or the valleys of the Mississippi and the Lakes, is a por tion of onr history hitherto very obscure. Those magnificent regions were revealed to the world through a series of daring enterprises, of which the motives and even the incidents have been but partially and superficially known. The chief actor in them wrote much, but printed nothing ; and the published writings of his associates stand wofully in need of interpretation from the un published documents which exist, but which have not heretofore been used as material for history. This volume attempts to supply the defect. Of the large amount of wholly new material employed in it, by far the greater part is drawn from the various public archives of France, and the rest from private sources. The discovery of many of

PREFACE.

. these documents is due to the indefatigable re search of M. Pierre Margry, assistant custodian of the Archives of the Marine and Colonies at Paris, whose labors as an investigator of the maritime and colonial history of France can be appreciated only by those who have seen their results. In the de partment of American colonial history, these results have been invaluable ; for, besides several private collections made by him, he rendered important service in the collection of the French portion of the Brodhead documents, selected and arranged the two great series of colonial papers ordered by the Canadian government, and prepared, with vast labor, analytical indexes of these and of supple mentary documents in the French archives, as well as a copious index of the mass of papers relating to Louisiana.

It is to be hoped that the valuable publications on the maritime history of France which have appeared from his pen are an earnest of more extended contributions in future-. The late President Sparks, some time after the publication of his life of La Salle, caused a collection to be made of documents relating to that explorer, with the intentio.11 of incorporating them in a future edition. This intention was never carried into effect, and the documents were never used. With the liberality which always distinguished

PREFACE.

. IX him, he placed them at my disposal, and this privi lege has been kindly continued by Mrs. Sparks. Abbe Faillon, the learned author of "La Colonie Franchise en Canada," has sent me copies of vari ous documents found by him, including family papers of La Salle. Among others who in various ways have aided my inquiries, are Dr. John Paul, of Ottawa, 111. ; Count Adolphe de Circourt and M. Jules Marcou, of Paris ; M. A. Gerin Lajoie, Assistant Librarian of the Canadian Parliament; M. J. M. Le Moine, of Quebec ; General Dix, Minister of the United States at the Court of France ; O. H. Marshall, of Buffalo ; J. G. Shea, of New York ; Buckingham Smith, of St. Augus tine ; and Colonel Thomas Aspinwall, of Boston. The map contained in the book is a portion of the great manuscript map of Franquelin, of which an account will be found in the Appendix.

The next volume of the series will be devoted to the efforts of Monarchy and Feudalism under Louis XIV. to establish a permanent power on this continent, and to the stormy career of Louis de Buade, Count of Frontenac. Boston, 16 September, 1869. Page 1 CONTENTS. Introduction xix

Chapter I

1643-1669. CAVELIER DE LA SALLE. The Youth of La Salle. — His Connection with the Jesuits He goes to Canada. — His Character. — His Schemes. — His Seigniory at La Chine. — His Expedition in Search of a Western Passage to India. . CHAPTER H. 1669-1671. LA SALLE AND THE SULPITIANS. The French in Western New York. — Louis Joliet. — -The Sulpitians on Lake Erie At Detroit. — At Saut Ste. Marie. — The Mystery of La Salle. — He discovers the Ohio. — He descends the Illinois. — Did he reach the Mississippi ? 12 CHAPTER ni. 1670-1672. THE JESUITS ON THE LAKES. The Old Missions and the New. — A Change of Spirit. — Lake Superior and the Copper Mines. — Ste. Marie. — La Pointe. — Michillimackinac. — Jesuits on Lake Michigan. — AUouez and Dablon. — The Jesuit Fur-Trade 26 CONTENTS. Page 73

CHAPTER IV.

1667-1672. FRANCE TAKES POSSESSION OF THE WEST. Talon. — St. Lusson. — Perrot. — The Ceremony at Saut Ste. Marie. — The Speech of Allouez. — Count Frontenac 37

CHAPTER V.

1672-1675. THE DISCOVERY OF THE MISSISSIPPI. Joliet sent to find the Mississippi. — Jacques Marquette. — Departure. — Green Bay. — The Wisconsin. — The Mississippi. — Indians. — Manitous. — The Arkansas. — The Illinois. — Joliet's Misfortune. — Marquette at Chicago. — His Illness. — His Death 48

CHAPTER VI.

1673-1678. LA SALLE AND FRONTENAC. Objects of La Salle. — His Difficulties. — Official Corruption in Canada. — The Governor of Montreal. — Projects of Frontenac. — Cataraqui. — Frontenac on Lake Ontario. — Fort Frontenac. — Success of La Salle . CHAPTER VH. 1674-1678. LA SALLE AND THE JESUITS. The Abb£ Fe'nelon. — He attacks the Governor. — The Enemies of La Salle. —Aims of the Jesuits. — Their Hostility to La Salle .... 92

CHAPTER VIII.

1678. PARTY STRIFE. La Salle and his Reporter. — Jesuit Ascendancy. — The Missions and the Fur-Trade. — Female Inquisitors. — Plots against La Salle. — His Brother the Priest. — Intrigues of the Jesuits. — La Salle poisoned. — He exculpates the Jesuits. — Renewed Intrigues CONTENTS. XIII Page 151

CHAPTER IX.

1677-1678. THE GRAND ENTERPRISE. La Salle at Fort Frontenac. — La Salle at Court. — His Plans approved. — Henri de Tonty. — Preparation for Departure 114

CHAPTER X.

1678-1679. LA SALLE AT NIAGARA. Father Louis Hennepin. — His Past Life; His Character. — Embarkation. — Niagara Falls. — Indian Jealousy. — La Motte and the Senecas. — A Disaster. — La Salle and his Followers 119

CHAPTER XI.

1679. THE LAUNCH OF THE "GRIFFIN." The Niagara Portage. — A Vessel on the Stocks. — Suffering and Discontent. — La Salle's Winter Journey. — The Vessel launched. — Fresh Disasters 132 CHAPTER XH. 1679. LA SALLE ON THE UPPER LAKES. The Voyage of the "Griffin." — Detroit. — A Storm. — St. Ignace of Michillimackinac. — Rivals and Enemies. — Lake Michigan. — Hardships. — A Threatened Fight. — Fort Miami. — Tonty's Misfortunes. — Forebodings 139

CHAPTER XIII.

1679-1680. LA SALLE ON THE ILLINOIS. The St. Joseph. — Adventure of La Salle. — The Prairies. — Famine. — The Great Town of the Illinois. — Indians. — Intrigues. — Difficulties. — Policy of La Salle. — Desertion. — Another Attempt to poison him . CONTENTS. Page 175

CHAPTER XIV.

1680. FORT CRfeVECŒUR. Building of the Fort. — Loss of the "Griffin." — A Bold Resolution. — Another Vessel. — Hennepin sent to the Mississippi. — Departure of La Salle 167

CHAPTER XV.

1680. HARDIHOOD OF LA SALLE. The Winter Journey. — The Deserted Town. — Starved Rock. — Lake Michigan. — The Wilderness. — Wnr Parties. — La Salle's Men give out. — 111 Tidings. — Mutiny. — Chastisement of the Mutineers . .

CHAPTER XVI.

1680. INDIAN CONQUERORS. The Enterprise renewed. — Attempt to rescue Tonty. — Buffalo. — A Frightful Discovery. — Iroquois Fury. — The Ruined Town. — A Night of Horror. — Traces of the Invaders. — No News of Tonty .... 187

CHAPTER XVII.

1680. TONTY AND TnE IROQUOIS. The Deserters. — The Iroquois War. — The Great Town of the Illinois. — The Alarm. — Onset of the Iroquois. — Peril of Tonty. — A Treacherous Truce. — Intrepidity of Tonty. — Murder of Ribourde. — War upon the Dead 200

CHAPTER XVIII.

1680. THE ADVENTURES OF HENNEPIN. Hennepin an Impostor. — His Pretended Discovery. — His Actual Discovery. — Captured by the Sioux. — The Upper Mississippi .... CONTENTS. XV Page

CHAPTER XIX.

1680, 1681. HENNEPIN AMONG THE SIOUX. Signs of Danger. — Adoption. — Hennepin and his Indian Relatives. — The Hunting-Party. — The Sioux Camp. — Falls of St. Anthony. — A Vagabond Friar. — His Adventures on the Mississippi. — Gre}'Solon Du Lhut. — Return to Civilization 239

CHAPTER XX.

1681. LA SALLE BEGINS ANEW. His Constancy. — His Plans. — His Savage Allies. — He hecomes Snow-blind. — Negotiations. — Graced Council. — La Salle's Oratory. — Meeting with Tonty. — Preparation. — Departure 260

CHAPTER XXI.

1681-1682. SUCCESS OF LA SALLE. His Followers — The Chicago Portage. — Descent of the Mississippi. — The Lost Hunter. — The Arkansas. — The Taensas. — The Xatchez. — Hostility. — The Mouth of the Mississippi. — Louis XIV. proclaimed Sovereign of the Great West 271

CHAPTER XXII.

1682-1683. ST. LOUIS OF THE ILLINOIS. Louisiana. — Illness of La Salle. — His Colony on the Illinois. — Fort St. Louis. — Recall of Frontenac. — Le Fevre de la Barre. — Critical Position of La Salle. — Hostility of the New Governor. — Triumph of the Adverse Faction. — La Salle sails for France CONTENTS. CHAPTER XXHI. 1684. a new enterprise. Page La Salle at Court. — His Proposals. — Occupation of Louisiana. — Invasion of Mexico. — Royal Favor. — Preparation. — The Naval Commander. — His Jealousy of La Salle. — Dissensions 302 CHAPTER 3XXIV. 1684-1685. LA SALLE IN TEXAS. Departure. — Quarrels with Beaujeu. — St. Domingo. — La Salle attacked with Fever. — His Desperate Condition. — The Gulf of Mexico. — A Fatal Error. — Landing. — Wreck of the "Aimable." — Indian Attack. — Treachery of Beaujeu. — Omens of Disaster 315

CHAPTER XXV.

1685-1687. ST. LOUIS OF TEXAS. The Fort. — Misery and Dejection. — Energy of La Salle. — His Journey of Exploration. — Duhaut. — Indian Massacre. — Return of La Salle. — A New Calamity. — A Desperate Resolution. — Departure for Canada. — Wreck of the " Belle " — Marriage. — Sedition. — Adventures of La Salle's Party. — The Cenis. — The Camanches. — The Only Hope. — The Last Farewell 333

CHAPTER XXVI.

1687. ASSASSINATION OF LA SALLE. His Followers. — Prairie Travelling. — A Hunter's Quarrel. — The Murder of Moranget. — The Conspiracy. — Death of La Salle. — His Character 355 CHAPTER XXVH. 1687, 1688. THE INNOCENT AND THE GUILTY. Triumph of the Murderers. — Joutel among the Cenis. — White Savages. — Insolence of Duhaut and his Accomplices. — Murder of Duhaut and CONTENTS. XVII Page Liotot. — Hiens, the Buccaneer. — Joutel and his Party. — Their Escape. — They reach the Arkansas. — Bravery and Devotion of Tonty. — The Fugitives reach the Illinois. — Unworthy Conduct of Cavelier. — He and his Companions return to France 369 CHAPTER 3SXVIII. 1688-1689. FATE OF THE TEXAN COLONY. Tonty attempts to rescue the Colonists. — His Difficulties and Hardships. — Spanish Hostility. — Expedition of Alonzo De Leon. — He reaches Fort St. Louis. — A Scene of Havoc. — Destruction of the French. — The End 394 Appendix.

I. Early unpublished Maps of the Mississippi and the Great Lakes . . . 405 n. The Eldorado of Mathieu Sagean 413 INDEX INTEODUCTION. The Spaniards discovered the Mississippi. De Soto was buried beneath its waters ; and it was down its muddy current that his followers fled from the Eldorado of their dreams, transformed to a dismal wilderness of misery and death. The discovery was never used, and was well nigh forgotten. On early Spanish maps, the Mississippi is often indistinguishable from other affluents of the Gulf. A century passed after De Soto's journeyings in the South, before a French explorer reached a northern tributary of the great river. This was Jean Nicollet, interpreter at Three Rivers on the St. Lawrence. He had been some twenty years in Canada, had lived among the savage Algonquins of Allumette Island, and spent eight or nine years among the Nipissings, on the lake which bears their name.

Here he became an Indian in all his habits, but remained, nevertheless, a zealous Catholic, and returned to civi lization at last because he could not live without the sacraments. Strange stories were current among the Nipissings of a people without hair and without beards, who came from the West to trade with a tribe beyond the Great Lakes. Who could doubt that these strangers were Chinese or Japanese ? Such tales may well have

Introduction

XXII excited Nicollet's curiosity ; and when, in or before the year 1639, he was sent as an ambassador to the tribe in question, he would not have been surprised if on arriving he had found a party of mandarins among them. Possi bly it was -with a view to such a contingency that he provided himself, as a dress of ceremony, with a robe of Chinese damask embroidered with birds and flowers. The tribe to which he was sent was that of the Winneba goes, living near the head of the Green Bay of Lake Michigan. They had come to blows with the Hurons, allies of the French ; and Nicollet was charged to nego tiate a peace. When he approached the Winnebago town, he sent one of his Indian attendants to announce his coming, put on his robe of damask, and advanced to meet the expectant crowd with a pistol in each hand.

The squaws and children fled, screaming that it was a manito, or spirit, armed with thunder and lightning ; but the chiefs and warriors regaled him with so bountiful a hospitality that a hundred and twenty beavers were devoured at a single feast. Prom the Winnebagoes, he passed westward, ascended Pox River, crossed to the Wisconsin, and descended it so far that, as he reported on his return, in three days more he would have reached the sea. The truth seems to be, that he mistook the meaning of his Indian guides, and that the " great water" to which he was so near was not the sea, but the Mississippi. It has been affirmed that one Colonel Wood, of Vir ginia, reached a branch of the Mississippi as early as the year 1654, and that, about 1670, a certain Captain Bolton penetrated to the river itself.

Neither statement is improbable, but neither is sustained by sufficient evidence. Meanwhile, French Jesuits and fur-traders pushed deeper and deeper into the wilderness of the northern lakes. In 1641, Jogues and Raymbault preached the

INTRODUCTION.

. XXIII Faith to a concourse of Indians at the outlet of Lake Superior. Then came the havoc and desolation of the Iroquois war, and, for years, farther exploration was arrested. At length, in 1658, two daring traders pene trated to Lake Superior, wintered there, and brought back the tales they had heard of the ferocious Sioux and of a great western river on which they dwelt. Two years later, the aged Jesuit, M4nard, attempted to plant a mission on the southern shore of the lake ; but perished in the forest, by famine or the tomahawk. Allouez succeeded him, explored a part of Lake Superior, and heard, in his turn, of the Sioux and their great river, the " Messipi." More and more, the thoughts of the Jesuits, and not of the Jesuits alone, dwelt on this mysterious stream. Through what regions did it flow ; and whither would it lead them ; to the South Sea or the " Sea of Virginia ; " to Mexico, Japan, or China ?

The problem was soon to be solved, and the mystery revealed. The hour was come, and the man. DISCOVERT OF THE GREAT WEST THE DISCOVERT OF THE GREAT WEST. — ♦ —

CHAPTER I.

1643-1669. CAVELIER DE LA SALLE. The Youth of La Salle. — His Connection with the Jesuits. — He goes to Canada. — His Character. — His Schemes. — His Seigniory at La Chine. — His Expedition in Search of a Western Passage to India. Among the burghers of Rouen was the old and rich family of the Caveliers. Though citizens and. not nobles, some of their connections held high diplomatic posts and honorable employments at Court. They were destined to find a better claim to distinction. In 1643 was born at Rouen Robert Cavelier, better known by the designation of La Salle.1 His father Jean and his uncle Henri were 1 The following is the acte de naissance, discovered by Margry in the registres de Vetat civil, Paroisse St. Herbland, Rouen. " Le vingt-deuxieme jour de novembre 1613, a e'te' baptise' Robert Cavelier, fils de honorable homme Jean Cavelier et de Catherine Geest ; ses parrain et marraine honorables personnes Nicolas Geest et Marguerite Morice."

La Salle's name in full was Re'ne'-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de la Salle. La Salle was the name of an estate near Rouen, belonging to the Cave liers. The wealthy French burghers often distinguished the various members of their families by designations borrowed from landed estates. Thus, Francois Marie Arouet, son of an ex-notary, received the name of Voltaire, which he made famous. wealthy merchants, living more like nobles than like burghers ; and the boy received an education answering to the marked traits of intellect and character which he soon began to display. He showed an inclination for the exact sciences, and especially for the mathematics, in which he made great proficiency. At an early age, it is said, he became connected with the Jesuits ; and though doubt has been expressed of the statement, it is probably true.1 La Salle was always an earnest Catholic ; and yet, judging by the qualities which his after life evinced, he was not very liable to religious enthu siasm.

It is nevertheless clear, that the Society of Jesus may have had a powerful attraction for his youthful imagination. This great organization, so complicated yet so harmonious, a mighty machine moved from the centre by a single hand, was an image of regulated power, full of fascination for a mind like his. But if it was likely that he would be drawn into it, it was no less likely that he would soon wish to escape. To find himself not at the centre of power, but at the circumference ; not the 1 Margry, after investigations at Rouen, is satisfied of its truth. — Journal General de V Instruction Pttblique, xxxi. 571. Family papers of the Caveliers, examined by the Abbe' Faillon, and copies of some of which he has sent to me, lead to the same conclusion. We shall find several allusions hereafter to La Salle's having in his youth taught in a school, which, in his position, could only have been in connection with some religious community.

The doubts alluded to have proceeded from the failure of Father Felix Martin, S.J., to find the name of La Salle on the list of novices. If he had looked for the name ot Robert Cavelier, he would probably have found it. The companion of La Salle, Hennepin, is very explicit with regard to this connection with the Jesuits, — a point on which he had no motive for falsehood. 1666.] LA SALLE AND THE JESUITS. mover, but the moved ; the passive instrument of another's will, taught to walk in prescribed paths, to renounce his individuality and become a com ponent atom of a vast whole, — -would have been intolerable to him. Nature had shaped him for other uses than to teach a class of boys on the benches of a Jesuit school. Nor, on his part, was he likely to please his directors ; for, self-controlled and self-contained as he was, he was far too in tractable a subject to serve their turn.

A youth whose calm exterior hid an inexhaustible fund of pride ; whose inflexible purposes, nursed in secret, the confessional and the " manifestation of conscience " could hardly drag to the light ; whose strong personality would not yield to the shaping hand ; and who, by a necessity of his nature, could obey no initiative but his own, — was not after the model that Loyola had commended to his followers. La Salle left the Jesuits, parting with them, it is said, on good terms, and with a reputation of excellent acquirements and unimpeachable morals. This last is very credible. The cravings of a deep ambition, the hunger of an insatiable intellect, the intense longing for action and achievement sub dued in him all other passions ; and in his faults, the love of. pleasure had no part. He had an elder brother in Canada, the Abbe Jean Cavelier, a priest of St. Sulpice.

Apparently, it was this that shaped his destinies. His connection with the Jesuits had deprived him, under the French law, of the inheritance of his father, who had died not [1666. long before. An allowance was made to him of three or, as is elsewhere stated, four hundred livres a year, the capital of which was paid over to him, and with this pittance he sailed for Canada, to seek his fortune, in the spring of 1666. 1 Next, we find him at Montreal. In another vol ume, we have seen how an association of enthusiastic devotees had made a settlement at this place.2 Having in some measure accomplished its work, it was now dissolved ; and the corporation of priests, styled the Seminary of St. Sulpice, which had taken a prominent part in the enterprise, and, indeed, had been created with a view to it, was now the pro prietor and the feudal lord of Montreal.

It was destined to retain its seignorial rights until the abo lition of the feudal tenures of Canada in our own day, and it still holds vast possessions in the city and island. These worthy ecclesiastics, models of a dis creet and sober conservatism, were holding a post with which a band of veteran soldiers or warlike frontiersmen would have been better matched. Montreal was perhaps the most dangerous place in Canada. In time of war, which might have been called the normal condition of the colony, it was ex posed by its position to incessant inroads of the Iro quois, or Five Nations, of New York ; and no man 1 It does not appear what vows La Salle had taken. By a recent ordinance, 1666, persons entering religious orders could not take the final vows before the age of twenty-five. By the family papers above men tioned, it appears, however, that he had brought himself under the opera tion of the law, which debarred those who, having entered religious orders, afterwards withdrew, from claiming the inheritance of relatives who had died after their entrance. 2 " The Jesuits in North America," c. 1666.] 5 LA SALLE AT MONTREAL. could venture into the forests or the fields without bearing his life in his hand.

The savage confeder ates had just received a sharp chastisement at the hands of Courcelles, the governor ; and the result Avas a treaty of peace, which might at any moment be broken, but which was an inexpressible relief while it lasted. The priests of St. Sulpice were granting out their lands, on very easy terms, to settlers. They wished to extend a thin line of settlements along the front of their island, to form a sort of outpost, from which an alarm could be given on any descent of the Iro quois. La Salle was the man for such a purpose. Had the priests understood him, — which they evidently did not, for some of them suspected him of levity, the last foible with which he could be charged, — had they understood him, they would have seen in him a young man in whom the fire of youth glowed not the less ardently for the veil of reserve that covered it ; who would shrink from no danger, but would not court it in bravado ; and who would cling with an invincible tenacity of gripe to any purpose which he might espouse.

There is good reason to think that he had come to Canada wTith purposes already conceived, and that he was ready to avail himself of any stepping-stone which might help to realize them. Queylus, Superior of the Seminary, made him a generous offer ; and he accepted it. This was the gratuitous grant of a large tract of land at the place now called La Chine, above the great rapids of the same name, and eight or nine miles from Montreal. On one hand, the place was 1* [1666. greatly exposed to attack ; and on the other, it was favorably situated for the fur-trade. La Salle and his successors became its feudal proprietors, on the sole condition of delivering to the Seminary, on every change of ownership, a medal of fine silver, weighing one mark.1 He entered on the improve ment of his new domain, w7ith what means he could command, and began to grant out his land to such settlers as would join him.

Approaching the shore where the city of Montreal now stands, one would have seen a row of small compact dwellings, extending along a narrow street, parallel to the river, and then, as now, called St. Paul Street. On a hill at the right stood the wind mill of the seigneurs, built of stone, and pierced with loop-holes to serve, in time of need, as a place of defence. On the left, in an angle formed by the junction of a rivulet with the St. Lawrence, was a square bastioned fort of stone. Here lived the military governor, appointed'by the Seminary, and com manding a few soldiers of the regiment of Carignan. In front, on the line of the street, were the enclosure and buildings of the Seminary, and, nearly adjoining them, those of the Hotel-Dieu, or Hospital, both provided for defence in case of an Indian attack.

In the hospital enclosure was a small church, opening on the street, and, in the absence of any other, serving for the whole settlement.2 1 Transport de la Seigneurie de St. Sulpice, cited by Faillon. La Salle called his new domain as above. Two or three years later, it received the name of La Chine, for a reason which will appear. 3* A detailed plan of Montreal at this time is preserved in the Archives de l'Empire, and has been reproduced by Faillon. There is another, a 1667.] LA CHINE. Landing, passing the fort, and walking southward along the shore, one would soon have left the rough clearings, and entered the primeval forest. Here, mile after mile, he would have journeyed on in solitude, when the hoarse roar of the rapids, foaming in fury on his left, would have reached his listening ear; and, at length, after a walk of some three hours, he would have found the rude beginnings of a settlement.

It was where the St. Lawrence widens into the broad expanse called the Lake of St. Louis. Here, La Salle had traced out the circuit of a pali saded village, and assigned to each settler half an arpent, or about a third of an acre, within the en closure, for which he was to render to the young seigneur a yearly acknowledgment of three capons, besides six deniers — that is, half a sou — in money. To each was assigned, moreover, sixty arpents of land beyond the limits of the village, with the per petual rent of half a sou for each arpent. He also set apart a common, two hundred arpents in extent, for the use of the settlers, on condition of the payment by each of five sous a year. He reserved four hundred and twenty arpents for his own personal domain, and on this he began to clear the ground and erect buildings.

Similar to this were the be ginnings of all the Canadian seigniories formed at this troubled period.1 That La Salle came to Canada with objects disfew vears later, and still more minute, of which a sac-simile will be found in the Library of the Canadian Parliament. i The above particulars have been unearthed by the indefatigable Abbe Faillon. Some of La Salle's grants are still preserved in the ancient records of Montreal. [1668. tinctly in view, is probable from the fact that he at once began to study the Indian languages, and with such success that he is said, within two or three years, to have mastered the Iroquois and seven or eight other languages and dialects.1 From the shore of his seigniory, he could gaze westward over the broad breast of the Lake of St. Louis, bounded by the dim forests of Chateauguay and Beauharnois ; but his thoughts flew far beyond, across the wild and lonely world that stretched towards the sunset.

Like Champlain and all the early explorers, he dreamed of a passage to the South Sea, and a new road for commerce to the riches of China and Ja pan. Indians often came to his secluded settlement ; and, on one occasion, he was visited by a band of the Seneca Iroquois, not long before the scourge of the colony, but now, in virtue of the treaty, wear ing the semblance of friendship. The visitors spent the winter with him, and told him of a river called the Ohio, rising in their country, and flowing into the sea, but at such a distance that its mouth could only be reached after a journey of eight or nine months. Evidently, the Ohio and the Missis sippi are here merged into one.2 In accordance with geographical views then prevalent, he conceived that this great river must needs flow into the " Ver- 1 Papiers de Famille, MSS.