Pioneers on land and sea; stories of the eastern states and of ocean explorers

Front matter

M W L« A iM i J f

The original of tiiis bool< is in the Cornell University Library.

There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text.

Preface

This is the first of three vohxmes of American History- Stories for use in intermediate grades. It contains the accounts of the early explorers and frontiersmen along the Atlantic coast and of the voyages of the great otfean pioneers. They deal with great events and persons in the simple setting of pioneer life.

The importance of these stories to American children in the intermediate grades is now fully seen. In the simple and interesting form of personal biography they photograph the liveliest scenes of our early history. European teachers may well envy us this copious stream of pioneer story. No European country has anything that can be safely compared with it in richness and value.

The myths and early traditions of Europe we are making good use of in our schools, but in entering upon the field of real history, the pioneer and frontier life of America abounds in the striking scenes of simple folklife in its rude beginnings. It is easy for children to lose themselves in this frontier scenery and to partake of its spirit.

VI PREFACE

These narratives are based on the most trustworthy historical documents, source materials which have been tested by our best historians, as Parkman, Fiske, Bancroft, Hart, and others. Some of the narratives are taken directly from undoubted source materials, the testimony of eye-witnesses and chief actors.

In connection with the story of Champlain the teacher should read Parkman's " Pioneers of France in the New World," from which some quotations are made.

In working up the stories of Columbus, Magellan, and Cortes, John Fiske's two volumes on " The Discovery of America" have been freely consulted and occasionally quoted. Fiske's " Dutch and Quaker Settlements " and " Old Virginia and Her Neighbors " have also been used in the stories of Hudson and John Smith.

If the use of these stories in schools should lead teachers and children to a closer acquaintance with the full works of Parkman and Fiske it would be a very fortunate result.

Scudder's " Life of Washington," from which much of the story of Washington's early life is derived, is probably the best biography of him for grammar grades, and should become familiar to all the children in our schools ; likewise, the Fiske-Irving "Life of Washington."

The chronology of history stories in the pioneer period is of little consequence to the children. A first-class

PREFACE Vll

story, full and rich in local color, personal and concrete in its whole setting, is desired. Two or three years later, in the grammar grades, these stories will find their proper place and connections in a chronological outline.

]Maps are required at every step in these stories. They are necessary not only to a proper understanding of the stories, but they illuminate the whole early geography of North America and contribute much interest to the parallel lessons in American geography in these grades.

For children of the eastern states these stories, which are nearest home, are the best beginnings of history. The two following volumes, " Pioneers of the Mississippi Valley " and " Pioneers of the Rocky Mountains and the West " are the natural continuation of the series.

The '• Special Method in History " in Chapter III discusses in full the value of these stories and the method of handling them in classes.

De KALB, iLLDfOIS,

October 2, 1903.

Contents

OHAPTEB PAGE

I. Champlain in New France 1

n. Henry Hudson 35

Chapter I I

CHAMPLAISr IN NEW FRANCE i

Samuel de Champlain, who has been called the Father of New France, was a French soldier of noble family. His first voyage to New France was made in 1603, when he explored the St. Lawrence River as far as the Rapids above Montreal. He tried to pass these, known as the Rapids of St. Louis, in a skiff, but was forced to return. On the deck of his vessel the Indians made rude plans or maps of the river above, with its chain of rapids, its lakes and cataracts. Champlain turned toward home but resolved to visit this country at some future time.

The next year he came again. This time, with the vessel in which, the voyage from France was made, he explored the Bay of Fundy. After sailing around the head of the Bay of Fundy, he visited and named the St. John River and then went to Passamaquoddy Bay. Champlain made maps of all the coast and harbors. His

1 Authority : Parkman's " Pioneers of France in the New World."

friend De Monts, to whom the king of France had given all the land from Montreal to the Delaware, wanted to make a settlement farther south than the St. Lawrence, to avoid the extreme cold of the winters. At the mouth of the St. Croix River an island was selected as a site for the new colony. It commanded the river and was well fitted for defence, but the soil was poor, the place was not so far south as they thought, and not well located for the trade in furs which they expected to carry on.

Everybody went to work, and before winter began the cedars which covered the island were cut away and many houses were built. There were several dwellings, storehouses, a magazine, workshops, and a barrack for the Swiss soldiers that had accompanied the expedition. The whole was enclosed with a palisade.

When the work of preparing for winter was done, part of the company returned to France. Seventy-nine men remained behind, among them Champlain, De Monts, and several other gentlemen of noble birth. The winter was a bitter one.

While De Monts was getting things settled upon the island, on the second of September he sent Champlain on an exploring trip along the coast of Norumbegue (Maine). With a bark of seventeen or eighteen tons, two Indian guides, and a dozen men, Champlain was in high spirits as he set oiit. They found the coast full of islands,

CHAMPLAIN IN NEW JPBANCE bold, rocky, and irregular, and coming in sight of a large island rising into barren summits, he called it Mount Desert. Its cool groves and fresh sea air have made it in recent years a great resort for summer tourists. Winding in and out among the islands, they entered the mouth of the Penobscot River. Up this stream they passed till they came to the fall just above the present city of Bangor, which stopped their further passage. The banks and hillsides were clothed with tall pines and stout oak trees. Along the river were a few deserted wigwams, but on the shores of Penobscot Bay there were many Indians, who proved friendly, entering into trade with beaver skins.

The weather now proved bad and as provisions were low, the party returned to the mouth of the St. Croix.

Great cakes of ice swept by their island with the ebbing and flowing tide, often shuttuig ofE their supplies of wood and water. Icy winds swept through their rude houses and they shivered round their ill-kept fires, for wood from the mainland was very difficult to get. Soon scurvy broke out and before spring thirty-five died and many more were left weak and exhausted. Champlain did all he could to help and encourage the discontented survivors and was still unwilling to give up his plans for discovery and settlement.

After the severe winter was past and fresh supplies from France had arrived, Champlain and De Monts set out for a still further examination of the coast of Maine and New England. With twenty sailors, two Indians, and some gentlemen, they started the 18th of June to search for a better location for a settlement. Passing by Mount Desert and the mouth of the Penobscot, they reached the entrance to the Kennebec. They sailed along both sides of the broad bay, meeting some Indians, but finding poor soil and no good point for a settlement. They anchored in sight of Old Orchard Beach, now become famous as a watering-place. Crossing the bar with the rising tide, they anchored at Saco, near the mouth of the river, where the natives came down to see them with strong signs of rejoicing. Fields of waving corn, beans, pumpkins, and squashes in bloom, and heavily laden grapevines along the river, were seen. The Indians were graceful and agile, living mostly upon vegetables and corn, and upon fish which were caught by them in abundance at the mouth of the river.

After two days spent at Saco, they passed on and saw the islands at Cape Porpoise covered with wild currants upon which great flocks of wild pigeons were feasting. Many of these birds were taken, and these gave the Frenchmen a much-relished addition to their fare.

Casting anchor on the east side of Cape Ann, a few Indians were seen and Champlain went on shore. After winning the confidence of the natives by gifts, Cham-

CHAMPLAIX IN XEW FRANCE 5

plain took a piece of drawing-paper and crayon and outlined the coast as far as they could see and suggested to the Indians that they complete the sketch beyond. Seizing the crayon, one of the Indians continued to draw on the same paper the map of Massachusetts Bay. The Indians also indicated, by setting pebbles, that the bay was occupied by six tribes. This was probably the first drawing lesson that was ever given in an outdoor school in Massachusetts. July 16 the Frenchmen sailed into Boston harbor and were delighted with the scenery presented by the islands and shores, Avaving with corn-fields or shaded by tall forests. The clumsy log canoe of the Indians was here seen for the first time. The sail-boat of the explorers was perhaps the first that ever entered Massachusetts Bay. The shores were soon lined with many natives watching curiously this white-winged vessel, moving quietly along without oars. Jumping into their small canoes, they followed the departing Frenchmen a short distance.

Passing on down the shore, the explorers were at length driven into a small harbor to await a more favorable breeze. The French noticed that the Indians had just been fishing for cod, which they caught with hook and line much as in our day, a piece of barbed bone fastened to a stick serving as a hook, and the line being made of a grassy fibre growing in this region. Champlain went on shore and made a sketch of the harbor, by which we are able to tell that it is the harbor of Plymouth, where the Pilgrims landed fifteen years later.

After spending a day at Plymouth the Frenchmen passed in a circle around the bay till they reached the white sands of Cape Cod, which they named Cape Blanc. But it had been visited before by Gosnold, who named it Cape Cod. Sailing down outside of Cape Cod, they reached and passed into Nauset harbor, where were many Indian huts. Entering this large bay July 22, they found many cone-shaped wigwams covered with thatch, with an opening for smoke. In the cultivated fields were beans, corn, pumpkins, radishes, and tobacco, and the woods contained hickory, oak, and cedar. The Indians were friendly. The weather was chilly and a cold east wind kept them four days in the harbor.

At' this place they had the first hostile meeting with Indians. Some white men had gone ashore with brass kettles for fresh water. The Indians were very desirous of securing these. As one of the men stooped down to fill the kettle at a spring, an Indian seized it and started off. This led to a struggle and the Indian arrows flew thick, striking the white man and soon killing him. The Indians made off with the kettle into the woods.

Soon the other Indians came forward to explain that they had no share in this matter and Champlain had to

CHAMPLAIN IN NEW FKANCB 7

accept their statement ratjbier than to run the risk of inflicting punishment upon the innocent.

The voyagers had been gone five weeks and it was time to turn back. On their return trip they stopped at Saco and at the mouth of the Kennebec. At the latter point they met an Indian sachem who told them that a vessel had stopped at this place and, while pretending friendship, had seized five Indians and had killed or carried them off. From the description Champlain concluded that it was an English ship. From other sources we know that Captain George Weymouth, commanding an English vessel, explored this coast in June, 1605, and carried off five Indians as captives. He was seeking for a suitable location for a colony to be sent out by an Enghsh company. From this time on for many years the French and English were rivals in making settlements and gaining possession of the country along the shores of New England and Canada.

As the explorers had found no place to the south on this journey where they wished to make a settlement, De Monts decided to move to Port Royal — now Annapolis — where they had noted the beautiful inlet the year before. Everything that could be moved was put on board the vessels, carried across the Bay of Fundy, and landed at the chosen spot. Everybody was set to work and soon the buildings of the new colony took the place of the dense forest that had been cut down. "When all was done, De Monts went to France, but Champlain decided

to spend another winter with the colony.

This winter was not so severe as the one at St.

Croix but the colonists were glad to welcome the ship which brought more people and supplies late

The Mouth of the St. Lawrence j-q -f^^g followin''' Summer.

Soon after the return of this vessel to France, Champlain set out on another voyage of discovery. He went as far south as the southern coast of Massachusetts but then had to return, as the winter was close at hand.

During his absence the men at the fort had been busy with their crops, raising a good supply of maize, as well as some barley, wheat, and rye. These, with the Supplies brought from France, provided a good store of food for the winter. Champlain devised a plan whereby their table might always be supplied. The chief men in the colony numbered fifteen. Champlain formed them into an order of Knighthood which he called the " Order of Good Times," and each member was to be, in turn, Grand Master for a day. The Grand Master was not only to see to the furnishing of food but was to super-

CHAMPLAIN IN NEW PEANCE 9

intend the cooking and serving. Each wished to excel the others, so for several days before his turn each would spend his time hunting and fishing, or bartering with the Indians for food. The colonists had venison, bear and grouse, ducks, .geese, and plover, as well as all kinds of fish, to eat with their bread and dried beans.

When the hour for dinner was struck — they dined at noon — " the Grand Master entered the hall, a napkin on his shoulder, his staff of office in his hand, and the collar of the Order about his neck." The brotherhood followed, each bearing a dish. The invited guests were Indian chiefs, seated at the table with the French, who enjoyed the companionship of the Indians. Those of humbler degree — warriors, squaws, and children — sat on the floor, eagerly awaiting their share of biscuit or bread, a novel and much-coveted luxury. These Indians, always treated kindly, became very fond of the French, who often followed them on their great hunts.

In the evening, when the big fires roared and the sparks flew up the wide chimneys, the French and their Indian friends drew round the blaze and the Grand Master gave up his staff and collar to his successor. With such sports the French passed away the long winter. With good fare and entertainment there Avas but little sickness and only four deaths occurred.

In 1607 the French king took away De Monts' charter.

and the colony was deserted. The French settlers had been so kind to the Indians that, when the last boatload left Port Royal, the shore resounded with lamentations and nothing could console the afflicted savages but promises of a speedy return.

In 1608 two ships, one commanded by Champlain, the other by Pontgrave, again crossed the ocean to New France. Pontgrav^ was to trade with the Indians and bring back the cargo of furs which, it was hoped, would meet the expenses of the voyage. Champlain left Pontgrav6 at Port Royal to trade with the Indians and sailed up the St. Lawrence as far as Quebec. Here a small stream, the St. Charles, enters the St. Lawrence and in the angle between them rises a promontory, on two sides a natural fortress. In a few weeks a pile of wooden buildings rose on the brink of the St. Lawrence. "A strong wooden wall, surmounted by a gallery loop-holed for musketry, enclosed three buildings containing quarters for Champlain and his men, together with a courtyard, from one side of which rose a tall dove-cot, like a belfry. A moat surrounded the whole, and two or three small cannon were planted on platforms toward the river."

After spending a winter in Quebec, Champlain decided to join a war party of Indians. A young Ottawa chief had begged him to join his tribe against the Iroquois. The Iroquois lived in fortified villages in what is now the

QULF

Bp' I.ongttude West from Greenwich

Map showing Distribution of Indian Tribes

12 PIOKEERS 03Sr LAND AND SEA

state of New York and were thouglit the most fierce of the Indian tribes of the East. The Algonquins, with allied tribes, lived along the St. Lawrence and in the coiintry north of the river and the Great Lakes. Their allies, the Hurons, belonged to the Iroquois family but had refused to join the other tribes when the latter united against the Algonquins. As the French had shown great friendship for the Algonquins near their colonies, the Iroquois were naturally hostile toward the French. By joining the Hurons and the Algonquins, Champlain thought he would be able to make discoveries without much danger to himself.

It was past the middle of June when the tribes from the north reached Quebec. Many of them had never seen a white man and they looked at the steel-clad strangers with speechless wonder. Eleven Frenchmen joined Champlain. They were armed with short guns called the arquebuse. They started up the river in a small sail-boat, " while around them the river was alive with canoes, and hundreds of naked arms plied the paddle with a steady measured sweep." They went up the river to the mouth of the Eichelieu. Here they camped for two days, hunted, fished, and took their ease. The Indians quarrelled and three-fourths of their number seceded and paddled toward their homes. The rest of the party went on up the stream. Champlain soon outsailed the canoes and thought he would push on without them, but was stopped by rapids in the river. The Indians had told him that his boat could sail the whole distance to the land they wished to reach but he found that he could not get the boat over the rapids, and sent it, with the greater part of the men, back to Quebec. Only two white men went on with him.

" The warriors lifted their canoes from the water, and in long procession through the forest, under the flickering sun and shade, bore them on their shoulders around the rapids to the smooth stream above. Here the chiefs made a muster of their forces, counting twenty-four canoes and sixty warrior^. They advanced once more up the river, by marsh, meadow, forest, and scattered islands, then full of game, for it was an uninhabited land, the war-path and battle-ground of hostile tribes." Some were in front as a vanguard ; others formed the main body ; while an equal number were in the forests on the flanks and rear, htmting food for all. They carried with them parched maize ground into meal, but kept it for use while near the enemy, when hunting would become impossible.

" Late in the day they landed and drew up their canoes, ranging them closely side by side. Some stripped sheets of bark to cover their camp-sheds ; others gathered wood ; others felled trees for a barricade. They seem to have had steel axes which they had gotten from the

French, for in less than two hours they had a strong defensive work, open on the river side, and large enough to enclose all their huts and sheds. Some of their number were sent forward as scouts, and returning, said they saw no signs of the enemy." At night they placed no guard but all lay down to sleep, the usual custom of the lazy warriors of the forest.

" The next morning the canoes again advanced, the river widening as they went. Great islands were seen, and soon Champlain entered the lake which now bears his name. Passing on, he saw on the left the forest ridges of the Green Mountains, and on the right rose the Adirondacks. These the Iroquois made their huntinggrounds ; and beyond, in the valleys of the Mohawk, the Onondaga, and the Genesee stretched the long line of their palisaded towns.

" They were so near the home of the enemy that they now moved only in the night. One morning in July, after paddling all night, they hid as usual in the forest. That night Champlain dreamed that he saw Iroquois drowning in the lake. Now he had been asked daily by his allies for his dreams, for the Indians had great faith in them, but to this moment his slumbers had been unbroken and he had had nothing to tell. This dream filled the crowd with joy, and at nightfall they went on their way, happy with thoughts of victory.

CHAMPLAIN IN NEW FKANCE 15

"It was ten o'clock in the evening when, near the present site of Ticonderoga, they saw dark objects in motion on the lake before them. These were the Iroquois canoes-, heavier and slower than theirs, for they were made of oak bark. Each party saw the other, and the mingled war-cries pealed over the darkened water. The Iroquois landed and began to barricade themselves. Champlain could see them in the woods, working like beavers, hacking down trees with iron axes taken from Canadian tribes in war, and with stone hatchets of their own making. The allies remained on the lake, a bowshot from the hostile barricade, their canoes made fast together by poles lashed across. All night they danced with as much vigor as the frailty of their canoes would permit. It was agreed on both sides that the fight should not begin before daybreak, but meanwhile an exchange of abuse, threats, and boasting gave increasing exercise to the lungs and fancy of the combatants, — ' much,' says Champlain, ' like the besiegers and besieged in a beleaguered town.' "

Early in the morning he and his two followers put on the light armor of the time. Champlain wore the doublet and long hose then in fashion. " Over the doublet he buckled on a breastplate and backpiece, while his thighs were covered by steel and his head by a plumed casque." Across his shoulder hung the strap of his ammunition box ; at his side was his sword and in his hand his gun, which he had loaded witk four balls. Each of the Frenchmen was in a separate canoe, and as it grew light, they kept themselves hidden, either by lying at the bottom of their boats, or by covering themselves with an Indian robe. The canoes came near the shore and all landed at some distance from the Iroquois, whom they could see filing out of their barricade, some two hundred in number of the boldest and fiercest warriors of North America. Some carried shields of wood and hide and were covered with a kind of armor made of tough twigs fastened together with a vegetable fibre supposed by Champlain to be cotton. The chiefs wore tall plumes on their heads. " The allies, growing anxious, called with loud cries for Champlain, and opened their ranks that he might pass to the front. He did so, and the Iroquois stood looking at him in silent amazement. But his gun was levelled, the report rang through the woods, a chief fell dead, and another by his side rolled among the bushes. Then there rose from the allies a yell which would have drowned a thunderclap, and the forest was full of whizzing arrows. For a moment the Iroquois stood firm and sent back their arrows lustily, but when another and another gunshot came from the thickets on their flank, they broke and fled in terror. Swifter than hounds, the allies tore 'through the bushes after them. Some of the Iroquois were killed, more were taken. They left everything, — canoes, provisions, and weapons, — in their flight."

The victors returned to the mouth of the Richelieu, reaching it in three or four days. Then the Hurons and Algonquins went to their home on the Ottawa, while Champlain, with the rest of the Indians, descended the St. Lawrence to Quebec. At parting, the northern tribes invited Champlain to visit their towns and aid them again in their wars.

That winter, 1610, Champlain returned to France but came back in the spring to join the Indians against the common foe, the Ii'oquois. The tribes near Quebec promised to show him the way to Hudson Bay and the Hurons were to take him to the Great Lakes, where rich mines of copper were to be found. The tribes were to meet at the mouth of the Richelieu. There is an island in the St. Lawrence near the mouth of this river. Here Champlain with the warriors from the neighborhood of Quebec stopped to wait for the Algonquin warriors. The Indians were busy cutting down trees and clearing the ground for a dance and feast, as they were eager to welcome their allies with befitting honors. Some Indians came speeding down the river in a canoe. As they drew near they cried out that the Algonquins were in the forest fighting a hundred Iroquois warriors, who, outnumbered, had betaken themselves to a barricade of trees.

The air was split with shrill outcries. " The Indians snatched their weapons, — shields, bows, arrows, warclubs, sword-blades made fast to poles, — and pell-mell ran headlong to their canoes, screeching to Champlain to follow."

Champlain and fom- of his men were in the canoes. They shot across the water, and, as their boats touched the shore, each warrior flung down his paddle, snatched his weapons, and ran like a greyhound into the woods. The five Frenchmen followed but could not keep up with the Indians, who were soon out of sight and hearing. The day was warm and the forest air heavy and dense. The mosquitoes, says Champlain, were " so thick that we could scarcely draw breath, and it was wonderful how cruelly they persecuted us." The ground was swampy and the Frenchmen could hardly get along with their heavy armor. At length they saw two Indians running in the distance and shouted to them that if they wished for their aid they must guide them to the enemy.

And now they could hear the shouts of the fighters and soon reached the battle-field. The barricade was made of trees piled into a circular breastwork, trunks, boughs, and matted leaves making a strong defence. The allies had attacked their enemy but had been driven back and were now waiting for the French. When the

Indians saw them, a yell arose from hundreds of throats. A fierce answer came from the band within and amid a storm of arrows from both sides the Frenchmen threw themselves into the fight. The Iroquois had not gotten over their first fear of the guns and when the Frenchmen ran up to the barricade, thrust their pieces through the crevices and shot death among the crowd within, they could not control their fright but with every report threw themselves flat on the earth. The allies, covered by their large shields, began to drag out the trees from the barricade, while others, under Champlain's direction, gathered like a dark cloud at the edge of the forest, ready to close the affair with a final rush. Some French traders, hearing the noise, joined in the attack. Cham plain gave the signal ; the crowd ran to the barricade, dragged down the boughs or climbed over them, and bore themselves " so well and manfully " that they soon forced an entrance. Some of the Iroquois were cut down as they stood; some climbed the barricade and were killed by the fierce crowd without ; some were drowned in the river ; while fifteen, the only ones left, were taken prisoners.

On the next day a large band of Hurons arrived, much vexed that they had come too late. Hundreds of warriors were now assembled and a heavy blow had been struck at the enemy, but none thought of following up their success. Pleased with their unexpected good fortune, they danced and sang ; then loaded up their canoes and started for their homes. Champlain had fought their battles and might now claim the escort they had promised to the Great Lakes and to the country to the north, but his colony needed supplies and he returned to France.