CHAPTER V

TAKING POSSESSION BY LA SALLE

The last chapter gave an account of the discovery of the Illinois country. This will describe how it was claimed and held for the French King and the Roman Catholic Church.

Eight years before Joliet and Marquette made their historic exploration, Jean Talon, Counselor and Intendant to Louis XIV, wrote to John Colbert, the King's Prime Minister, as follows:

“Canada is of such a vast extent that I know not of its limits on the north, they are so great a distance from us, and on the south there is nothing to prevent his Majesty's name and arms being carried as far as Florida, New Sweden, New Netherlands, New England; and that through the first of these countries access can be had even to Mexico. All this country is diversely watered by the Saint Lawrence and the beautiful rivers that flow into it latterly, that communicate with divers Indian nations rich in furs, especially the more northern of them. The southern nations can also be reached by way of Lake Ontario, if the portages (beyond) with which we are not yet acquainted, are not very difficult, though this may be overcome. If these southern nations do not abound in peltries as those of the north, they may have more precious commodities. And if we do not know of these last, it is because our enemies, the Iroquois, intervene between us and the countries that produce them."

Talon does not seem to consider the possibility of reaching the southern country by the way of the Illinois and Mississippi, or even by the way of the Wabash and Ohio, which afterwards were avenues of trade and travel. Perhaps he was not sufficiently sure about them. His plan seems to have been to follow up some river and make a connection by a portage with the head waters of the Ohio. Talon's scheme would probably have been better than the western ones if he could have succeeded and held it, because it would have confined the Atlantic colonies east of the mountains more easily; but it would have been more difficult to hold because the portage would have been longer and the Iroquois and the colonies were dangerously near.

Talon also wrote Colbert in 1671, two years before Marquette's expedition, as follows:

"I am no Courtier, and assert, not through a mere desire to please the King, nor without just reason that this portion of the French Monarch will become something grand." "What I discover around me causes me to foresee this, and those colonies of various nations so long settled on the seaboard already tremble with affright in view of what his Majesty has accomplished here in the interior within seven years. Measures adopted to confine them within narrow limits by taking possession, which I have caused to be effected, do not allow them to spread, without subjecting themselves at the same time to be treated as usurpers and to have war waged against them, and this truth is what, by all their acts, they seem to greatly fear. They already know that your name is spread abroad among the savages throughout all those countries and that he alone is there regarded by them, (the savages) as the arbitrator of peace and war. All detach themselves insensibly from other Europeans and excepting the Iroquois, of

whom I am not as yet assured, we may safely promise ourselves to make the others take up arms whenever we please."

The King's able minister and his intendant saw the great importance of taking possession of the valleys of the Mississippi, Illinois, and Ohio, and of hemming in and confining the Atlantic seaboard colonies to the eastern side of the Alleghany Mountains, for they belonged to rival nations in Europe and were founded on theories of government-as regards both church and state and social lifevery different from those of France, besides being aggressive competitors for the Indian trade.

La Salle was an extraordinary man. "It is easy to reckon up his defects but it is not easy to hide from sight the Roman virtues that redeemed them. Beset by a throng of enemies, he stands like a King of Israel; head and shoulders above them all. He was a tower of adamant against whose front hardships and dangers, the rage of men, of the elements, the southern sun, the northern blast, fatigue, famine and disease, delay, disappointment and hope deferred, emptied their quivers in vain."

Four years before Joliet's discovery La Salle had fitted out an expedition to explore the Ohio from its source to the sea, and had actually started on the expedition; but owing to disagreements with the ecclesiastical part of his associates, he was diverted from his purpose and returned home without even reaching the Ohio. Then for some years he led the life of a "Runner of the Woods," but he was more than a runner. He was of good birth and education and of correct habits, a promoter of great enterprises whose management he imposed on himself, a man of great ambition and tenacity, shirking no hardships, apparently incapable of discouragement and unconscious of defeat to the

last.

Joliet, after his return from his exploring expedition with Marquette, met La Salle at Fort Frontenac. Here the two celebrated explorers conferred together as to the geography of the country and its future possibilities. La Salle, enterprising and ambitious as he was, saw in its development a great opportunity and seized it with delight, energy and enthusiasm. He applied to the King for a charter, which was granted, May 12, 1678. This authorized him to build a new and much stronger fort at Fort Frontenac, (now Kingston, Canada) granted. him a large tract of land in the vicinity and authorized him to take possession of the country, of which they hoped to make a glorious New France, and to fortify it and hold it for the great King and the Roman Catholic Church.

His party was soon gathered. Chevalier Henri de Tonti, an Italian by birth, son of the merchant who invented the Tontine system of accumulating money, a professional soldier with much experience in European wars, a brave and able man, who afterwards proved himself to be a most faithful and loyal friend of La Salle, was introduced to him by Prince de Conti; and they, together with Louis Hennepin, a Franciscan Friar, Father Gabriel de La Ribourde, and Zenobius or Zenoble Membre, all members of the Franciscan order of the Roman Catholic Church, furnished the ability, intelligence and character for the new expedition. The priests of this order were sometimes called "Gray Friars," and they were also known in Belgium, Holland and France as "Recollects," while the Indians called them "Bare Feet" or "Gray Gowns." La Salle seems to have preferred this order to that of the Jesuits, although both orders were prominent and devoted to the missionary work everywhere; and the writings of these two orders constitute nearly the entire written history of this valley until it was ceded by France to England in 1763, or even as late as July 4th, 1778, when George Rogers Clark under a commission from Patrick Henry, the Governor, took possession of this country for Virginia.

La Salle and Tonti organized their expedition and built at Fort Frontenac, a ship called the Griffon, with which they expect to keep up the communication with the settlements on the western lakes and carry on their commerce. La Salle, Tonti, Hennepin, and the two Recollects, with thirty-two persons in all

sailed from Fort Frontenac the 7th of August, 1679, after the "Te Deum" and amid the firing of cannon, bringing a good supply of arms, merchandise, and seven small cannon.

La Salle's plan was to seize and fortify the Mississippi and Illinois rivers and establish trading posts and missionary stations which should be put under the charge of the Friars.

Reaching Mackinac with his party in September, 1679, he passed on to Green Bay and remained there until their vessel, the Griffon, was loaded with furs. This was sent back with a pilot and five good sailors for Montreal to dispose of the cargo and return as soon as possible with the additional supplies needed for the furtherance of the expedition. Among other things it was to bring iron and material to build and equip a vessel on the Illinois river to be used in navigating that river and the Mississippi. La Salle and fourteen men then proceeded with four canoes, considerable merchandise and a quantity of utensils and tools to the southern bend of Lake Michigan and built a fort at the mouth of St. Joseph's river, where he was joined by Tonti with twenty additional men.

On the third of December, La Salle with thirty men and eight canoes ascended the Miami river to a point near South Bend to make a portage to the Kankakee and thus reach the Illinois. When they reached the village of the Kaskaskias at Starved Rock, they found it deserted. The Indians, however, as was their custom on leaving their villages in the fall for a hunting season in the south, had stored some corn for their use on their return. La Salle was compelled to take about twenty bushel of this for he was out of provisions.

At

With these fresh supplies he passed on down the Illinois to Peoria Lake. Here they saw a number of wooden canoes on both sides of the river and about eight cabins full of Indians, who did not see them until they had doubled a point behind which the Illinois were encamped within half a gun shot. La Salle and his men were in eight canoes abreast with all their arms in their hands. first the Indians were alarmed and ran away. He managed to call them back and after a day spent in dancing and feasting, Hennepin notified them that they had come not to trade but to preach. For this purpose, they assembled the chiefs of the villages, which were on both sides of the river. La Salle explained that the French desired to be their allies and that they would bring over additional Frenchmen, who would protect them from the attacks of their enemies and would furnish them all the goods they needed, and that they intended to build a great wooden canoe and sail down to the sea bringing them all kinds of merchandise by that shorter and more easy route. The Indians agreed and gave a description of the Mississippi river.

At Peoria La Salle met a large number of the Kaskaskias returning to their village. La Salle explained to them that he had taken some of their corn as a matter of necessity and he settled with them for it to their satisfaction. La Salle now decided to remain at Peoria until the opening of the river in the spring.

The next day after they landed, a Miami chief named Monso arrived with a lot of kettles, axes, knives, etc., in order by these presents to make the Illinois believe that the Frenchmen intended to join their enemies who lived beyond the Colbert (Mississippi) river. One of the Illinois chiefs, named Omaouha, notified La Salle that the Miamies were working against them. La Salle believed that Monso had been sent by other Frenchmen who were jealous of his success for he was surprised to find that Monso knew all about his affairs in detail.

Nicanape, a brother of the most important of the Illinois chiefs, made a speech at the feast trying to persuade the Frenchmen to abandon their idea of going on down the river, telling them that the river was unnavigable, full of falls and sandbars and infested with dangerous enemies. After the meal La Salle explained to Nicanape that when Monso was plotting with him the night before in secret, La Salle had not been asleep and his manifest knowledge of the motive of Nicanape silenced him. In the meantime Monso started back. The Indians sent

runners after Monso to bring him back for cross-examination but as his tracks were hidden by a recent fall of snow they were unable to overtake him. Nevertheless La Salle's men were somewhat disheartened and six of them deserted. They were at that time probably on the western side of the river near Birket's Hollow.

La Salle, having gotten consent of the Indians, now commenced to build a fort, a stockade of logs. This was soon finished and named Fort Creve Coeur. Concerning the location of this fort there has been a great deal of controversy and argument. It seems certain, however, that the main fort was built at the southern extremity of the lake on the eastern side of the Illinois river; some think it was located above the lower end of the lake near the upper free bridge, and some that it was located three miles below, near Wesley City. Each of these locations has been marked by a stone and both are on high points of the bluff.

It is now confidently asserted by Daniel R. Sheen, Esquire, of this city, that Fort Creve Coeur was situated just across the river from Peoria on the line of Fayette street, and on a little mound only a few feet above high water mark. Notwithstanding the fact that both of the other locations for Creve Coeur have been endorsed by enthusiastic societies and marked by monuments, I am rather inclined to think that Fort Creve Coeur was located in the latter place, not only because it seems to meet the descriptions given by the builders better, but because it is the most reasonable place for such a fort built for the purpose for which this was constructed. At that place and from there on down, the river is always open in the spring several weeks earlier than it is above. There is also at that place a bend in the shore and a slough making a kind of port or harbor. The ground is high enough to avoid the danger of overflow in high water and it is low enough for boats to be brought up close to the fort or even within the palisades. It is manifest that this would be desirable as the fort was not built for a temporary purpose only, but as a protection to the commerce they hoped to establish on the Illinois river; and for this latter purpose it would be necessary that it should be close to the harbor and to the boats that were to be protected. The white men had no cannon of long range; and the Indians had none at all, while their muskets were only short range guns.. They did most of their fighting with clubs and bows and arrows. Thus a fort on a high point of the bluff would afford no protection to a boat in the water below. Moreover it would be hard to keep a fort so located supplied with provisions and water, a very essential thing. From a military point of view it seems to me altogether probable that the fort would have been built on a little bay near the water's edge at a place where the water from the numerous springs coming into the river would keep it open and free from ice a much greater part of the year than it would be a little farther up, and where the boats would not be threatened with floating ice as they would have been if anchored near where Wesley City . now stands. Also, it would have been placed near enough to the village of Peoria on the western shore to be in easy communication with it and yet free from danger of an attack from it. The location of this fort is a very interesting question because the buildings there were the first ones erected by white men in Illinois.

It would be well to have careful examination made into this matter and to examine the old remains of the fort that are alleged to be found at the place named by Mr. Sheen and perhaps erect another monumental stone to show the location of the first building erected by white men in Illinois. Peorians are specially interested in this location for if the fort were standing now where Mr. Sheen claims it stood it would face our city and be plainly visible from our steamboat landing.

At the same time that the fort was being built the keel for a vessel was laid near the fort, but before the work on the boat had advanced far, some of Tonti's men deserted, partly from want of pay, perhaps partly through a disposition to cut lose from restraint and perhaps from fear of the Iroquois. This made it

necessary to suspend work on the vessel and La Salle and Tonti agreed that the former should go back on foot to enlist a fresh force of men and bring the necessary supply of materials for finishing and furnishing the boat and that Tonti should have the river explored farther west and south.

A young Illinois passing La Salle's shipyard traced for them with coal a fairly accurate map of the Mississippi river, assuring them that there were no falls or rapids between them and the gulf, giving the names of the nations along the shore. The next morning, after public prayers, La Salle visited the village, where he found the Illinois assembled having a feast. They again tried to persuade him of the dangers of proceeding down the river. La Salle informed them. that he knew all about it and the savages thought he had learned it all in some very mysterious way. The Illinois then apologized saying that they had told him their false stories only with the desire to keep the Frenchmen with the Illinois; and they then all admitted that the river was navigable to the sea. The chief Oumahouha (Omaha) adopted Zenoble Membre as his son. The tribe lived at that time only half a league from Fort Creve Coeur.

Early in March La Salle left Tonti in command at Fort Creve Coeur and taking five men went back to Niagara to look after the Griffon and secure necessary supplies. Hennepin started down the river Illinois on his exploring expedition, February 29, 1680. He describes the river as skirted by hills, ascending which you discover prairie further than the eye can reach. Hennepin reached the Tamaroas, two leagues from the mouth of the Illinois, March 7, 1680. The Tamaroas then had their village six or seven leagues below the mouth of the Illinois and west of the river Mississippi. On April 11, 1680, Hennepin was captured by Indians on the upper Mississippi. After a long captivity and much suffering, he was rescued by Daniel Greysolon Duluth, a cousin of Tonti.

When Hennepin and La Salle were gone, Tonti commenced the construction of another fort on the western side of the river, supposed to be where the old pottery stood near Birket's Hollow. In all this work the French were doubtless very greatly assisted by the Illinois, who as well as the French would feel the need of it as a defense against their terrible common enemies, the Iroquois. When Tonti was left by La Salle in command of Fort Creve Coeur, he was supplied with powder and lead, guns and other arms to defend himself in case he was attacked by the Iroquois.

La Salle while on his trip east sent back orders to Tonti to go to Starved Rock and build a strong fort there, and for this purpose Tonti started northward. On the way, however, all of his men deserted except two Recollects and three men newly arrived from France, taking with them everything that was most valuable. Tonti went back to hold Fort Creve Coeur with his six men and did hold it all summer.

On September 10, 1680, sudden as a clap of thunder, the Iroquois invaded the Illinois. Tonti had only a few hours notice and in trying to negotiate with the Iroquois came near being treacherously killed. The Illinois fled down the river, leaving everything behind, even their corn, which was destroyed. Tonti and Zenoble met the Iroquois in council September 18, 1680. The Iroquois told Tonti they were going to eat some of the Illinois before they went away, whereupon Tonti resenting the inference that he might be persuaded to desert his friends, kicked away their presents and the parley broke up in anger. Tonti expected to be killed before morning and resolved to sell his life dearly. day-break, however, the Iroquois told Tonti and his men to depart, which they promptly did knowing they could no longer, by remaining, be useful to the Illinois. Tonti was wounded during the parley but was allowed to start for Green Bay with his few men. The next day, September 19th, after Tonti started back, Father Gabriel Ribourde, who had retired a short distance for private prayer was killed by a band of renegade Kickapoos. The Iroquois returned to New York taking a large number of female prisoners with them. During the continuation of this parley, the Iroquois must have been encamped or had a