France and England in North America, Part III: La Salle, Discovery of The Great West
[116] This place is laid down on a manuscript map sent to France by the
Intendant Duchesneau, and now preserved in the Archives de la Marine,
and also on several other contemporary maps.
[117] Hennepin's account of the falls and river of Niagara--especially
his second account, on his return from the West--is very minute, and on
the whole very accurate. He indulges in gross exaggeration as to the
height of the cataract, which, in the edition of 1683, he states at five
hundred feet, and raises to six hundred in that of 1697. He also says
that there was room for four carriages to pass abreast under the
American Fall without being wet. This is, of course, an exaggeration at
the best; but it is extremely probable that a great change has taken
place since his time. He speaks of a small lateral fall at the west side
of the Horse Shoe Fall which does not now exist. Table Rock, now
destroyed, is distinctly figured in his picture. He says that he
descended the cliffs on the west side to the foot of the cataract, but
that no human being can get down on the east side.
The name of Niagara, written _Onguiaahra_ by Lalemant in 1641, and
_Ongiara_ by Sanson, on his map of 1657, is used by Hennepin in its
present form. His description of the falls is the earliest known to
exist. They are clearly indicated on the map of Champlain, 1632. For
early references to them, see "The Jesuits in North America," 235,
_note_. A brief but curious notice of them is given by Gendron,
_Quelques Particularitez du Pays des Hurons_, 1659. The indefatigable
Dr. O'Callaghan has discovered thirty-nine distinct forms of the name
Niagara. _Index to Colonial Documents of New York_, 465. It is of
Iroquois origin, and in the Mohawk dialect is pronounced Nyàgarah.
[118] Tonty, _Relation_, 1684 (Margry, i. 573).
[119] Near the town of Victor. It is laid down on the map of Galinée,
and other unpublished maps. Compare Marshall, _Historical Sketches of
the Niagara Frontier_, 14.
[120] _Lettre de La Salle à un de ses associés_ (Margry, ii. 32).
[121] _Description de la Louisiane_ (1683), 41. It is characteristic of
Hennepin that, in the editions of his book published after La Salle's
death, he substitutes, for "anybody but him," "anybody but those who had
formed so generous a design,"--meaning to include himself, though he
lost nothing by the disaster, and had not formed the design.
On these incidents, compare the two narratives of Tonty, of 1684 and
1693. The book bearing Tonty's name is a compilation full of errors. He
disowned its authorship.
[122] _Lettre de La Salle, 22 Août, 1682_ (Margry, ii. 212).
[123] _Lettre de La Motte, sans date._
CHAPTER X.
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.
[Sidenote: THE NIAGARA PORTAGE.]
A more important work than that of the warehouse at the mouth of the
river was now to be begun. This was the building of a vessel above the
cataract. The small craft which had brought La Motte and Hennepin with
their advance party had been hauled to the foot of the rapids at
Lewiston, and drawn ashore with a capstan, to save her from the drifting
ice. Her lading was taken out, and must now be carried beyond the
cataract to the calm water above. The distance to the destined point was
at least twelve miles, and the steep heights above Lewiston must first
be climbed. This heavy task was accomplished on the twenty-second of
January. The level of the plateau was reached, and the file of burdened
men, some thirty in number, toiled slowly on its way over the snowy
plains and through the gloomy forests of spruce and naked oak-trees;
while Hennepin plodded through the drifts with his portable altar
lashed fast to his back. They came at last to the mouth of a stream
which entered the Niagara two leagues above the cataract, and which was
undoubtedly that now called Cayuga Creek.[124]
Trees were felled, the place cleared, and the master-carpenter set his
ship-builders at work. Meanwhile, two Mohegan hunters, attached to the
party, made bark wigwams to lodge the men. Hennepin had his chapel,
apparently of the same material, where he placed his altar, and on
Sundays and saints' days said mass, preached, and exhorted; while some
of the men, who knew the Gregorian chant, lent their aid at the service.
When the carpenters were ready to lay the keel of the vessel, La Salle
asked the friar to drive the first bolt; "but the modesty of my
religious profession," he says, "compelled me to decline this honor."
Fortunately, it was the hunting-season of the Iroquois, and most of the
Seneca warriors were in the forests south of Lake Erie; yet enough
remained to cause serious uneasiness. They loitered sullenly about the
place, expressing their displeasure at the proceedings of the French.
One of them, pretending to be drunk, attacked the blacksmith and tried
to kill him; but the Frenchman, brandishing a red-hot bar of iron, held
him at bay till Hennepin ran to the rescue, when, as he declares, the
severity of his rebuke caused the savage to desist.[125] The work of the
ship-builders advanced rapidly; and when the Indian visitors beheld the
vast ribs of the wooden monster, their jealousy was redoubled. A squaw
told the French that they meant to burn the vessel on the stocks. All
now stood anxiously on the watch. Cold, hunger, and discontent found
imperfect antidotes in Tonty's energy and Hennepin's sermons.
[Sidenote: SUFFERING AND DISCONTENT.]
La Salle was absent, and his lieutenant commanded in his place. Hennepin
says that Tonty was jealous because he, the friar, kept a journal, and
that he was forced to use all manner of just precautions to prevent the
Italian from seizing it. The men, being half-starved, in consequence of
the loss of their provisions on Lake Ontario, were restless and moody;
and their discontent was fomented by one of their number, who had very
probably been tampered with by La Salle's enemies.[126] The Senecas
refused to supply them with corn, and the frequent exhortations of the
Récollet father proved an insufficient substitute. In this extremity,
the two Mohegans did excellent service,--bringing deer and other game,
which relieved the most pressing wants of the party, and went far to
restore their cheerfulness.
La Salle, meanwhile, had gone down to the mouth of the river, with a
sergeant and a number of men; and here, on the high point of land where
Fort Niagara now stands, he marked out the foundations of two
blockhouses.[127] Then, leaving his men to build them, he set out on
foot for Fort Frontenac, where the condition of his affairs demanded his
presence, and where he hoped to procure supplies to replace those lost
in the wreck of his vessel. It was February, and the distance was some
two hundred and fifty miles, through the snow-encumbered forests of the
Iroquois and over the ice of Lake Ontario. Two men attended him, and a
dog dragged his baggage on a sledge. For food, they had only a bag of
parched corn, which failed them two days before they reached the fort;
and they made the rest of the journey fasting.
[Sidenote: THE SHIP FINISHED.]
During his absence, Tonty finished the vessel, which was of about
forty-five tons' burden.[128] As spring opened, she was ready for
launching. The friar pronounced his blessing on her; the assembled
company sang _Te Deum_; cannon were fired; and French and Indians,
warmed alike by a generous gift of brandy, shouted and yelped in chorus
as she glided into the Niagara. Her builders towed her out and anchored
her in the stream, safe at last from incendiary hands; and then,
swinging their hammocks under her deck, slept in peace, beyond reach of
the tomahawk. The Indians gazed on her with amazement. Five small cannon
looked out from her portholes; and on her prow was carved a portentous
monster, the Griffin, whose name she bore, in honor of the armorial
bearings of Frontenac. La Salle had often been heard to say that he
would make the griffin fly above the crows, or, in other words, make
Frontenac triumph over the Jesuits.
They now took her up the river, and made her fast below the swift
current at Black Rock. Here they finished her equipment, and waited for
La Salle's return; but the absent commander did not appear. The spring
and more than half of the summer had passed before they saw him again.
At length, early in August, he arrived at the mouth of the Niagara,
bringing three more friars; for, though no friend of the Jesuits, he was
zealous for the Faith, and was rarely without a missionary in his
journeyings. Like Hennepin, the three friars were all Flemings. One of
them, Melithon Watteau, was to remain at Niagara; the others, Zenobe
Membré and Gabriel Ribourde, were to preach the Faith among the tribes
of the West. Ribourde was a hale and cheerful old man of sixty-four. He
went four times up and down the Lewiston heights, while the men were
climbing the steep pathway with their loads. It required four of them,
well stimulated with brandy, to carry up the principal anchor destined
for the "Griffin."
La Salle brought a tale of disaster. His enemies, bent on ruining the
enterprise, had given out that he was embarked on a harebrained venture,
from which he would never return. His creditors, excited by rumors set
afloat to that end, had seized on all his property in the settled parts
of Canada, though his seigniory of Fort Frontenac alone would have more
than sufficed to pay all his debts. There was no remedy. To defer the
enterprise would have been to give his adversaries the triumph that they
sought; and he hardened himself against the blow with his usual
stoicism.[129]
FOOTNOTES:
[124] It has been a matter of debate on which side of the Niagara the
first vessel on the Upper Lakes was built. A close study of Hennepin,
and a careful examination of the localities, have convinced me that the
spot was that indicated above. Hennepin repeatedly alludes to a large
detached rock, rising out of the water at the foot of the rapids above
Lewiston, on the west side of the river. This rock may still be seen
immediately under the western end of the Lewiston suspension-bridge.
Persons living in the neighborhood remember that a ferry-boat used to
pass between it and the cliffs of the western shore; but it has since
been undermined by the current and has inclined in that direction, so
that a considerable part of it is submerged, while the gravel and earth
thrown down from the cliff during the building of the bridge has filled
the intervening channel. Opposite to this rock, and on the east side of
the river, says Hennepin, are three mountains, about two leagues below
the cataract. (_Nouveau Voyage_ (1704), 462, 466.) To these "three
mountains," as well as to the rock, he frequently alludes. They are also
spoken of by La Hontan, who clearly indicates their position. They
consist in the three successive grades of the acclivity: first, that
which rises from the level of the water, forming the steep and lofty
river-bank; next, an intermediate ascent, crowned by a sort of terrace,
where the tired men could find a second resting-place and lay down their
burdens, whence a third effort carried them with difficulty to the level
top of the plateau. That this was the actual "portage," or carrying
place of the travellers, is shown by Hennepin (1704), 114, who describes
the carrying of anchors and other heavy articles up these heights in
August, 1679. La Hontan also passed the Falls by way of the "three
mountains" eight years later. La Hontan (1703), 106. It is clear, then,
that the portage was on the east side, whence it would be safe to
conclude that the vessel was built on the same side. Hennepin says that