France and England in North America, Part III: La Salle, Discovery of The Great West
This hospitable village belonged to the Pottawattamies, and was under
the sway of the chief who had befriended La Salle the year before, and
who was wont to say that he knew but three great captains in the
world,--Frontenac, La Salle, and himself.[196]
THE ILLINOIS TOWN.
The Site of the Great Illinois Town.--This has not till now been
determined, though there have been various conjectures concerning it.
From a study of the contemporary documents and maps, I became satisfied,
first, that the branch of the river Illinois, called the "Big
Vermilion," was the _Aramoni_ of the French explorers; and, secondly,
that the cliff called "Starved Rock" was that known to the French as _Le
Rocher_, or the Rock of St. Louis. If I was right in this conclusion,
then the position of the Great Village was established; for there is
abundant proof that it was on the north side of the river, above the
Aramoni, and below Le Rocher. I accordingly went to the village of
Utica, which, as I judged by the map, was very near the point in
question, and mounted to the top of one of the hills immediately behind
it, whence I could see the valley of the Illinois for miles, bounded on
the farther side by a range of hills, in some parts rocky and
precipitous, and in others covered with forests. Far on the right was a
gap in these hills, through which the Big Vermilion flowed to join the
Illinois; and somewhat towards the left, at the distance of a mile and a
half, was a huge cliff, rising perpendicularly from the opposite margin
of the river. This I assumed to be _Le Rocher_ of the French, though
from where I stood I was unable to discern the distinctive features
which I was prepared to find in it. In every other respect, the scene
before me was precisely what I had expected to see. There was a meadow
on the hither side of the river, on which stood a farmhouse; and this,
as it seemed to me, by its relations with surrounding objects, might be
supposed to stand in the midst of the space once occupied by the
Illinois town.
On the way down from the hill I met Mr. James Clark, the principal
inhabitant of Utica, and one of the earliest settlers of this region. I
accosted him, told him my objects, and requested a half hour's
conversation with him, at his leisure. He seemed interested in the
inquiry, and said he would visit me early in the evening at the inn,
where, accordingly, he soon appeared. The conversation took place in the
porch, where a number of farmers and others were gathered. I asked Mr.
Clark if any Indian remains were found in the neighborhood. "Yes," he
replied, "plenty of them." I then inquired if there was any one spot
where they were more numerous than elsewhere. "Yes," he answered again,
pointing towards the farmhouse on the meadow; "on my farm down yonder by
the river, my tenant ploughs up teeth and bones by the peck every
spring, besides arrow-heads, beads, stone hatchets, and other things of
that sort." I replied that this was precisely what I had expected, as I
had been led to believe that the principal town of the Illinois Indians
once covered that very spot. "If," I added, "I am right in this belief,
the great rock beyond the river is the one which the first explorers
occupied as a fort; and I can describe it to you from their accounts of
it, though I have never seen it, except from the top of the hill where
the trees on and around it prevented me from seeing any part but the
front." The men present now gathered around to listen. "The rock," I
continued, "is nearly a hundred and fifty feet high, and rises directly
from the water. The front and two sides are perpendicular and
inaccessible; but there is one place where it is possible for a man to
climb up, though with difficulty. The top is large enough and level
enough for houses and fortifications." Here several of the men
exclaimed: "That's just it." "You've hit it exactly." I then asked if
there was any other rock on that side of the river which could answer to
the description. They all agreed that there was no such rock on either
side, along the whole length of the river. I then said: "If the Indian
town was in the place where I suppose it to have been, I can tell you
the nature of the country which lies behind the hills on the farther
side of the river, though I know nothing about it except what I have
learned from writings nearly two centuries old. From the top of the
hills, you look out upon a great prairie reaching as far as you can see,
except that it is crossed by a belt of woods, following the course of a
stream which enters the main river a few miles below." (See _ante_, p.
221, _note_.) "You are exactly right again," replied Mr. Clark; "we call
that belt of timber the 'Vermilion Woods,' and the stream is the Big
Vermilion." "Then," I said, "the Big Vermilion is the river which the
French called the Aramoni; 'Starved Rock' is the same on which they
built a fort called St. Louis, in the year 1682; and your farm is on the
site of the great town of the Illinois."
I spent the next day in examining these localities, and was fully
confirmed in my conclusions. Mr. Clark's tenant showed me the spot where
the human bones were ploughed up. It was no doubt the graveyard violated
by the Iroquois. The Illinois returned to the village after their
defeat, and long continued to occupy it. The scattered bones were
probably collected and restored to their place of burial.
FOOTNOTES:
[179] For the particulars of this desertion, Membré in Le Clerc, ii.
171, _Relation des Découvertes_; Tonty, _Mémoire_, 1684, 1693;
_Déclaration faite par devant le Sr. Duchesneau, Intendant en Canada,
par Moyse Hillaret, charpentier de barque cy-devant au service du Sr.
de la Salle, Aoust, 1680_.
Moyse Hillaret, the "Maître Moyse" of Hennepin, was a ring-leader of the
deserters, and seems to have been one of those captured by La Salle near
Fort Frontenac. Twelve days after, Hillaret was examined by La Salle's
enemy, the intendant; and this paper is the formal statement made by
him. It gives the names of most of the men, and furnishes incidental
confirmation of many statements of Hennepin, Tonty, Membré, and the
_Relation des Découvertes_. Hillaret, Leblanc, and Le Meilleur, the
blacksmith nicknamed La Forge, went off together, and the rest seem to
have followed afterwards. Hillaret does not admit that any goods were
wantonly destroyed.
There is before me a schedule of the debts of La Salle, made after his
death. It includes a claim of this man for wages to the amount of 2,500
livres.
[180] Two of the messengers, Laurent and Messier, arrived safely. The
others seem to have deserted.
[181] The Jesuits in North America.
[182] Duchesneau, in _Paris Docs._, ix. 163.
[183] There had long been a rankling jealousy between the Miamis and the
Illinois. According to Membré, La Salle's enemies had intrigued
successfully among the former, as well as among the Iroquois, to induce
them to take arms against the Illinois.
[184] The above is from notes made on the spot. The following is La
Salle's description of the locality in the _Relation des Découvertes_,
written in 1681: "La rive gauche de la rivière, du coté du sud, est
occupée par un long rocher, fort étroit et escarpé presque partout, à la
réserve d'un endroit de plus d'une lieue de longueur, situé vis-à-vis du
village, ou le terrain, tout couvert de beaux chênes, s'étend par une
pente douce jusqu'au bord de la rivière. Au delà de cette hauteur est
une vaste plaine, qui s'étend bien loin du coté du sud, et qui est
traversée par la rivière Aramoni, dont les bords sont couverts d'une
lisière de bois peu large."
The Aramoni is laid down on the great manuscript map of Franquelin,
1684, and on the map of Coronelli, 1688. It is, without doubt, the Big
Vermilion. _Aramoni_ is the Illinois word for "red," or "vermilion."
Starved Rock, or the Rock of St. Louis, is the highest and steepest
escarpment of the _long rocher_ above mentioned.
[185] The Illinois were an aggregation of distinct though kindred
tribes,--the Kaskaskias, the Peorias, the Kahokias, the Tamaroas, the
Moingona, and others. Their general character and habits were those of
other Indian tribes; but they were reputed somewhat cowardly and
slothful. In their manners, they were more licentious than many of their
neighbors, and addicted to practices which are sometimes supposed to be
the result of a perverted civilization. Young men enacting the part of
women were frequently to be seen among them. These were held in great
contempt. Some of the early travellers, both among the Illinois and
among other tribes, where the same practice prevailed, mistook them for
hermaphrodites. According to Charlevoix (_Journal Historique_, 303),
this abuse was due in part to a superstition. The Miamis and Piankishaws
were in close affinities of language and habits with the Illinois. All
these tribes belonged to the great Algonquin family. The first
impressions which the French received of them, as recorded in the
_Relation_ of 1671, were singularly favorable; but a closer acquaintance
did not confirm them. The Illinois traded with the lake tribes, to whom
they carried slaves taken in war, receiving in exchange guns, hatchets,
and other French goods. Marquette in _Relation_, 1670, 91.
[186] This is Membré's date. The narratives differ as to the day, though
all agree as to the month.
[187] The _Relation des Découvertes_ says, five hundred Iroquois and one
hundred Shawanoes. Membré says that the allies were Miamis. He is no
doubt right, as the Miamis had promised their aid, and the Shawanoes
were at peace with the Illinois. Tonty is silent on the point.
[188] Membré says that he went with Tonty: "J'étois aussi à côté du
Sieur de Tonty." This is an invention of the friar's vanity. "Les deux
pères Récollets étoient alors dans une cabane à une lieue du village, où
ils s'étoient retirés pour faire une espèce de retraite, et ils ne
furent avertis de l'arrivée des Iroquois que dans le temps du
combat."--_Relation des Découvertes_. "Je rencontrai en chemin les pères
Gabriel et Zenobe Membré, qui cherchoient de mes nouvelles."--Tonty,
_Mémoire_, 1693. This was on his return from the Iroquois. The
_Relation_ confirms the statement, as far as concerns Membré: "II
rencontra le Père Zenobe [_Membré_], qui venoit pour le secourir, aiant
été averti du combat et de sa blessure."
The perverted _Dernières Découvertes_, published without authority,
under Tonty's name, says that he was attended by a slave, whom the
Illinois sent with him as interpreter. In his narrative of 1684, Tonty
speaks of a Sokokis (Saco) Indian who was with the Iroquois and who
spoke French enough to serve as interpreter.
[189] Being once in an encampment of Sioux when a quarrel broke out, and
the adverse factions raised the war-whoop and began to fire at each
other, I had a good, though for the moment a rather dangerous,
opportunity of seeing the demeanor of Indians at the beginning of a
fight. The fray was quelled before much mischief was done, by the
vigorous intervention of the elder warriors, who ran between the
combatants.
[190] "Je leur fis connoistre que les Islinois étoient sous la
protection du roy de France et du gouverneur du pays, que j'estois
surpris qu'ils voulussent rompre avec les François et qu'ils voulussent
_attendre_ [_sic_] à une paix."--Tonty, _Mémoire_, 1693.
[191] An Indian speech, it will be remembered, is without validity if
not confirmed by presents, each of which has its special interpretation.
The meaning of the fifth pack of beaver, informing Tonty that the sun
was bright,--"que le soleil étoit beau," that is, that the weather was
favorable for travelling,--is curiously misconceived by the editor of
the _Dernières Découvertes_, who improves upon his original by