ANALYSIS. Succeeded, but they were finally repulsed by the French and their Indian allies. Retreating from Detroit, the Foxes collected their forces on the Fox river of Green Bay, where they strongly fortified themselves; but an expedition be ing sent against them, they were obliged to capitulate. The remnant of the defeated nation, however, long carried on a ceaseless and harassing warfare against the French, and rendered insecure their communication with the settlements on the Mississippi. 1. Treaty of Utrecht, and situation of the French se tlements about the year 1720. 37. 'The treaty of Utrecht, in 1713, put an end to hos. tilities in America, after which time Canada enjoyed a long period of uninterrupted tranquillity. Charlevoix, who visited the principal settlements in 1720 and 1721, gives 1721. the best account of their condition at this period. Que bec then contained a population of about 7000 inhabitants, but the entire population of the colony at that period is unknown. The settlements were confined, principally, to the borders of the St. Lawrence, between Montreal and Quebec, extending a short distance below the latter place Above Montreal were only detached stations for defence and trade. At Fort Frontenac and Niagara a few sol diers were stationed, but there were apparently no traces of cultivation in the vicinity of either of those places. A feeble settlement was found at Detroit, and at Michili mackinac a fort, surrounded by an Indian village. On the whole, however, it appears that, west of Montreal. there was nothing at this time which could be called a colony. 2. Subsequent history of Canada 8 The Ameri can tears of France and during this period. 1731. Point and 38. The subsequent history of Canada, down to the time of its conquest by the English, presents few events of sufficient importance to require more than a passing notice. The wars carried on between France and Eng land during this period, and which involved their American possessions, were chiefly confined to Nova Scotia and the adjacent provinces, while Canada enjoyed a happy exemption from those eventful vicissitudes which form the materials of history. The French, however, gradually secured the confidence of the savage tribes by which they were surrounded, and were generally able to employ them against the English, when occasion required. 39. 'In 1731 the French erected Fort Frederic, (now 4. Crown Crown Point,) on the western shore of Lake Champlain, Ticonderoga. but surrendered it to the English under General Amherst in 1759. In 1756 they erected the fortress of Ticonde roga at the mouth of the outlet of Lake George. Here occurred the memorable defeat of General Abercrombie Pittsburg in 1758. 'During the administration of the Marquis du cod Du-kane.) Quesne, in 1754, the fort bearing his name was erected 5. Fort at a. (Pronoun croachments at the confluence of the Alleghany and Monongahela, 1754. where Pittsburgh now stands. The French were likewise encroaching upon Nova Scotia, which had been 1. Other enceded to England by the treaty of Utrecht in 1713, and of the French. in the west they were attempting to complete a line of forts which should confine the British colonists to the territory east of the Alleghanies. These encroachments French were the principal cause which led to the "French and Indian war," a war which resulted in the overthrow of the power of France in America, and the transfer of her possessions to a rival nation. An account of that war has already been given in a former part of this work, to which we refer for a continuation of the history of Canada a. See p. 287. during that eventful period. and Indian toar." CHAPTER II EARLY HISTORY OF LOUISIANA. 1. Having briefly traced the history of the French in Canada down to the time of the final conquest of that country by Great Britain, we now go back a few years to notice the discoveries and settlements made by the French in the valley of the Mississippi, during the period of which we have spoken;-most of which territory also passed under the power of England at the time of the final transfer of the French possessions in Canada and Acadia. 4 Mississippi. Jesuit misamong the sionaries Hurons. 2. 'Soon after the establishment of the French in Canada, several Jesuit missionaries, mingling worldly policy with religious enthusiasm, with the double object of winning souls to Christ and subjects to the king of France, penetrated the Indian wilderness bordering on Lake Huron, 1634. and there established several missions, around which were st Louis, and soon gathered, from the rude sons of the forest, throngs St Ignatius. of nominal converts to Christianity. b St. Joseph, 5 Among the Iroquois. 6 Fate of their estab 3. "The missionaries also penetrated the territories of the hostile Iroquois ; but after years of toil and suffering they were wholly unsuccessful, both in their attempts at christianizing these ruder people, and in their efforts to seduce them from their alliance with the English. "The petty establishments in New York and on the banks of lishments. Lake Huron were broken up, and the latter laid in ashes by the Iroquois, during the war which they waged with unrelenting ferocity against their Huron brethren. 7. Father ALSuperior. 4. "The missionaries then directed their efforts to the louez on Lake 1665. a (Pronoun Chipperas b. Sept. c. Oct. 1. 2. His success. ANALYSIS. tribes farther westward, and in 1665 Father Allouéz," passing beyond the straits of Mackinaw, found himself afloat, in a frail canoe, on the broad expanse of Lake Superior. ced Al loo-a) 'Coasting along the high banks and " pictured rocks" of 1 Among the its southern shore, he entered the bay of Chegoimegon, and landed at the great village of the Chippewas. Al. though but few of this tribe had ever before seen a white man, yet they listened to the missionary with reverence, and soon erected a chapel, around which they chanted their morning and evening hymns, with an apparent de8. Dablon and voutness that the white man seldom imitates. The mis Marquette. sion of St. Esprit," or the Holy Spirit, was founded, and three years later the missionaries Dablon and Marquettef f. (Mar-ket.) founded another mission at the falls of St. Mary, between lakes Superior and Huron. d. (Es-pre) e. 1668. 4. A great river to the heard of, and 5. 'As the missionaries were active in exploring the westward country, and collecting from the Indians all the informaan expedition tion that could be obtained, it was not long before they planned for its discovery. heard of a great river to the westward, called by the AÍ. gonquins the Mes-cha-ce-be, a name signifying the Father of Waters. It was readily concluded that, by ascending this river to its source, a passage to China might be found! and that by following it to its mouth the Gulf of Mexico would be reached, and in 1673 the two missionaries Marquette and Joliet set out from Green Bay for the purpose of making the desired discovery. 1673. 5. Route of the party, and the Missis h. June 10. 6. 'Ascending the Fox River, whose banks were indiscovery of habited by a tribe of Indians of the same name, and passingh thence over a ridge of highlands, they came to the Wisconsin, and following its course, on the 17th of June, 1673, they came to the Mes-cha-ce-be, called also in the Iroquois language the Mis-sis-sip-pi. The soil on the bor ders of the stream was found to be of exceeding fertility, and Father Marquette, falling on his knees, offered thanks to heaven for so great a discovery. 6. Passage down the 7. "They now committed themselves to the stream, Mississippi. Which bore them rapidly past the mouths of the Missouri, the Ohio, and the Arkansas, at which last they stopped, where they found Indians in the possession of articles of European manufacture, a proof that they had trafficked with the Spaniards from Mexico, or with the English from Virginia. Though convinced that the mighty river which they had discovered must have its outlet in the Gulf of Mexico, yet as their provisions were nearly expended, the adventurers resolved to return. 'Passing up the Mississippi with incredible fatigue, they at length arrived at the Illinois, which they ascended till they reached the heights that divide its waters from those which enter Lake i. July 17. 7.The return. Michigan. Thence Marquette returned to the Miami 1673. Indians, to resume his labors as a missionary, while Joliet proceeded to Quebec, to give an account of the discovery to Frontenac, then governor of Canada. 1. The passion revived by slumbers, but La Salle b. 1677. 8. 'Marquette dying soon after, and Joliet becoming a. May, 1675. immersed in business, the discovery of the Great River for discovery seemed almost forgotten, when attention to it was sud- is denly revived by another enterprising Frenchman. Robert de La Salle, a man of courage and perseverance, stimulated by the representations of Joliet, repaired to France and offered his services to the king, promising to explore the Mississippi to its mouth, if he were provided with the necessary means. A ship well manned and 2. La Salle equipped was furnished him, and accompanied by the Chevalier de Tonti, an Italian officer who had joined him in the enterprise, he sailed from Rochelle on the 14th of July, 1678. sails from France. 1678. His arrival and voyage to in Canada, 9. On arriving at Quebec he proceeded immediately 3. to Fort Frontenac, where he built a barge of ten tons, with which he conveyed his party across Lake Ontario, "The first ship that ever sailed on that fresh water sea;" after which, near the mouth of Tonnewanta creek, he constructed another vessel which he called the Griffin, on board of which he embarked in August, 1679, with forty men, among whom was Father Hennepin, a distinguished. Jesuit missionary, and a worthy successor of the venerated Marquette. Passing through lakes Erie, St. Clair, and Huron, he stopped at Michilimackinac, where he erected a fort of the same name, whence he proceeded to Green Bay, where he collected a cargo of furs, which he despatched for Niagara in the Griffin, but which was never heard of afterwards. . Green Bay. Aug. 7. 4. Proceeds Michigan. and thence to River, where up Lake the Illinois he erects a furt. c. Dec. 3. 1680. 10. 'From Green Bay he proceeded in bark canoes nearly to the head of Lake Michigan, and at the mouth of St. Joseph River built a fort, which he called Fort Miami. After waiting here some time in vain for the Griffin, the party proceeded westward to the Illinois. River, and after passing down the same beyond Lake Peoria they erected a fort, which La Salle named Crévecœur, the Broken Heart, indicating thereby his disappointment occasioned by the loss of the Griffin, the jeal- Crave-kyur) ousy of a portion of the savages, and the mutinous spirit exhibited by his own men. From this place he sent out 5 Exploring a party under Hennepin to explore the sources of the Hennepin. Mississippi. d. (Pronounced party under of La Salle 11. "At Fort Creve-cœur La Salle remained until the 6. Departure succeeding March, when, leaving Tonti and his men for Canada. among the Illinois Indians, he departed for Canada, for 1. Tonti's return to Lake Michtgan. the exploring party. ANALYSIS. the purpose of raising recruits and obtaining funds. 'Tonti, after erecting a new fort, remained, surrounded by hostile savages, until September, when he was obliged to abandon his position and retire to Lake Michigan, on 2. History of whose borders he passed the winter. In the mean time the small party under Hennepin had ascended the Mis sissippi beyond the Falls of St. Anthony, and had been made prisoners by the Sioux, by whom they were well treated. At the expiration of three months, however, they were released, when they descended the Mississippi, and passed up the Wisconsin, whence they returned to Canada. 1682. again on the Illinois. 4. He discov. ers the Missis passes down its mouth. 12. The spring of 1682 found La Salle again on the 3. La Salle banks of the Illinois. 'Having at length completed a small vessel, he sailed down that tributary till he reached the "Father of Waters." Floating rapidly onward with the sippi, and current, and occasionally landing to erect a cross, and the stream to proclaim the French king lord of the country, La Salle passed the Arkansas, where Joliet and Marquette had terminated their voyage, but still the stream swept onward, and the distance appeared interminable. All began to despair except La Salle, who encouraged his men to persevere, and at length the mouths of the Mississippi were discovered, discharging their enormous volume of turbid waters into the Gulf of Mexico. 5. La Salle names the country Louisiana. 6. His return and thence to France. 13. To the territories through which La Salle had passed, he gave the name of Louisiana, in honor of the reigning monarch of France, Louis XIV. Anxious to to Quebec, communicate in person his discoveries to his countrymen, he hastened back to Quebec, and immediately set sail for his native land, where he was received with many 7. Greatness marks of distinction. 'He had nobly redeemed his promof the achieve. ments of ise, and given to his sovereign a territory vast in extent, La Salle and unequalled in fertility and importance; which, spanning like a bow the American continent, and completely hemming in the English possessions, might have rendered France the mistress of the New World. 1684. 8. Prepara tana, and set St. Louis, in 1685. 14. Early in 1684 preparations were made for colotions for colonizing Louisiana, and in July La Salle sailed from nizing Louis Rochelle for the mouth of the Mississippi, with four vestlement of sels and two hundred and eighty persons, and everything requisite for founding a settlement. But the expedition failed to reach the point of its destination, and the colonists were landed at the head of the Bay of Matagorda La Salle, and in Texas, where the settlement of St. Louis was formed. of the settle. After two years had been passed here, during which 1687. time several unsuccessful attempts were made to discob. Jan 12. ver the Mississippi, La Salle de parted with sixteen men a. Feb. 18. 9. Death of breaking up ment |