Part 19

The “Relation de ce qui s’est passé en la Nouvelle France, 1640,” Paris, 1641, gives the earliest indication of this voyage, and a summary description is given in the Relation of 1642–43. These reports are reprinted in the “Relation des Jésuites,” vol. i., Québec, 1858. Margry’s “Découvertes et établissements des Français,” vol. i., pp. 47–53, contains the portions of the above which refer to Nicolet, and a translation of the account in the Relation of 1640 is printed in Smith’s “History of Wisconsin,” vol. iii. Du Creux’s “Historia Canadensis,” Paris, 1664, gives the first connected history of the life and exploits of this explorer. A translation of Du Creux’s narrative is appended to Butterfield’s “History and Discovery of the Northwest, by John Nicolet,” Cincinnati, 1881.

Shea states, in his “Discovery and Exploration of the Mississippi,” that Nicolet descended the Wisconsin to the Mississippi. This opinion was adopted by Parkman in his “Jesuits in North America,” p. 166, but his later judgment is given in the “Discovery of the Great West.” A more careful examination of the evidence demonstrates the improbability that his travels extended farther than the Wisconsin, and in the opinion of Butterfield, the latest writer upon this voyage, he did not reach that river, but stopped at the country of the Mascoutins upon Fox River.

Benjamin Sulté, a Canadian historical writer, in writing upon Nicolet, in his “Mélanges d’Histoire et de Littérature,” Ottawa, 1876, shows, for the first time, that this journey was probably made in 1634, instead of 1638 or 1639, as before thought.

Sulté’s article with notes by L. C. Draper, is printed in the “Wisconsin Historical Society Collections,” vol. viii., pp. 188–194; also in the “Canadian Antiquarian,” vol. viii., pp. 157–164.

Butterfield, who has carefully investigated the records, agrees with Sulté in assigning 1634 as the true date, and brings out additional, if not conclusive evidence to support this theory, in his monograph cited above. Margry, in the “Journal de l’Instruction publique,” 1862, under the caption, “Les Normands dans les Vallées de l’Ohio et du Mississipi,” describes Nicolet’s travels and Gravier’s “Découvertes et établissements de la Salle;” Harrisse’s “Notes pour servir à l’Histoire [etc.] de la Nouvelle France,” and Parkman’s “La Salle,” also give some account of the expedition.

In 1642 Jogues and Raymbault, two missionaries, penetrated as far west as Sault Ste. Marie, at the outlet of Lake Superior. See account of this mission in the Jesuit Relation of 1642. Margry’s Collection, vol. i., pp. 45–47, contains a reprint of the narrative of this journey. See also Shea’s Charlevoix, vol. i., p. 137, for notice of the undertaking.

The next recorded visit to the West is that of two French traders, who wintered upon the shores of Lake Superior in 1658. See the Jesuit Relation of 1659–60, and the extract in Margry’s Collection, vol. i., pp. 53–55, and translation in Smith’s Wisconsin, vol. iii., p. 20. Father Ménard began a mission at St. Theresa Bay, Lake Superior, in 1661. See Lallemant’s letter in the Relation of 1662–63. A translation of this letter is in Smith’s Wisconsin, vol. iii. See also Perrot’s “Mémoire sur les mœurs des sauvages,” Paris, 1864; Shea’s Charlevoix, vol. i., p. 49, and a note by Shea in _Historical Magazine_, vol. viii., p. 175. Ménard’s letter, written just before his departure for Lake Superior, with notes by E. D. Neill, may be found in the “Minnesota Historical Society Collections,” vol. i., pp. 135–138.

In 1665, Claude Alloüez, another missionary, began a mission at Chegoimegon, Lake Superior. See the journal of his travels in Le Mercier’s Relation of 1666–67, a translation of which is in Smith’s Wisconsin, vol. iii. Marquette took charge of this mission in 1669, and Alloüez went to the Baie des Puantes (Green Bay), and in 1670 made a visit to the Mascoutins on Fox River. Harrisse thinks he crossed to the Wisconsin at this time. In reporting his operations, Alloüez describes the “Messi-sipi” from information given by the Indians. See Dablon’s Relation of 1669–70, p. 100. Translation in Smith’s “Wisconsin,” vol. iii.

Alloüez spent many years among the Indians upon Green Bay, and in the Illinois country. See the Jesuit Relations covering the years 1669–79. The full titles of these Relations are given in chronological order in Harrisse’s “Notes pour servir à l’Histoire [etc.] de la Nouvelle France.” Dr. Shea printed in the Cramoisy series the abridged Relations for 1672–79, and Martin’s “Mission du Canada” prints them for the first time in full. Shea gives a life of Alloüez in his “Discovery and Exploration of the Mississippi.” See also notes upon him in Margry’s Découvertes, etc., vol. i., pp. 57–72; also in Bancroft, in Shea’s Charlevoix, vol. iii., and in Shea’s “Catholic Missions in the United States.” Gravier and Parkman also give some account of his travels.

In June, 1671, St. Lusson, in the presence of a large number of Indians, took possession of the country on the lakes in the name of France. The “Procès verbal” of the ceremony is in Margry, vol. i., pp. 96 _et seq._

Perrot, a noted Canadian _voyageur_, in 1670–71 travelled along the shores of Green Bay. Perrot’s journal, which records the daily events of his life among the Indians from 1665 to 1726, was edited for the first time at Paris, in 1864, by Father Tailhan. It is entitled “Mémoires sur les mœurs et coustumes et relligion [sic] des sauvages de l’Amérique septentrionale.” Tailhan’s notes add value to the work. See regarding Perrot, Shea’s Charlevoix, vol. iii., p. 165, and _Historical Magazine_, vol. ix., p. 205.

A description of the geography of the country as known previous to the exploration of the Mississippi by Joliet and Marquette is given by Dablon in the “Relation de la Nouvelle France, les années 1670 et 1671,” Paris, 1672. See the Quebec reprint in “Relation des Jésuites,” vol. iii. The Relation, as printed in 1672, gave a map of the great lakes; for a description of which see Parkman’s “La Salle,” p. 450.

In 1673 Jacques Marquette and Louis Joliet navigated the Mississippi in canoes to the Arkansas. Father Marquette’s narrative of the voyage, in an imperfect form, was published by Thevenot in his “Recueil de Voyages,” Paris, 1681. Thevenot also published it as an independent work, with the title, “Voyage et découverte de quelques pays et nations de l’Amérique septentrionale.” In this latter shape it was reproduced by Rich, at Paris, in 1845. The map accompanying this version, and which is inserted in fac-simile in Bancroft, is said not to be by Marquette. The authentic map was first published in Shea’s “Discovery and Exploration of the Mississippi,” where the two maps are compared. The Thevenot text appears translated in French’s “Historical Collections of Louisiana,” pt. 2, pp. 279–297, and Spark’s “Life of Marquette,” in the “Library of American Biography,” vol. x., is, in a measure, a translation of it.

Marquette’s complete journal, prepared for publication, in 1678, by Claude Dablon, Superior of the Canadian Missions, remained inedited until Shea published it in his “Discovery and Exploration of the Mississippi,” New York, 1853, giving the original text and a translation. This version, known as the _Ste. Marie_ text, was reprinted in 1855, with important annotations, by Shea, under the title, “Récit des voyages et des découvertes du R. P. J. Marquette, en l’année 1673, et aux suivantes; la continuation de ses voyages par C. Alloüez, et le journal autographe, du P. Marquette en 1674 et 1675.” [Albanie: Imprimerie de Weed, Parsons et Cie.] 1855 (10), 169 (2), pp. Map, 12mo. Martin’s “Mission du Canada, Relations inédites (1672–1679),” vol. ii., contains a modified version of the _Ste. Marie_ text. Hennepin’s spurious “New Discovery,” London, 1698 and 1699, has, as an appendix, a poor translation of the Thevenot production.

Joliet, while on his way to Montreal to report his discoveries, lost his memoranda and maps. He was enabled, however, to draw up a brief recital from memory, which, with a map, he presented to Frontenac in 1674.

Two versions of this narrative are printed in Margry’s Collection, vol. i., pp. 259–270. Dablon despatched to his Superior at Paris an account derived from Joliet’s verbal testimony, which may be found printed in Martin’s “Mission du Canada,” vol. i., pp. 193–204. A translation is given in the _Historical Magazine_, vol. v., pp. 237–239. A letter sent by Joliet from Quebec, October 10, 1674, briefly recounts his late adventures. It may be found in Harrisse’s “Notes pour servir à l’Histoire [etc.] de la Nouvelle France,” pp. 322 and 323. A narrative based upon Joliet’s report is appended to Hennepin’s “New Discovery,” London, 1698.

Joliet made several maps, showing his discoveries, only one of which has been edited. Gravier’s “Étude sur une carte inconnue, la première dressée par L. Joliet en 1674,” contains a fac-simile of the map in question. A letter from the discoverer to Frontenac is inscribed upon it. Gravier considers this map, apparently with good reason, to be the earliest representation of the course of the Mississippi from personal knowledge.

Frontenac’s letter announcing the successful result of Joliet’s mission is printed in Margry, vol. i., p. 257, and a translation is inserted in the “New York Colonial Documents,” vol. ix., p. 116. See the following for notices of Joliet: Faillon’s “Histoire de la Colonie française en Canada,” vol. iii.; Ferland’s “Notes sur les régistres de Notre-Dame;” Margry’s articles in the _Revue Canadienne_, December, 1871, January, March, 1872. French’s Historical Collections, second series, has a brief biography. The works hereafter cited upon the history of the discovery of the Mississippi necessarily include a history of the Marquette-Joliet expedition.

We now come to La Salle, Hennepin, and Tonty, 1669–87. Margry’s “Découvertes et établissements des Français dans l’Ouest et dans le sud de l’Amérique septentrionale, 1614–1698,” Paris, 1879–81, contains the documents which the editor collected in the archives of France. This work now comprises four large octavo volumes, three of which are mainly devoted to documents upon La Salle’s explorations. The contents of these three volumes are arranged under the following heads: 1re partie, “Voyages des Français sur les grands lacs et Découverte de l’Ohio et du Mississipi (1614–1684);” 2me partie, “Lettres de La Salle;” 3me partie, “Recherche des bouches du Mississipi (1669–1698).” The more important of these papers are indicated hereafter in their chronological order. The fourth volume of this collection embraces the documents relating to D’Iberville’s colony, at the mouth of the Mississippi, 1698–1703.

In 1669 La Salle, accompanied by Dollier and Gallinée, set out from Montreal to discover the Mississippi. They proceeded in company to the western extremity of Lake Ontario. At this place La Salle, professing illness, parted from the missionaries, ostensibly to return to Montreal. Dollier and Gallinée continued their journey along the northern shores of Lake Erie, thus taking a course hitherto untravelled, and reached Sault Ste. Marie in May, 1670, having spent the winter on the shores of Lake Erie. Gallinée’s journal, entitled “Récit de ce qui s’est passé de plus rémarquable dans le voyage de MM. Dollier et Gallinée,” is printed in Margry, vol. i., pp. 112–166. The Abbé Faillon, who first discovered the records of this journey, gives a synopsis of Gallinée’s recital, with a fac-simile of his map, in the third volume of his “Histoire de la Colonie française en Canada.”

O. M. Marshall’s pamphlet, entitled “The First Visit of La Salle to the Senecas,” Buffalo, 1874, contains a textual translation of this document. The Société historique, of Montreal, published in 1875 an edition of this journal, with notes by the Abbé Verreau. Margry prints in his collection, vol. i., pp. 342–402, a narrative which he calls “Récital d’un ami de l’Abbé de Gallinée.” This purports to be notes, taken by the writer, who Margry thinks was the Abbé Renaudot, of conversations had with La Salle at Paris in 1678, in which he recounted his adventures in Canada from 1667 to 1678. In it is stated that after leaving Dollier and Gallinée, instead of going to Montreal, La Salle kept on until he reached the Ohio, and later went to the Mississippi by way of the Illinois. Parkman prints extracts from this paper in his “Discovery of the Great West,” but does not credit it wholly; he, however, admits that La Salle discovered the Ohio, and most likely the Illinois. It is upon this document, that Margry bases his claim that La Salle was the first to reach the Mississippi.

The following writers take issue with Margry: Brucker, “J. Marquette et la Découverte du Mississipi,” Lyon, 1880, and in the “Études religieuses,” vol. v.; Harrisse, in “Notes pour servir à l’Histoire [etc.] de la Nouvelle France,” Paris, 1872; in an article entitled “Histoire critique de la Découverte du Mississipi,” in the _Revue maritime et coloniale_, vol. xxxii, pp. 642–663.

Shea, in whom Margry finds perhaps his most strenuous opponent, discusses the question in an address read on the bi-centennial of Marquette’s voyage, published in the “Wisconsin Historical Society Collections,” vol. vii., pp. 111–122. He has, however, published a pamphlet, in which he examines the matter more in detail, entitled “The Bursting of P. Margry’s La Salle Bubble,” New York, 1879. Tailhan, in notes to Perrot, and the Abbé Verreau in his edition of Gallinée’s journal, also refute Margry. Colonel Whittlesey’s tract, forming No. 38 of the Western Reserve Historical Society’s publications, entitled “Discovery of the Ohio by La Salle, 1669–70,” is an inquiry upon the subject. Margry presents his arguments in full, in articles upon “Les Normands dans les vallées de l’Ohio et du Mississippi,” published in the _Journal géneral de l’Instruction publique_, Paris, 1862. See also a paper by him in the _Revue maritime et coloniale_, vol. xxxiii., pp. 555–559; his pamphlet, “La Priorité de La Salle sur le Mississipi,” Paris, 1873; a letter in the _American Antiquary_, vol. i., pp. 206–209, Chicago, 1880, and in remarks in the preface to his “Découvertes et établissements des Français,” vol. i.

Gravier in his “Découvertes de La Salle,” Paris, 1870, in the “Compte rendu of the Congrès des Américanistes,” 1877, pt. i., pp. 237–312, and in _The Magazine of American History_, vol. viii., p. 305, supports the Margry theory.

In August, 1679, La Salle having completed his arrangements and obtained letters patent from the king for another attempt upon the Mississippi, set sail in the Griffon, upon Lake Erie, and arrived at Michilimackinac about two weeks later. The Illinois was reached in January, 1680, but owing to adverse circumstances, La Salle being compelled, for want of supplies and other causes, to make twice the journey between the Illinois and Canada, the exploration of the Mississippi was not accomplished until April, 1682. The adventures of La Salle’s party upon the great lakes and in the Illinois country, previous to the voyage down the Mississippi in 1682, are recounted with minute detail in the “Relation des Descouvertes et des Voyages du Sieur de La Salle, 1679–81,” printed in Margry’s Collection, vol. i., pp. 435–594.

Margry considers this paper to be the official report drawn up by the Abbé Bernou from La Salle’s letters. The account of the journey to Fort Crevecœur in 1679–80, given in this narrative, is nearly identical with the description of the same voyage in Hennepin’s “Description de la Louisiane.” For this reason Margry charges Hennepin with plagiary, which calls out a defence of the latter by Shea, in his edition of Hennepin’s “Louisiana,” where the two narratives are compared. Membré’s journal in Le Clercq’s “Premier Établissement de la Foy,” Paris, 1691, which is reproduced in English in Shea’s “Discovery and Exploration of the Mississippi,” and Tonty’s Memoirs, which will be more fully described farther on, also report this stage of the explorations. Hennepin’s spurious “Nouvelle Découverte” also contains an account, which does not differ materially from that given in the “Description de la Louisiane.”

Mathieu Sâgean, who claimed to have been with La Salle in 1679–80, dictated from memory, in 1701, a report of his adventures in Canada. See Parkman’s La Salle, p. 658, concerning Sâgean’s pretensions. Shea published Sâgean’s narrative in 1863, with the title, “Extrait de la Relation des avantures et voyage de M. Sâgean.”

In February, 1680, Hennepin, by La Salle’s orders, set out from Fort Crevecœur for the upper Mississippi. He ascended that river to the Sioux country, and discovered St. Anthony’s Falls. Hennepin’s first work, “Description de la Louisiane,” Paris, 1683, relates the events of this expedition, and also gives an account of La Salle’s journey from Canada to the Illinois in 1679–80. Shea gives in his “Discovery and Exploration of the Mississippi” the portion of this work relating the voyage to the upper Mississippi. Hennepin’s works are held in disrepute, owing to undoubted plagiarisms and falsifications which characterize some of them. Shea, however, shows in the preface to his edition of the “Description of Louisiana,” New York, 1880, that this charge applies only to the “Nouvelle Découverte” and “Nouveau Voyage,” and other works made up from these two last, and that they were probably published without Hennepin’s sanction. Parkman agrees with Shea in considering the “Description de la Louisiane” to be an authentic work.

For criticisms upon Hennepin, see Sparks’ “La Salle;” Parkman’s “Discovery of the Great West;” Harrisse’s “Notes pour servir à l’Histoire [etc.] de la Nouvelle France,” p. 145; and the preface to Margry’s Découvertes, etc. Shea’s early judgment upon Hennepin, which he has modified as indicated above, is given in his “Discovery and Exploration of the Mississippi.” E. D. Neill, in a pamphlet entitled “The Writings of L. Hennepin,” lately published by the Minnesota Historical Society, dissents from Shea’s exculpation of Hennepin, and declares that no evidence has been produced to clear him from the charge of plagiary.

The bi-centenary of Hennepin’s discovery of St. Anthony’s Falls was celebrated by the Minnesota Historical Society in 1880, and the proceedings on the occasion will be reported in the next volume of its collections. The account of a pretended voyage by Hennepin down the Mississippi, taken from the spurious “New Discovery,” London, 1698, is inserted in “French’s Historical Collections,” part i., pp. 195–222; also in volume one of the “Archæologia Americana,” published by the American Antiquarian Society. The latter work also contains an account of La Salle’s last voyage, taken from the same unreliable source.

Shea’s edition of Hennepin’s “Louisiana” contains a bibliography of the numerous memoirs, issued under Hennepin’s name, where also may be found a translation of La Salle’s letter of August, 1682, reporting the voyage on the upper Mississippi. Du L’hut, who, in 1679, visited the Sioux near Lake Superior, and later descended the St. Croix to the Mississippi and rescued Hennepin from the Sioux, gives an account of his adventures in a “Mémoire sur la Découverte du pays des Nadouecioux dans le Canada,” which is printed in Harrisse’s Notes, pp. 177–181, and translated in Shea’s Hennepin.

The “Procès verbal de prise de possession de la Louisiane, à l’embouchure de la mer ou Golphe du Mexique, 9 avril, 1682,” in Margry, vol. ii., pp. 186–193, gives the principal incidents of the voyage down the Mississippi from the Illinois. This document may also be found in Gravier’s “La Salle,” and in English in Sparks’ “Life of La Salle,” also in French’s “Historical Collections,” part i., and with the title, “Narrative of the Expedition of La Salle to explore the (Mississippi) Colbert River, in 1682,” in French’s Historical Collections, second series, pp. 17–27, New York, 1875.

La Salle’s letter, written at the junction of the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers, printed in Margry, vol. ii., pp. 164–180, a translation of which is given in _The Magazine of American History_, vol. ii., pp. 619–622, describes the journey to the Missouri.

The procès verbal of the act of taking possession at the Arkansas, March 13 and 14, 1682, in Margry, vol. ii., p. 181, reports another stage of the voyage. Membré’s journal of the entire expedition, first printed in Le Clercq’s “Établissement de la Foy,” Paris, 1691, is reproduced in English in Shea’s “Discovery of the Mississippi.” Shea has lately brought out an English translation of Le Clercq under the title, “First Establishment of the Faith in New France,” New York, 1881, two vols. 8vo. He there compares Membré’s narrative with Hennepin’s “Nouvelle Découverte” and “Nouveau Voyage,” and also points out the variations between it and the account published by Thomassy in his “Géologie pratique de la Louisiane.”

Thomassy’s document is entitled, “Relation de la Découverte de l’embouchure de la Rivière Mississipi.” Parkman considers it to be the “official report of the discovery made by La Salle, or perhaps for him by Membré,” and says that the Le Clercq narrative is based upon it.

To which Shea replies, that it “seems strange to assume that the fuller document given by Le Clercq must be drawn from a shorter form.”

The two documents are essentially identical, and afford trustworthy data upon the voyage.

According to Boimare, a manuscript copy of Membré’s journal exists in the library at Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

Henri de Tonty, who was with La Salle from 1678–83, reports the explorations during that time, in a memoir written at Quebec in 1684, which is published for the first time in Margry, vol. i., pp. 571–616. Another narrative by him, entitled “Mémoire envoyé en 1693 sur la Découverte du Mississipi, par de La Salle en 1678, et depuis sa mort par le sieur de Tonty,” is printed in its integrity in Margry’s “Relations et Mémoires inédits,” pp. 1–36, Paris, 1867. A translation of it is included in French’s “Historical Collections,” part i., pp. 52–83, and also in Falconer’s “Mississippi,” London, 1844. These two memoirs formed the basis of the work published under Tonty’s name, but which he disavowed, entitled “Dernieres découvertes dans l’Amérique septentrionale de M. de La Salle,” Paris, 1697.

This work was reproduced under the title of “Relation de la Louisianne” in Bernard’s “Recueil de voyages au Nord,” Amsterdam, 1720 and 1724.

An English translation was published at London in 1698, with the title, “An Account of La Salle’s Last Expedition and Discoveries,” and is reproduced in part in the New York Historical Society Collections, vol. ii., pp. 217–341.

Parkman says that the “Dernieres découvertes” is “a compilation full of errors.”

Margry prints in vol. i., pp. 547–570, of his Collection, a memoir entitled “Récit de la descouverte que M. de La Salle a faite de la rivière de Mississipi en 1682.” The author of the paper was Nicolas de La Salle, who wrote it in 1699, at the request of the French authorities, to serve as a guide to D’Iberville in his search for the Mississippi. Margry says that the writer bore no relationship to the discoverer.

La Salle’s memorial of 1684, proposing an expedition to the Gulf of Mexico, printed in Margry, vol. iii., pp. 17–30, and in French’s “Historical Collections,” part i., pp. 37–44, also in the second series of French’s publication, and in Falconer’s “Mississippi,” briefly indicates his discoveries up to that time.

The French documents, collected by Brodhead in the archives of the Departments of Marine and of War, and printed in the ninth volume of the “Documents relative to the Colonial History of New York,” Albany, 1855, include official correspondence which reports the movements of the explorers from time to time.