The cause of their fearless undertaking was we
told, to investigate the truth of an icea which
that era was prevalent among the Canadian
that a western passage through the American .
tinent existed to the Pacific Ocean. The A
hunters had spoken of a vast stream far away
west, which on their long excursions inev hau s
but of whose source, course, or termaшon
could tell nothing. This river was supposed
gorge itself into the Pacific Seas; anu, w piose
the inquiry, Father Marquette, a reconei mo..
Sieur Joliet, an Indian trader of (que », un ..
ity of M. Talon, Intendant of sew a lancu, ne
singular enterprise, entered upon w t
Thridding the great chain of the 201
in their slender skiffs, and pulous
River, on the 17th of June,

pean descended the "a

natives whom they met b

and entertained with a Goon...

beings. Among

ding on both sides d'

and their nation was mos

the Miamies, M Kahokias, Pe

nevolent, unwi the mouth of ha sipi, the Fant thear design was of the native -

whose rendanu z

life: nor dr

....

; and eceived

---broken

pposed to ay," not far is a singular e hundred feet

4

146

THE FAR WEST.

f that

the Piasa cliff above. Turning up deli
therefore, they glided with amazemente
green woodlands and over the silvery m
and in the present era of "speculators
beautiful stream. It is, perhaps, at this day,
omists," hardly possible to conceive the
emotions which must then have swelled the b
of those simple-hearted men. Sieur Jolie

return to Canada, published

an account of his

ventures, in which narrative language

seems as

a missiy

too meager for description of the golden
had seen. Father Marquette remained a
among the peaceful Indians. To the river party
explored was given the name of the celebrated C
bert, Minister of Marine, by Count de Fronte
and to the trader Joliet, as a reward, was grated
the island of Anticosti in the Gulf of St. Lawrence

Years passed away, and no enterprising spirit ros
up to prosecute the discoveries already made. The
missionary Marquette died among the Indians two
years after, and Joliet took possession of his island
At length appears M. Robert, Cavalier de la Salle,
a native of Rouen in Normandy, celebrated as the
birthplace of Fontenelle and the two Corneilles,
and for the martyrdom of the heroic Maid of Or
leans more than two centuries before.
was a man of bold talents and dauntless enterprise.
Ambitious of fame and wealth, he emigrated to
Canada; listened to the wonderful tales of the end-
less river; conceived the idea of a North west Pas-
La Salle
sage to the East Indies; communicated his views
to the commandant of Fort Frontenac on Lake On-

A

and was advised to lay his plan before the of St. Cloud. On his arrival at Paris, under atronage of the Prince de Conti, La Salle red letters of nobility and extensive grants of land merica. Associating with himself the Chevade Tonti, an Italian officer, who had the pecuty of a copper hand as substitute to one lost in wars of Sicily, and Father Lewis Hennepin, a nciscan friar, as historian and missionary, togethwith about thirty others, the enterprise was imdiately entered upon, under special sanction of uis XIV., king of France. After a variety of rtune, prosperous and adverse, they reached the linois, and having descended that beautiful river me distance, discovered an Indian village conisting of five hundred cabins completely deserted. Here, having found a large quantity of corn concealed in the earth under each of the wigwams, the party remained six days. Descending ninety miles, they came to Peoria Lake, where they found two encampments of the natives. At first hostility was manifested, but soon they were on most amicable terms with the voyageurs, and a feasting, and dancing, and rejoicing was kept up for three days. Not long after this the boat containing supplies was lost upon "Le Baie des Puants," or Green Bay; and La Salle was forced to erect a fort, which received the appropriate name of "Creve Cœur"-broken heart. The site of this fortification is supposed to have been a spot now called "Spring Bay," not far from Peoria, on the Illinois. This is a singular

place. It is a broad sand basin, some hundred feet

in diameter, opening upon the river, the waters of which, in the higher stages, fill it to the brim, but when low they retire, and a number of large springs gush copiously forth from three sides of the ridge, and form a stream. "Blue Creek" empties itself just below, crossed by a bridge of earth, while yet farther down is seen a large mound, which has been opened, and found to contain human remains twenty feet from the summit.

At the time of the erection of Fort Creve Cœur the Illini were at war with the warlike Iroquois Indians; and the former, anticipating assistance from their friends the French, and receiving none, resolved to destroy La Salle. His boldness and eloquence alone saved him and restored amity. No sooner was this disturbance quelled than a mutiny arose among his own men. On Christmasday his dinner was poisoned, and powerful medicine alone saved his life.

Preparations were now made to explore the Mississippi. Father Hennepin, with four Frenchmen, two Indians, and M. Dacan, commander, ascended the river to the falls, and named them, in honour of their patron saint, St. Anthony. They were here taken prisoners by a party of Sioux, carried one hundred and sixty miles into the interior to their villages, and detained several months, when they regained their liberty. Father Hennepin returned to Canada, and subsequently to France, where he published his travels in splendid style, dedicating the book to the celebrated Colbert. These early writings, though deeply imbued with a spirit of su

perstition and exaggeration, are yet valuable as the only records of the time. The chief of these historians were Hennepin, Tonti, and Charlevoix.* Difficulties arising with the Indians, La Salle resolved to erect antoher fort, which, after infinite difficulty, was completed. The site is described as a rock, very high, the top of which was even and of convenient space, so that it commanded the river and country round about." This description applies to no place on the Illinois so well as to the "Starved Rock." The fort was called "St. Louis."

66

La Salle visited Canada, and a crowd of adventurers returned with him. Descending the Illinois and Mississippi, the company stopped for some time at the mouth of the Missouri, then the Osage River, and found a village of the Taumarwaus, which was deserted, the natives being on a hunting expedition. In three days they were at the Oubachi or Ohio. At the Chicasaw Bluffs a fort called Prudhomme was erected, and formal possession of the country first taken, and, in honour of the reigning monarch, named Louisiana. Several other forts were erected, and one of them, the ruins of which yet remain, is supposed to have stood between St. Louis and Carondelet. Descending the river on the 7th of April, 1683, La Salle reached the Gulf of Mexico, where a Te Deum was sung; a cross, with the arms of France, was suspended from the summit of a lofty tree; and the river, which had occupied three months in its exploration of about one thousand miles, was named "St. * See Appendix.

VOL. II.-O