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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/30145-8.txt b/30145-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..9f24e6e --- /dev/null +++ b/30145-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,3012 @@ +Project Gutenberg's Pathfinders of the Great Plains, by Lawrence J. Burpee + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Pathfinders of the Great Plains + A Chronicle of La Vérendrye and his Sons + +Author: Lawrence J. Burpee + +Release Date: October 1, 2009 [EBook #30145] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK PATHFINDERS OF THE GREAT PLAINS *** + + + + +Produced by Al Haines (This file was produced from images +obtained from The Internet Archive) + + + + + + + + + + +PATHFINDERS OF + +THE GREAT PLAINS + + +A Chronicle of La Vérendrye and his Sons + +BY + +LAWRENCE J. BURPEE + + + +TORONTO + +GLASGOW, BROOK & COMPANY + +1914 + + + + + Copyright in all Countries subscribing to + the Berne Convention + + + + +{ix} + +CONTENTS + + Page + + I. EARLY SERVICE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 + II. FIRST ATTEMPT AT EXPLORATION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 + III. ACROSS THE PLAINS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44 + IV. THE MANDAN INDIANS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55 + V. THE DISCOVERY OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS . . . . . . . . . . 72 + VI. LA VÉRENDRYES' LATTER DAYS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92 + BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113 + INDEX . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115 + + + + +ILLUSTRATIONS + +LA VÉRENDRYE EXPLORATIONS, 1731-43 . . . . . . . . . _Facing page_ 1 + Map by Bartholomew. + +AN INDIAN ENCAMPMENT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . " " 48 + Painting by Paul Kane. + +AN ASSINIBOINE INDIAN . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . " " 52 + From a pastel by Edmund Morris. + +MANDAN GIRLS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . " " 68 + From Pritchard's 'Natural History of Man.' + +TABLET DEPOSITED BY LA VÉRENDRYE, 1743 . . . . . . . " " 90 + From photographs lent by Charles N. Bell, + F.R.G.S., President of the Manitoba + Historical and Scientific Society. + +THE MARQUIS DE LA GALISSONIÈRE . . . . . . . . . . . " " 96 + From an engraving in the Château de Ramezay. + + + +[Illustration: La Vérendrye Explorations, 1731-43] + + + + +{1} + +CHAPTER I + +EARLY SERVICE + +Canada has had many brave sons, but none braver than Pierre Gaultier de +La Vérendrye, who gave all that he had, including his life, for the +glory and welfare of his country. La Vérendrye was born in the quaint +little town of Three Rivers, on the St Lawrence, on November 17, 1685. +His father was governor of the district of which Three Rivers was the +capital; his mother was a daughter of Pierre Boucher, a former governor +of the same district. In those days, when Canada was still a French +colony, both Three Rivers and Montreal had their own governors, while +the whole colony was under the authority of the governor-general, who +lived at Quebec. + +At that time Three Rivers was a more important place than it is to-day. +Next to Quebec and Montreal, it was the largest town in Canada. If we +could see it as it was in the days of La Vérendrye, we should find it +very {2} different from the towns we know. It was surrounded by a +strong wall and protected with cannon. The town had always a garrison +of regular soldiers, and this garrison was supported in times of +necessity by every man and boy in Three Rivers. Those who lived in the +neighbourhood were also liable to be called upon for the service of +defence. In those days, when the dreaded Iroquois might at any moment +swoop down upon the little settlement, every man kept his gun within +reach, and every man knew how to use it. When the alarm was given, +men, women, and children swarmed into Three Rivers, and the town became +a secure fortress; for the Indians, ready enough to ambush small +parties of white men in the forest or in the fields, rarely dared to +attack walled towns. + +In this little walled town Pierre Gaultier de La Vérendrye was born, +and spent his boyhood. He was one of ten children, so that he must +have had no lack of companions. We have no exact description of the +home of the governor of Three Rivers, but it was probably much like +that of other seigneurs or landed gentry of New France--a low, +rambling, stone building, with walls solid enough to resist a siege, +perhaps a wing or two, many {3} gables, and a lofty roof. It would be +flanked, too, with many outhouses. It must not be supposed, however, +that the governor of Three Rivers and his family lived in luxury. +People then were obliged to live more simply than they live to-day. +The governor had a salary of 1200 francs a year, or about 240 dollars +of the money of the present day. At that time, it is true, food and +clothing were cheaper than they are now, so that this sum would buy a +great deal more than it would at the present time; and the governor had +other slight resources, for he was able to add to his official income +the profits of a small farm and of a trading post on the St Maurice +river. Still, it was a small income on which to support a family of +ten lusty children, and at the same time keep up the dignity of the +position as governor of an important town. Pierre, therefore, like +most of the other boys of New France, had to shift for himself at an +age when the boys of to-day are still at school. + +In those days there was practically only one career for a gentleman's +son--that of a soldier. Accordingly we find Pierre entering the army +as a cadet at the age of twelve. Nothing is known of his military +service up to the year 1704. In that year, however, he took part in +{4} an expedition against Deerfield, on the north-western frontier of +the colony of Massachusetts. The expedition was commanded by a +well-known guerilla leader, Hertel de Rouville, and consisted of about +fifty Canadians and two hundred Abnakis and Caughnawagas. These +adventurers and redskins were accustomed to all kinds of hardship. In +the depth of winter they set out from Montreal to make a journey of +nearly three hundred miles. They travelled on snow-shoes through the +forest, carrying supplies and provisions on their backs. At the end of +a long day's tramp, some comparatively sheltered spot would be found +for the camp; the snow would be cleared away with their snowshoes, and +a big camp-fire built in the midst of the clearing. Round this the +weary men, white and red, would gather to eat their simple meal and +smoke a pipe; then each man would wrap himself in his cloak or blanket +and fall asleep, with his feet towards the fire. From time to time +some one, warned by the increasing cold, would spring up to throw on +the fire another log or two. With the first appearance of dawn, the +party would be once more astir; a hasty breakfast would be swallowed, +and they would be off again on their long tramp to the south. + +{5} + +So day after day they journeyed until at last, just when they had come +to the very end of their provisions, they arrived within sight of the +doomed little English frontier village of Deerfield. In the dead of +the night Rouville called a halt in a pine forest two miles from the +village, and made preparations to surprise the inhabitants. The people +of Deerfield were wholly unconscious of the danger from the approach of +the French raiders. Although the place had a rude garrison this force +was ineffective, since it had little or no discipline. On this +particular night even the sentries seem to have found their patrol duty +within the palisades of the village so uncomfortable, in the bitter +night air, that they had betaken themselves to bed. + +Parkman has described the next step: + + +Rouville and his men, savage with hunger, lay shivering under the pines +till about two hours before dawn; then, leaving their packs and their +snow-shoes behind, they moved cautiously towards their prey. There was +a crust on the snow strong enough to bear their weight, though not to +prevent a rustling noise, as it crunched under the weight of so many +men. It is said that from time to time Rouville commanded a halt, in +order {6} that the sentinels, if such there were, might mistake the +distant sound for rising and falling gusts of wind. In any case, no +alarm was given till they had mounted the palisade and dropped silently +into the unconscious village. Then with one accord they screeched the +war-whoop, and assailed the doors of the houses with axes and hatchets. + + +The surprised villagers, awakened out of their sleep to find a howling +force of French and Indians in their midst, hastily barricaded their +doors, and fought desperately with any weapons they could snatch up. +In some cases the defenders succeeded in keeping the enemy at bay; but +others were not so successful. The French and the Indians, hacked +openings in the doors and the windows of some of the houses, and +through these shot down the inmates. Finally, when day broke, the +French had gained possession of most of the village. Then they +collected their prisoners and drove them out to their camp in the +forest. A few burned houses, a score or so of dead bodies, not only of +men but of helpless women and children, and a crowd of shivering +prisoners, some of whom were butchered by the way, were the evidences +of this inglorious victory. + +{7} + +From the plunder of the houses the victors obtained some provisions +which helped to feed their party on the long homeward journey. Before +noon of the following day they had started northward again, driving +their captives before them through the deep snow. The mid-winter tramp +through the wilderness proved extremely trying to both the French and +their prisoners, but particularly to the prisoners, among whom were +many women and children. Many of them were unaccustomed to snowshoes. +Yet now they had to make long forced marches in this way over the deep +snow. Food, too, was scarce. Some of the prisoners died of +starvation; others of exhaustion. Finally the remnant reached the +French settlements on the St Lawrence, where they were kindly treated +by the inhabitants. Some were afterwards exchanged for French captives +in New England, but many never again saw their former homes. + +The year after his return from the expedition to Deerfield, Pierre de +La Vérendrye took part in another raid against the English settlements. +On this occasion, however, the attack was not upon a New England +village, but against the town of St John's, in Newfoundland. The +expedition was commanded {8} by an officer named Subercase, who +afterwards became governor of Acadia. St John's was defended by two +forts, with small English garrisons. The French, who had about four +hundred and fifty soldiers, found themselves unable to capture the +forts. They therefore abandoned the attack on St John's and returned +to the French settlement of Placentia, burning, as they went, a number +of English fishing villages along the shore. + +This kind of warfare could not bring much honour to a young soldier, +and it was probably joyful news to Pierre to learn that he had been +appointed an ensign in the Bretagne regiment of the Grenadiers serving +in Flanders. He sailed from Canada in 1706, and for three years fought +with his regiment in what was known as the War of the Spanish +Succession, in which the English armies were commanded by the famous +Duke of Marlborough. Finally, at the terrible battle of Malplaquet, in +which thousands of both English and French were killed, Pierre so +distinguished himself that he won the rank of lieutenant. He received +no less than nine wounds, and was left for dead upon the field. +Fortunately he managed to escape, to render to his country in the years +to come much greater service. + +{9} + +Finding that there was little hope of further promotion in the French +army, since he had no influence in high quarters, Pierre returned to +Canada. After several years' service in the colonial forces, he +abandoned the army, and engaged in the fur trade. As a boy at Three +Rivers, he had enjoyed many chances of meeting the fur-traders who came +down to the little town on the St Lawrence with their packs of valuable +peltry, and had shown an especial and fascinated interest in their +stories of the boundless country that lay north and west of the string +of settlements on the St Lawrence. This country was so vast in extent +that even the most remote tribes yet visited by the white traders could +state nothing definite as to its outer boundaries, though, in answer to +the eager questions of the white men, they invented many untrue tales +about it. + +The fur-traders themselves were divided into two classes. The more +staid and respectable class built trading forts in the interior on the +borders of territories occupied by the Indians. Here they kept a +supply of the things required by the natives: guns, powder and balls, +tobacco, blankets, bright-coloured cotton, axes and small tools, flints +and steels, vermilion for war-paint, and beads of every colour and {10} +description. The Indians brought their furs into the forts and +bartered them for the goods that they needed. Sometimes, with no sense +of real values, they traded beaver skins and other pelts of high worth +for a piece of gaudy cotton, a little vermilion, or a handful of beads. +The white men, of course, brought things which rapidly became +indispensable to the Indians, whose native bows and arrows and hatchets +of stone seemed almost useless compared with the muskets and the steel +axes brought from Europe. To acquire these things became vital to the +Indians, and the traders who now supplied them acquired each year +thousands of beautiful furs. These were tied up securely into packs +and carried in canoes down to Montreal or Three Rivers, where they were +bought by the great merchants and sent by ship to France. The furs +that had been bought from the Indian for a mere trifle fetched hundreds +of francs when they finally reached Paris. + +The second class of traders, known as coureurs de bois, or +wood-runners, were very different from the first. Speaking generally, +they were young men, sometimes of good family, who found life in the +older towns and settlements prosaic and uninteresting, and when {11} +they went to the interior did not care to be tied down to the humdrum +existence of the trading forts. Instead of requiring the Indians to +bring their furs down to some fort, these enterprising rovers of the +forest went into the Indian country. Sometimes they took light trading +goods with them to barter with the redskins for furs, but oftener they +themselves hunted and trapped the beaver, the otter, and the fox. The +coureurs de bois were generally men of reckless courage, ready to face +danger and hardship. From long living among the savages they +themselves became in time half savage. Some of them took Indian wives +and were adopted into the tribes. + +When one of these wood-runners had obtained a quantity of furs, he made +them up into packs, loaded them carefully in his canoe, and set out for +the distant settlements, Montreal, Three Rivers, or Quebec. He knew +the wild northern streams as well as any Indian; he could run his canoe +safely down a rapid where an inch one way or the other would dash it +against the rocks; and he could paddle all day with only an occasional +stop for a meal or a smoke. When he came to an impassable rapid or +waterfall, he beached his canoe and carried everything--canoe, packs, +gun, and {12} provisions--overland to the navigable water ahead. At +night he pulled his canoe ashore, built a campfire, and cooked over the +flames a partridge, a wild duck, or a venison steak. If he had not +been fortunate enough to meet with such game, he made a simple meal of +pemmican--dried venison mixed with fat--a supply of which he always +carried in a bag in case of need. Then he smoked his pipe, rolled +himself in his blanket, placed his gun within reach, and slept soundly +until the sun awakened him on the following morning. When he reached +the far-off towns on the St Lawrence, he traded part of his furs for +any goods which he needed, and was only too likely to get rid of the +rest in dissipation. As soon as his money was spent, he would turn his +back on civilization and live once more the wild life of the Indian +country. + +From such men as these, who were constantly to be seen in the little +town of Three Rivers, Pierre de La Vérendrye heard many stories of the +wonderful country that lay far towards the setting sun. They told him +of mighty rivers and great lakes. Some of these they had seen; others +they had heard of from the Indians. Always the young man heard rumours +of a great _Mer de l'Ouest_, or Western {13} Sea, which French +explorers had been seeking ardently ever since the days of Jacques +Cartier and Samuel Champlain. In the earlier days, when the French +first came to Canada, this Western Sea was supposed to be somewhere +above Montreal. Probably the Indians who first spoke of it to Jacques +Cartier meant nothing more than Lake Ontario. Then, in the days of +Champlain, the sea was sought farther westward. Champlain heard +rumours of a great water beyond the Ottawa river. He paddled up the +Ottawa, reached Lake Nipissing, and, descending what is now known as +French River, found the immense body of water of which the Indians had +told him. He had discovered Lake Huron, but this, again, was not the +Western Sea. Other explorers, following in his footsteps, discovered +Lake Michigan and Lake Superior; but still neither of these was the +Western Sea. So, in La Vérendrye's day, men were dreaming of a Western +Sea somewhere beyond Lake Superior. How far was it westward of Lake +Superior? Who could tell? The Indians were always ready with a +plausible tale, and many believed that the Western Sea would still be +found at no great distance beyond the uppermost of the Great Lakes. + +{14} + +La Vérendrye was a young man of ambition and imagination. The spirit +of adventure called him to a great exploit in discovery, as it had +called earlier explorers French in blood--Jacques Cartier and Champlain +and Radisson, Nicolet and Etienne Brulé, Marquette and La Salle. They +one and all had sought diligently for the Western Sea; they had made +many notable discoveries, but in this one thing they all had failed. +La Vérendrye determined to strive even more earnestly than any of his +great predecessors to discover a way to the Western Sea, not so much +for his own advantage as for the honour and glory of his native +country. This great idea had been taking form in his mind from the +days of his early boyhood, when, seated before the great log fire in +his father's home in Three Rivers, he had first listened to the +stirring tales of the woodrunners. + +Years went by, however, before he could attempt to put his plans into +execution. Soon after his return from the French wars, he married the +daughter of a gentleman of New France named Dandonneau and made his +home on the island of Dupas in the St Lawrence, near Three Rivers. +Here four sons were born to him, all of whom were {15} later to +accompany their father on his western explorations. His principal +occupation at this time was to look after the trading-post of La +Gabelle on the St Maurice river, not far from the point where it +discharges its waters into the St Lawrence. + +La Vérendrye's experience and capacity as a fur-trader, gained at this +post of La Gabelle, led the governor of the colony to offer him, in the +year 1726, the command of an important trading fort on Lake Nipigon, +north of Lake Superior. With his great project of western exploration +always in mind, he eagerly accepted the offer. For three or four years +he remained in command of the Nipigon post, faithfully discharging his +duties as a fur-trader, but with his mind always alert for any +information that might help him later to discover a way to the Western +Sea. + +One day there came to him from the Kaministikwia river--on which the +city of Fort William now stands--an Indian named Ochagach. According +to his own story, Ochagach had travelled far towards the setting sun, +until he came to a great lake, out of which a river flowed westward. +He said that he had paddled down this river until he reached a point +where the water ebbed and flowed. {16} Through fear of the savage +tribes that inhabited the shores of the river, he had not gone to its +mouth, but he had been told that the river emptied into a great salt +lake or sea, upon the coasts of which dwelt men of terrifying mien, who +lived in fortified towns; he had been told that these men wore armour +and rode on horseback, and that great ships visited the towns which +they had built on the coasts. + +Ochagach's story made a deep impression on La Vérendrye. Not that he +accepted the whole account as true. He knew too well the wild +imagination of the Indian, and his delight in telling marvellous tales +to the white men. But the river that flowed westward and fell into a +great sea answered so closely to his own dream, and seemed on the whole +so probable, that he was persuaded of the truth of the story. He +determined, therefore, to surrender his command of the Nipigon post and +to equip an expedition for the discovery of the Western Sea, which now +seemed to be within comparatively easy reach. To do this, he must +obtain the permission and support of the governor-general of Canada, +the Marquis de Beauharnois. He therefore set out for Quebec, taking +with him a rough map which Ochagach had drawn for him. This map {17} +professed to make clear the position of the countries which Ochagach +declared that he had visited. + +The governor at Quebec was keenly interested in these plans for western +discovery, and wrote immediately to the French king, urging that La +Vérendrye should be provided with one hundred men and the necessary +supplies and equipment. But King Louis at this time was deeply engaged +in European wars and intrigues and could not spare any money for the +work of exploration. All that he would grant was a monopoly of the +western fur trade. That is to say, La Vérendrye was to be allowed to +build trading forts in the country which he was about to explore, and, +out of the profits of his traffic with the Indians, he might pay the +cost of his expedition to the Western Sea. No other French traders +would be permitted to trade in this part of the country. + +This was sorry encouragement to a man whose only desire was to bring +glory and honour to his native country; but it was all that could be +hoped for from the government or the king. La Vérendrye was too true a +leader to abandon plans merely because the road was not made easy for +him. As the king would not pay the cost of his expedition, he {18} +made up his mind to find help from some other source. He must have +men; he must have canoes, provisions, and goods to trade with the +natives. All this demanded a great deal of money. He devoted at once +to the cause his own little fortune, but this was far from sufficient. +Off he went to Montreal, to plead with its merchants to help him. The +merchants, however, were not much interested in his plans for western +discovery. They were business men without patriotism; they looked for +something that would bring profit, not for what might advance the +interests of their country. + +It thus happened that if La Vérendrye had had nothing to offer them but +the opportunity of sharing in the distinction of his great discovery, +they would have turned deaf ears to his appeal, no matter how eloquent +he might have been. But he was too shrewd a man to urge plans to which +he knew the merchants would not listen. He could turn the king's +monopoly to good account. 'Give me money to pay my men,' he said, 'and +goods to trade with the western tribes, and I will bring you rich +returns in beaver skins. No other traders are permitted to go into the +country west of Lake Superior. I will build trading forts {19} there. +From these as a base I will continue my search for the Western Sea. +All the profits of the enterprise, the rich furs that are brought into +my posts, shall be yours.' Here was something that the self-seeking +merchants could understand. They saw in the fur-trading monopoly a +chance of a golden harvest, a return of hundreds for every franc that +they advanced towards the expenses of the undertaking. With cheerful +haste, therefore, they agreed to pay the cost of the expedition. La +Vérendrye was delighted and lost no time in employing such persons as +he needed--soldiers, canoe-men, and hunters. Birch-bark canoes were +procured and laden with provisions, equipment, and packages of goods to +trade with the Indians; and in the early summer of 1731 all was ready +for the great western journey. With La Vérendrye were to go three of +his sons, Jean-Baptiste, Pierre, and François, and his nephew La +Jemeraye. A Jesuit missionary, Father Messager, would join the party +at Fort Michilimackinac, and the Indian Ochagach was to act as guide. + +{20} + +CHAPTER II + +FIRST ATTEMPT AT EXPLORATION + +As La Vérendrye led his men from the gates of Montreal to the river +where waited his little fleet of birch-bark canoes, his departure was +watched with varied and conflicting emotions. In the crowd that +surrounded him were friends and enemies; some who openly applauded his +design, others who less openly scoffed at it; priests exhorting him to +devote all his energies to furthering the missionary aims of their +Church among the wild tribes of the West; jealous traders commenting +among themselves upon the injustice involved in granting a monopoly of +the western fur trade to this scheming adventurer; partners in the +enterprise anxiously watching the loading of the precious merchandise +they had advanced to him, and wondering whether their cast of the dice +would bring fortune or failure; busybodies bombarding him with advice; +and a crowd of idle onlookers, divided in their minds {21} as to +whether La Vérendrye would return triumphantly from the Western Sea +laden with the spoils of Cathay and Cipango, or would fall a victim to +the half-human monsters that were reputed to inhabit the wilderness of +the West. + +But now everything was ready. La Vérendrye gave the word of command, +and the canoes leaped forward on their long voyage. A new search for +the Western Sea had begun. No man knew how it would end. The perils +and hardships encountered by the discoverers of America in crossing the +Atlantic were much less terrible than those with which La Vérendrye and +his men must battle in exploring the boundless plains of the unknown +West. The voyage across the sea would occupy but a few weeks; this +journey by inland waterways and across the illimitable spaces of the +western prairies would take many months and even years. There was a +daily menace from savage foes lurking on the path of the adventurers. +Hardy and dauntless must they be who should return safely from such a +quest. Little those knew who stood enviously watching the departure of +the expedition what bitter tribute its leader must pay to the +relentless gods of the Great Plains for his hardihood in invading their +savage domain. + +{22} + +The way lay up the broad and picturesque Ottawa, rich even then with +the romantic history of a century of heroic exploits. This was the +great highway between the St Lawrence and the Upper Lakes for +explorers, missionaries, war parties, and traders. Up this stream, one +hundred and eighteen years before, Champlain had pushed his way, +persuaded by the ingenious impostor Nicolas Vignau that here was the +direct road to Cathay. At St Anne's the expedition made a brief halt +to ask a blessing on the enterprise. Here the men, according to +custom, each received a dram of liquor. When they had again taken +their places, paddles dipped at the word of command, and, like a covey +of birds, the canoes skimmed over the dark waters of the Ottawa, +springing under the sinewy strokes of a double row of paddlers against +the swift current of the river. Following the shore closely, they made +rapid progress up-stream. At noon they landed on a convenient island, +where they quickly kindled a fire. A pot of tea was swung above it +from a tripod. With jest and story the meal went on, and as soon as it +was finished they were again afloat, paddling vigorously and making +quick time. Sunset approached--the brief but indescribably beautiful +sunset {23} of a Canadian summer. The sun sank behind the maples and +cedars, and a riot of colour flooded the western horizon. Rainbow hues +swept up half-way to the zenith, waving, mingling, changing from tint +to tint, as through the clouds flamed up the last brightness of the +sinking sun. A rollicking chorus sank away on the still air, and the +men gazed for a moment upon a scene which, however familiar, could +never lose its charm. The song of the birds was hushed. All nature +seemed to pause. Then as the outermost rim of the sun dropped from +sight, and the brilliant colouring of a moment ago toned to rose and +saffron, pink and mauve, the world moved on again, but with a seemingly +subdued motion. The voyageurs resumed their song, but the gay chorus +that had wakened echoes from the overhanging cliffs, + + En roulant ma boule, + Rouli, roulant, ma boule roulant, + En roulant ma boule roulant, + En roulant ma boule, + +was changed to the pathetic refrain of a song then as now dear to the +heart of French Canadians--_A la claire fontaine_. + +In the cool twilight the men paddled on, placing mile after mile +between them and {24} Montreal. Presently the river widened into a +lakelike expanse. The moon rose and shot its soft gleam across the +water. No ripple stirred the smooth surface, save where the paddles +dipped and the prow of each canoe cut like a knife through the stream. +Belated birds flew overhead, making for home. A stag broke through the +bushes on the farther shore, caught sight of the canoes, gazed at them +for a moment, and then disappeared. It was growing late when La +Vérendrye, from the foremost canoe, gave the word to camp. The canoes +turned shoreward, lightly touching the shelving bank, and the men +sprang nimbly to the land. Fires were lighted, the tents were pitched, +and everything was made snug for the night. The hunters had not been +idle during the day, and a dozen brace of birds were soon twirling +merrily on the spit, while venison steaks added appetizing odours. + +Their hunger satisfied, the men lounged about on the grass, smoking and +listening to the yarns of some famous story-teller. He would tell +them, perhaps, the pathetic story of Cadieux, who, on this very stream, +had held the dreaded Iroquois at bay while his comrades escaped. +Cadieux himself escaped the Iroquois, only to fall a victim to the +_folie des bois_, or {25} madness of the woods, wandering aimlessly in +circles, until, famished and exhausted, he lay down to die. When his +comrades returned in search of him, they found beside him a birch bark +on which he had written his death chant: + + Thou little rock of the high hill, attend! + Hither I come this last campaign to end! + Ye echoes soft, give ear unto my sigh; + In languishing I speedily shall die. + + Dear little birds, your dulcet harmony + What time you sing makes this life dear to me. + Ah! had I wings that I might fly like you; + Ere two days sped I should be happy too. + +Then, as the camp-fires sank into heaps of glowing embers, each man +would wrap his blanket about him and with kind mother earth for his +pillow and only the dome of heaven above him, would sleep as only those +may whose resting-place is in the free air of the wilderness. + +At sunrise they were once more away, on a long day's paddle up-stream. +They passed the Long Sault, where long before the heroic Dollard and +his little band of Frenchmen held at bay a large war party of +Iroquois--sacrificing their lives to save the little struggling colony +at Montreal. Again, their way lay beneath those towering cliffs +overlooking the Ottawa, on which now stand the Canadian Houses of {26} +Parliament. They had just passed the curtain-like falls of the Rideau +on one side, and the mouth of the turbulent Gatineau on the other, and +before them lay the majestic Chaudière. Here they disembarked. The +voyageurs, following the Indian example, threw a votive offering of +tobacco into the boiling cauldron, for the benefit of the dreaded +Windigo. Then, shouldering canoes and cargo, they made their way along +the portage to the upper stream, and, launching and reloading the +canoes, proceeded on their journey. So the days passed, each one +carrying them farther from the settlements and on, ever on, towards the +unknown West, and perhaps to the Western Sea. + +From the upper waters of the Ottawa they carried their canoes over into +a series of small lakes and creeks that led to Lake Nipissing, and +thence they ran down the French river to Lake Huron. Launching out +fearlessly on this great lake, they paddled swiftly along the north +shore to Fort Michilimackinac, where they rested for a day or two. +Fort Michilimackinac was on the south side of the strait which connects +Lake Huron and Lake Michigan, and lay so near the water that the waves +frequently broke against the stockade. Passing through the gates, +above which floated {27} the fleurs-de-lis of France, they found +themselves in an enclosure, some two acres in extent, containing thirty +houses and a small church. On the bastions stood in a conspicuous +position two small brass cannon, captured from the English at Fort +Albany on Hudson Bay, in 1686, by De Troyes and Iberville.[1] + +It was now the end of July, and La Vérendrye had still a long way to +go. After a brief rest, he gathered his party together, embarked once +more, and steered his way on that great inland sea, Lake Superior. All +that had gone before was child's play to what must now be encountered. +In contrast to the blue and placid waters of Lake Huron, the explorers +now found themselves in the midst of a dark and sombre sea, whose +waves, seldom if ever still, could on occasion rival the Atlantic in +their fierce tumult. Even in this hottest month of the year the water +was icy cold, and the keen wind that blew across the lake forced those +who were not paddling to put on extra clothing. They must needs be +hardy and experienced voyageurs who could safely navigate these mad +waters in frail bark canoes. Slowly they made their way along the +north shore, buffeted by storms and in constant peril of their lives, +until at last, on {28} August 26, they reached the Grand Portage, near +the mouth of the Pigeon river, or about fifteen leagues south-west of +Fort Kaministikwia, where the city of Fort William now stands. + +La Vérendrye would have pushed on at once for Lac la Pluie, or Rainy +Lake, where he purposed to build the first of his western posts, but +when he ordered his men to make the portage there was first deep +muttering, and then open mutiny. Two or three of the boatmen, bribed +by La Vérendrye's enemies at Montreal, had drawn such terrible pictures +of the horrors before them, and had so played upon the fears of their +superstitious comrades, that these now refused flatly to follow their +leader into the unhallowed and fiend-infested regions which lay beyond. +The hardships they had already endured, and the further hardships of +the long and difficult series of portages which lay between them and +Rainy Lake, also served to dishearten the men. Some of them, however, +had been with La Jemeraye at Lake Pepin, on the Mississippi, and were +not to be dismayed. These La Vérendrye persuaded to continue the +exploration. The others gradually weakened in their opposition, and at +last it was agreed that La Jemeraye, with half the men, should go on to +Rainy Lake and build a {29} fort there, while La Vérendrye, with the +other half, should spend the winter at Kaministikwia, and keep the +expedition supplied with provisions. + +In this way the winter passed. The leader was, we may be sure, +restless at the delay and impatient to advance farther. The spring +brought good news. Late in May La Jemeraye returned from Rainy Lake, +bringing canoes laden with valuable furs, the result of the winter's +traffic. These were immediately sent on to Michilimackinac, for +shipment to the partners at Montreal. La Jemeraye reported that he had +built a fort at the foot of a series of rapids, where Rainy Lake +discharges into the river of the same name. He had built the fort in a +meadow, among groves of oak. The lake teemed with fish, and the woods +which lined its shores were alive with game, large and small. The +picture was one to make La Vérendrye even more eager to advance. On +June 8 he set out with his entire party for Fort St Pierre, as the new +establishment had been named, to commemorate his own name of Pierre. +It took a month to traverse the intricate chain of small lakes and +streams, with their many portages, connecting Lake Superior and Rainy +Lake. + +{30} + +After a short rest at Fort St Pierre, La Vérendrye pushed on rapidly, +escorted in state by fifty canoes of Indians, to the Lake of the Woods. +Here he built a second post, Fort St Charles, on a peninsula running +out far into the lake on the south-west side--an admirable situation, +both for trading purposes and for defence. This fort he describes as +consisting of 'an enclosure made with four rows of posts, from twelve +to fifteen feet in height, in the form of an oblong square, within +which are a few rough cabins constructed of logs and clay, and covered +with bark.' + +In the spring of 1735 Father Messager returned to Montreal, and with +him went La Jemeraye, to report the progress already made. He +described to the governor the difficulties they had encountered, and +urged that the king should be persuaded to assume the expense of +further exploration towards the Western Sea. The governor could, +however, do nothing. + +Meanwhile Jean, La Vérendrye's eldest son, had advanced still farther +and had made his way to Lake Winnipeg. He took with him a handful of +toughened veterans, and tramped on snow-shoes through the frozen +forest--four hundred and fifty miles in the stern midwinter {31} of a +region bitterly cold. Near the mouth of the Winnipeg river, where it +empties into Lake Winnipeg, they found an ideal site for the fort which +they intended to build. Immediately they set to work, felled trees, +drove stout stakes into the frozen ground for a stockade, put up a +rough shelter inside, and had everything ready for La Vérendrye's +arrival in the spring. They named the post Fort Maurepas, in honour of +a prominent minister of the king in France at the time. + +La Vérendrye had now carried out, and more than carried out, the +agreement made with the governor Beauharnois. He had established a +chain of posts--strung like beads on a string--from Lake Superior to +Lake Winnipeg, from the river Kaministikwia to the open prairie. But +the distance he had traversed, the difficulties he had encountered, +and, above all, the expense incurred, had been far in excess of +anything he had anticipated. These were discouraging experiences. He +seemed at last to have reached the limit of his resources and +endurance. To advance farther with the slender means now at his +command seemed almost impossible. Should he turn back? His men were +more than willing. Every step eastward would bring them nearer their +{32} homes, their families, and the pleasures and dissipations of the +Canadian towns on the far-off St Lawrence. To turn back was the +easiest thing for them. But it was not easy for a man like La +Vérendrye. To return meant failure; and for him there was no such +thing as failure while health and strength endured. At whatever cost, +he must push on towards the Western Sea. + +The situation was nevertheless most critical. His own means had long +since been exhausted. True, he possessed a monopoly of the fur trade, +but what did it profit him? He had not touched, and never would be +able to touch, a franc of the proceeds: the shrewd merchants of +Montreal had made sure of this. To La Vérendrye the monopoly was +simply a millstone added to the burdens he was already forced to bear. +It did not increase his resources; it delayed his great enterprise; and +it put an effective weapon in the hands of his enemies. Little cause +had he to be grateful for the royal monopoly. He would have infinitely +preferred the direct grant of even a score of capable, well-equipped +men. These, maintained at the king's expense, he might lead by the +quickest route to the Western Sea. + +As it was, the merchants in Montreal refused {33} to send up further +supplies; his men remained unpaid; he even lacked a sufficient supply +of food. There was nothing for it but to turn back, make the long +journey to Montreal and Quebec, and there do his utmost to arrange +matters. He had already sunk from 40,000 to 50,000 livres in the +enterprise. In all justice, the king should assume the expense of +further explorations in quest of the Great Sea. The governor, the +Marquis de Beauharnois, shared this view, and had already pressed the +court to grant La Vérendrye the assistance he so urgently needed. 'The +outlay,' he wrote to the king's minister, Maurepas, 'will not be great; +the cost of the _engagés_ [hired men] for three years, taking into +account what can be furnished from the king's stores, would not exceed +30,000 livres at most.' The king, however, refused to undertake the +expense of the expedition. Those who had assumed the task should, he +thought, be in a position to continue it by means of the profits +derived from their monopoly of the fur trade. The facts did not +justify the royal view of the matter. La Vérendrye had enjoyed the +monopoly for two or three years--with the result that he was now very +heavily, indeed alarmingly, in debt. + +{34} + +His was not a nature, however, to be crushed by either indifference or +opposition. He had reached the parting of the ways. Nothing was to be +hoped for from the court. He must either abandon his enterprise or +continue it at his own risk and expense. He went to Montreal and saw +his partners. With infinite patience he suffered their unjust +reproaches. He was neglecting their interests, they grumbled. The +profits were not what they had a right to expect. He thought too much +of the Western Sea and not enough of the beavers. He was a dreamer, +and they were practical men of business. + +What could La Vérendrye say that would have weight with men of this +stamp? Should he tell them of the glory that would accrue to his and +their country by the discovery of the Western Sea? At this they would +only shrug their shoulders. Should he tell them of the unseen forces +that drew him to that wonderful land of the West--where the crisp clear +air held an intoxicating quality unknown in the East; where the eye +foamed on and on over limitless expanses of waving green, till the mind +was staggered at the vastness of the prospect; where the very largeness +of nature seemed to enter into a man and to {35} crush out things petty +and selfish? In doing this he would be beating the air. They were +incapable of understanding him. They would deem him mad. + +Crushing down, therefore, both his enthusiasm for the western land and +his anger at their dulness, he met the merchants of Montreal on their +own commercial level. He told them that the posts he had established +were in the very heart of the fur country; that the Assiniboines and +Crees had engaged to bring large quantities of beaver skins to the +forts; that the northern tribes were already turning from the English +posts of the Hudson's Bay Company in the Far North to the more +accessible posts of the French; that the richly watered and wooded +country between Kaministikwia and Lake Winnipeg abounded in every +description of fur-bearing animal; that over the western prairies +roamed the buffalo in vast herds which seemed to blacken the green +earth as far as eye could reach. His eloquence over the outlook for +trade proved convincing. As he painted the riches of the West in terms +that appealed with peculiar force to these traders in furs, their +hostility melted away. The prospect of profit at the rate of a hundred +per cent once more filled {36} them with enthusiasm. They agreed to +equip the expedition anew. It thus happened that when the intrepid +explorer again turned his face towards the West, fortune seemed to +smile once more. His canoes were loaded with a second equipment for +the posts of the Western Sea. Perhaps at that moment it seemed to him +hardly to matter that he was in debt deeper than ever. + +While in the East completing these arrangements, La Vérendrye took +steps to ensure that his youngest son, Louis, now eighteen years of +age, should join the other members of the family engaged in the work. +The boy was to be taught how to prepare maps and plans, so that, when +he came west in the following year, he might be of material assistance +to the expedition. The explorer would then have his four sons and his +nephew in the enterprise. + +The hopeful outlook did not long endure. It was soon clear that La +Vérendrye had again to meet trials which should try his mettle still +more severely. Shortly after his return to Fort St Charles on the Lake +of the Woods, his son Jean arrived from Fort Maurepas, with evil news +indeed. La Jemeraye, his nephew and chief lieutenant, whose knowledge +of the western tribes was invaluable, whose {37} enthusiasm for the +great project was only second to his own, whose patience and +resourcefulness had helped the expedition out of many a tight +corner--La Jemeraye was dead. He had remained in harness to the last, +and had laboured day and night, in season and out of season, pushing +explorations in every direction, meeting and conciliating the Indian +tribes, building up the fur trade at the western posts. Though sorely +needing rest, he had toiled on uncomplainingly, with no thought that he +was showing heroism, till at last his overtaxed body collapsed and he +died almost on his feet--the first victim of the search for the Western +Sea. + +Meanwhile the little garrison at Fort St Charles was almost at the +point of starvation. La Vérendrye had travelled ahead at such rapid +speed that his supplies were still a long way in the rear when he +reached the fort. In face of the pressing need, it was decided to send +a party down to meet the boats at Kaministikwia and to fetch back at +once the supplies which were most urgently required. Jean, now +twenty-three years of age, was placed in charge of the expedition, and +with him went the Jesuit missionary, Father Aulneau, on his way down to +Fort Michilimackinac. The day for departure was named, {38} and +everything was made ready the night before so that there might be no +delay in starting early in the morning. The sun had hardly risen above +the horizon and was yet filtering through the dense foliage of pine and +cedar, when Jean de La Vérendrye and his men embarked and pushed off +from the shore. The paddles dipped almost noiselessly, and the three +light canoes skimmed lightly over the surface of the Lake of the Woods, +followed by shouts of farewell from the fort. + +For a time the party skirted the shore. Then they struck out boldly +across the lake. The melodies of the forest followed them for a time, +and then died away in the distance. Nothing was now to be heard but +the dip of paddles and the soft swirl of eddies flying backward from +either side of the canoes. The morning sun swept across the lake; a +faint breeze stirred a ripple on the surface of the water. From far +away came faintly the laugh of a solitary loon. The men paddled +strenuously, with minds intent upon nothing more serious than the halt +for breakfast. The priest was lost in meditation. Jean de La +Vérendrye sat in the foremost canoe, with eyes alert, scanning the +horizon as the little flotilla drew rapidly across the lake. + +{39} + +At the same time, approaching from the opposite direction, was a fleet +of canoes manned by a hundred savages, the fierce and implacable Sioux +of the prairie. They had reached the Lake of the Woods by way of a +stream that bore the significant name _The Road of War_. This was the +war-path of the Sioux from their own country, south of what is now the +province of Manitoba, to the country of the Chippewas and the Crees +farther east. Whenever the Sioux followed this route, they were upon +no peaceful errand. As the Sioux entered the lake, a mist was rising +slowly from the water; but before it completely hid their canoes a +keen-sighted savage saw the three canoes of the French, who were about +to land on the far side of an island out in the lake. Cautiously the +Sioux felt their way across to the near side of the island, and landed +unperceived. They glided noiselessly through the thick underbrush, +and, as they approached the other shore, crept from tree to tree, +finally wriggling snake-wise to the very edge of the thicket. Beneath +them lay a narrow beach, on which some of the voyageurs had built a +fire to prepare the morning meal. Others lay about, smoking and +chatting idly. Jean de La Vérendrye sat a little apart, perhaps {40} +recording the scanty particulars of the journey. The Jesuit priest +walked up and down, deep in his breviary. + +The circumstances could hardly have been more favourable for the sudden +attack which the savages were eager to make. The French had laid aside +their weapons, or had left them behind in the canoes. They had no +reason to expect an attack. They were at peace with the western +tribes--even with those Ishmaelites of the prairie, the Sioux. +Presently a twig snapped under the foot of a savage. Young La +Vérendrye turned quickly, caught sight of a waving plume, and shouted +to his men. Immediately from a hundred fierce throats the war-whoop +rang out. The Sioux leaped to their feet. Arrows showered down upon +the French. Jean, Father Aulneau, and a dozen voyageurs fell. The +rest snatched up their guns and fired. Several of the Sioux, who had +incautiously left cover, fell. The odds were, however, overwhelmingly +against the French. They must fight in the open, while the Indians +remained comparatively secure among the trees. The French made an +attempt to reach the canoes, but had to abandon it, for the Sioux now +completely commanded the approach and no man could reach the water +alive. + +{41} + +The surviving French, now reduced to half a dozen, retreated down the +shore. With yells of triumph the Sioux followed, keeping within +shelter of the trees. In desperation the voyageurs dropped their guns +and took to the water, hoping to be able to swim to a neighbouring +island. This was a counsel of despair, for wounded and exhausted as +they were, the feat was impossible. When the Sioux rushed down to the +shore, they realized the plight of the French, and did not even waste +an arrow on them. One by one the swimmers sank beneath the waves. +After watching their tragic fate, the savages returned to scalp those +who had fallen at the camp. With characteristic ferocity they hacked +and mutilated the bodies. Then, gathering up their own dead, they +hastily retreated by the way they had come. + +For some time it was not known why the Sioux had made an attack, +seemingly unprovoked, upon the French. Gradually, however, it leaked +out that earlier in the year a party of Sioux on their way to Fort St +Charles on a friendly visit had been fired upon by a party of +Chippewas. The Sioux had shouted indignantly, 'Who fire on us?' and +the Chippewas, in ambush, had yelled back with grim humour, 'The +French.' The Sioux {42} retreated, vowing a terrible vengeance against +the treacherous white men. Their opportunity came even sooner than +they had expected. A trader named Bourassa, who had left Fort St +Charles for Michilimackinac shortly before the setting out of Jean de +La Vérendrye and his party, had camped for the night on the banks of +the Rainy river. The following morning, as he was about to push off +from the shore, he was surrounded by thirty canoes manned by a hundred +Sioux. They bound him hand and foot, tied him to a stake, and were +about to burn him alive when a squaw who was with him sprang forward to +defend him. Fortunately for him his companion had been a Sioux maiden; +she had been captured by a war party of Monsones some years before and +rescued from them by Bourassa. She knew of the projected journey of +Jean de La Vérendrye. 'My kinsmen,' she now cried, 'what are you about +to do? I owe my life to this Frenchman. He has done nothing but good +to me. Why should you destroy him? If you wish to be revenged for the +attack made upon you, go forward and you will meet twenty-four +Frenchman, with whom is the son of the chief who killed your people.' + +Bourassa was too much frightened to oppose {43} the statement. In his +own account of what happened he is, indeed, careful to omit any mention +of this particular incident. The Sioux released Bourassa, after taking +possession of his arms and supplies. Then they paddled down to the +lake, where they were only too successful in finding the French and in +making them the victims of the cruel joke of the Chippewas. + +This murder of his son was the most bitter blow that had yet fallen +upon La Vérendrye. But he betrayed no sign of weakness. Not even the +loss of his son was sufficient to turn him back from his search for the +Western Sea. 'I have lost,' he writes simply to Maurepas, 'my son, the +reverend Father, and my Frenchmen, misfortunes which I shall lament all +my life.' Some comfort remained. The great explorer still had three +sons, ready and willing like himself to sacrifice their lives for the +glory of New France. + + + +[1] See _The 'Adventurers of England' on Hudson Bay_, pages 73-88. + + + + +{44} + +CHAPTER III + +ACROSS THE PLAINS + +For several years La Vérendrye had been hearing wonderful accounts of a +tribe of Indians in the West who were known as the Mandans. Wherever +he went, among the Chippewas, the Crees, or the Assiniboines, some one +was sure to speak of the Mandans, and the stories grew more and more +marvellous. La Vérendrye knew that Indians were very much inclined to +exaggerate. They would never spoil a good story by limiting it to what +they knew to be true. They liked a joke as well as other people; and, +when they found that the white men who visited them were eager to know +all about the country and the tribes of the far interior, they invented +all sorts of impossible stories, in which truth and fiction were so +mingled that at length the explorers did not know what to believe. + +Much that was told him by the Indians concerning the Mandans La +Vérendrye knew {45} could not possibly be true; he thought that some of +their stories were probably correct. The Indians said that the Mandans +were white like himself, that they dressed like Europeans, wore armour, +had horses and cattle, cultivated the ground, and lived in fortified +towns. Their home was described as being far towards the setting sun, +on a great river that flowed into the ocean. La Vérendrye knew that +the Spaniards had made settlements on the western coast of America, and +he thought that the mysterious strangers might perhaps be Spaniards. +At any rate, they seemed to be white men, and, if the Indian stories +were even partially true, they would be able to show him that way to +the great water which it was the ambition of his life to find. His +resolve, therefore, was inevitable. He would visit these white +strangers, whoever they might be; and he had great hopes that they +would be able to guide him to the object of his quest. + +For some time, however, he was not able to carry out this intended +visit to the Mandans. The death of his nephew La Jemeraye, followed +soon after by the murder of his son Jean, upset all his plans for a +time. Further, he had great difficulty in keeping peace among the +Indian {46} tribes. The Chippewas and the Crees, who had always been +friendly to the French, were indignant at the treacherous massacre of +the white men by the Sioux, and urged La Vérendrye to lead a war party +against this enemy. La Vérendrye not only refused to do this himself, +but he told them that they must on no account go to war with the Sioux. +He warned them that their Great Father, the king of France, would be +very angry with them if they disobeyed his commands. Had they not +known him so well, the Indians would have despised La Vérendrye as a +coward for refusing to revenge himself upon the Sioux for the death of +his son; but they knew that, whatever his reason might be, it was not +due to any fear of the Sioux. As time went on, they thought that he +would perhaps change his mind, and again and again they came to him +begging for leave to take the war-path. 'The blood of your son,' they +said, 'cries for revenge. We have not ceased to weep for him and for +the other Frenchmen who were slain. Give us permission and we will +avenge their death upon the Sioux.' + +La Vérendrye, however, disregarding his personal feelings, knew that it +would be fatal to all his plans to let the friendly Indians have {47} +their way. An attack on the Sioux would be the signal for a general +war among all the neighbouring tribes. In that case his forts would be +destroyed and the fur trade would be broken up. In the end, he and his +men would probably be driven out of the western country, and all his +schemes for the discovery of the Western Sea would come to nothing. It +was therefore of the utmost importance that he should remain where he +was, in the country about the Lake of the Woods, until the excitement +among the Indians had quieted down and there was no longer any +immediate danger of war. + +At length, in the summer of 1738, La Vérendrye felt that he could carry +out his plan of visiting the Mandans. He left one of his sons, Pierre, +in charge of Fort St Charles, and with the other two, François and +Louis, set forth on his journey to the West. Travelling down the +Winnipeg river in canoes, they stopped for a few hours at Fort +Maurepas, then crossed Lake Winnipeg and paddled up the muddy waters of +Red River to the mouth of the Assiniboine, the site of the present city +of Winnipeg, then seen by white men for the first time. La Vérendrye +found it occupied by a band of Crees under two war chiefs. He landed, +{48} pitched his tent on the banks of the Assiniboine, and sent for the +two chiefs and reproached them with what he had heard--that they had +abandoned the French posts and had taken their furs to the English on +Hudson Bay. They replied that the accusation was false; that they had +gone to the English during only one season, the season in which the +French had abandoned Fort Maurepas after the death of La Jemeraye, and +had thus left the Crees with no other means of getting the goods they +required. 'As long as the French remain on our lands,' they said, 'we +promise you not to go elsewhere with our furs.' One of the chiefs then +asked him where he was now going. La Vérendrye replied that it was his +purpose to ascend the Assiniboine river in order to see the country. +'You will find yourself among the Assiniboines,' said the chief; 'and +they are a useless people, without intelligence, who do not hunt the +beaver, and clothe themselves only in the skins of buffalo. They are a +good-for-nothing lot of rascals and might do you harm.' But La +Vérendrye had heard such tales before and was not to be frightened from +his purpose. He took leave of the Crees, turned his canoes up the +shallow waters of the Assiniboine river, and ascended {49} it to where +now stands the city of Portage la Prairie. Here he built a fort, which +he named Fort La Reine, in honour of the queen of France. + +[Illustration: An Indian encampment. From a painting by Paul Kane.] + +While this was being done, a party of Assiniboines arrived. La +Vérendrye soon found, as he had expected, that the Crees through +jealousy had given the Assiniboines a character which they did not +deserve. With all friendliness they welcomed the strangers and were +overjoyed at the presents which the French gave them. The most valued +presents consisted of knives, chisels, awls, and other small tools. Up +to this time these people had been dependent upon implements made of +stone and of bone roughly fashioned to serve their purposes, and these +implements were very crude and inferior compared with the sharp steel +tools of the white men. + +While La Vérendrye had been occupied in building Fort La Reine, one of +his men, Louvière, had been sent to the mouth of the Assiniboine to put +up a small post for the Crees. He found a suitable place on the south +bank of the Assiniboine, near the point where it enters the Red, and +here he built his trading post and named it Fort Rouge. This fort was +abandoned in a year or two, as it was {50} soon found more convenient +to trade with the Indians either at Fort Maurepas near the mouth of the +Winnipeg, or at Fort La Reine on the Assiniboine. The memory of the +fort is, however, preserved to this day. The quarter of Winnipeg in +the vicinity of the old fort is still known as Fort Rouge. The memory +of La Vérendrye is also preserved, for a large school built near the +site of the old fort bears the name of the great explorer. + +The completion of Fort La Reine freed La Vérendrye to make preparations +for his journey to the Mandans. He left some of his men at the fort +and selected twenty to accompany him on his expedition. To each of +these followers he gave a supply of powder and bullets, an ax, a +kettle, and other things needful by the way. In later years horses +were abundant on the western prairie, but at that time neither the +French nor the Indians had horses, and everything needed for the +journey was carried on men's backs. + +Three days after leaving Fort La Reine, La Vérendrye met a party of +Assiniboines travelling over the prairie. He gave them some small +presents, and told them that he had built in their country a fort where +they could get all kinds of useful articles in {51} exchange for their +furs and provisions. They seemed delighted at having white men so +near, and promised to keep the fort supplied with everything that the +traders required. + +A day or two afterwards several other Indians appeared, from an +Assiniboine village. They bore hospitable messages from the chiefs, +who begged the white travellers to come to visit them. This it was +difficult to do. The village was some miles distant from the road on +which they were travelling and already they had lost much time because +their guide was either too lazy or too stupid to take them by the most +direct way to the Mandan villages on the banks of the Missouri. Still, +La Vérendrye did not think it wise to disappoint the Assiniboines, or +to offend them, since he might have to depend upon their support in +making his plans for further discoveries. Accordingly, although it was +now nearly the middle of November, the very best time of the year for +travelling across the plains, he made up his mind to go to the +Assiniboine village. + +As the party drew near the village, a number of young warriors came to +meet them, and to tell them that the Assiniboines were greatly pleased +to have them as guests. It is {52} possible that the Assiniboines had +heard of the presents which the French had given to some of their +countrymen, and that they too hoped to receive knives, powder and +bullets, things which they prized very highly. At any rate, the +explorer and his men received vociferous welcome when they entered the +village. 'Our arrival,' says La Vérendrye, 'was hailed with great joy, +and we were taken into the dwelling of a young chief, where everything +had been made ready for our reception. They gave us and all our men +very good cheer, and none of us lacked appetite.' + +[Illustration: An Assiniboine Indian. From a pastel by Edmund Morris.] + +The following day La Vérendrye sent for the principal chiefs of the +tribe, and gave to each of them a present of powder and ball, or knives +and tobacco. He told them that if the Assiniboines would hunt beaver +diligently and would bring the skins to Fort La Reine, they should +receive in return everything that they needed. One of the chiefs made +a speech in reply. 'We thank you,' he said, 'for the trouble you have +taken to come to visit us. We are going to accompany you to the +Mandans, and then to see you safely back to your fort. We have already +sent word to the Mandans that you are on your way to visit them, and +the Mandans are delighted. We shall travel {53} by easy marches, so +that we may hunt by the way and have plenty of provisions.' The +explorer was not wholly pleased to find that the entire village was to +accompany him, for this involved still further delays on the journey. +It was necessary, however, to give no cause of offence; so he thanked +them for their good-will, and merely urged that they should be ready to +leave as soon as possible and travel with all speed by the shortest +road, as the season was growing late. + +On the next morning they all set out together, a motley company, the +French with their Indian guides and hunters accompanied by the entire +village of Assiniboines. La Vérendrye was astonished at the orderly +way in which these savages, about six hundred in number, travelled +across the prairies. Everything was done in perfect order, as if they +were a regiment of trained soldiers. The warriors divided themselves +into parties; they sent out scouts in advance to both the right and the +left, in order to keep watch for enemies and also to look out for +buffalo and other game; the old men marched in the centre with the +women and the children; and in the rear was a strong guard of warriors. +If the scouts saw buffalo ahead, they signalled to the rear-guard, {54} +who crept round the herd on both sides until it was surrounded. They +killed as many buffaloes as were needed to provision the camp, and this +completed the men's part of the work. It was the women who cut up the +meat and carried it to the place where the company encamped for the +night. The women, indeed, were the burden-bearers and had to carry +most of the baggage. There were, of course, dogs in great numbers on +such excursions, and these bore a part of the load. The men burdened +themselves with nothing but their arms. + + + + +{55} + +CHAPTER IV + +THE MANDAN INDIANS + +It was towards the end of November when La Vérendrye and his party +reached the point where the Mandans had promised to meet them. When he +arrived no one was on the spot; but presently, after he had encamped, a +Mandan chief appeared with thirty followers. This chief advanced to La +Vérendrye and presented him with Indian corn in the ear and with a roll +of Indian tobacco. These were tokens of friendship. He told La +Vérendrye how glad he and his countrymen were to welcome him to their +villages, and begged him to consider the Mandans as his children. + +La Vérendrye was surprised to find the appearance of the Mandans very +much like that of the other tribes he had met. Stories told by the +Crees and the Assiniboines had prepared him to find them of a different +type, a type like that of the white men. In reality they looked like +the Assiniboines and dressed {56} in the same fashion. Their clothing +was scanty enough, for it consisted of only a buffalo robe worn from +the shoulders. It was clear now that the Indians had been telling him +not what was true but what they thought he would like to hear. 'I knew +then,' he says shrewdly, 'that a heavy discount must be taken off +everything that an Indian tells you.' + +The Mandan chief invited La Vérendrye to be his guest in the nearest +village, and the whole party made ready to continue their journey to +that point. Then the chief made a speech to the Assiniboines, very +friendly in tone, but artfully intended to make them uneasy and send +them back home. He was really anxious to have the white men as his +guests, but he was not at all anxious to have as guests and to be +obliged to feed an entire village of Assiniboines; and so, thinking to +get rid of them, he played on their well-known fear of the fiery Sioux. +'We thank you,' he said to them, 'for having brought the French to see +us. They could not have arrived at a better time. The Sioux are on +the war-path, and may be here at any moment. We know the valour and +courage of the French, and also of the Assiniboines, and we hope that +you will both help us to defend ourselves from the Sioux.' + +{57} + +La Vérendrye was at first as much imposed upon by this story as were +the Assiniboines, but with a very different effect. They were +dismayed, while he rejoiced at the opportunity of having at last a fair +chance to avenge the cruel death of his son. After the speech, the +Mandan chief took him aside, and explained that the alarm was merely a +trick to get rid of the Assiniboines. They had not food enough at the +village, he said, to satisfy such a hungry horde. But, to the surprise +and disgust of the chief, the Assiniboines swallowed their fears and +decided to go forward. At first, in their terror, the majority of the +tribe had thought it better to turn back; but one of their old chiefs +shamed them into a different course. 'Do not think,' he said, in +scornful accents, 'that our Father [La Vérendrye] is a coward,' and he +looked about him at the young Assiniboine warriors until each felt that +he himself was branded as a coward. 'I know him,' he continued, +'better than you do, and I tell you that the Sioux cannot frighten him +or any of his men. What will he think of us? At our request, he went +out of his way to visit our village. We promised to conduct him to the +Mandans, and to bring him safely back to his fort. And now you talk of +{58} abandoning him, because you fear the Sioux. This must never be. +Let those of you who are faint-hearted remain here in camp with the +women; but let those who are without fear follow our father.' After +this scornful eloquence there was no further talk of turning back. + +Early on the following morning the camp broke up, and the whole party, +French and Assiniboines and Mandans, marched across the plains towards +the Mandan village. One can imagine the striking picture made up by +the little party of white men in their picturesque costumes, surrounded +by hundreds of half-naked savages. Had the Indians cared to exercise +their power, they might have overwhelmed the French at any moment, but +apparently they had no thought of doing so. Indeed it is quite true +that the Indians of North America, when first they met white men, +treated them in nearly every case with the utmost friendship. Only +after the Indians had been deceived or betrayed by some rascals among +the white men did they learn to look upon them as enemies and become +cruel and treacherous in dealing with them. + +When La Vérendrye had travelled some distance from the camp, he found +that the bag {59} containing his papers and many other things that +would be required at the Mandan villages had been stolen by one of the +Assiniboines. The thief, he also learned, had made off with his spoil. +Instantly he sent two young warriors to secure him. The culprit was +overtaken on the following day and the bag was recovered. The +pursuers, however, instead of bringing it back to La Vérendrye, carried +it on to their village to keep for him until his return. This singular +conduct was due to their fear of the Sioux. The white man's bag would +be safe at the Assiniboine village, but if they ventured to carry it +back to La Vérendrye they were not so sure that either it or their own +scalps would be safe at the Mandan village, with the ferocious Sioux +hovering about. They did not know, of course, that the story of the +Sioux was nothing but a hoax. + +When La Vérendrye arrived within a few miles of the Mandan village, he +found awaiting him another party of Mandans under two of their chiefs. +They had lighted a camp-fire and had brought food for their guests. +The chiefs welcomed him, led him to the place of honour beside the +fire, and presented him with some of their native dishes--corn pounded +into a paste and baked in the coals and something {60} that looked like +a pumpkin pie without the pastry. The party smoked the pipe of peace +and carried on a rather clumsy conversation by means of an interpreter. +Then they resumed the journey and presently the Mandan village appeared +in sight. If the explorer had been disappointed in finding the Mandans +very similar in appearance to other western tribes, now at least he was +gratified to find their buildings more elaborate and interesting than +any he had before met with. The village was in fact a fort, apparently +strong enough to protect the inhabitants from anything less powerful +than artillery, of which of course they had no knowledge. + +La Vérendrye, knowing that the Indians were always impressed by an +imposing ceremony, now drew up his men in military order. He told his +son François to march in front, bearing the flag of France. The +Mandans, who looked upon the explorer as a great white chief, would not +permit him to walk, but carried him upon their shoulders to the gate of +the fort. Naturally he did not like this mode of travel, but he +submitted to it for fear of displeasing his hosts. As they drew near +the fort, he ordered his men to fire a volley as a salute to the +Mandans. The {61} principal chiefs and warriors flocked out to meet +him, and escorted him within their walls. When he marched in with his +force, he saw the ramparts crowded with men, women, and children, who +looked with astonishment upon the first white men they had ever seen. +The principal chief of the tribe led La Vérendrye into his own lodge, +and told him to consider it his home so long as he cared to remain in +the village. When the two entered the lodge a crowd of Mandans +followed and the place became suffocating. La Vérendrye told the crowd +that they should have many opportunities later to see him, and after +some difficulty he managed to have the place cleared. + +This, however, was not effected before the unfortunate explorer had +suffered another loss. He found that, in the confusion, an +enterprising Indian had snatched the bag of presents from one of his +men, and had made off with it. This was serious. The bag contained +nearly all the gifts which he had brought for the chiefs of the +Mandans, and he feared that these chiefs might now look coldly upon a +white man who was unable to offer the customary presents. He explained +what had happened to the principal chief. The chief seemed very much +put out and told La Vérendrye for his {62} consolation that there were +a good many rascals among the Mandans. Later, when the Assiniboines +told the chief that he was himself the thief, he made the weak retort +that one of his accusers might be the culprit. He promised to do his +best to recover the bag, but La Vérendrye never saw it again. + +In a day or two the Assiniboines took leave of La Vérendrye, and, much +to the relief of the Mandans, prepared to return to their own village. +Before their departure, the chief of the Assiniboines made a speech to +the Mandans. 'We are leaving you our father,' he said. 'Take great +care of him, and of all the French. Learn to know them, for they are +wise; they know how to do everything. We love our father, and we also +fear him. Do as we do.' The Mandans promised to take every care of +the visitors. Everything the village contained, they said, was at +their service for the asking. They begged that the white chief would +count them among the members of his family. In compliance with their +wish, La Vérendrye went through the usual ceremony of placing his hands +on the heads of each of the chiefs. By this ceremony they became his +'children.' The Assiniboines, though they had taken leave of La +Vérendrye, {63} still delayed their departure. The Mandans, alarmed at +the quantities of provisions their unwelcome guests required, again +spread the report that the Sioux were approaching. Indeed, they said, +several Mandan hunters had caught sight of them. This time the ruse +succeeded. The Assiniboines, in a panic of alarm, marched off in great +haste, lest the Sioux should intercept them before they could reach +their own country. + +Further troubles awaited La Vérendrye. The day following the departure +of the Assiniboines he found that his Cree interpreter had gone off +with them, although he had promised faithfully to remain. Even with +this interpreter communications with the Mandans had been difficult. +Before La Vérendrye's thoughts expressed in French could reach the +Mandans, they had to pass through the medium of three other languages. +One of La Vérendrye's sons, who understood Cree, was able to translate +the explorer's questions into that language; then the Cree interpreter +put the questions into Assiniboine; and several of the Mandans were +sufficiently familiar with the language of the Assiniboines to complete +the chain and express the ideas in their own tongue. With the Cree +interpreter gone, the problem of {64} communication became much more +difficult. Indeed, the only method that remained of carrying on +conversation with the Mandans was by means of signs and gestures. + +One of La, Vérendrye's principal reasons for visiting the Mandans had +been to find out from them as much as possible of the country which lay +westward. He had hoped that they would be able to tell him something +definite about the Western Sea, something of the best way of reaching +it, and of the tribes he should meet on the way. He had had very +little time to put questions before his interpreter deserted, and now +he feared that he should have to turn back, because he had no means of +getting information from the Mandans. With a great deal of difficulty +he managed to learn that there were six Mandan villages or forts, some +on one side of the Missouri, some on the other, and that farther down +this river lived two other tribes, the Panana and the Pananis, who were +at war with the Mandans, although they had formerly been their fast +friends. The Mandans told him by signs that as one went down the +Missouri it became very wide, and that there a race dwelt who were +white like himself. These people, they said, rode on horseback both +when they hunted {65} and when they went to war; they wore armour and +fought with lances and sabres, which they handled with great skill. +Their forts and houses were of stone and they cultivated their fields. +A whole summer was necessary to reach their country from the Mandan +villages. + +La Vérendrye did not know how much of this to believe, and he was not +even sure that he correctly understood what the Mandans tried to convey +to him by signs. He was not at all certain that the quarter in which +these people, so different from the Mandans, were said to live was the +direction it was necessary to take in order to reach the Western Sea. +He did not know the truth, that the river by which he stood, the +Missouri, emptied into the Mississippi, and that the settlements spoken +of by the Mandans were probably the Spanish settlements on the lower +waters of the Mississippi. In order to extend his information, he used +every agency to learn as much as possible about the Mandans themselves. +He sent his son François to another village near by, to examine it and +to make further inquiries. + +La Vérendrye himself made close observations. He walked about the +village in which he was quartered, and examined the {66} fortifications +with a great deal of interest. There were about one hundred and thirty +cabins within the walls; the streets and squares were laid out +regularly and were kept remarkably neat and clean. The smooth, wide +ramparts were built of timber strengthened with cross-pieces. At each +corner was a bastion, and the fort was surrounded by a ditch fifteen +feet deep and from fifteen to eighteen feet wide. He was astonished to +find such elaborate fortifications among a savage tribe. Nowhere else +in the New World had he seen anything of the kind. + +The dwellings of the Mandans were large and comfortable; they were +divided into several rooms and round the walls were beds in the form of +bunks. They had earthen vessels in which they cooked their food. The +women made very neat baskets of wicker-work. The most remarkable thing +about these people was their prudence for the future. They had +storerooms underground in which they stored the dressed skins which +they preserved to trade with neighbouring tribes for guns and +ammunition; they had products of Europe in use, though they had not yet +come into direct contact with Europeans. In these storerooms they +preserved also dried meat and grain for food in the winter. This +foresight {67} impressed La Vérendrye. Most of the Indian tribes lived +only in the present; when they had food they feasted upon it from +morning to night, and when their provisions were gone they starved. +The Mandans, however, kept on hand an ample supply of food, both for +their own use and for that of strangers who might visit them. They +amused themselves with rude sports. Among these La Vérendrye mentions +a game of ball, but he does not describe it. Probably it was the game +of lacrosse, which was played by many of the Indian tribes long before +white men came to copy it from them. + +After an absence of a few days, François de La Vérendrye returned from +the village which he had visited. He had been warmly welcomed. He +reported that the village was much larger than the one his father was +living in, and that it was fortified in the same way. He had tried to +question the Mandans of this village, but could make nothing out of +their answers. They were so impatient to speak that they would +constantly interrupt one another; when asked about one thing they would +answer about another, because they did not really understand the +question. The Mandans tried to make up in hospitality for {68} their +inability to answer the Frenchman's questions. 'As we found that it +was a waste of time to question them, we had to fall back on feasting +the whole time we were with them, and even then we could not attend +nearly all the feasts to which we were invited.' + +[Illustration: Mandan girls. From Pritchard's 'Natural History of +Man.'] + +Early in December La Vérendrye decided to leave the Mandans and to make +the long return journey to Fort La Reine. He now saw that, even if he +could gain useful information from the Mandans about the nearest way to +the Western Sea, it would be impossible to attempt the journey without +a supply of presents for the tribes he should meet. To get these +presents he must return to the fort, but he would leave two of his men +with the Mandans for the winter, in order to learn the language. Then, +when he returned, he would have interpreters upon whom he could rely. +When he told the Mandans by signs that he must leave them, they seemed +sorry to lose him, and loaded him with provisions for his journey. +They also promised to take care of his two men during his absence. He +distributed among them all the small articles which he had in his +stores, particularly the needles, which they highly prized. To the +principal chief he gave a flag, and a lead tablet {69} bearing an +inscription to the effect that he had taken possession of the Missouri +country in the name of the king of France. This inscription the chief +promised to preserve as his greatest treasure. + +Misfortune, however, still dogged the path of La Vérendrye. The day +before that on which he had arranged to leave for the north, he was +taken violently ill and for three days could not move from his bed. As +ill luck would have it, his stock of medicines was in the bag which the +Assiniboines had carried off to their village, so that he could do +nothing for himself until he reached that place. About the middle of +December he was a little better, and made up his mind to attempt the +journey. When he and his men set out on their long march across the +plains, it was bitterly cold. They had no means of making a fire, and +were compelled to sleep at night on the open prairie in a half-frozen +condition. We can imagine what La Vérendrye must have suffered before +at last he reached the Assiniboine village, more dead than alive. +After a few days' rest, he managed to make his way slowly to Fort La +Reine. 'Never in my life,' he says, 'did I endure so much misery, +pain, and fatigue as on that journey.' + +{70} + +While at the Assiniboine village La Vérendrye reproached the Indians +with having lied to him about the Mandans, so as to lead him to believe +that they were white men. They replied that he had misunderstood them; +that they had not referred to the Mandans, but to another nation who +lived farther down the river. One of the Assiniboines sprang up before +him and exclaimed: 'I am the man best able to talk to you about this +matter. Last summer I killed one of this nation of white men. He was +covered with iron armour. If I had not killed his horse first, I +should myself have been destroyed.' La Vérendrye asked him what he had +brought back to prove his story. 'I had no chance to bring anything,' +he said. 'When I was about to cut off his head, I saw some men on +horseback, who were trying to prevent my retreat, and I had much +difficulty in making my escape. I had to throw away everything I had, +even to my blanket, and ran away naked.' + +La Vérendrye thought that this man was probably telling the truth. +What he said agreed fairly well with what he had himself heard from the +Mandans, and was applicable probably to the Spaniards. But he was +still as far away as ever from any direct information {71} about the +road he should follow to reach the Western Sea, and this was first and +always the thought that occupied his mind. He hoped that the men whom +he had left behind to winter with the Mandans would be able to obtain +from them the facts for which he was so anxiously waiting, and he +looked forward eagerly to the spring, when they were to return to Fort +La Reine with such news as they had been able to gather. + + + + +{72} + +CHAPTER V + +THE DISCOVERY OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS + +La Vérendrye had expected the return in the spring of 1739 of the two +men whom he had left in the Mandan villages, but it was well into the +autumn before they reached Fort La Reine. They brought good news, +however. During the winter they had lost no opportunity of picking up +Mandan words and phrases, until at last they were able to make +themselves fairly well understood in that tongue. In the early summer +a number of strange Indians had arrived from the West at the Mandan +villages. They were on horseback, and brought with them many +additional horses to carry their provisions and supplies. They came in +order to trade embroidered buffalo hides and other skins with the +Mandans for corn and beans, which they did not grow in their own +country. + +The young Frenchmen learned from the Mandans that a band of these +Indians had their home in the extreme West, towards the {73} setting +sun. The Mandans also reported that in this country there were white +men, who lived in brick and stone houses. In order to make further +inquiries the two Frenchmen visited these Indians, and were fortunate +enough to find among them a chief who spoke the language of the +Mandans. He professed to speak also the language of the white men who +dwelt in the West, but when the French heard this language they could +make nothing of it. The chief declared that the strangers in his +country wore beards and that in many other respects they resembled the +white men. He declared that they prayed to the Master of Life in great +buildings, where the Indians had seen them holding in their hands what, +from their description, must have been books, the leaves like 'husks of +Indian corn.' Their houses were described as standing near the shores +of the great lake, whose waters rise and fall, and are unfit to drink. +This would mean tides and salt water. If this Indian story was true, +and there did not seem to be any reason for doubting it, La Vérendrye +at last had something definite to guide him in his search for the +Western Sea. He had but to find his way to the homes of these +mysterious white strangers on its shores; and he hoped that the Indian +{74} band who had visited the Mandans, and from whom his men had +obtained these particulars, would be able and willing to provide him +with competent guides. + +For some reason La Vérendrye was unable himself to return to the +country of the Mandans or to go still farther west. But in the spring +of 1740 he sent his eldest son Pierre into that country in order to +make further inquiries, and to obtain guides if possible for the +projected journey to the Western Sea. Pierre spent the following +winter with the Mandans, but he could not find the men he needed as +guides, and so he returned to Fort La Reine in the summer of 1741. + +In the spring of 1742, not discouraged by the failure of the previous +year, Pierre set out again for the Mandans, accompanied this time by +his brother François, who was known as the Chevalier, and by two men +from the fort. The journey was to prove momentous, but at first the +outlook was dark. When they arrived in the Mandan country they could +find no sign of the Horse Indians, as the mounted Indians from the West +were called. Pierre and his brother waited long at the Mandan village +with what patience they could summon. The month of May went by, then +June, then {75} most of July, with still no sign of the missing band. +Finally the brothers decided that, if they were to go farther west, +they could wait no longer, for the season was advancing and it would +soon be too late to do anything. At last they found among the Mandans +two young men who agreed to lead them to the country of the Horse +People. This would bring them to their hoped-for guides. Without a +moment's delay they set out towards the south-west in search of the +missing Indians. + +They travelled for twenty days in a south-westerly direction, through +what were afterwards known as the Bad Lands of the Little Missouri, a +country unlike anything they had ever seen before. On every side they +could see mounds and pillars of brilliantly-coloured earth, blue and +crimson and green and yellow. So much were they struck with the +singular spectacle that they would have liked to carry some of the +coloured earth with them to show to their father on their return. But +a long journey lay before them. They had to carry everything they +needed on their backs, and it would have been folly to add to the load +something that was useless for their immediate needs, something that +they could neither eat nor wear. + +{76} + +About the beginning of August the party reached a mountain where the +Mandans expected to find the Horse Indians so eagerly sought. But the +Horse Indians had gone on a hunting expedition and had not yet +returned; so Pierre and his brother decided to wait for them. On the +summit of the mountain they made a signal fire, and every day one of +the explorers climbed up to the lookout to see if there were any signs +of the Indians. At the foot of the mountain they built a small house +in which they lived. Some of their time they spent in hunting to +provision the camp, while waiting as patiently as they could for the +Horse Indians to return from their hunting. + +At last, on September 14, a smoke was seen rising in the south-western +sky. One of the men was sent to investigate, and he found not the +Horse Indians but a band known to the Mandans as the Good-looking +Indians. Difficulties multiplied. One of the Mandan guides had +already deserted them to go back to the Missouri, and the other now +told the brothers that he must leave them. He was prompted by fear. +The Good-looking Indians were not on friendly terms with the Mandans, +and, although they had not offered to do him any harm, he was afraid to +remain near these enemies. + +{77} + +After the Mandan had gone back, the brothers La Vérendrye managed to +explain to the Good-looking Indians by signs that they were seeking the +Horse Indians and asked for guides to one of the camps of these +Indians. One of the Good-looking Indians said he knew the way, and +they set out under his guidance; but they became anxious on finding +that they were still travelling in the same direction as before, for +this did not seem to be a very direct road to the Western Sea. Still, +they had fixed their hopes on the Horse Indians as the people able to +lead them there, and the most urgent thing to do was to find some +members of that tribe, even though they had to go a long way out of +their course to do so. + +On the second day after they left the camp of the Good-looking Indians, +they met a party of another tribe known as the Little Foxes, who were +very friendly. The explorers gave them some small presents, and made +them understand that they were seeking the Horse Indians, who had +promised to show them the way to the sea. 'We will take you to the +Horse Indians,' they said, and their whole party turned about and +joined the French. But these new guides also, to the disgust of +François La Vérendrye, {78} still marched towards the south-west. 'I +felt sure,' he said, 'that in this direction we should never find the +Western Sea.' However, there was nothing to do but to go forward, and +to trust to better luck after they reached the Horse Indians. + +After tramping on for many days they came at last to an encampment of +the Horse Indians. These people, just then, were in great trouble. +They had been attacked not long before by a war party of the Snake +Indians; many of their bravest warriors had been killed, and many of +their women had been carried into captivity. When asked the way to the +sea these Indians now declared that none of them had ever been there, +for the very good reason that the country of the fierce Snake Indians +must be crossed to reach it. They said that a neighbouring tribe, the +Bow Indians, might be able to give some information, as they either +themselves traded with the white men of the sea-coast, or were on +friendly terms with other tribes who had been down to the sea. These +Bow Indians, they added, were the only tribe who dared to fight against +the Snake Indians, for they were under the leadership of a wise and +skilful chief, who had more than once led his tribe to victory against +these dangerous enemies. A guide {79} was found to lead the explorers +to the Bow Indians, and they went off once more, still travelling +south-westerly, until at length, on November 21, they came in sight of +the camp of the Bows. It was a huge camp, much larger than any the +explorers had yet visited. Everywhere they could see numbers of +horses, asses, and mules--animals unknown among the northern tribes. + +When they reached the camp the chief of the Bows met them and at once +took them to his own lodge. Nothing could be more friendly or polite +than his treatment of the white travellers. In fact, as François said, +he did not seem to have the manners of a savage. 'Up to that time we +had always been very well received in the villages we had visited, but +what we had before experienced in that way was nothing in comparison +with the gracious manners of the head chief of the Bows. He took as +much care of all our belongings as if they had been his own.' With him +François and his brother remained for some time; and, very soon, +through the kindness of the chief, they learnt enough of the language +to make themselves understood. + +The explorers had many interesting talks with this friendly chief. +They asked him if he {80} knew anything about the white people who +lived on the sea-coast. 'We know them,' he replied, 'through what has +been told us by prisoners of the Snake tribe. We have never been to +the sea ourselves.' 'Do not be surprised,' he continued, 'to see so +many Indians camped round us. Word has been sent in all directions to +our people to join us here. In a few days we shall march against the +Snakes; and if you will come with us, we will take you to the high +mountains that are near the sea. From their summits you will be able +to look upon it.' The brothers La Vérendrye were overjoyed to hear +such encouraging news, and agreed that one of them should accompany the +Bow Indians on their expedition against the Snakes. It seemed almost +too good to be true that they might be actually within reach of the +sea, the goal towards which they and their father had been struggling +for so many years. In fact, it proved too good to be true. Whether +they had misunderstood the chief, or whether he was merely speaking +from hearsay, certainly the view was far from correct that the +mountains which they were approaching lay near the sea. These +mountains, not far off, were the Rocky Mountains. Even if the +explorers should succeed in reaching and in crossing them at {81} this +point, there would still be hundreds of miles of mountain forest and +plain to traverse before their eyes could rest on the waters of the +Pacific ocean. Pierre and his brother never knew this, however, for +they were not destined to see the western side of the mountains. + +The great war party of the Bows, consisting of more than two thousand +fighting men, with their families, started out towards the Snake +country in December, the comparatively mild December of the +south-western plains. The scene must have been singularly animated as +this horde of Indians, with their wives and children, their horses and +dogs, and the innumerable odds and ends that made up their camp +equipage, moved slowly across the plains. François was too full of his +own affairs to describe the odd appearance of this native army in the +journal which he wrote of the expedition, but fortunately the historian +Francis Parkman lived for some time among these tribes of the western +plains, and he has given us a good idea of what such an Indian army +must have looked like on the march. 'The spectacle,' he says, 'was +such as men still young have seen in these western lands, but which no +man will see again. The vast plain {82} swarmed with the moving +multitude. The tribes of the Missouri and the Yellowstone had by this +time abundance of horses, the best of which were used for war and +hunting, and the others as beasts of burden. These last were equipped +in a peculiar manner. Several of the long poles used to frame the +teepees, or lodges, were secured by one end to each side of a rude +saddle, while the other end trailed on the ground. Crossbars lashed to +the poles, just behind the horse, kept them three or four feet apart, +and formed a firm support, on which was laid, compactly folded, the +buffalo-skin covering of the lodge. On this, again, sat a mother with +her young family, sometimes stowed for safety in a large, open, willow +basket, with the occasional addition of some domestic pet--such as a +tame raven, a puppy, or even a small bear cub. Other horses were laden +in the same manner with wooden bowls, stone hammers, and other +utensils, along with stores of dried buffalo meat packed in cases of +raw hide whitened and painted. Many of the innumerable dogs--whose +manners and appearance strongly suggested their relatives the wolves, +to whom, however, they bore a mortal grudge--were equipped in a similar +way, with shorter poles and lighter loads. Bands of {83} naked boys, +noisy and restless, roamed the prairie, practising their bows and +arrows on any small animal they might find. Gay young squaws--adorned +on each cheek with a spot of ochre or red clay and arrayed in tunics of +fringed buckskin embroidered with porcupine quills--were mounted on +ponies, astride like men; while lean and tattered hags--the drudges of +the tribe, unkempt and hideous--scolded the lagging horses or screeched +at the disorderly dogs, with voices not unlike the yell of the great +horned owl. Most of the warriors were on horseback, armed with round +white shields of bull hide, feathered lances, war clubs, bows, and +quivers filled with stone-headed arrows; while a few of the elders, +wrapped in robes of buffalo hide, stalked along in groups with a +stately air, chatting, laughing, and exchanging unseemly jokes.' + +On the first day of January 1743, the Indians, accompanied by the +brothers La Vérendrye and their Frenchmen, came within sight of the +mountains. Rising mysteriously in the distance were those massive +crags, those silent, snow-capped peaks, upon which, as far as we know, +Europeans had never looked before. The party of Frenchmen and Indians +pressed {84} on, for eight days, towards the foot of the mountains. +Then, when they had come within a few days' journey of the place where +they expected to find the Snakes, they altered their mode of advance. +It was now decided to leave the women and children in camp under a +small guard, while the warriors pushed on in the hope of surprising the +Snakes in their winter camp near the mountains. Pierre remained in +camp to look after the baggage of the party, which the Indians would +probably pillage if left unguarded. François and his two Frenchmen +went forward with the war party, and four days later they arrived at +the foot of the mountains, the first Europeans who had ever put foot on +those majestic slopes. François gazed with the keenest interest at the +lofty summits, and longed to climb them to see what lay beyond. + +Meanwhile he was obliged to share in a vivid human drama. The chief of +the Bows had sent scouts forward to search for the camp of the Snakes, +and these scouts now reappeared. They had found the camp, but the +enemy had fled; and had, indeed, gone off in such a hurry that they had +abandoned their lodges and most of their belongings. The effect +produced by this news was singular. Instead of {85} rejoicing because +the dreaded Snakes had fled before them, which was evidently the case, +the Bow warriors at once fell into a panic. The Snakes, they cried, +had discovered the approach of their enemies, and must have gone back +to attack the Bow camp and capture the women and children. The great +chief tried to reason with his warriors; he pointed out that the Snakes +could not know anything about the camp, that quite evidently they had +been afraid to meet the Bows and had fled before them. But it was all +to no purpose. The Bows would not listen to reason; they were sure +that the Snakes had played them a cunning trick and that they should +hasten back as speedily as possible to save their families. The result +was characteristic of savage warfare. The Indian army that had marched +a few days earlier in good order to attack the enemy now fled back +along the trail in a panic, each man for himself. + +It was in these ignominious circumstances that François La Vérendrye, +having reached the foot of the Rocky Mountains, was obliged to turn +back without going farther, leaving the mystery of the Great Sea still +unsolved. François rode by the side of the disgusted chief and the two +Frenchmen followed behind. Presently François noticed that his men had +{86} disappeared. He galloped back for some miles, and found them +resting their horses on the banks of a river. While he talked with +them, his quick eye detected the approach of a party of Snake Indians +from a neighbouring wood. They were covering themselves with their +shields, and were evidently bent on an attack. François and his men +loaded their guns and waited until the Indians were well within range. +Then they took aim and fired. The Snakes knew little or nothing about +firearms, and when one or two of their number fell before this volley, +they fled in disorder. + +There was still danger of an attack by a larger band of the enemy, and +the Frenchmen remained on guard where they were until nightfall. Then, +under cover of darkness, they attempted to follow the trail of the +Bows. But the ground was so dry and hard at that season of the year +that they found it impossible to pick up the trail of their friends. +For two days they wandered about. Skill or good fortune, however, +aided them, and at last they arrived at the camp of the Bows, tired and +half starved. The chief had been anxious at the disappearance of his +white guests, and was overjoyed at their safe return. It is almost +needless to say that the panic-stricken warriors {87} had found their +camp just as they had left it; no one had heard or seen anything of the +Snakes; and the warriors were forced to submit to the jeers of the +squaws for their failure to come even within sight of the enemy. + +Pierre, François, and their two men accompanied the Bows for some days +on their homeward journey. They found, however, that the Bows were +travelling away from the course which they wished to follow, and so +decided to leave them and to turn towards the Missouri river. The +chief of the Bows seemed to feel genuine regret at bidding farewell to +his French guests, and he made them promise to return and pay him +another visit in the following spring, after they had seen their father +at Fort La Reine. On the long journey to this point the three +Frenchmen now set out across the limitless frozen prairie. + +About the middle of March they came upon a party of strange Indians +known as the People of the Little Cherry. They were returning from +their winter's hunting, and were then only two days' journey from their +village on the banks of the Missouri. Like all the other tribes, the +People of the Little Cherry received the Frenchmen with perfect +friendliness. The party lingered with these Indians in their {88} +village until the beginning of April, and François spent most of his +time learning their language. This he found quite easy, perhaps +because he had already picked up a fair knowledge of the language of +some of the neighbouring tribes, and it proved not unlike that of the +Little Cherry Indians. François found in the village an Indian who had +been brought up among the Spaniards of the Pacific Coast, and who still +spoke their language as readily as he spoke his mother tongue. He +questioned him eagerly about the distance to the Spanish settlements +and the difficulties of the way. The man replied that the journey was +long. It was also, he said, very dangerous, because it must be through +the country of the Snake Indians. This Indian assured François that +another Frenchman lived in the country where they were, in a village +distant about three days' journey. Naturally this surprised François +and his brother. They thought of going to visit him; but their horses +were badly in need of a rest after the long trip from the mountains, +and must be kept fresh for the journey to the Mandan villages. They +therefore sent instead a letter to the Frenchman, asking him to visit +them at the village of the Little Cherries, or, if that was not +possible, {89} at least to send them an answer. No answer came, and we +may well doubt whether such a Frenchman existed. Before leaving the +country, La Vérendrye buried on the summit of a hill a tablet of lead, +with the arms and inscription of the French king. This was to take +possession of the country for France. He also built a pyramid of +stones in honour of the governor of Canada.[1] + +About the beginning of April, when the horses were in good condition +and all preparations had been made for the journey, the explorers said +good-bye to the People of the Little Cherry and set out for the Mandan +villages. Like the Bow Indians, the Little Cherries seemed sorry to +lose them and begged them to come back. In return for the kindness and +hospitality he had received, La Vérendrye distributed some presents and +promised to visit them again when he could. + +On May 18 the travellers reached the {90} Mandan villages and were +welcomed as if they had returned from the dead. Their long absence had +led the Mandans to conclude that they had been killed by some +unfriendly Indians, or that some fatal accident had happened on the +way. They had intended to rest for some time at the Mandan villages, +but they found that a party of Assiniboines was going to Fort La Reine, +and they determined to travel with them. The Assiniboines had in fact +already left on their journey, but the Frenchmen overtook them at their +first camp. + +[Illustration: Tablet deposited by La Vérendrye, 1743. Obverse and +reverse sides. From photographs lent by Charles N. Bell, F.R.G.S., +President of the Manitoba Historical and Scientific Society.] + +This latter part of the journey had its own excitements and perils. On +the last day of May, as they were travelling over the prairie, they +discovered a party of Sioux waiting in ambush. The Sioux had expected +to meet a smaller party, and now decided not to fight. At the same +time, they were too proud to run away before the despised Assiniboines, +even though they numbered only thirty and the Assiniboines numbered +more than a hundred. They retreated with dignified slowness, facing +around on the Assiniboines from time to time, and driving them back +when they ventured too near. But when they recognized the Frenchmen, +mounted on horses and armed with their deadly muskets, their attitude +changed; they {91} forgot their dignity and made off as fast as they +could go. Even with heavy odds against them these virile savages +managed to wound several of the Assiniboines, while they lost only one +man, who mistook the enemy for his friends and was captured. Pierre +and François La Vérendrye finally reached Fort La Reine on July 2, to +the great delight of their father, who had grown anxious on account of +their long absence. They had been away from the fort for one year and +eighty-four days. + + + +[1] This tablet remained buried where it was deposited for 170 years. +In March 1913 it was found by a young girl on the west bank of the +Missouri river opposite the city of Pierre, N. Dakota, thus bearing +testimony to the trustworthiness of François La Vérendrye's journal, +from which this chapter was written before the tablet was discovered. +Photographs of the tablet were made by W. O'Reilly of Pierre and +published in the _Manitoba Free Press_ and are reproduced in this book +by courtesy of Charles N. Bell, F.R.G.S., of Winnipeg. + + + + +{92} + +CHAPTER VI + +LA VÉRENDRYES' LATTER DAYS + +During all this time the elder La Vérendrye had been working at other +plans for discovery and for trade in the Far West. In the year 1739, +on his return from the first visit to the Mandans, he had sent his son +François to build a fort on the Lake of the Prairies, now known as Lake +Manitoba. When young La Vérendrye had built this fort, he went farther +north to Cedar Lake, near the mouth of the Saskatchewan river, and +there built another fort. The purpose was to intercept the trade of +the Indians with the English on Hudson Bay. For over half a century +the Indians of this region had taken their furs down the rivers leading +from Lake Winnipeg to the trading-posts of the Hudson's Bay Company on +the shores of the Bay, but now the French intended to offer them a +market nearer home and divert to themselves this profitable trade. The +first of their new forts was named Fort Dauphin, and the one on Cedar +Lake was called Fort Bourbon. + +{93} + +Having built Fort Bourbon, François La Vérendrye had ascended the +Saskatchewan river as far as the Forks, where the north and south +branches of that great river join. Here he met a number of Crees, whom +he questioned as to the source of the Saskatchewan. They told him that +it came from a great distance, rising among lofty mountains far to the +west, and that beyond those mountains they knew of a great lake, as +they called it, the water of which was not good to drink. The +mountains were of course the Rocky Mountains, and the waters of the +great lake which the Crees spoke of were the salt waters of the Pacific +ocean. François La Vérendrye had continued his work of building forts. +Shortly after building Fort Bourbon, he built Fort Paskoyac, on the +Saskatchewan, at a place now known as the Pas, between Cedar Lake and +the Forks. It is interesting to know that a railway has just been +completed to this place, and that it is to be continued from there to +the shores of Hudson Bay. How this modern change would have startled +the old fur-traders! Even if they could have dreamed of anything so +wonderful as a railway, we can imagine their ridicule of the idea that +some day men should travel from the East to the far-off {94} shores of +the Saskatchewan in two or three days, a trip which cost them months of +wearisome paddling. + +In carrying on his work in the West, La Vérendrye had to face +difficulties even greater than those caused by the hard life in the +wilderness. His base of supplies was in danger. He had many enemies +in Canada, who took advantage of his absence in the West to prejudice +the governor against him. They even sent false reports to the king of +France, saying that he was spending his time, not in searching for a +way to the Western Sea, but in making money out of the fur trade. This +was not true. Not only was he making no money out of the fur trade, +but, as we have seen, he was heavily in debt because of the enormous +cost of carrying on his explorations. For a time, however, the truth +did not help him. The tales told by his enemies were believed, and he +was ordered to return to Montreal with his sons. He and they withdrew +from their work in the West, left behind their promising beginnings, +and returned to the East. Never again, as it happened, was the father +to resume his work. Another officer, M. de Noyelle, was sent to the +West to continue the work of exploration. Noyelle spent two years in +the West without {95} adding anything to the information La Vérendrye +had gained. By that time a natural reaction had come in favour of La +Vérendrye, and the acting governor of Canada, the Marquis de La +Galissonière, decided to put the work of exploration again in charge of +La Vérendrye and his sons. In recognition of his services he was given +the rank of captain and was decorated with the Cross of St Louis. + +While these events were ripening, the years passed, and not until 1749 +was La Vérendrye restored to his leadership in the West. Though now +sixty-four years old, he was overjoyed at the prospect. Not only was +he permitted to continue his search for the Western Sea; the quality of +his work was recognized, for the governor and the king had at last +understood that, instead of seeking his own profit in his explorations, +as his enemies had said, he had the one object of adding to the honour +and glory of his country. He made preparations to start from Montreal +in the spring of 1750, and intended to push forward as rapidly as +possible to Fort Bourbon, or Fort Paskoyac, where he would spend the +winter. In the spring of the following year he would ascend the +Saskatchewan river and make his way over the mountains to the shores of +the Western {96} Sea, the Pacific ocean as we know it to-day. But the +greatest of all enemies now blocked his way. La Vérendrye was taken +ill while making his preparations for the expedition, and before the +close of the year 1749 he had set out on the journey from which no man +returns. + +[Illustration: The Marquis de la Galissonière. From an engraving in +the Château de Ramezay.] + +After the death of La Vérendrye, his sons made preparations to carry +out his plan for reaching the Western Sea by way of the Saskatchewan +river. They had the same unselfish desire to bring honour to their +king and to add new territories to their native land. Moreover, this +project, which their father had had so much at heart, had become now +for them a sacred duty. To their dismay, however, they soon found that +the promise made to their father did not extend to themselves. Another +officer, Legardeur de Saint-Pierre, was appointed by the governor of +Canada to carry on the search for the Western Sea. They had spent +years of toil and discomfort in the wilderness and endured countless +hardships and dangers. They had carefully studied the languages, +manners, and customs of the Indian tribes, and they had found out by +hard experience what would be the best means of completing their +discovery. Yet now they were thrown aside in {97} favour of an officer +who had never been in the Far West and who knew nothing of the +conditions he would there be compelled to meet. + +They could at least appeal for justice. In a last attempt to obtain +this for himself and his brothers, François de La Vérendrye wrote this +letter to the king's minister: + + +The only resource left to me is to throw myself at the feet of your +Lordship and to trouble you with the story of my misfortunes. My name +is La Vérendrye; my late father is known here [in Canada] and in France +by the exploration for the discovery of the Western Sea to which he +devoted the last fifteen years of his life. He travelled and made +myself and my brothers travel with such vigour that we should have +reached our goal, if he had had only a little more help, and if he had +not been so much thwarted, especially by envy. Envy is still here, +more than elsewhere, a prevailing passion against, which one has no +protection. While my father, my brothers, and myself were exhausting +ourselves with toil, and while we were incurring a crushing burden of +expense, his steps and ours were represented as directed only towards +[our own gain by] the finding of {98} beaver; the outlay he was forced +to incur was described as dissipation; and his narratives were spoken +of as a pack of lies. Envy as it exists in this country is no half +envy; its principle is to calumniate furiously in the hope that if even +half of what is said finds favour, it will be enough to injure. In +point of fact, my father, thus opposed, had to his sorrow been obliged +more than once to return and to make us return because of the lack of +help and protection. He has even been reproached by the court [for not +giving adequate reports upon his work]; he was, indeed, more intent on +making progress than on telling what he was doing until he could give +definite statements. He was running into debt, he failed to receive +promotions. Yet his zeal for his project never slackened, persuaded as +he was that sooner or later his labours would be crowned with success +and recompense. + +At the time when he was most eager in the good work, envy won the day, +and he saw the posts he had established and his own work pass into +other hands. While he was thus checked in his operations, the reward +of a plentiful harvest of beaver skins [which he had made possible] +went {99} to another rather than himself. Yet [in spite of this +profitable trade the good work slackened]; the posts, instead of +multiplying, fell into decay, and no progress was made in exploration; +it was this, indeed, which grieved him the most. + +Meanwhile the Marquis de la Galissonière arrived in the country [to act +as governor]. In the hubbub of contradictory opinions that prevailed, +he came to the conclusion that the man who had pursued such discoveries +at his own charge and expense, without any cost to the king, and who +had gone into debt to establish useful posts, merited better fortune. +Apart from advancing the project of discovery, practical services had +been rendered. There was [the marquis reported] a large increase of +beaver in the colony, and four or five posts had been well-established, +and defended by forts as good as could be made in countries so distant; +a multitude of savages had been turned into subjects of the king; some +of them, in a party which I commanded, showed an example to our own +domiciled savages by striking at the Anniers Indians, who are devoted +to England. Progress [the marquis concluded] could be hastened and +rendered {100} more efficacious only by allowing the work to remain in +the same hands. + +Thus it was that the Marquis de la Galissonière was good enough to +explain his position. No doubt he expressed himself to the court to a +similar effect, for in the following year, that is to say last year, my +father was honoured with the Cross of St Louis, and was invited to +continue with his sons the work which he had begun. He made +arrangements with great earnestness for starting on his expedition; he +spared nothing that might make for success; he had already bought and +prepared all the goods to be used in trade; he inspired me and my +brothers with his own ardour. Then in the month of December last death +carried him off. + +Great as was my grief at the time, I could never have imagined or +foreseen all that I lost in losing him. When I succeeded to his +engagements and his responsibilities, I ventured to hope that I should +succeed to the same advantages. I had the honour to write on the +subject to the Marquis de la Jonquière [then governor], informing him +that I had recovered from an indisposition from which I had been +suffering, and which might {101} serve as a pretext to some one seeking +to supplant me. His reply was that he had chosen Monsieur de +Saint-Pierre to go to the Western Sea. + +I started at once for Quebec from Montreal, where I then was; I +represented the situation in which I was left by my father; I declared +that there was more than one post in the direction of the Western Sea +and that I and my brothers would be delighted to be under the orders of +Monsieur de Saint-Pierre, and that we could content ourselves, if +necessary, with a single post, and that the most distant one; I stated +that we even asked no more than leave to go on in advance [of the new +leader], so that while we were pushing the work of exploration, we +might be able to help ourselves by disposing of my father's latest +purchases and of what remained to us in the posts. We should in this +have the consolation of making our utmost efforts to meet the wishes of +the court. + +The Marquis de la Jonquière, though he felt the force of my +representations, and, as it seemed to me, was touched by them, told me +at last that Monsieur de Saint-Pierre did not wish for either me or my +brothers. I asked what would become of the debts we {102} had +incurred. Monsieur de Saint-Pierre, however, had spoken, and I could +not obtain anything. I returned to Montreal with this not too +consoling information. There I offered for sale a small piece of +property, all that I had inherited from my father. The proceeds of +this sale served to satisfy my most urgent creditors. + +Meanwhile the season was advancing. There was now the question of my +going as usual to the rendezvous arranged with my hired men, so as to +save their lives [by bringing provisions], and to secure the stores +which, without this precaution, would probably be pillaged and +abandoned. In spite of Monsieur de Saint-Pierre, I obtained permission +to make this trip, and I was subject to conditions and restrictions +such as might be imposed on the commonest voyageur. Nevertheless, +scarcely had I left when Monsieur de Saint-Pierre complained of my +action and alleged that this start of mine before him injured him to +the amount of more than ten thousand francs. He also accused me, +without the slightest reserve, of having loaded my canoe beyond the +permission accorded me. + +The accusation was considered and my canoe was pursued; had I been +overtaken {103} at once, Monsieur de Saint-Pierre would have been +promptly reassured. He overtook me at Michilimackinac, and if I can +believe what he said, he now saw that he had been in the wrong in +acting as he did, and was vexed with himself for not having taken me +and my brothers with him. He expressed much regret to me and paid me +many compliments. It may be that this is his usual mode of acting; but +it is difficult for me to recognize in it either good faith or humanity. + +Monsieur de Saint-Pierre might have obtained all that he has obtained; +he might have made sure of his interests and have gained surprising +advantages; and have taken [as he desired] some relative with him while +not shutting us out entirely. Monsieur de Saint-Pierre is an officer +of merit, and I am only the more to be pitied to find him thus turned +against me. Yet in spite of the favourable impressions he has created +on different occasions, he will find it difficult to show that in this +matter he kept the main interest [that of discovery] in view, and that +he conformed to the intentions of the court and respected the kindly +disposition with which the Marquis de la Galissonière honours us. +Before {104} such a wrong could be done to us, he must have injured us +seriously in the opinion of Monsieur de la Jonquière, who himself is +always disposed to be kind. + +None the less am I ruined. My returns for this year were only half +collected, and a thousand subsequent difficulties make the disaster +complete; with credit gone in relation both to my father and to myself, +I am in debt for over twenty thousand francs; I remain without funds +and without patrimony. Moreover, I am a simple ensign of the second +grade; my elder brother has only the same rank as myself, while my +younger brother is only a junior cadet. + +Such is the net result of all that my father, my brothers, and I have +done. The one who was murdered some years ago was not the most +unfortunate of us. His blood does not count in our behalf. Unless +Monsieur de Saint-Pierre becomes imbued with better sentiments and +communicates them to the Marquis de la Jonquière, all my father's toils +and ours fail to serve us, and we must abandon what has cost us so +much. We certainly should not have been and should not be useless to +Monsieur de Saint-Pierre. I explained to him fully how I believed I +could serve him; clever as he {105} may be, and inspired with the best +intentions, I venture to say that by keeping us away he is in danger of +making many mistakes and of getting often on the wrong track. It is +something gained to have gone astray, but to have found out your error; +we think that now we should be sure of the right road to reach the +goal, whatever it may be. It is our greatest cause of distress to find +ourselves thus snatched away from a sphere of action in which we were +proposing to use every effort to reach a definite result. + +Deign therefore, Monseigneur, to judge the cause of three orphans. Our +misfortune is great, but is it without remedy? There are in the hands +of your Lordship resources of compensation and of consolation, and I +venture to hope for some benefit from them. To find ourselves thus +excluded from the West would be to find ourselves robbed in the most +cruel manner of our heritage. We should have had all that was bitter +and others all that was sweet. + + +This eloquent appeal of François fell upon unheeding ears; the +appointment of his rival was confirmed. The only grace he could obtain +was leave to take to the West a small portion of the supplies for which +he and his {106} brothers had already paid, and to return with the furs +his men had collected and brought down to Michilimackinac. Thus ended, +sadly enough, the devoted efforts of this remarkable family of +explorers to complete the long search for a route overland to the +Pacific ocean. The brothers La Vérendrye, ruined in purse and denied +opportunity, fell into obscurity and were forgotten. + +It remains only to tell briefly of the attempts of Saint-Pierre and his +men to carry out the same great project. In obedience to the +governor's instructions, Saint-Pierre left Montreal in the spring of +1750. He paddled up the Ottawa, and then through Lake Nipissing, and +down the French river to Georgian Bay. He crossed Lake Huron to +Michilimackinac, where he remained for a short time to give his men a +rest. Then he pushed on to Grand Portage, where he spent some time in +talking to the Indians. In spite of his ungenerous treatment of the +sons of La Vérendrye, Saint-Pierre was a brave and capable soldier; but +he knew very little of the hardships of western exploration, or of the +patience needed in dealing with Indians. He grumbled bitterly about +the difficulties and hardships of the portages, which La Vérendrye +{107} had taken as a matter of course; and, instead of treating the +Indians with patience and forbearance, he lost no opportunity to +harangue and scold them. We need not wonder, therefore, that the +natives, who had looked up to La Vérendrye as a superior being, soon +learned to dislike the overbearing Saint-Pierre, and would do nothing +to help him in his attempts at exploration. + +Saint-Pierre visited Fort St Charles; he spent the winter at Fort +Maurepas; in the spring of 1751 he went on to Fort La Reine. Meanwhile +he had sent Niverville, a young officer of his party, to the +Saskatchewan river, with instructions to push his discoveries westward +beyond the farthest point reached by La Vérendrye. Winter had set in +before Niverville set out on his long journey, and he travelled over +the snow and ice with snowshoes, dragging his provisions on toboggans. +He knew nothing of the Indian method of harnessing dogs to their +toboggans, and he and his men dragged the toboggans themselves. He +travelled slowly across Lake Winnipeg, over rough ice and through deep +snowdrifts, with no protection from the bitter winds. So great were +the hardships that, in the end, he was compelled to abandon some of the +heavier {108} supplies and provisions. Before he and his men reached +Fort Paskoyac they were at the point of starvation. During the last +few days they had nothing to eat but a few small fish caught through +holes in the ice. + +Niverville was taken seriously ill, and had to remain at Fort Paskoyac, +while some of his men in the spring of 1751 ascended the Saskatchewan +in canoes. These men, we are told, paddled up the river to the foot of +the Rocky Mountains, where they built a fort, named Fort La Jonquière, +in honour of the governor. Later in the year Niverville followed his +men up the river. At Fort La Jonquière he met a party of Western +Indians, who told him that in the course of a war expedition they had +encountered a number of Indians of a strange tribe carrying loads of +beaver skins. These strange Indians told the Frenchmen that they were +on their way over the Rocky Mountains to trade their furs with white +men on the sea-coast. For some reason, either through lack of supplies +or because he did not possess the courage and enthusiasm which had +carried the La Vérendryes through so many difficulties, Niverville made +no effort to cross the mountains. This attempt to reach the Western +Sea ended, so far as French {109} explorers were concerned, at Fort La +Jonquière. All the toils and hardships of the French explorers ended +in failure to achieve the great end at which they aimed. Members of +another race reaped the coveted reward. Many years later a +Scottish-Canadian explorer, Alexander Mackenzie, realized La +Vérendrye's dream by successfully crossing the Rocky Mountains and +forcing his way through the difficult country that lay beyond, until at +last he stood upon the shores of the Pacific ocean. + +Meanwhile Saint-Pierre had remained at Fort La Reine, leaving the work +of exploration to his young lieutenant, Niverville. One incident of +his life there remains to be described before we close this story of +the search for the Western Sea. It cannot be better told than in +Saint-Pierre's own narrative: + + +On February 22, 1752 [he says], about nine o'clock in the morning, I +was at this post with five Frenchmen. I had sent the rest of my +people, consisting of fourteen persons, to look for provisions, of +which I had been in need for several days. I was sitting quietly in my +room, when two hundred Assiniboines entered the fort, all of them +armed. These Indians scattered immediately all through the place; +several {110} of them even entered my room, but unarmed; others +remained in adjacent parts of the fort. My people came to warn me of +the behaviour of these Indians. I ran to them and told them sharply +that they were very impudent to come in a crowd to my house, and armed. +One of them answered in the Cree language that they came to smoke. I +told them that they were not behaving properly, and that they must +leave the fort at once. I believe that the firmness with which I spoke +somewhat frightened them, especially as I put four of the most resolute +out of the door, without their saying a word. + +I went at once to my room. At that very moment, however, a soldier +came to tell me that the guard-house was full of Indians, who had taken +possession of the arms. I ran to the guard-house and demanded, through +a Cree interpreter, what they meant by such behaviour. During all this +time I was preparing to fight them with my weak force. My interpreter, +who proved a traitor, said that these Indians had no bad intentions. +Yet, a moment before, an Assiniboine orator, who had been constantly +making fine speeches to me, had told the interpreter that, in spite of +him, the Indians would kill and rob me. + +{111} + +When I had barely made out their intentions I failed to realize that I +ought to have taken their arms from them. [To frighten them] I seized +hold of a blazing brand, broke in the door of the powder magazine, and +knocked down a barrel of gunpowder. Over this I held the brand, and I +told the Indians in an assured tone [through the interpreter] that I +expected nothing at their hands, and that even if I was killed I should +have the glory of subjecting them to the same fate. No sooner had the +Indians seen the lighted brand, and the barrel of gunpowder with its +head staved in, and heard my interpreter, than they all fled out of the +gate of the fort. They damaged the gate considerably in their hurried +flight. I soon laid down my brand, and then I had nothing more +exciting to do than to close the gate of the fort. + + +Soon after this incident with the Assiniboines, Saint-Pierre gave up +his half-hearted attempt to find a route to the Western Sea, and +returned to Montreal. He had proved himself a brave man enough. He +did not, however, understand, and made no attempt to understand, the +character of the Indians, and, as an explorer, he was a complete +failure. In {112} a couple of years he managed to undo all the work +which La Vérendrye had accomplished. After he abandoned the West, the +forts which had been built there with such difficulty and at such great +expense soon fell into decay. The only men who had the knowledge and +the enthusiasm to make real La Vérendrye's dream of exploration, his +own sons, were denied the privilege of doing so; and no one else seemed +anxious even to attempt such a difficult task. + +The period of French rule in Canada was now rapidly drawing to a close. +Instead of adding to the territories of France in North America, her +sons were preparing to make their last stand in defence of what they +already possessed. Half a dozen years later their dream of western +exploration, and of a great North American empire reaching from the +Atlantic to the Pacific, came to an end on the Plains of Abraham. It +was left for those of another race who came after them to turn the +dream of their rivals into tangible achievements. It must never be +forgotten, however, that, although Pierre de La Vérendrye failed to +complete the great object of his ambition, we owe to him and his +gallant sons the discovery of a large part of what is to-day Western +Canada. + + + + +{113} + +BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTE + +An English translation of _The Journals of La Vérendrye_ edited by +Lawrence J. Burpee, with the French text, will be found among the +publications of the Champlain Society. The reader should consult also +Parkman, _A Half Century of Conflict_, chapter xvi.; Burpee, _The +Search for the Western Sea_; Shortt and Doughty (editors), _Canada and +Its Provinces_, vol. i., 'The Pathfinders of the Great West.' + + + + +{115} + +INDEX + + +Abnakis, 4. + +Assiniboines, 49, 50-63, 90, 109. + +Aulneau, Father, 37-40. + + +Beauharnois, Marquis de, 16, 31, 33 + +Bow Indians, 78-87. + + +Caughnawagas, 4. + +Chippewas, 39, 41, 43, 46. + +Coureurs de bois, 10-12. + +Cree Indians, 39, 46, 47, 49, 93. + + +Fort Bourbon, 92. + +Fort Dauphin, 92. + +Fort La Jonquière, 108. + +Fort La Reine, 49, 68, 91, 107. + +Fort Maurepas, 31, 47, 107. + +Fort Michilimackinac, 19, 29. + +Fort Paskoyac, 93, 108. + +Fort Rouge, 49. + +Fort St Charles, 30, 37, 47, 107. + +Fort St Pierre, 30. + + +Good-looking Indians, 76, 77. + + +Horse Indians, 78. + + +Kaministikwia river, 15, 31, 37. + + +La Galissonière, Marquis de, 95, 96, 99, 100. + +La Jemeraye, 19, 28, 29, 30; dies, 37. + +La Jonquière, Marquis de, 100, 101. + +La Vérendrye, François, 19, 65, 67, 74, 81; reaches Rocky Mountains, +84; 87, 92, 96, 97-106. + +La Vérendrye, Jean-Baptiste, 19, 30, 36, 37; is killed by the Sioux, 40. + +La Vérendrye, Louis, 36, 47. + +La Vérendrye, Pierre, son of the elder Pierre, 19, 47, 74, 87. + +La Vérendrye, Pierre Gaultier de, birth and childhood, 1-3; enters +army, 3; expedition against Deerfield, 4-7; raid on St John's, 7; +serves in War of Spanish Succession, and is made lieutenant, 8; returns +to Canada and enters fur trade, 9; determines to find the Western Sea, +14; marries Mlle Dandonneau, 14; commands trading-post on Fort Nipigon, +15; granted monopoly of Western fur trade as a means of financing his +Western expedition, 17-19; his first journey of exploration, 20-32; +returns to Montreal, 33-5; starts again for the West, 36; refuses to +revenge himself on the Sioux for the murder of his son, 46; with the +Assiniboines, 49-54; with the Mandans, 55-68; falls ill, 69; returns to +Assiniboines, 70; at Fort La Reine, 71, 72, 74, 92; returns to +Montreal, 94; given the rank of captain and decorated, 95; dies, 96; +112. + +Louvière, builds Fort Rouge, 49. + + +Mackenzie, Alexander, 109. + +Mandans, tribe of Indians, 44-67, 72, 73, 89. + +Messager, Father, 19, 30. + + +Niverville, 107-8. + +Noyelle, M. de, 94. + + +Ochagach, his story of the Western Sea, 15-16, 19. + + +Parkman, Francis, his description of Bow Indians, 81-3. + +People of the Little Cherry, 87-89. + + +Rainy Lake, fort built at, 29. + +Rocky Mountains, explorers reach, 85, 93, 108, 109. + +Rouville, Hertel de, guerilla leader, 4. + + +Saint-Pierre, Legardeur de, 96, 102-3, 104, 106-7, 109-11. + +Sioux Indians, 39-43, 46, 90, 91. + +Snake Indians, 80, 86, 88. + +Subercase, leader of raid on St John's, 8. + + +Three Rivers, 1-2. + + +Western Sea, 12-19, 21, 73, 93, 95, 109. + +Winnipeg, Lake, fort built at, 30-1. + + + + + Printed by T. and A. Constable, Printers to His Majesty + at the Edinburgh University Press + + + + + + +THE CHRONICLES OF CANADA + +THIRTY-TWO VOLUMES ILLUSTRATED + +Edited by GEORGE M. WRONG and H. H. LANGTON + + + +THE CHRONICLES OF CANADA + +PART I + +THE FIRST EUROPEAN VISITORS + +1. THE DAWN OF CANADIAN HISTORY + By Stephen Leacock. + +2. THE MARINER OF ST MALO + By Stephen Leacock. + + +PART II + +THE RISE OF NEW FRANCE + +3. THE FOUNDER OF NEW FRANCE + By Charles W. Colby. + +4. THE JESUIT MISSIONS + By Thomas Guthrie Marquis. + +5. THE SEIGNEURS OF OLD CANADA + By William Bennett Munro. + +6. THE GREAT INTENDANT + By Thomas Chapais. + +7. THE FIGHTING GOVERNOR + By Charles W. Colby. + + +PART III + +THE ENGLISH INVASION + +8. THE GREAT FORTRESS + By William Wood. + +9. THE ACADIAN EXILES + By Arthur G. Doughty. + +10. THE PASSING OF NEW FRANCE + By William Wood. + +11. THE WINNING OF CANADA + By William Wood. + + +PART IV + +THE BEGINNINGS OF BRITISH CANADA + +12. THE FATHER OF BRITISH CANADA + By William Wood. + +13. THE UNITED EMPIRE LOYALISTS + By W. Stewart Wallace. + +14. THE WAR WITH THE UNITED STATES + By William Wood. + + +PART V + +THE RED MAN IN CANADA + +15. THE WAR CHIEF OF THE OTTAWAS + By Thomas Guthrie Marquis. + +16. THE WAR CHIEF OF THE SIX NATIONS + By Louis Aubrey Wood. + +17. TECUMSEH: THE LAST GREAT LEADER OF HIS PEOPLE + By Ethel T. Raymond. + + +PART VI + +PIONEERS OF THE NORTH AND WEST + +18. THE 'ADVENTURERS OF ENGLAND' ON HUDSON BAY + By Agnes C. Laut. + +19. PATHFINDERS OF THE GREAT PLAINS + By Lawrence J. Burpee. + +20. ADVENTURERS OF THE FAR NORTH + By Stephen Leacock. + +21. THE RED RIVER COLONY + By Louis Aubrey Wood. + +22. PIONEERS OF THE PACIFIC COAST + By Agnes C. Laut. + +23. THE CARIBOO TRAIL + By Agnes C. Laut. + + +PART VII + +THE STRUGGLE FOR POLITICAL FREEDOM + +24. THE FAMILY COMPACT + By W. Stewart Wallace. + +25. THE 'PATRIOTES' OF '37 + By Alfred D. DeCelles. + +26. THE TRIBUNE OF NOVA SCOTIA + By William Lawson Grant. + +27. THE WINNING OF POPULAR GOVERNMENT + By Archibald MacMechan. + + +PART VIII + +THE GROWTH OF NATIONALITY + +28. THE FATHERS OF CONFEDERATION + By A. H. U. Colquhoun. + +29. THE DAY OF SIR JOHN MACDONALD + By Sir Joseph Pope. + +30. THE DAY OF SIR WILFRID LAURIER + By Oscar D. Skelton. + + +PART IX + +NATIONAL HIGHWAYS + +31. ALL AFLOAT + By William Wood. + +32. THE RAILWAY BUILDERS + By Oscar D. Skelton. + + + +TORONTO: GLASGOW, BROOK & COMPANY + + + + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Pathfinders of the Great Plains, by +Lawrence J. 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Burpee + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Pathfinders of the Great Plains + A Chronicle of La Vérendrye and his Sons + +Author: Lawrence J. Burpee + +Release Date: October 1, 2009 [EBook #30145] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK PATHFINDERS OF THE GREAT PLAINS *** + + + + +Produced by Al Haines (This file was produced from images +obtained from The Internet Archive) + + + + + + +</pre> + + +<BR><BR> + +<H1 ALIGN="center"> +PATHFINDERS OF +<BR> +THE GREAT PLAINS +</H1> + +<BR> + +<H2 ALIGN="center"> +A Chronicle of La Vérendrye and his Sons +</H2> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +BY +</H3> + +<H2 ALIGN="center"> +LAWRENCE J. BURPEE +</H2> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +TORONTO +<BR> +GLASGOW, BROOK & COMPANY +<BR> +1914 +</H3> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<H5 ALIGN="center"> +Copyright in all Countries subscribing to<BR> +the Berne Convention<BR> +</H5> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<SPAN CLASS="pagenum">{<A NAME="Pix"></A>ix}</SPAN> + +<H2 ALIGN="center"> +CONTENTS +</H2> + +<TABLE ALIGN="center" WIDTH="80%"> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top" WIDTH="10%"> </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top" WIDTH="80%"> </TD> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top" WIDTH="10%">Page</TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">I. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap01">EARLY SERVICE</A></TD> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">1</TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">II. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap02">FIRST ATTEMPT AT EXPLORATION</A></TD> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">20</TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">III. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap03">ACROSS THE PLAINS</A></TD> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">44</TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">IV. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap04">THE MANDAN INDIANS</A></TD> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">55</TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">V. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap05">THE DISCOVERY OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS</A></TD> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">72</TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">VI. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap06">LA VÉRENDRYES' LATTER DAYS</A></TD> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">92</TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top"> </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#biblio">BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTE</A></TD> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">113</TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top"> </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#index">INDEX</A></TD> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">115</TD> +</TR> + +</TABLE> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<H2 ALIGN="center"> +ILLUSTRATIONS +</H2> + +<TABLE ALIGN="center" WIDTH="80%"> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top" WIDTH="80%"> +<A HREF="#img-001t">LA VÉRENDRYE EXPLORATIONS, 1731-43</A> +<BR> + Map by Bartholomew.</TD> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top" WIDTH="20%"> +<I>Facing page</I> 1 +</TD></TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#img-048"> +AN INDIAN ENCAMPMENT</A><BR> + Painting by Paul Kane. +</TD> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top"> + " " 48 +</TD></TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#img-052"> +AN ASSINIBOINE INDIAN</A><BR> + From a pastel by Edmund Morris. +</TD> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top"> + " " 52 +</TD></TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#img-068"> +MANDAN GIRLS</A><BR> + From Pritchard's 'Natural History of Man.' +</TD> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top"> + " " 68 +</TD></TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#img-090"> +TABLET DEPOSITED BY LA VÉRENDRYE, 1743</A><BR> + From photographs lent by Charles N. Bell,<BR> + F.R.G.S., President of the Manitoba<BR> + Historical and Scientific Society.<BR> +</TD> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top"> + " " 90 +</TD></TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#img-096"> +THE MARQUIS DE LA GALISSONIÈRE</A><BR> + From an engraving in the Château de Ramezay. +</TD> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top"> + " " 96 +</TD></TR> + +</TABLE> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="img-001t"></A> +<CENTER> +<A HREF="images/img-001.jpg"> +<IMG CLASS="imgcenter" SRC="images/img-001t.jpg" ALT="La Vérendrye Explorations, 1731-43" BORDER="2" WIDTH="957" HEIGHT="649"> +</A> +<H4 CLASS="h4center" STYLE="width: 957px"> +La Vérendrye Explorations, 1731-43 +</H4> +</CENTER> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap01"></A> + +<SPAN CLASS="pagenum">{<A NAME="P1"></A>1}</SPAN> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER I +</H3> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +EARLY SERVICE +</H4> + +<P> +Canada has had many brave sons, but none braver than Pierre Gaultier de +La Vérendrye, who gave all that he had, including his life, for the +glory and welfare of his country. La Vérendrye was born in the quaint +little town of Three Rivers, on the St Lawrence, on November 17, 1685. +His father was governor of the district of which Three Rivers was the +capital; his mother was a daughter of Pierre Boucher, a former governor +of the same district. In those days, when Canada was still a French +colony, both Three Rivers and Montreal had their own governors, while +the whole colony was under the authority of the governor-general, who +lived at Quebec. +</P> + +<P> +At that time Three Rivers was a more important place than it is to-day. +Next to Quebec and Montreal, it was the largest town in Canada. If we +could see it as it was in the days of La Vérendrye, we should find it +very +<SPAN CLASS="pagenum">{<A NAME="P2"></A>2}</SPAN> +different from the towns we know. It was surrounded by a +strong wall and protected with cannon. The town had always a garrison +of regular soldiers, and this garrison was supported in times of +necessity by every man and boy in Three Rivers. Those who lived in the +neighbourhood were also liable to be called upon for the service of +defence. In those days, when the dreaded Iroquois might at any moment +swoop down upon the little settlement, every man kept his gun within +reach, and every man knew how to use it. When the alarm was given, +men, women, and children swarmed into Three Rivers, and the town became +a secure fortress; for the Indians, ready enough to ambush small +parties of white men in the forest or in the fields, rarely dared to +attack walled towns. +</P> + +<P> +In this little walled town Pierre Gaultier de La Vérendrye was born, +and spent his boyhood. He was one of ten children, so that he must +have had no lack of companions. We have no exact description of the +home of the governor of Three Rivers, but it was probably much like +that of other seigneurs or landed gentry of New France—a low, +rambling, stone building, with walls solid enough to resist a siege, +perhaps a wing or two, many +<SPAN CLASS="pagenum">{<A NAME="P3"></A>3}</SPAN> +gables, and a lofty roof. It would be +flanked, too, with many outhouses. It must not be supposed, however, +that the governor of Three Rivers and his family lived in luxury. +People then were obliged to live more simply than they live to-day. +The governor had a salary of 1200 francs a year, or about 240 dollars +of the money of the present day. At that time, it is true, food and +clothing were cheaper than they are now, so that this sum would buy a +great deal more than it would at the present time; and the governor had +other slight resources, for he was able to add to his official income +the profits of a small farm and of a trading post on the St Maurice +river. Still, it was a small income on which to support a family of +ten lusty children, and at the same time keep up the dignity of the +position as governor of an important town. Pierre, therefore, like +most of the other boys of New France, had to shift for himself at an +age when the boys of to-day are still at school. +</P> + +<P> +In those days there was practically only one career for a gentleman's +son—that of a soldier. Accordingly we find Pierre entering the army +as a cadet at the age of twelve. Nothing is known of his military +service up to the year 1704. In that year, however, he took part in +<SPAN CLASS="pagenum">{<A NAME="P4"></A>4}</SPAN> +an expedition against Deerfield, on the north-western frontier of +the colony of Massachusetts. The expedition was commanded by a +well-known guerilla leader, Hertel de Rouville, and consisted of about +fifty Canadians and two hundred Abnakis and Caughnawagas. These +adventurers and redskins were accustomed to all kinds of hardship. In +the depth of winter they set out from Montreal to make a journey of +nearly three hundred miles. They travelled on snow-shoes through the +forest, carrying supplies and provisions on their backs. At the end of +a long day's tramp, some comparatively sheltered spot would be found +for the camp; the snow would be cleared away with their snowshoes, and +a big camp-fire built in the midst of the clearing. Round this the +weary men, white and red, would gather to eat their simple meal and +smoke a pipe; then each man would wrap himself in his cloak or blanket +and fall asleep, with his feet towards the fire. From time to time +some one, warned by the increasing cold, would spring up to throw on +the fire another log or two. With the first appearance of dawn, the +party would be once more astir; a hasty breakfast would be swallowed, +and they would be off again on their long tramp to the south. +</P> + +<SPAN CLASS="pagenum">{<A NAME="P5"></A>5}</SPAN> + +<P> +So day after day they journeyed until at last, just when they had come +to the very end of their provisions, they arrived within sight of the +doomed little English frontier village of Deerfield. In the dead of +the night Rouville called a halt in a pine forest two miles from the +village, and made preparations to surprise the inhabitants. The people +of Deerfield were wholly unconscious of the danger from the approach of +the French raiders. Although the place had a rude garrison this force +was ineffective, since it had little or no discipline. On this +particular night even the sentries seem to have found their patrol duty +within the palisades of the village so uncomfortable, in the bitter +night air, that they had betaken themselves to bed. +</P> + +<P> +Parkman has described the next step: +</P> + +<BR> + +<P CLASS="block"> +Rouville and his men, savage with hunger, lay shivering under the pines +till about two hours before dawn; then, leaving their packs and their +snow-shoes behind, they moved cautiously towards their prey. There was +a crust on the snow strong enough to bear their weight, though not to +prevent a rustling noise, as it crunched under the weight of so many +men. It is said that from time to time Rouville commanded a halt, in +order +<SPAN CLASS="pagenum">{<A NAME="P6"></A>6}</SPAN> +that the sentinels, if such there were, might mistake the +distant sound for rising and falling gusts of wind. In any case, no +alarm was given till they had mounted the palisade and dropped silently +into the unconscious village. Then with one accord they screeched the +war-whoop, and assailed the doors of the houses with axes and hatchets. +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +The surprised villagers, awakened out of their sleep to find a howling +force of French and Indians in their midst, hastily barricaded their +doors, and fought desperately with any weapons they could snatch up. +In some cases the defenders succeeded in keeping the enemy at bay; but +others were not so successful. The French and the Indians, hacked +openings in the doors and the windows of some of the houses, and +through these shot down the inmates. Finally, when day broke, the +French had gained possession of most of the village. Then they +collected their prisoners and drove them out to their camp in the +forest. A few burned houses, a score or so of dead bodies, not only of +men but of helpless women and children, and a crowd of shivering +prisoners, some of whom were butchered by the way, were the evidences +of this inglorious victory. +</P> + +<SPAN CLASS="pagenum">{<A NAME="P7"></A>7}</SPAN> + +<P> +From the plunder of the houses the victors obtained some provisions +which helped to feed their party on the long homeward journey. Before +noon of the following day they had started northward again, driving +their captives before them through the deep snow. The mid-winter tramp +through the wilderness proved extremely trying to both the French and +their prisoners, but particularly to the prisoners, among whom were +many women and children. Many of them were unaccustomed to snowshoes. +Yet now they had to make long forced marches in this way over the deep +snow. Food, too, was scarce. Some of the prisoners died of +starvation; others of exhaustion. Finally the remnant reached the +French settlements on the St Lawrence, where they were kindly treated +by the inhabitants. Some were afterwards exchanged for French captives +in New England, but many never again saw their former homes. +</P> + +<P> +The year after his return from the expedition to Deerfield, Pierre de +La Vérendrye took part in another raid against the English settlements. +On this occasion, however, the attack was not upon a New England +village, but against the town of St John's, in Newfoundland. The +expedition was commanded +<SPAN CLASS="pagenum">{<A NAME="P8"></A>8}</SPAN> +by an officer named Subercase, who +afterwards became governor of Acadia. St John's was defended by two +forts, with small English garrisons. The French, who had about four +hundred and fifty soldiers, found themselves unable to capture the +forts. They therefore abandoned the attack on St John's and returned +to the French settlement of Placentia, burning, as they went, a number +of English fishing villages along the shore. +</P> + +<P> +This kind of warfare could not bring much honour to a young soldier, +and it was probably joyful news to Pierre to learn that he had been +appointed an ensign in the Bretagne regiment of the Grenadiers serving +in Flanders. He sailed from Canada in 1706, and for three years fought +with his regiment in what was known as the War of the Spanish +Succession, in which the English armies were commanded by the famous +Duke of Marlborough. Finally, at the terrible battle of Malplaquet, in +which thousands of both English and French were killed, Pierre so +distinguished himself that he won the rank of lieutenant. He received +no less than nine wounds, and was left for dead upon the field. +Fortunately he managed to escape, to render to his country in the years +to come much greater service. +</P> + +<SPAN CLASS="pagenum">{<A NAME="P9"></A>9}</SPAN> + +<P> +Finding that there was little hope of further promotion in the French +army, since he had no influence in high quarters, Pierre returned to +Canada. After several years' service in the colonial forces, he +abandoned the army, and engaged in the fur trade. As a boy at Three +Rivers, he had enjoyed many chances of meeting the fur-traders who came +down to the little town on the St Lawrence with their packs of valuable +peltry, and had shown an especial and fascinated interest in their +stories of the boundless country that lay north and west of the string +of settlements on the St Lawrence. This country was so vast in extent +that even the most remote tribes yet visited by the white traders could +state nothing definite as to its outer boundaries, though, in answer to +the eager questions of the white men, they invented many untrue tales +about it. +</P> + +<P> +The fur-traders themselves were divided into two classes. The more +staid and respectable class built trading forts in the interior on the +borders of territories occupied by the Indians. Here they kept a +supply of the things required by the natives: guns, powder and balls, +tobacco, blankets, bright-coloured cotton, axes and small tools, flints +and steels, vermilion for war-paint, and beads of every colour and +<SPAN CLASS="pagenum">{<A NAME="P10"></A>10}</SPAN> +description. The Indians brought their furs into the forts and +bartered them for the goods that they needed. Sometimes, with no sense +of real values, they traded beaver skins and other pelts of high worth +for a piece of gaudy cotton, a little vermilion, or a handful of beads. +The white men, of course, brought things which rapidly became +indispensable to the Indians, whose native bows and arrows and hatchets +of stone seemed almost useless compared with the muskets and the steel +axes brought from Europe. To acquire these things became vital to the +Indians, and the traders who now supplied them acquired each year +thousands of beautiful furs. These were tied up securely into packs +and carried in canoes down to Montreal or Three Rivers, where they were +bought by the great merchants and sent by ship to France. The furs +that had been bought from the Indian for a mere trifle fetched hundreds +of francs when they finally reached Paris. +</P> + +<P> +The second class of traders, known as coureurs de bois, or +wood-runners, were very different from the first. Speaking generally, +they were young men, sometimes of good family, who found life in the +older towns and settlements prosaic and uninteresting, and when +<SPAN CLASS="pagenum">{<A NAME="P11"></A>11}</SPAN> +they went to the interior did not care to be tied down to the humdrum +existence of the trading forts. Instead of requiring the Indians to +bring their furs down to some fort, these enterprising rovers of the +forest went into the Indian country. Sometimes they took light trading +goods with them to barter with the redskins for furs, but oftener they +themselves hunted and trapped the beaver, the otter, and the fox. The +coureurs de bois were generally men of reckless courage, ready to face +danger and hardship. From long living among the savages they +themselves became in time half savage. Some of them took Indian wives +and were adopted into the tribes. +</P> + +<P> +When one of these wood-runners had obtained a quantity of furs, he made +them up into packs, loaded them carefully in his canoe, and set out for +the distant settlements, Montreal, Three Rivers, or Quebec. He knew +the wild northern streams as well as any Indian; he could run his canoe +safely down a rapid where an inch one way or the other would dash it +against the rocks; and he could paddle all day with only an occasional +stop for a meal or a smoke. When he came to an impassable rapid or +waterfall, he beached his canoe and carried everything—canoe, packs, +gun, and +<SPAN CLASS="pagenum">{<A NAME="P12"></A>12}</SPAN> +provisions—overland to the navigable water ahead. At +night he pulled his canoe ashore, built a campfire, and cooked over the +flames a partridge, a wild duck, or a venison steak. If he had not +been fortunate enough to meet with such game, he made a simple meal of +pemmican—dried venison mixed with fat—a supply of which he always +carried in a bag in case of need. Then he smoked his pipe, rolled +himself in his blanket, placed his gun within reach, and slept soundly +until the sun awakened him on the following morning. When he reached +the far-off towns on the St Lawrence, he traded part of his furs for +any goods which he needed, and was only too likely to get rid of the +rest in dissipation. As soon as his money was spent, he would turn his +back on civilization and live once more the wild life of the Indian +country. +</P> + +<P> +From such men as these, who were constantly to be seen in the little +town of Three Rivers, Pierre de La Vérendrye heard many stories of the +wonderful country that lay far towards the setting sun. They told him +of mighty rivers and great lakes. Some of these they had seen; others +they had heard of from the Indians. Always the young man heard rumours +of a great <I>Mer de l'Ouest</I>, or Western +<SPAN CLASS="pagenum">{<A NAME="P13"></A>13}</SPAN> +Sea, which French +explorers had been seeking ardently ever since the days of Jacques +Cartier and Samuel Champlain. In the earlier days, when the French +first came to Canada, this Western Sea was supposed to be somewhere +above Montreal. Probably the Indians who first spoke of it to Jacques +Cartier meant nothing more than Lake Ontario. Then, in the days of +Champlain, the sea was sought farther westward. Champlain heard +rumours of a great water beyond the Ottawa river. He paddled up the +Ottawa, reached Lake Nipissing, and, descending what is now known as +French River, found the immense body of water of which the Indians had +told him. He had discovered Lake Huron, but this, again, was not the +Western Sea. Other explorers, following in his footsteps, discovered +Lake Michigan and Lake Superior; but still neither of these was the +Western Sea. So, in La Vérendrye's day, men were dreaming of a Western +Sea somewhere beyond Lake Superior. How far was it westward of Lake +Superior? Who could tell? The Indians were always ready with a +plausible tale, and many believed that the Western Sea would still be +found at no great distance beyond the uppermost of the Great Lakes. +</P> + +<SPAN CLASS="pagenum">{<A NAME="P14"></A>14}</SPAN> + +<P> +La Vérendrye was a young man of ambition and imagination. The spirit +of adventure called him to a great exploit in discovery, as it had +called earlier explorers French in blood—Jacques Cartier and Champlain +and Radisson, Nicolet and Etienne Brulé, Marquette and La Salle. They +one and all had sought diligently for the Western Sea; they had made +many notable discoveries, but in this one thing they all had failed. +La Vérendrye determined to strive even more earnestly than any of his +great predecessors to discover a way to the Western Sea, not so much +for his own advantage as for the honour and glory of his native +country. This great idea had been taking form in his mind from the +days of his early boyhood, when, seated before the great log fire in +his father's home in Three Rivers, he had first listened to the +stirring tales of the woodrunners. +</P> + +<P> +Years went by, however, before he could attempt to put his plans into +execution. Soon after his return from the French wars, he married the +daughter of a gentleman of New France named Dandonneau and made his +home on the island of Dupas in the St Lawrence, near Three Rivers. +Here four sons were born to him, all of whom were +<SPAN CLASS="pagenum">{<A NAME="P15"></A>15}</SPAN> +later to +accompany their father on his western explorations. His principal +occupation at this time was to look after the trading-post of La +Gabelle on the St Maurice river, not far from the point where it +discharges its waters into the St Lawrence. +</P> + +<P> +La Vérendrye's experience and capacity as a fur-trader, gained at this +post of La Gabelle, led the governor of the colony to offer him, in the +year 1726, the command of an important trading fort on Lake Nipigon, +north of Lake Superior. With his great project of western exploration +always in mind, he eagerly accepted the offer. For three or four years +he remained in command of the Nipigon post, faithfully discharging his +duties as a fur-trader, but with his mind always alert for any +information that might help him later to discover a way to the Western +Sea. +</P> + +<P> +One day there came to him from the Kaministikwia river—on which the +city of Fort William now stands—an Indian named Ochagach. According +to his own story, Ochagach had travelled far towards the setting sun, +until he came to a great lake, out of which a river flowed westward. +He said that he had paddled down this river until he reached a point +where the water ebbed and flowed. +<SPAN CLASS="pagenum">{<A NAME="P16"></A>16}</SPAN> +Through fear of the savage +tribes that inhabited the shores of the river, he had not gone to its +mouth, but he had been told that the river emptied into a great salt +lake or sea, upon the coasts of which dwelt men of terrifying mien, who +lived in fortified towns; he had been told that these men wore armour +and rode on horseback, and that great ships visited the towns which +they had built on the coasts. +</P> + +<P> +Ochagach's story made a deep impression on La Vérendrye. Not that he +accepted the whole account as true. He knew too well the wild +imagination of the Indian, and his delight in telling marvellous tales +to the white men. But the river that flowed westward and fell into a +great sea answered so closely to his own dream, and seemed on the whole +so probable, that he was persuaded of the truth of the story. He +determined, therefore, to surrender his command of the Nipigon post and +to equip an expedition for the discovery of the Western Sea, which now +seemed to be within comparatively easy reach. To do this, he must +obtain the permission and support of the governor-general of Canada, +the Marquis de Beauharnois. He therefore set out for Quebec, taking +with him a rough map which Ochagach had drawn for him. This map +<SPAN CLASS="pagenum">{<A NAME="P17"></A>17}</SPAN> +professed to make clear the position of the countries which Ochagach +declared that he had visited. +</P> + +<P> +The governor at Quebec was keenly interested in these plans for western +discovery, and wrote immediately to the French king, urging that La +Vérendrye should be provided with one hundred men and the necessary +supplies and equipment. But King Louis at this time was deeply engaged +in European wars and intrigues and could not spare any money for the +work of exploration. All that he would grant was a monopoly of the +western fur trade. That is to say, La Vérendrye was to be allowed to +build trading forts in the country which he was about to explore, and, +out of the profits of his traffic with the Indians, he might pay the +cost of his expedition to the Western Sea. No other French traders +would be permitted to trade in this part of the country. +</P> + +<P> +This was sorry encouragement to a man whose only desire was to bring +glory and honour to his native country; but it was all that could be +hoped for from the government or the king. La Vérendrye was too true a +leader to abandon plans merely because the road was not made easy for +him. As the king would not pay the cost of his expedition, he +<SPAN CLASS="pagenum">{<A NAME="P18"></A>18}</SPAN> +made up his mind to find help from some other source. He must have +men; he must have canoes, provisions, and goods to trade with the +natives. All this demanded a great deal of money. He devoted at once +to the cause his own little fortune, but this was far from sufficient. +Off he went to Montreal, to plead with its merchants to help him. The +merchants, however, were not much interested in his plans for western +discovery. They were business men without patriotism; they looked for +something that would bring profit, not for what might advance the +interests of their country. +</P> + +<P> +It thus happened that if La Vérendrye had had nothing to offer them but +the opportunity of sharing in the distinction of his great discovery, +they would have turned deaf ears to his appeal, no matter how eloquent +he might have been. But he was too shrewd a man to urge plans to which +he knew the merchants would not listen. He could turn the king's +monopoly to good account. 'Give me money to pay my men,' he said, 'and +goods to trade with the western tribes, and I will bring you rich +returns in beaver skins. No other traders are permitted to go into the +country west of Lake Superior. I will build trading forts +<SPAN CLASS="pagenum">{<A NAME="P19"></A>19}</SPAN> +there. +From these as a base I will continue my search for the Western Sea. +All the profits of the enterprise, the rich furs that are brought into +my posts, shall be yours.' Here was something that the self-seeking +merchants could understand. They saw in the fur-trading monopoly a +chance of a golden harvest, a return of hundreds for every franc that +they advanced towards the expenses of the undertaking. With cheerful +haste, therefore, they agreed to pay the cost of the expedition. La +Vérendrye was delighted and lost no time in employing such persons as +he needed—soldiers, canoe-men, and hunters. Birch-bark canoes were +procured and laden with provisions, equipment, and packages of goods to +trade with the Indians; and in the early summer of 1731 all was ready +for the great western journey. With La Vérendrye were to go three of +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap02"></A> + +<SPAN CLASS="pagenum">{<A NAME="P20"></A>20}</SPAN> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER II +</H3> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +FIRST ATTEMPT AT EXPLORATION +</H4> + +<P> +As La Vérendrye led his men from the gates of Montreal to the river +where waited his little fleet of birch-bark canoes, his departure was +watched with varied and conflicting emotions. In the crowd that +surrounded him were friends and enemies; some who openly applauded his +design, others who less openly scoffed at it; priests exhorting him to +devote all his energies to furthering the missionary aims of their +Church among the wild tribes of the West; jealous traders commenting +among themselves upon the injustice involved in granting a monopoly of +the western fur trade to this scheming adventurer; partners in the +enterprise anxiously watching the loading of the precious merchandise +they had advanced to him, and wondering whether their cast of the dice +would bring fortune or failure; busybodies bombarding him with advice; +and a crowd of idle onlookers, divided in their minds +<SPAN CLASS="pagenum">{<A NAME="P21"></A>21}</SPAN> +as to +whether La Vérendrye would return triumphantly from the Western Sea +laden with the spoils of Cathay and Cipango, or would fall a victim to +the half-human monsters that were reputed to inhabit the wilderness of +the West. +</P> + +<P> +But now everything was ready. La Vérendrye gave the word of command, +and the canoes leaped forward on their long voyage. A new search for +the Western Sea had begun. No man knew how it would end. The perils +and hardships encountered by the discoverers of America in crossing the +Atlantic were much less terrible than those with which La Vérendrye and +his men must battle in exploring the boundless plains of the unknown +West. The voyage across the sea would occupy but a few weeks; this +journey by inland waterways and across the illimitable spaces of the +western prairies would take many months and even years. There was a +daily menace from savage foes lurking on the path of the adventurers. +Hardy and dauntless must they be who should return safely from such a +quest. Little those knew who stood enviously watching the departure of +the expedition what bitter tribute its leader must pay to the +relentless gods of the Great Plains for his hardihood in invading their +savage domain. +</P> + +<SPAN CLASS="pagenum">{<A NAME="P22"></A>22}</SPAN> + +<P> +The way lay up the broad and picturesque Ottawa, rich even then with +the romantic history of a century of heroic exploits. This was the +great highway between the St Lawrence and the Upper Lakes for +explorers, missionaries, war parties, and traders. Up this stream, one +hundred and eighteen years before, Champlain had pushed his way, +persuaded by the ingenious impostor Nicolas Vignau that here was the +direct road to Cathay. At St Anne's the expedition made a brief halt +to ask a blessing on the enterprise. Here the men, according to +custom, each received a dram of liquor. When they had again taken +their places, paddles dipped at the word of command, and, like a covey +of birds, the canoes skimmed over the dark waters of the Ottawa, +springing under the sinewy strokes of a double row of paddlers against +the swift current of the river. Following the shore closely, they made +rapid progress up-stream. At noon they landed on a convenient island, +where they quickly kindled a fire. A pot of tea was swung above it +from a tripod. With jest and story the meal went on, and as soon as it +was finished they were again afloat, paddling vigorously and making +quick time. Sunset approached—the brief but indescribably beautiful +sunset +<SPAN CLASS="pagenum">{<A NAME="P23"></A>23}</SPAN> +of a Canadian summer. The sun sank behind the maples and +cedars, and a riot of colour flooded the western horizon. Rainbow hues +swept up half-way to the zenith, waving, mingling, changing from tint +to tint, as through the clouds flamed up the last brightness of the +sinking sun. A rollicking chorus sank away on the still air, and the +men gazed for a moment upon a scene which, however familiar, could +never lose its charm. The song of the birds was hushed. All nature +seemed to pause. Then as the outermost rim of the sun dropped from +sight, and the brilliant colouring of a moment ago toned to rose and +saffron, pink and mauve, the world moved on again, but with a seemingly +subdued motion. The voyageurs resumed their song, but the gay chorus +that had wakened echoes from the overhanging cliffs, +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> +En roulant ma boule,<BR> +Rouli, roulant, ma boule roulant,<BR> +En roulant ma boule roulant,<BR> +En roulant ma boule,<BR> +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +was changed to the pathetic refrain of a song then as now dear to the +heart of French Canadians—<I>A la claire fontaine</I>. +</P> + +<P> +In the cool twilight the men paddled on, placing mile after mile +between them and +<SPAN CLASS="pagenum">{<A NAME="P24"></A>24}</SPAN> +Montreal. Presently the river widened into a +lakelike expanse. The moon rose and shot its soft gleam across the +water. No ripple stirred the smooth surface, save where the paddles +dipped and the prow of each canoe cut like a knife through the stream. +Belated birds flew overhead, making for home. A stag broke through the +bushes on the farther shore, caught sight of the canoes, gazed at them +for a moment, and then disappeared. It was growing late when La +Vérendrye, from the foremost canoe, gave the word to camp. The canoes +turned shoreward, lightly touching the shelving bank, and the men +sprang nimbly to the land. Fires were lighted, the tents were pitched, +and everything was made snug for the night. The hunters had not been +idle during the day, and a dozen brace of birds were soon twirling +merrily on the spit, while venison steaks added appetizing odours. +</P> + +<P> +Their hunger satisfied, the men lounged about on the grass, smoking and +listening to the yarns of some famous story-teller. He would tell +them, perhaps, the pathetic story of Cadieux, who, on this very stream, +had held the dreaded Iroquois at bay while his comrades escaped. +Cadieux himself escaped the Iroquois, only to fall a victim to the +<I>folie des bois</I>, or +<SPAN CLASS="pagenum">{<A NAME="P25"></A>25}</SPAN> +madness of the woods, wandering aimlessly in +circles, until, famished and exhausted, he lay down to die. When his +comrades returned in search of him, they found beside him a birch bark +on which he had written his death chant: +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> +Thou little rock of the high hill, attend!<BR> +Hither I come this last campaign to end!<BR> +Ye echoes soft, give ear unto my sigh;<BR> +In languishing I speedily shall die.<BR> +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> +Dear little birds, your dulcet harmony<BR> +What time you sing makes this life dear to me.<BR> +Ah! had I wings that I might fly like you;<BR> +Ere two days sped I should be happy too.<BR> +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +Then, as the camp-fires sank into heaps of glowing embers, each man +would wrap his blanket about him and with kind mother earth for his +pillow and only the dome of heaven above him, would sleep as only those +may whose resting-place is in the free air of the wilderness. +</P> + +<P> +At sunrise they were once more away, on a long day's paddle up-stream. +They passed the Long Sault, where long before the heroic Dollard and +his little band of Frenchmen held at bay a large war party of +Iroquois—sacrificing their lives to save the little struggling colony +at Montreal. Again, their way lay beneath those towering cliffs +overlooking the Ottawa, on which now stand the Canadian Houses of +<SPAN CLASS="pagenum">{<A NAME="P26"></A>26}</SPAN> +Parliament. They had just passed the curtain-like falls of the Rideau +on one side, and the mouth of the turbulent Gatineau on the other, and +before them lay the majestic Chaudière. Here they disembarked. The +voyageurs, following the Indian example, threw a votive offering of +tobacco into the boiling cauldron, for the benefit of the dreaded +Windigo. Then, shouldering canoes and cargo, they made their way along +the portage to the upper stream, and, launching and reloading the +canoes, proceeded on their journey. So the days passed, each one +carrying them farther from the settlements and on, ever on, towards the +unknown West, and perhaps to the Western Sea. +</P> + +<P> +From the upper waters of the Ottawa they carried their canoes over into +a series of small lakes and creeks that led to Lake Nipissing, and +thence they ran down the French river to Lake Huron. Launching out +fearlessly on this great lake, they paddled swiftly along the north +shore to Fort Michilimackinac, where they rested for a day or two. +Fort Michilimackinac was on the south side of the strait which connects +Lake Huron and Lake Michigan, and lay so near the water that the waves +frequently broke against the stockade. Passing through the gates, +above which floated +<SPAN CLASS="pagenum">{<A NAME="P27"></A>27}</SPAN> +the fleurs-de-lis of France, they found +themselves in an enclosure, some two acres in extent, containing thirty +houses and a small church. On the bastions stood in a conspicuous +position two small brass cannon, captured from the English at Fort +Albany on Hudson Bay, in 1686, by De Troyes and Iberville.[<A NAME="chap02fn1text"></A><A HREF="#chap02fn1">1</A>] +</P> + +<P> +It was now the end of July, and La Vérendrye had still a long way to +go. After a brief rest, he gathered his party together, embarked once +more, and steered his way on that great inland sea, Lake Superior. All +that had gone before was child's play to what must now be encountered. +In contrast to the blue and placid waters of Lake Huron, the explorers +now found themselves in the midst of a dark and sombre sea, whose +waves, seldom if ever still, could on occasion rival the Atlantic in +their fierce tumult. Even in this hottest month of the year the water +was icy cold, and the keen wind that blew across the lake forced those +who were not paddling to put on extra clothing. They must needs be +hardy and experienced voyageurs who could safely navigate these mad +waters in frail bark canoes. Slowly they made their way along the +north shore, buffeted by storms and in constant peril of their lives, +until at last, on +<SPAN CLASS="pagenum">{<A NAME="P28"></A>28}</SPAN> +August 26, they reached the Grand Portage, near +the mouth of the Pigeon river, or about fifteen leagues south-west of +Fort Kaministikwia, where the city of Fort William now stands. +</P> + +<P> +La Vérendrye would have pushed on at once for Lac la Pluie, or Rainy +Lake, where he purposed to build the first of his western posts, but +when he ordered his men to make the portage there was first deep +muttering, and then open mutiny. Two or three of the boatmen, bribed +by La Vérendrye's enemies at Montreal, had drawn such terrible pictures +of the horrors before them, and had so played upon the fears of their +superstitious comrades, that these now refused flatly to follow their +leader into the unhallowed and fiend-infested regions which lay beyond. +The hardships they had already endured, and the further hardships of +the long and difficult series of portages which lay between them and +Rainy Lake, also served to dishearten the men. Some of them, however, +had been with La Jemeraye at Lake Pepin, on the Mississippi, and were +not to be dismayed. These La Vérendrye persuaded to continue the +exploration. The others gradually weakened in their opposition, and at +last it was agreed that La Jemeraye, with half the men, should go on to +Rainy Lake and build a +<SPAN CLASS="pagenum">{<A NAME="P29"></A>29}</SPAN> +fort there, while La Vérendrye, with the +other half, should spend the winter at Kaministikwia, and keep the +expedition supplied with provisions. +</P> + +<P> +In this way the winter passed. The leader was, we may be sure, +restless at the delay and impatient to advance farther. The spring +brought good news. Late in May La Jemeraye returned from Rainy Lake, +bringing canoes laden with valuable furs, the result of the winter's +traffic. These were immediately sent on to Michilimackinac, for +shipment to the partners at Montreal. La Jemeraye reported that he had +built a fort at the foot of a series of rapids, where Rainy Lake +discharges into the river of the same name. He had built the fort in a +meadow, among groves of oak. The lake teemed with fish, and the woods +which lined its shores were alive with game, large and small. The +picture was one to make La Vérendrye even more eager to advance. On +June 8 he set out with his entire party for Fort St Pierre, as the new +establishment had been named, to commemorate his own name of Pierre. +It took a month to traverse the intricate chain of small lakes and +streams, with their many portages, connecting Lake Superior and Rainy +Lake. +</P> + +<SPAN CLASS="pagenum">{<A NAME="P30"></A>30}</SPAN> + +<P> +After a short rest at Fort St Pierre, La Vérendrye pushed on rapidly, +escorted in state by fifty canoes of Indians, to the Lake of the Woods. +Here he built a second post, Fort St Charles, on a peninsula running +out far into the lake on the south-west side—an admirable situation, +both for trading purposes and for defence. This fort he describes as +consisting of 'an enclosure made with four rows of posts, from twelve +to fifteen feet in height, in the form of an oblong square, within +which are a few rough cabins constructed of logs and clay, and covered +with bark.' +</P> + +<P> +In the spring of 1735 Father Messager returned to Montreal, and with +him went La Jemeraye, to report the progress already made. He +described to the governor the difficulties they had encountered, and +urged that the king should be persuaded to assume the expense of +further exploration towards the Western Sea. The governor could, +however, do nothing. +</P> + +<P> +Meanwhile Jean, La Vérendrye's eldest son, had advanced still farther +and had made his way to Lake Winnipeg. He took with him a handful of +toughened veterans, and tramped on snow-shoes through the frozen +forest—four hundred and fifty miles in the stern midwinter +<SPAN CLASS="pagenum">{<A NAME="P31"></A>31}</SPAN> +of a +region bitterly cold. Near the mouth of the Winnipeg river, where it +empties into Lake Winnipeg, they found an ideal site for the fort which +they intended to build. Immediately they set to work, felled trees, +drove stout stakes into the frozen ground for a stockade, put up a +rough shelter inside, and had everything ready for La Vérendrye's +arrival in the spring. They named the post Fort Maurepas, in honour of +a prominent minister of the king in France at the time. +</P> + +<P> +La Vérendrye had now carried out, and more than carried out, the +agreement made with the governor Beauharnois. He had established a +chain of posts—strung like beads on a string—from Lake Superior to +Lake Winnipeg, from the river Kaministikwia to the open prairie. But +the distance he had traversed, the difficulties he had encountered, +and, above all, the expense incurred, had been far in excess of +anything he had anticipated. These were discouraging experiences. He +seemed at last to have reached the limit of his resources and +endurance. To advance farther with the slender means now at his +command seemed almost impossible. Should he turn back? His men were +more than willing. Every step eastward would bring them nearer their +<SPAN CLASS="pagenum">{<A NAME="P32"></A>32}</SPAN> +homes, their families, and the pleasures and dissipations of the +Canadian towns on the far-off St Lawrence. To turn back was the +easiest thing for them. But it was not easy for a man like La +Vérendrye. To return meant failure; and for him there was no such +thing as failure while health and strength endured. At whatever cost, +he must push on towards the Western Sea. +</P> + +<P> +The situation was nevertheless most critical. His own means had long +since been exhausted. True, he possessed a monopoly of the fur trade, +but what did it profit him? He had not touched, and never would be +able to touch, a franc of the proceeds: the shrewd merchants of +Montreal had made sure of this. To La Vérendrye the monopoly was +simply a millstone added to the burdens he was already forced to bear. +It did not increase his resources; it delayed his great enterprise; and +it put an effective weapon in the hands of his enemies. Little cause +had he to be grateful for the royal monopoly. He would have infinitely +preferred the direct grant of even a score of capable, well-equipped +men. These, maintained at the king's expense, he might lead by the +quickest route to the Western Sea. +</P> + +<P> +As it was, the merchants in Montreal refused +<SPAN CLASS="pagenum">{<A NAME="P33"></A>33}</SPAN> +to send up further +supplies; his men remained unpaid; he even lacked a sufficient supply +of food. There was nothing for it but to turn back, make the long +journey to Montreal and Quebec, and there do his utmost to arrange +matters. He had already sunk from 40,000 to 50,000 livres in the +enterprise. In all justice, the king should assume the expense of +further explorations in quest of the Great Sea. The governor, the +Marquis de Beauharnois, shared this view, and had already pressed the +court to grant La Vérendrye the assistance he so urgently needed. 'The +outlay,' he wrote to the king's minister, Maurepas, 'will not be great; +the cost of the <I>engagés</I> [hired men] for three years, taking into +account what can be furnished from the king's stores, would not exceed +30,000 livres at most.' The king, however, refused to undertake the +expense of the expedition. Those who had assumed the task should, he +thought, be in a position to continue it by means of the profits +derived from their monopoly of the fur trade. The facts did not +justify the royal view of the matter. La Vérendrye had enjoyed the +monopoly for two or three years—with the result that he was now very +heavily, indeed alarmingly, in debt. +</P> + +<SPAN CLASS="pagenum">{<A NAME="P34"></A>34}</SPAN> + +<P> +His was not a nature, however, to be crushed by either indifference or +opposition. He had reached the parting of the ways. Nothing was to be +hoped for from the court. He must either abandon his enterprise or +continue it at his own risk and expense. He went to Montreal and saw +his partners. With infinite patience he suffered their unjust +reproaches. He was neglecting their interests, they grumbled. The +profits were not what they had a right to expect. He thought too much +of the Western Sea and not enough of the beavers. He was a dreamer, +and they were practical men of business. +</P> + +<P> +What could La Vérendrye say that would have weight with men of this +stamp? Should he tell them of the glory that would accrue to his and +their country by the discovery of the Western Sea? At this they would +only shrug their shoulders. Should he tell them of the unseen forces +that drew him to that wonderful land of the West—where the crisp clear +air held an intoxicating quality unknown in the East; where the eye +foamed on and on over limitless expanses of waving green, till the mind +was staggered at the vastness of the prospect; where the very largeness +of nature seemed to enter into a man and to +<SPAN CLASS="pagenum">{<A NAME="P35"></A>35}</SPAN> +crush out things petty +and selfish? In doing this he would be beating the air. They were +incapable of understanding him. They would deem him mad. +</P> + +<P> +Crushing down, therefore, both his enthusiasm for the western land and +his anger at their dulness, he met the merchants of Montreal on their +own commercial level. He told them that the posts he had established +were in the very heart of the fur country; that the Assiniboines and +Crees had engaged to bring large quantities of beaver skins to the +forts; that the northern tribes were already turning from the English +posts of the Hudson's Bay Company in the Far North to the more +accessible posts of the French; that the richly watered and wooded +country between Kaministikwia and Lake Winnipeg abounded in every +description of fur-bearing animal; that over the western prairies +roamed the buffalo in vast herds which seemed to blacken the green +earth as far as eye could reach. His eloquence over the outlook for +trade proved convincing. As he painted the riches of the West in terms +that appealed with peculiar force to these traders in furs, their +hostility melted away. The prospect of profit at the rate of a hundred +per cent once more filled +<SPAN CLASS="pagenum">{<A NAME="P36"></A>36}</SPAN> +them with enthusiasm. They agreed to +equip the expedition anew. It thus happened that when the intrepid +explorer again turned his face towards the West, fortune seemed to +smile once more. His canoes were loaded with a second equipment for +the posts of the Western Sea. Perhaps at that moment it seemed to him +hardly to matter that he was in debt deeper than ever. +</P> + +<P> +While in the East completing these arrangements, La Vérendrye took +steps to ensure that his youngest son, Louis, now eighteen years of +age, should join the other members of the family engaged in the work. +The boy was to be taught how to prepare maps and plans, so that, when +he came west in the following year, he might be of material assistance +to the expedition. The explorer would then have his four sons and his +nephew in the enterprise. +</P> + +<P> +The hopeful outlook did not long endure. It was soon clear that La +Vérendrye had again to meet trials which should try his mettle still +more severely. Shortly after his return to Fort St Charles on the Lake +of the Woods, his son Jean arrived from Fort Maurepas, with evil news +indeed. La Jemeraye, his nephew and chief lieutenant, whose knowledge +of the western tribes was invaluable, whose +<SPAN CLASS="pagenum">{<A NAME="P37"></A>37}</SPAN> +enthusiasm for the +great project was only second to his own, whose patience and +resourcefulness had helped the expedition out of many a tight +corner—La Jemeraye was dead. He had remained in harness to the last, +and had laboured day and night, in season and out of season, pushing +explorations in every direction, meeting and conciliating the Indian +tribes, building up the fur trade at the western posts. Though sorely +needing rest, he had toiled on uncomplainingly, with no thought that he +was showing heroism, till at last his overtaxed body collapsed and he +died almost on his feet—the first victim of the search for the Western +Sea. +</P> + +<P> +Meanwhile the little garrison at Fort St Charles was almost at the +point of starvation. La Vérendrye had travelled ahead at such rapid +speed that his supplies were still a long way in the rear when he +reached the fort. In face of the pressing need, it was decided to send +a party down to meet the boats at Kaministikwia and to fetch back at +once the supplies which were most urgently required. Jean, now +twenty-three years of age, was placed in charge of the expedition, and +with him went the Jesuit missionary, Father Aulneau, on his way down to +Fort Michilimackinac. The day for departure was named, +<SPAN CLASS="pagenum">{<A NAME="P38"></A>38}</SPAN> +and +everything was made ready the night before so that there might be no +delay in starting early in the morning. The sun had hardly risen above +the horizon and was yet filtering through the dense foliage of pine and +cedar, when Jean de La Vérendrye and his men embarked and pushed off +from the shore. The paddles dipped almost noiselessly, and the three +light canoes skimmed lightly over the surface of the Lake of the Woods, +followed by shouts of farewell from the fort. +</P> + +<P> +For a time the party skirted the shore. Then they struck out boldly +across the lake. The melodies of the forest followed them for a time, +and then died away in the distance. Nothing was now to be heard but +the dip of paddles and the soft swirl of eddies flying backward from +either side of the canoes. The morning sun swept across the lake; a +faint breeze stirred a ripple on the surface of the water. From far +away came faintly the laugh of a solitary loon. The men paddled +strenuously, with minds intent upon nothing more serious than the halt +for breakfast. The priest was lost in meditation. Jean de La +Vérendrye sat in the foremost canoe, with eyes alert, scanning the +horizon as the little flotilla drew rapidly across the lake. +</P> + +<SPAN CLASS="pagenum">{<A NAME="P39"></A>39}</SPAN> + +<P> +At the same time, approaching from the opposite direction, was a fleet +of canoes manned by a hundred savages, the fierce and implacable Sioux +of the prairie. They had reached the Lake of the Woods by way of a +stream that bore the significant name <I>The Road of War</I>. This was the +war-path of the Sioux from their own country, south of what is now the +province of Manitoba, to the country of the Chippewas and the Crees +farther east. Whenever the Sioux followed this route, they were upon +no peaceful errand. As the Sioux entered the lake, a mist was rising +slowly from the water; but before it completely hid their canoes a +keen-sighted savage saw the three canoes of the French, who were about +to land on the far side of an island out in the lake. Cautiously the +Sioux felt their way across to the near side of the island, and landed +unperceived. They glided noiselessly through the thick underbrush, +and, as they approached the other shore, crept from tree to tree, +finally wriggling snake-wise to the very edge of the thicket. Beneath +them lay a narrow beach, on which some of the voyageurs had built a +fire to prepare the morning meal. Others lay about, smoking and +chatting idly. Jean de La Vérendrye sat a little apart, perhaps +<SPAN CLASS="pagenum">{<A NAME="P40"></A>40}</SPAN> +recording the scanty particulars of the journey. The Jesuit priest +walked up and down, deep in his breviary. +</P> + +<P> +The circumstances could hardly have been more favourable for the sudden +attack which the savages were eager to make. The French had laid aside +their weapons, or had left them behind in the canoes. They had no +reason to expect an attack. They were at peace with the western +tribes—even with those Ishmaelites of the prairie, the Sioux. +Presently a twig snapped under the foot of a savage. Young La +Vérendrye turned quickly, caught sight of a waving plume, and shouted +to his men. Immediately from a hundred fierce throats the war-whoop +rang out. The Sioux leaped to their feet. Arrows showered down upon +the French. Jean, Father Aulneau, and a dozen voyageurs fell. The +rest snatched up their guns and fired. Several of the Sioux, who had +incautiously left cover, fell. The odds were, however, overwhelmingly +against the French. They must fight in the open, while the Indians +remained comparatively secure among the trees. The French made an +attempt to reach the canoes, but had to abandon it, for the Sioux now +completely commanded the approach and no man could reach the water +alive. +</P> + +<SPAN CLASS="pagenum">{<A NAME="P41"></A>41}</SPAN> + +<P> +The surviving French, now reduced to half a dozen, retreated down the +shore. With yells of triumph the Sioux followed, keeping within +shelter of the trees. In desperation the voyageurs dropped their guns +and took to the water, hoping to be able to swim to a neighbouring +island. This was a counsel of despair, for wounded and exhausted as +they were, the feat was impossible. When the Sioux rushed down to the +shore, they realized the plight of the French, and did not even waste +an arrow on them. One by one the swimmers sank beneath the waves. +After watching their tragic fate, the savages returned to scalp those +who had fallen at the camp. With characteristic ferocity they hacked +and mutilated the bodies. Then, gathering up their own dead, they +hastily retreated by the way they had come. +</P> + +<P> +For some time it was not known why the Sioux had made an attack, +seemingly unprovoked, upon the French. Gradually, however, it leaked +out that earlier in the year a party of Sioux on their way to Fort St +Charles on a friendly visit had been fired upon by a party of +Chippewas. The Sioux had shouted indignantly, 'Who fire on us?' and +the Chippewas, in ambush, had yelled back with grim humour, 'The +French.' The Sioux +<SPAN CLASS="pagenum">{<A NAME="P42"></A>42}</SPAN> +retreated, vowing a terrible vengeance against +the treacherous white men. Their opportunity came even sooner than +they had expected. A trader named Bourassa, who had left Fort St +Charles for Michilimackinac shortly before the setting out of Jean de +La Vérendrye and his party, had camped for the night on the banks of +the Rainy river. The following morning, as he was about to push off +from the shore, he was surrounded by thirty canoes manned by a hundred +Sioux. They bound him hand and foot, tied him to a stake, and were +about to burn him alive when a squaw who was with him sprang forward to +defend him. Fortunately for him his companion had been a Sioux maiden; +she had been captured by a war party of Monsones some years before and +rescued from them by Bourassa. She knew of the projected journey of +Jean de La Vérendrye. 'My kinsmen,' she now cried, 'what are you about +to do? I owe my life to this Frenchman. He has done nothing but good +to me. Why should you destroy him? If you wish to be revenged for the +attack made upon you, go forward and you will meet twenty-four +Frenchman, with whom is the son of the chief who killed your people.' +</P> + +<P> +Bourassa was too much frightened to oppose +<SPAN CLASS="pagenum">{<A NAME="P43"></A>43}</SPAN> +the statement. In his +own account of what happened he is, indeed, careful to omit any mention +of this particular incident. The Sioux released Bourassa, after taking +possession of his arms and supplies. Then they paddled down to the +lake, where they were only too successful in finding the French and in +making them the victims of the cruel joke of the Chippewas. +</P> + +<P> +This murder of his son was the most bitter blow that had yet fallen +upon La Vérendrye. But he betrayed no sign of weakness. Not even the +loss of his son was sufficient to turn him back from his search for the +Western Sea. 'I have lost,' he writes simply to Maurepas, 'my son, the +reverend Father, and my Frenchmen, misfortunes which I shall lament all +my life.' Some comfort remained. The great explorer still had three +sons, ready and willing like himself to sacrifice their lives for the +glory of New France. +</P> + +<BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap02fn1"></A> + +<P CLASS="footnote"> +[<A HREF="#chap02fn1text">1</A>] See <I>The 'Adventurers of England' on Hudson Bay</I>, pages 73-88. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap03"></A> + +<SPAN CLASS="pagenum">{<A NAME="P44"></A>44}</SPAN> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER III +</H3> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +ACROSS THE PLAINS +</H4> + +<P> +For several years La Vérendrye had been hearing wonderful accounts of a +tribe of Indians in the West who were known as the Mandans. Wherever +he went, among the Chippewas, the Crees, or the Assiniboines, some one +was sure to speak of the Mandans, and the stories grew more and more +marvellous. La Vérendrye knew that Indians were very much inclined to +exaggerate. They would never spoil a good story by limiting it to what +they knew to be true. They liked a joke as well as other people; and, +when they found that the white men who visited them were eager to know +all about the country and the tribes of the far interior, they invented +all sorts of impossible stories, in which truth and fiction were so +mingled that at length the explorers did not know what to believe. +</P> + +<P> +Much that was told him by the Indians concerning the Mandans La +Vérendrye knew +<SPAN CLASS="pagenum">{<A NAME="P45"></A>45}</SPAN> +could not possibly be true; he thought that some of +their stories were probably correct. The Indians said that the Mandans +were white like himself, that they dressed like Europeans, wore armour, +had horses and cattle, cultivated the ground, and lived in fortified +towns. Their home was described as being far towards the setting sun, +on a great river that flowed into the ocean. La Vérendrye knew that +the Spaniards had made settlements on the western coast of America, and +he thought that the mysterious strangers might perhaps be Spaniards. +At any rate, they seemed to be white men, and, if the Indian stories +were even partially true, they would be able to show him that way to +the great water which it was the ambition of his life to find. His +resolve, therefore, was inevitable. He would visit these white +strangers, whoever they might be; and he had great hopes that they +would be able to guide him to the object of his quest. +</P> + +<P> +For some time, however, he was not able to carry out this intended +visit to the Mandans. The death of his nephew La Jemeraye, followed +soon after by the murder of his son Jean, upset all his plans for a +time. Further, he had great difficulty in keeping peace among the +Indian +<SPAN CLASS="pagenum">{<A NAME="P46"></A>46}</SPAN> +tribes. The Chippewas and the Crees, who had always been +friendly to the French, were indignant at the treacherous massacre of +the white men by the Sioux, and urged La Vérendrye to lead a war party +against this enemy. La Vérendrye not only refused to do this himself, +but he told them that they must on no account go to war with the Sioux. +He warned them that their Great Father, the king of France, would be +very angry with them if they disobeyed his commands. Had they not +known him so well, the Indians would have despised La Vérendrye as a +coward for refusing to revenge himself upon the Sioux for the death of +his son; but they knew that, whatever his reason might be, it was not +due to any fear of the Sioux. As time went on, they thought that he +would perhaps change his mind, and again and again they came to him +begging for leave to take the war-path. 'The blood of your son,' they +said, 'cries for revenge. We have not ceased to weep for him and for +the other Frenchmen who were slain. Give us permission and we will +avenge their death upon the Sioux.' +</P> + +<P> +La Vérendrye, however, disregarding his personal feelings, knew that it +would be fatal to all his plans to let the friendly Indians have +<SPAN CLASS="pagenum">{<A NAME="P47"></A>47}</SPAN> +their way. An attack on the Sioux would be the signal for a general +war among all the neighbouring tribes. In that case his forts would be +destroyed and the fur trade would be broken up. In the end, he and his +men would probably be driven out of the western country, and all his +schemes for the discovery of the Western Sea would come to nothing. It +was therefore of the utmost importance that he should remain where he +was, in the country about the Lake of the Woods, until the excitement +among the Indians had quieted down and there was no longer any +immediate danger of war. +</P> + +<P> +At length, in the summer of 1738, La Vérendrye felt that he could carry +out his plan of visiting the Mandans. He left one of his sons, Pierre, +in charge of Fort St Charles, and with the other two, François and +Louis, set forth on his journey to the West. Travelling down the +Winnipeg river in canoes, they stopped for a few hours at Fort +Maurepas, then crossed Lake Winnipeg and paddled up the muddy waters of +Red River to the mouth of the Assiniboine, the site of the present city +of Winnipeg, then seen by white men for the first time. La Vérendrye +found it occupied by a band of Crees under two war chiefs. He landed, +<SPAN CLASS="pagenum">{<A NAME="P48"></A>48}</SPAN> +pitched his tent on the banks of the Assiniboine, and sent for the +two chiefs and reproached them with what he had heard—that they had +abandoned the French posts and had taken their furs to the English on +Hudson Bay. They replied that the accusation was false; that they had +gone to the English during only one season, the season in which the +French had abandoned Fort Maurepas after the death of La Jemeraye, and +had thus left the Crees with no other means of getting the goods they +required. 'As long as the French remain on our lands,' they said, 'we +promise you not to go elsewhere with our furs.' One of the chiefs then +asked him where he was now going. La Vérendrye replied that it was his +purpose to ascend the Assiniboine river in order to see the country. +'You will find yourself among the Assiniboines,' said the chief; 'and +they are a useless people, without intelligence, who do not hunt the +beaver, and clothe themselves only in the skins of buffalo. They are a +good-for-nothing lot of rascals and might do you harm.' But La +Vérendrye had heard such tales before and was not to be frightened from +his purpose. He took leave of the Crees, turned his canoes up the +shallow waters of the Assiniboine river, and ascended +<SPAN CLASS="pagenum">{<A NAME="P49"></A>49}</SPAN> +it to where +now stands the city of Portage la Prairie. Here he built a fort, which +he named Fort La Reine, in honour of the queen of France. +</P> + +<A NAME="img-048"></A> +<CENTER> +<IMG CLASS="imgcenter" SRC="images/img-048.jpg" ALT="An Indian encampment. From a painting by Paul Kane." BORDER="2" WIDTH="633" HEIGHT="494"> +<H4 CLASS="h4center" STYLE="width: 633px"> +An Indian encampment. <BR> +From a painting by Paul Kane. +</H4> +</CENTER> + +<P> +While this was being done, a party of Assiniboines arrived. La +Vérendrye soon found, as he had expected, that the Crees through +jealousy had given the Assiniboines a character which they did not +deserve. With all friendliness they welcomed the strangers and were +overjoyed at the presents which the French gave them. The most valued +presents consisted of knives, chisels, awls, and other small tools. Up +to this time these people had been dependent upon implements made of +stone and of bone roughly fashioned to serve their purposes, and these +implements were very crude and inferior compared with the sharp steel +tools of the white men. +</P> + +<P> +While La Vérendrye had been occupied in building Fort La Reine, one of +his men, Louvière, had been sent to the mouth of the Assiniboine to put +up a small post for the Crees. He found a suitable place on the south +bank of the Assiniboine, near the point where it enters the Red, and +here he built his trading post and named it Fort Rouge. This fort was +abandoned in a year or two, as it was +<SPAN CLASS="pagenum">{<A NAME="P50"></A>50}</SPAN> +soon found more convenient +to trade with the Indians either at Fort Maurepas near the mouth of the +Winnipeg, or at Fort La Reine on the Assiniboine. The memory of the +fort is, however, preserved to this day. The quarter of Winnipeg in +the vicinity of the old fort is still known as Fort Rouge. The memory +of La Vérendrye is also preserved, for a large school built near the +site of the old fort bears the name of the great explorer. +</P> + +<P> +The completion of Fort La Reine freed La Vérendrye to make preparations +for his journey to the Mandans. He left some of his men at the fort +and selected twenty to accompany him on his expedition. To each of +these followers he gave a supply of powder and bullets, an ax, a +kettle, and other things needful by the way. In later years horses +were abundant on the western prairie, but at that time neither the +French nor the Indians had horses, and everything needed for the +journey was carried on men's backs. +</P> + +<P> +Three days after leaving Fort La Reine, La Vérendrye met a party of +Assiniboines travelling over the prairie. He gave them some small +presents, and told them that he had built in their country a fort where +they could get all kinds of useful articles in +<SPAN CLASS="pagenum">{<A NAME="P51"></A>51}</SPAN> +exchange for their +furs and provisions. They seemed delighted at having white men so +near, and promised to keep the fort supplied with everything that the +traders required. +</P> + +<P> +A day or two afterwards several other Indians appeared, from an +Assiniboine village. They bore hospitable messages from the chiefs, +who begged the white travellers to come to visit them. This it was +difficult to do. The village was some miles distant from the road on +which they were travelling and already they had lost much time because +their guide was either too lazy or too stupid to take them by the most +direct way to the Mandan villages on the banks of the Missouri. Still, +La Vérendrye did not think it wise to disappoint the Assiniboines, or +to offend them, since he might have to depend upon their support in +making his plans for further discoveries. Accordingly, although it was +now nearly the middle of November, the very best time of the year for +travelling across the plains, he made up his mind to go to the +Assiniboine village. +</P> + +<P> +As the party drew near the village, a number of young warriors came to +meet them, and to tell them that the Assiniboines were greatly pleased +to have them as guests. It is +<SPAN CLASS="pagenum">{<A NAME="P52"></A>52}</SPAN> +possible that the Assiniboines had +heard of the presents which the French had given to some of their +countrymen, and that they too hoped to receive knives, powder and +bullets, things which they prized very highly. At any rate, the +explorer and his men received vociferous welcome when they entered the +village. 'Our arrival,' says La Vérendrye, 'was hailed with great joy, +and we were taken into the dwelling of a young chief, where everything +had been made ready for our reception. They gave us and all our men +very good cheer, and none of us lacked appetite.' +</P> + +<A NAME="img-052"></A> +<CENTER> +<IMG CLASS="imgcenter" SRC="images/img-052.jpg" ALT="An Assiniboine Indian. From a pastel by Edmund Morris." BORDER="2" WIDTH="459" HEIGHT="651"> +<H4 CLASS="h4center" STYLE="width: 459px"> +An Assiniboine Indian. <BR> +From a pastel by Edmund Morris. +</H4> +</CENTER> + +<P> +The following day La Vérendrye sent for the principal chiefs of the +tribe, and gave to each of them a present of powder and ball, or knives +and tobacco. He told them that if the Assiniboines would hunt beaver +diligently and would bring the skins to Fort La Reine, they should +receive in return everything that they needed. One of the chiefs made +a speech in reply. 'We thank you,' he said, 'for the trouble you have +taken to come to visit us. We are going to accompany you to the +Mandans, and then to see you safely back to your fort. We have already +sent word to the Mandans that you are on your way to visit them, and +the Mandans are delighted. We shall travel +<SPAN CLASS="pagenum">{<A NAME="P53"></A>53}</SPAN> +by easy marches, so +that we may hunt by the way and have plenty of provisions.' The +explorer was not wholly pleased to find that the entire village was to +accompany him, for this involved still further delays on the journey. +It was necessary, however, to give no cause of offence; so he thanked +them for their good-will, and merely urged that they should be ready to +leave as soon as possible and travel with all speed by the shortest +road, as the season was growing late. +</P> + +<P> +On the next morning they all set out together, a motley company, the +French with their Indian guides and hunters accompanied by the entire +village of Assiniboines. La Vérendrye was astonished at the orderly +way in which these savages, about six hundred in number, travelled +across the prairies. Everything was done in perfect order, as if they +were a regiment of trained soldiers. The warriors divided themselves +into parties; they sent out scouts in advance to both the right and the +left, in order to keep watch for enemies and also to look out for +buffalo and other game; the old men marched in the centre with the +women and the children; and in the rear was a strong guard of warriors. +If the scouts saw buffalo ahead, they signalled to the rear-guard, +<SPAN CLASS="pagenum">{<A NAME="P54"></A>54}</SPAN> +who crept round the herd on both sides until it was surrounded. They +killed as many buffaloes as were needed to provision the camp, and this +completed the men's part of the work. It was the women who cut up the +meat and carried it to the place where the company encamped for the +night. The women, indeed, were the burden-bearers and had to carry +most of the baggage. There were, of course, dogs in great numbers on +such excursions, and these bore a part of the load. The men burdened +themselves with nothing but their arms. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap04"></A> + +<SPAN CLASS="pagenum">{<A NAME="P55"></A>55}</SPAN> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER IV +</H3> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +THE MANDAN INDIANS +</H4> + +<P> +It was towards the end of November when La Vérendrye and his party +reached the point where the Mandans had promised to meet them. When he +arrived no one was on the spot; but presently, after he had encamped, a +Mandan chief appeared with thirty followers. This chief advanced to La +Vérendrye and presented him with Indian corn in the ear and with a roll +of Indian tobacco. These were tokens of friendship. He told La +Vérendrye how glad he and his countrymen were to welcome him to their +villages, and begged him to consider the Mandans as his children. +</P> + +<P> +La Vérendrye was surprised to find the appearance of the Mandans very +much like that of the other tribes he had met. Stories told by the +Crees and the Assiniboines had prepared him to find them of a different +type, a type like that of the white men. In reality they looked like +the Assiniboines and dressed +<SPAN CLASS="pagenum">{<A NAME="P56"></A>56}</SPAN> +in the same fashion. Their clothing +was scanty enough, for it consisted of only a buffalo robe worn from +the shoulders. It was clear now that the Indians had been telling him +not what was true but what they thought he would like to hear. 'I knew +then,' he says shrewdly, 'that a heavy discount must be taken off +everything that an Indian tells you.' +</P> + +<P> +The Mandan chief invited La Vérendrye to be his guest in the nearest +village, and the whole party made ready to continue their journey to +that point. Then the chief made a speech to the Assiniboines, very +friendly in tone, but artfully intended to make them uneasy and send +them back home. He was really anxious to have the white men as his +guests, but he was not at all anxious to have as guests and to be +obliged to feed an entire village of Assiniboines; and so, thinking to +get rid of them, he played on their well-known fear of the fiery Sioux. +'We thank you,' he said to them, 'for having brought the French to see +us. They could not have arrived at a better time. The Sioux are on +the war-path, and may be here at any moment. We know the valour and +courage of the French, and also of the Assiniboines, and we hope that +you will both help us to defend ourselves from the Sioux.' +</P> + +<SPAN CLASS="pagenum">{<A NAME="P57"></A>57}</SPAN> + +<P> +La Vérendrye was at first as much imposed upon by this story as were +the Assiniboines, but with a very different effect. They were +dismayed, while he rejoiced at the opportunity of having at last a fair +chance to avenge the cruel death of his son. After the speech, the +Mandan chief took him aside, and explained that the alarm was merely a +trick to get rid of the Assiniboines. They had not food enough at the +village, he said, to satisfy such a hungry horde. But, to the surprise +and disgust of the chief, the Assiniboines swallowed their fears and +decided to go forward. At first, in their terror, the majority of the +tribe had thought it better to turn back; but one of their old chiefs +shamed them into a different course. 'Do not think,' he said, in +scornful accents, 'that our Father [La Vérendrye] is a coward,' and he +looked about him at the young Assiniboine warriors until each felt that +he himself was branded as a coward. 'I know him,' he continued, +'better than you do, and I tell you that the Sioux cannot frighten him +or any of his men. What will he think of us? At our request, he went +out of his way to visit our village. We promised to conduct him to the +Mandans, and to bring him safely back to his fort. And now you talk of +<SPAN CLASS="pagenum">{<A NAME="P58"></A>58}</SPAN> +abandoning him, because you fear the Sioux. This must never be. +Let those of you who are faint-hearted remain here in camp with the +women; but let those who are without fear follow our father.' After +this scornful eloquence there was no further talk of turning back. +</P> + +<P> +Early on the following morning the camp broke up, and the whole party, +French and Assiniboines and Mandans, marched across the plains towards +the Mandan village. One can imagine the striking picture made up by +the little party of white men in their picturesque costumes, surrounded +by hundreds of half-naked savages. Had the Indians cared to exercise +their power, they might have overwhelmed the French at any moment, but +apparently they had no thought of doing so. Indeed it is quite true +that the Indians of North America, when first they met white men, +treated them in nearly every case with the utmost friendship. Only +after the Indians had been deceived or betrayed by some rascals among +the white men did they learn to look upon them as enemies and become +cruel and treacherous in dealing with them. +</P> + +<P> +When La Vérendrye had travelled some distance from the camp, he found +that the bag +<SPAN CLASS="pagenum">{<A NAME="P59"></A>59}</SPAN> +containing his papers and many other things that +would be required at the Mandan villages had been stolen by one of the +Assiniboines. The thief, he also learned, had made off with his spoil. +Instantly he sent two young warriors to secure him. The culprit was +overtaken on the following day and the bag was recovered. The +pursuers, however, instead of bringing it back to La Vérendrye, carried +it on to their village to keep for him until his return. This singular +conduct was due to their fear of the Sioux. The white man's bag would +be safe at the Assiniboine village, but if they ventured to carry it +back to La Vérendrye they were not so sure that either it or their own +scalps would be safe at the Mandan village, with the ferocious Sioux +hovering about. They did not know, of course, that the story of the +Sioux was nothing but a hoax. +</P> + +<P> +When La Vérendrye arrived within a few miles of the Mandan village, he +found awaiting him another party of Mandans under two of their chiefs. +They had lighted a camp-fire and had brought food for their guests. +The chiefs welcomed him, led him to the place of honour beside the +fire, and presented him with some of their native dishes—corn pounded +into a paste and baked in the coals and something +<SPAN CLASS="pagenum">{<A NAME="P60"></A>60}</SPAN> +that looked like +a pumpkin pie without the pastry. The party smoked the pipe of peace +and carried on a rather clumsy conversation by means of an interpreter. +Then they resumed the journey and presently the Mandan village appeared +in sight. If the explorer had been disappointed in finding the Mandans +very similar in appearance to other western tribes, now at least he was +gratified to find their buildings more elaborate and interesting than +any he had before met with. The village was in fact a fort, apparently +strong enough to protect the inhabitants from anything less powerful +than artillery, of which of course they had no knowledge. +</P> + +<P> +La Vérendrye, knowing that the Indians were always impressed by an +imposing ceremony, now drew up his men in military order. He told his +son François to march in front, bearing the flag of France. The +Mandans, who looked upon the explorer as a great white chief, would not +permit him to walk, but carried him upon their shoulders to the gate of +the fort. Naturally he did not like this mode of travel, but he +submitted to it for fear of displeasing his hosts. As they drew near +the fort, he ordered his men to fire a volley as a salute to the +Mandans. The +<SPAN CLASS="pagenum">{<A NAME="P61"></A>61}</SPAN> +principal chiefs and warriors flocked out to meet +him, and escorted him within their walls. When he marched in with his +force, he saw the ramparts crowded with men, women, and children, who +looked with astonishment upon the first white men they had ever seen. +The principal chief of the tribe led La Vérendrye into his own lodge, +and told him to consider it his home so long as he cared to remain in +the village. When the two entered the lodge a crowd of Mandans +followed and the place became suffocating. La Vérendrye told the crowd +that they should have many opportunities later to see him, and after +some difficulty he managed to have the place cleared. +</P> + +<P> +This, however, was not effected before the unfortunate explorer had +suffered another loss. He found that, in the confusion, an +enterprising Indian had snatched the bag of presents from one of his +men, and had made off with it. This was serious. The bag contained +nearly all the gifts which he had brought for the chiefs of the +Mandans, and he feared that these chiefs might now look coldly upon a +white man who was unable to offer the customary presents. He explained +what had happened to the principal chief. The chief seemed very much +put out and told La Vérendrye for his +<SPAN CLASS="pagenum">{<A NAME="P62"></A>62}</SPAN> +consolation that there were +a good many rascals among the Mandans. Later, when the Assiniboines +told the chief that he was himself the thief, he made the weak retort +that one of his accusers might be the culprit. He promised to do his +best to recover the bag, but La Vérendrye never saw it again. +</P> + +<P> +In a day or two the Assiniboines took leave of La Vérendrye, and, much +to the relief of the Mandans, prepared to return to their own village. +Before their departure, the chief of the Assiniboines made a speech to +the Mandans. 'We are leaving you our father,' he said. 'Take great +care of him, and of all the French. Learn to know them, for they are +wise; they know how to do everything. We love our father, and we also +fear him. Do as we do.' The Mandans promised to take every care of +the visitors. Everything the village contained, they said, was at +their service for the asking. They begged that the white chief would +count them among the members of his family. In compliance with their +wish, La Vérendrye went through the usual ceremony of placing his hands +on the heads of each of the chiefs. By this ceremony they became his +'children.' The Assiniboines, though they had taken leave of La +Vérendrye, +<SPAN CLASS="pagenum">{<A NAME="P63"></A>63}</SPAN> +still delayed their departure. The Mandans, alarmed at +the quantities of provisions their unwelcome guests required, again +spread the report that the Sioux were approaching. Indeed, they said, +several Mandan hunters had caught sight of them. This time the ruse +succeeded. The Assiniboines, in a panic of alarm, marched off in great +haste, lest the Sioux should intercept them before they could reach +their own country. +</P> + +<P> +Further troubles awaited La Vérendrye. The day following the departure +of the Assiniboines he found that his Cree interpreter had gone off +with them, although he had promised faithfully to remain. Even with +this interpreter communications with the Mandans had been difficult. +Before La Vérendrye's thoughts expressed in French could reach the +Mandans, they had to pass through the medium of three other languages. +One of La Vérendrye's sons, who understood Cree, was able to translate +the explorer's questions into that language; then the Cree interpreter +put the questions into Assiniboine; and several of the Mandans were +sufficiently familiar with the language of the Assiniboines to complete +the chain and express the ideas in their own tongue. With the Cree +interpreter gone, the problem of +<SPAN CLASS="pagenum">{<A NAME="P64"></A>64}</SPAN> +communication became much more +difficult. Indeed, the only method that remained of carrying on +conversation with the Mandans was by means of signs and gestures. +</P> + +<P> +One of La, Vérendrye's principal reasons for visiting the Mandans had +been to find out from them as much as possible of the country which lay +westward. He had hoped that they would be able to tell him something +definite about the Western Sea, something of the best way of reaching +it, and of the tribes he should meet on the way. He had had very +little time to put questions before his interpreter deserted, and now +he feared that he should have to turn back, because he had no means of +getting information from the Mandans. With a great deal of difficulty +he managed to learn that there were six Mandan villages or forts, some +on one side of the Missouri, some on the other, and that farther down +this river lived two other tribes, the Panana and the Pananis, who were +at war with the Mandans, although they had formerly been their fast +friends. The Mandans told him by signs that as one went down the +Missouri it became very wide, and that there a race dwelt who were +white like himself. These people, they said, rode on horseback both +when they hunted +<SPAN CLASS="pagenum">{<A NAME="P65"></A>65}</SPAN> +and when they went to war; they wore armour and +fought with lances and sabres, which they handled with great skill. +Their forts and houses were of stone and they cultivated their fields. +A whole summer was necessary to reach their country from the Mandan +villages. +</P> + +<P> +La Vérendrye did not know how much of this to believe, and he was not +even sure that he correctly understood what the Mandans tried to convey +to him by signs. He was not at all certain that the quarter in which +these people, so different from the Mandans, were said to live was the +direction it was necessary to take in order to reach the Western Sea. +He did not know the truth, that the river by which he stood, the +Missouri, emptied into the Mississippi, and that the settlements spoken +of by the Mandans were probably the Spanish settlements on the lower +waters of the Mississippi. In order to extend his information, he used +every agency to learn as much as possible about the Mandans themselves. +He sent his son François to another village near by, to examine it and +to make further inquiries. +</P> + +<P> +La Vérendrye himself made close observations. He walked about the +village in which he was quartered, and examined the +<SPAN CLASS="pagenum">{<A NAME="P66"></A>66}</SPAN> +fortifications +with a great deal of interest. There were about one hundred and thirty +cabins within the walls; the streets and squares were laid out +regularly and were kept remarkably neat and clean. The smooth, wide +ramparts were built of timber strengthened with cross-pieces. At each +corner was a bastion, and the fort was surrounded by a ditch fifteen +feet deep and from fifteen to eighteen feet wide. He was astonished to +find such elaborate fortifications among a savage tribe. Nowhere else +in the New World had he seen anything of the kind. +</P> + +<P> +The dwellings of the Mandans were large and comfortable; they were +divided into several rooms and round the walls were beds in the form of +bunks. They had earthen vessels in which they cooked their food. The +women made very neat baskets of wicker-work. The most remarkable thing +about these people was their prudence for the future. They had +storerooms underground in which they stored the dressed skins which +they preserved to trade with neighbouring tribes for guns and +ammunition; they had products of Europe in use, though they had not yet +come into direct contact with Europeans. In these storerooms they +preserved also dried meat and grain for food in the winter. This +foresight +<SPAN CLASS="pagenum">{<A NAME="P67"></A>67}</SPAN> +impressed La Vérendrye. Most of the Indian tribes lived +only in the present; when they had food they feasted upon it from +morning to night, and when their provisions were gone they starved. +The Mandans, however, kept on hand an ample supply of food, both for +their own use and for that of strangers who might visit them. They +amused themselves with rude sports. Among these La Vérendrye mentions +a game of ball, but he does not describe it. Probably it was the game +of lacrosse, which was played by many of the Indian tribes long before +white men came to copy it from them. +</P> + +<P> +After an absence of a few days, François de La Vérendrye returned from +the village which he had visited. He had been warmly welcomed. He +reported that the village was much larger than the one his father was +living in, and that it was fortified in the same way. He had tried to +question the Mandans of this village, but could make nothing out of +their answers. They were so impatient to speak that they would +constantly interrupt one another; when asked about one thing they would +answer about another, because they did not really understand the +question. The Mandans tried to make up in hospitality for +<SPAN CLASS="pagenum">{<A NAME="P68"></A>68}</SPAN> +their +inability to answer the Frenchman's questions. 'As we found that it +was a waste of time to question them, we had to fall back on feasting +the whole time we were with them, and even then we could not attend +nearly all the feasts to which we were invited.' +</P> + +<A NAME="img-068"></A> +<CENTER> +<IMG CLASS="imgcenter" SRC="images/img-068.jpg" ALT="Mandan girls. From Pritchard's 'Natural History of Man.'" BORDER="2" WIDTH="708" HEIGHT="497"> +<H4 CLASS="h4center" STYLE="width: 708px"> +Mandan girls. <BR> +From Pritchard's 'Natural History of Man.' +</H4> +</CENTER> + +<P> +Early in December La Vérendrye decided to leave the Mandans and to make +the long return journey to Fort La Reine. He now saw that, even if he +could gain useful information from the Mandans about the nearest way to +the Western Sea, it would be impossible to attempt the journey without +a supply of presents for the tribes he should meet. To get these +presents he must return to the fort, but he would leave two of his men +with the Mandans for the winter, in order to learn the language. Then, +when he returned, he would have interpreters upon whom he could rely. +When he told the Mandans by signs that he must leave them, they seemed +sorry to lose him, and loaded him with provisions for his journey. +They also promised to take care of his two men during his absence. He +distributed among them all the small articles which he had in his +stores, particularly the needles, which they highly prized. To the +principal chief he gave a flag, and a lead tablet +<SPAN CLASS="pagenum">{<A NAME="P69"></A>69}</SPAN> +bearing an +inscription to the effect that he had taken possession of the Missouri +country in the name of the king of France. This inscription the chief +promised to preserve as his greatest treasure. +</P> + +<P> +Misfortune, however, still dogged the path of La Vérendrye. The day +before that on which he had arranged to leave for the north, he was +taken violently ill and for three days could not move from his bed. As +ill luck would have it, his stock of medicines was in the bag which the +Assiniboines had carried off to their village, so that he could do +nothing for himself until he reached that place. About the middle of +December he was a little better, and made up his mind to attempt the +journey. When he and his men set out on their long march across the +plains, it was bitterly cold. They had no means of making a fire, and +were compelled to sleep at night on the open prairie in a half-frozen +condition. We can imagine what La Vérendrye must have suffered before +at last he reached the Assiniboine village, more dead than alive. +After a few days' rest, he managed to make his way slowly to Fort La +Reine. 'Never in my life,' he says, 'did I endure so much misery, +pain, and fatigue as on that journey.' +</P> + +<SPAN CLASS="pagenum">{<A NAME="P70"></A>70}</SPAN> + +<P> +While at the Assiniboine village La Vérendrye reproached the Indians +with having lied to him about the Mandans, so as to lead him to believe +that they were white men. They replied that he had misunderstood them; +that they had not referred to the Mandans, but to another nation who +lived farther down the river. One of the Assiniboines sprang up before +him and exclaimed: 'I am the man best able to talk to you about this +matter. Last summer I killed one of this nation of white men. He was +covered with iron armour. If I had not killed his horse first, I +should myself have been destroyed.' La Vérendrye asked him what he had +brought back to prove his story. 'I had no chance to bring anything,' +he said. 'When I was about to cut off his head, I saw some men on +horseback, who were trying to prevent my retreat, and I had much +difficulty in making my escape. I had to throw away everything I had, +even to my blanket, and ran away naked.' +</P> + +<P> +La Vérendrye thought that this man was probably telling the truth. +What he said agreed fairly well with what he had himself heard from the +Mandans, and was applicable probably to the Spaniards. But he was +still as far away as ever from any direct information +<SPAN CLASS="pagenum">{<A NAME="P71"></A>71}</SPAN> +about the +road he should follow to reach the Western Sea, and this was first and +always the thought that occupied his mind. He hoped that the men whom +he had left behind to winter with the Mandans would be able to obtain +from them the facts for which he was so anxiously waiting, and he +looked forward eagerly to the spring, when they were to return to Fort +La Reine with such news as they had been able to gather. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap05"></A> + +<SPAN CLASS="pagenum">{<A NAME="P72"></A>72}</SPAN> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER V +</H3> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +THE DISCOVERY OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS +</H4> + +<P> +La Vérendrye had expected the return in the spring of 1739 of the two +men whom he had left in the Mandan villages, but it was well into the +autumn before they reached Fort La Reine. They brought good news, +however. During the winter they had lost no opportunity of picking up +Mandan words and phrases, until at last they were able to make +themselves fairly well understood in that tongue. In the early summer +a number of strange Indians had arrived from the West at the Mandan +villages. They were on horseback, and brought with them many +additional horses to carry their provisions and supplies. They came in +order to trade embroidered buffalo hides and other skins with the +Mandans for corn and beans, which they did not grow in their own +country. +</P> + +<P> +The young Frenchmen learned from the Mandans that a band of these +Indians had their home in the extreme West, towards the +<SPAN CLASS="pagenum">{<A NAME="P73"></A>73}</SPAN> +setting +sun. The Mandans also reported that in this country there were white +men, who lived in brick and stone houses. In order to make further +inquiries the two Frenchmen visited these Indians, and were fortunate +enough to find among them a chief who spoke the language of the +Mandans. He professed to speak also the language of the white men who +dwelt in the West, but when the French heard this language they could +make nothing of it. The chief declared that the strangers in his +country wore beards and that in many other respects they resembled the +white men. He declared that they prayed to the Master of Life in great +buildings, where the Indians had seen them holding in their hands what, +from their description, must have been books, the leaves like 'husks of +Indian corn.' Their houses were described as standing near the shores +of the great lake, whose waters rise and fall, and are unfit to drink. +This would mean tides and salt water. If this Indian story was true, +and there did not seem to be any reason for doubting it, La Vérendrye +at last had something definite to guide him in his search for the +Western Sea. He had but to find his way to the homes of these +mysterious white strangers on its shores; and he hoped that the Indian +<SPAN CLASS="pagenum">{<A NAME="P74"></A>74}</SPAN> +band who had visited the Mandans, and from whom his men had +obtained these particulars, would be able and willing to provide him +with competent guides. +</P> + +<P> +For some reason La Vérendrye was unable himself to return to the +country of the Mandans or to go still farther west. But in the spring +of 1740 he sent his eldest son Pierre into that country in order to +make further inquiries, and to obtain guides if possible for the +projected journey to the Western Sea. Pierre spent the following +winter with the Mandans, but he could not find the men he needed as +guides, and so he returned to Fort La Reine in the summer of 1741. +</P> + +<P> +In the spring of 1742, not discouraged by the failure of the previous +year, Pierre set out again for the Mandans, accompanied this time by +his brother François, who was known as the Chevalier, and by two men +from the fort. The journey was to prove momentous, but at first the +outlook was dark. When they arrived in the Mandan country they could +find no sign of the Horse Indians, as the mounted Indians from the West +were called. Pierre and his brother waited long at the Mandan village +with what patience they could summon. The month of May went by, then +June, then +<SPAN CLASS="pagenum">{<A NAME="P75"></A>75}</SPAN> +most of July, with still no sign of the missing band. +Finally the brothers decided that, if they were to go farther west, +they could wait no longer, for the season was advancing and it would +soon be too late to do anything. At last they found among the Mandans +two young men who agreed to lead them to the country of the Horse +People. This would bring them to their hoped-for guides. Without a +moment's delay they set out towards the south-west in search of the +missing Indians. +</P> + +<P> +They travelled for twenty days in a south-westerly direction, through +what were afterwards known as the Bad Lands of the Little Missouri, a +country unlike anything they had ever seen before. On every side they +could see mounds and pillars of brilliantly-coloured earth, blue and +crimson and green and yellow. So much were they struck with the +singular spectacle that they would have liked to carry some of the +coloured earth with them to show to their father on their return. But +a long journey lay before them. They had to carry everything they +needed on their backs, and it would have been folly to add to the load +something that was useless for their immediate needs, something that +they could neither eat nor wear. +</P> + +<SPAN CLASS="pagenum">{<A NAME="P76"></A>76}</SPAN> + +<P> +About the beginning of August the party reached a mountain where the +Mandans expected to find the Horse Indians so eagerly sought. But the +Horse Indians had gone on a hunting expedition and had not yet +returned; so Pierre and his brother decided to wait for them. On the +summit of the mountain they made a signal fire, and every day one of +the explorers climbed up to the lookout to see if there were any signs +of the Indians. At the foot of the mountain they built a small house +in which they lived. Some of their time they spent in hunting to +provision the camp, while waiting as patiently as they could for the +Horse Indians to return from their hunting. +</P> + +<P> +At last, on September 14, a smoke was seen rising in the south-western +sky. One of the men was sent to investigate, and he found not the +Horse Indians but a band known to the Mandans as the Good-looking +Indians. Difficulties multiplied. One of the Mandan guides had +already deserted them to go back to the Missouri, and the other now +told the brothers that he must leave them. He was prompted by fear. +The Good-looking Indians were not on friendly terms with the Mandans, +and, although they had not offered to do him any harm, he was afraid to +remain near these enemies. +</P> + +<SPAN CLASS="pagenum">{<A NAME="P77"></A>77}</SPAN> + +<P> +After the Mandan had gone back, the brothers La Vérendrye managed to +explain to the Good-looking Indians by signs that they were seeking the +Horse Indians and asked for guides to one of the camps of these +Indians. One of the Good-looking Indians said he knew the way, and +they set out under his guidance; but they became anxious on finding +that they were still travelling in the same direction as before, for +this did not seem to be a very direct road to the Western Sea. Still, +they had fixed their hopes on the Horse Indians as the people able to +lead them there, and the most urgent thing to do was to find some +members of that tribe, even though they had to go a long way out of +their course to do so. +</P> + +<P> +On the second day after they left the camp of the Good-looking Indians, +they met a party of another tribe known as the Little Foxes, who were +very friendly. The explorers gave them some small presents, and made +them understand that they were seeking the Horse Indians, who had +promised to show them the way to the sea. 'We will take you to the +Horse Indians,' they said, and their whole party turned about and +joined the French. But these new guides also, to the disgust of +François La Vérendrye, +<SPAN CLASS="pagenum">{<A NAME="P78"></A>78}</SPAN> +still marched towards the south-west. 'I +felt sure,' he said, 'that in this direction we should never find the +Western Sea.' However, there was nothing to do but to go forward, and +to trust to better luck after they reached the Horse Indians. +</P> + +<P> +After tramping on for many days they came at last to an encampment of +the Horse Indians. These people, just then, were in great trouble. +They had been attacked not long before by a war party of the Snake +Indians; many of their bravest warriors had been killed, and many of +their women had been carried into captivity. When asked the way to the +sea these Indians now declared that none of them had ever been there, +for the very good reason that the country of the fierce Snake Indians +must be crossed to reach it. They said that a neighbouring tribe, the +Bow Indians, might be able to give some information, as they either +themselves traded with the white men of the sea-coast, or were on +friendly terms with other tribes who had been down to the sea. These +Bow Indians, they added, were the only tribe who dared to fight against +the Snake Indians, for they were under the leadership of a wise and +skilful chief, who had more than once led his tribe to victory against +these dangerous enemies. A guide +<SPAN CLASS="pagenum">{<A NAME="P79"></A>79}</SPAN> +was found to lead the explorers +to the Bow Indians, and they went off once more, still travelling +south-westerly, until at length, on November 21, they came in sight of +the camp of the Bows. It was a huge camp, much larger than any the +explorers had yet visited. Everywhere they could see numbers of +horses, asses, and mules—animals unknown among the northern tribes. +</P> + +<P> +When they reached the camp the chief of the Bows met them and at once +took them to his own lodge. Nothing could be more friendly or polite +than his treatment of the white travellers. In fact, as François said, +he did not seem to have the manners of a savage. 'Up to that time we +had always been very well received in the villages we had visited, but +what we had before experienced in that way was nothing in comparison +with the gracious manners of the head chief of the Bows. He took as +much care of all our belongings as if they had been his own.' With him +François and his brother remained for some time; and, very soon, +through the kindness of the chief, they learnt enough of the language +to make themselves understood. +</P> + +<P> +The explorers had many interesting talks with this friendly chief. +They asked him if he +<SPAN CLASS="pagenum">{<A NAME="P80"></A>80}</SPAN> +knew anything about the white people who +lived on the sea-coast. 'We know them,' he replied, 'through what has +been told us by prisoners of the Snake tribe. We have never been to +the sea ourselves.' 'Do not be surprised,' he continued, 'to see so +many Indians camped round us. Word has been sent in all directions to +our people to join us here. In a few days we shall march against the +Snakes; and if you will come with us, we will take you to the high +mountains that are near the sea. From their summits you will be able +to look upon it.' The brothers La Vérendrye were overjoyed to hear +such encouraging news, and agreed that one of them should accompany the +Bow Indians on their expedition against the Snakes. It seemed almost +too good to be true that they might be actually within reach of the +sea, the goal towards which they and their father had been struggling +for so many years. In fact, it proved too good to be true. Whether +they had misunderstood the chief, or whether he was merely speaking +from hearsay, certainly the view was far from correct that the +mountains which they were approaching lay near the sea. These +mountains, not far off, were the Rocky Mountains. Even if the +explorers should succeed in reaching and in crossing them at +<SPAN CLASS="pagenum">{<A NAME="P81"></A>81}</SPAN> +this +point, there would still be hundreds of miles of mountain forest and +plain to traverse before their eyes could rest on the waters of the +Pacific ocean. Pierre and his brother never knew this, however, for +they were not destined to see the western side of the mountains. +</P> + +<P> +The great war party of the Bows, consisting of more than two thousand +fighting men, with their families, started out towards the Snake +country in December, the comparatively mild December of the +south-western plains. The scene must have been singularly animated as +this horde of Indians, with their wives and children, their horses and +dogs, and the innumerable odds and ends that made up their camp +equipage, moved slowly across the plains. François was too full of his +own affairs to describe the odd appearance of this native army in the +journal which he wrote of the expedition, but fortunately the historian +Francis Parkman lived for some time among these tribes of the western +plains, and he has given us a good idea of what such an Indian army +must have looked like on the march. 'The spectacle,' he says, 'was +such as men still young have seen in these western lands, but which no +man will see again. The vast plain +<SPAN CLASS="pagenum">{<A NAME="P82"></A>82}</SPAN> +swarmed with the moving +multitude. The tribes of the Missouri and the Yellowstone had by this +time abundance of horses, the best of which were used for war and +hunting, and the others as beasts of burden. These last were equipped +in a peculiar manner. Several of the long poles used to frame the +teepees, or lodges, were secured by one end to each side of a rude +saddle, while the other end trailed on the ground. Crossbars lashed to +the poles, just behind the horse, kept them three or four feet apart, +and formed a firm support, on which was laid, compactly folded, the +buffalo-skin covering of the lodge. On this, again, sat a mother with +her young family, sometimes stowed for safety in a large, open, willow +basket, with the occasional addition of some domestic pet—such as a +tame raven, a puppy, or even a small bear cub. Other horses were laden +in the same manner with wooden bowls, stone hammers, and other +utensils, along with stores of dried buffalo meat packed in cases of +raw hide whitened and painted. Many of the innumerable dogs—whose +manners and appearance strongly suggested their relatives the wolves, +to whom, however, they bore a mortal grudge—were equipped in a similar +way, with shorter poles and lighter loads. Bands of +<SPAN CLASS="pagenum">{<A NAME="P83"></A>83}</SPAN> +naked boys, +noisy and restless, roamed the prairie, practising their bows and +arrows on any small animal they might find. Gay young squaws—adorned +on each cheek with a spot of ochre or red clay and arrayed in tunics of +fringed buckskin embroidered with porcupine quills—were mounted on +ponies, astride like men; while lean and tattered hags—the drudges of +the tribe, unkempt and hideous—scolded the lagging horses or screeched +at the disorderly dogs, with voices not unlike the yell of the great +horned owl. Most of the warriors were on horseback, armed with round +white shields of bull hide, feathered lances, war clubs, bows, and +quivers filled with stone-headed arrows; while a few of the elders, +wrapped in robes of buffalo hide, stalked along in groups with a +stately air, chatting, laughing, and exchanging unseemly jokes.' +</P> + +<P> +On the first day of January 1743, the Indians, accompanied by the +brothers La Vérendrye and their Frenchmen, came within sight of the +mountains. Rising mysteriously in the distance were those massive +crags, those silent, snow-capped peaks, upon which, as far as we know, +Europeans had never looked before. The party of Frenchmen and Indians +pressed +<SPAN CLASS="pagenum">{<A NAME="P84"></A>84}</SPAN> +on, for eight days, towards the foot of the mountains. +Then, when they had come within a few days' journey of the place where +they expected to find the Snakes, they altered their mode of advance. +It was now decided to leave the women and children in camp under a +small guard, while the warriors pushed on in the hope of surprising the +Snakes in their winter camp near the mountains. Pierre remained in +camp to look after the baggage of the party, which the Indians would +probably pillage if left unguarded. François and his two Frenchmen +went forward with the war party, and four days later they arrived at +the foot of the mountains, the first Europeans who had ever put foot on +those majestic slopes. François gazed with the keenest interest at the +lofty summits, and longed to climb them to see what lay beyond. +</P> + +<P> +Meanwhile he was obliged to share in a vivid human drama. The chief of +the Bows had sent scouts forward to search for the camp of the Snakes, +and these scouts now reappeared. They had found the camp, but the +enemy had fled; and had, indeed, gone off in such a hurry that they had +abandoned their lodges and most of their belongings. The effect +produced by this news was singular. Instead of +<SPAN CLASS="pagenum">{<A NAME="P85"></A>85}</SPAN> +rejoicing because +the dreaded Snakes had fled before them, which was evidently the case, +the Bow warriors at once fell into a panic. The Snakes, they cried, +had discovered the approach of their enemies, and must have gone back +to attack the Bow camp and capture the women and children. The great +chief tried to reason with his warriors; he pointed out that the Snakes +could not know anything about the camp, that quite evidently they had +been afraid to meet the Bows and had fled before them. But it was all +to no purpose. The Bows would not listen to reason; they were sure +that the Snakes had played them a cunning trick and that they should +hasten back as speedily as possible to save their families. The result +was characteristic of savage warfare. The Indian army that had marched +a few days earlier in good order to attack the enemy now fled back +along the trail in a panic, each man for himself. +</P> + +<P> +It was in these ignominious circumstances that François La Vérendrye, +having reached the foot of the Rocky Mountains, was obliged to turn +back without going farther, leaving the mystery of the Great Sea still +unsolved. François rode by the side of the disgusted chief and the two +Frenchmen followed behind. Presently François noticed that his men had +<SPAN CLASS="pagenum">{<A NAME="P86"></A>86}</SPAN> +disappeared. He galloped back for some miles, and found them +resting their horses on the banks of a river. While he talked with +them, his quick eye detected the approach of a party of Snake Indians +from a neighbouring wood. They were covering themselves with their +shields, and were evidently bent on an attack. François and his men +loaded their guns and waited until the Indians were well within range. +Then they took aim and fired. The Snakes knew little or nothing about +firearms, and when one or two of their number fell before this volley, +they fled in disorder. +</P> + +<P> +There was still danger of an attack by a larger band of the enemy, and +the Frenchmen remained on guard where they were until nightfall. Then, +under cover of darkness, they attempted to follow the trail of the +Bows. But the ground was so dry and hard at that season of the year +that they found it impossible to pick up the trail of their friends. +For two days they wandered about. Skill or good fortune, however, +aided them, and at last they arrived at the camp of the Bows, tired and +half starved. The chief had been anxious at the disappearance of his +white guests, and was overjoyed at their safe return. It is almost +needless to say that the panic-stricken warriors +<SPAN CLASS="pagenum">{<A NAME="P87"></A>87}</SPAN> +had found their +camp just as they had left it; no one had heard or seen anything of the +Snakes; and the warriors were forced to submit to the jeers of the +squaws for their failure to come even within sight of the enemy. +</P> + +<P> +Pierre, François, and their two men accompanied the Bows for some days +on their homeward journey. They found, however, that the Bows were +travelling away from the course which they wished to follow, and so +decided to leave them and to turn towards the Missouri river. The +chief of the Bows seemed to feel genuine regret at bidding farewell to +his French guests, and he made them promise to return and pay him +another visit in the following spring, after they had seen their father +at Fort La Reine. On the long journey to this point the three +Frenchmen now set out across the limitless frozen prairie. +</P> + +<P> +About the middle of March they came upon a party of strange Indians +known as the People of the Little Cherry. They were returning from +their winter's hunting, and were then only two days' journey from their +village on the banks of the Missouri. Like all the other tribes, the +People of the Little Cherry received the Frenchmen with perfect +friendliness. The party lingered with these Indians in their +<SPAN CLASS="pagenum">{<A NAME="P88"></A>88}</SPAN> +village until the beginning of April, and François spent most of his +time learning their language. This he found quite easy, perhaps +because he had already picked up a fair knowledge of the language of +some of the neighbouring tribes, and it proved not unlike that of the +Little Cherry Indians. François found in the village an Indian who had +been brought up among the Spaniards of the Pacific Coast, and who still +spoke their language as readily as he spoke his mother tongue. He +questioned him eagerly about the distance to the Spanish settlements +and the difficulties of the way. The man replied that the journey was +long. It was also, he said, very dangerous, because it must be through +the country of the Snake Indians. This Indian assured François that +another Frenchman lived in the country where they were, in a village +distant about three days' journey. Naturally this surprised François +and his brother. They thought of going to visit him; but their horses +were badly in need of a rest after the long trip from the mountains, +and must be kept fresh for the journey to the Mandan villages. They +therefore sent instead a letter to the Frenchman, asking him to visit +them at the village of the Little Cherries, or, if that was not +possible, +<SPAN CLASS="pagenum">{<A NAME="P89"></A>89}</SPAN> +at least to send them an answer. No answer came, and we +may well doubt whether such a Frenchman existed. Before leaving the +country, La Vérendrye buried on the summit of a hill a tablet of lead, +with the arms and inscription of the French king. This was to take +possession of the country for France. He also built a pyramid of +stones in honour of the governor of Canada.[<A NAME="chap05fn1text"></A><A HREF="#chap05fn1">1</A>] +</P> + +<P> +About the beginning of April, when the horses were in good condition +and all preparations had been made for the journey, the explorers said +good-bye to the People of the Little Cherry and set out for the Mandan +villages. Like the Bow Indians, the Little Cherries seemed sorry to +lose them and begged them to come back. In return for the kindness and +hospitality he had received, La Vérendrye distributed some presents and +promised to visit them again when he could. +</P> + +<P> +On May 18 the travellers reached the +<SPAN CLASS="pagenum">{<A NAME="P90"></A>90}</SPAN> +Mandan villages and were +welcomed as if they had returned from the dead. Their long absence had +led the Mandans to conclude that they had been killed by some +unfriendly Indians, or that some fatal accident had happened on the +way. They had intended to rest for some time at the Mandan villages, +but they found that a party of Assiniboines was going to Fort La Reine, +and they determined to travel with them. The Assiniboines had in fact +already left on their journey, but the Frenchmen overtook them at their +first camp. +</P> + +<A NAME="img-090"></A> +<CENTER> +<IMG CLASS="imgcenter" SRC="images/img-090.jpg" ALT="Tablet deposited by La Vérendrye, 1743. Obverse and reverse sides. From photographs lent by Charles N. Bell, F.R.G.S., President of the Manitoba Historical and Scientific Society." BORDER="2" WIDTH="383" HEIGHT="693"> +<H4 CLASS="h4center" STYLE="width: 400px"> +Tablet deposited by La Vérendrye, 1743. <BR> +Obverse and reverse sides. <BR> +From photographs lent by Charles N. Bell, F.R.G.S., <BR> +President of the Manitoba Historical and Scientific Society. +</H4> +</CENTER> + +<P> +This latter part of the journey had its own excitements and perils. On +the last day of May, as they were travelling over the prairie, they +discovered a party of Sioux waiting in ambush. The Sioux had expected +to meet a smaller party, and now decided not to fight. At the same +time, they were too proud to run away before the despised Assiniboines, +even though they numbered only thirty and the Assiniboines numbered +more than a hundred. They retreated with dignified slowness, facing +around on the Assiniboines from time to time, and driving them back +when they ventured too near. But when they recognized the Frenchmen, +mounted on horses and armed with their deadly muskets, their attitude +changed; they +<SPAN CLASS="pagenum">{<A NAME="P91"></A>91}</SPAN> +forgot their dignity and made off as fast as they +could go. Even with heavy odds against them these virile savages +managed to wound several of the Assiniboines, while they lost only one +man, who mistook the enemy for his friends and was captured. Pierre +and François La Vérendrye finally reached Fort La Reine on July 2, to +the great delight of their father, who had grown anxious on account of +their long absence. They had been away from the fort for one year and +eighty-four days. +</P> + +<BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap05fn1"></A> + +<P CLASS="footnote"> +[<A HREF="#chap05fn1text">1</A>] This tablet remained buried where it was deposited for 170 years. +In March 1913 it was found by a young girl on the west bank of the +Missouri river opposite the city of Pierre, N. Dakota, thus bearing +testimony to the trustworthiness of François La Vérendrye's journal, +from which this chapter was written before the tablet was discovered. +Photographs of the tablet were made by W. O'Reilly of Pierre and +published in the <I>Manitoba Free Press</I> and are reproduced in this book +by courtesy of Charles N. Bell, F.R.G.S., of Winnipeg. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap06"></A> + +<SPAN CLASS="pagenum">{<A NAME="P92"></A>92}</SPAN> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER VI +</H3> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +LA VÉRENDRYES' LATTER DAYS +</H4> + +<P> +During all this time the elder La Vérendrye had been working at other +plans for discovery and for trade in the Far West. In the year 1739, +on his return from the first visit to the Mandans, he had sent his son +François to build a fort on the Lake of the Prairies, now known as Lake +Manitoba. When young La Vérendrye had built this fort, he went farther +north to Cedar Lake, near the mouth of the Saskatchewan river, and +there built another fort. The purpose was to intercept the trade of +the Indians with the English on Hudson Bay. For over half a century +the Indians of this region had taken their furs down the rivers leading +from Lake Winnipeg to the trading-posts of the Hudson's Bay Company on +the shores of the Bay, but now the French intended to offer them a +market nearer home and divert to themselves this profitable trade. The +first of their new forts was named Fort Dauphin, and the one on Cedar +Lake was called Fort Bourbon. +</P> + +<SPAN CLASS="pagenum">{<A NAME="P93"></A>93}</SPAN> + +<P> +Having built Fort Bourbon, François La Vérendrye had ascended the +Saskatchewan river as far as the Forks, where the north and south +branches of that great river join. Here he met a number of Crees, whom +he questioned as to the source of the Saskatchewan. They told him that +it came from a great distance, rising among lofty mountains far to the +west, and that beyond those mountains they knew of a great lake, as +they called it, the water of which was not good to drink. The +mountains were of course the Rocky Mountains, and the waters of the +great lake which the Crees spoke of were the salt waters of the Pacific +ocean. François La Vérendrye had continued his work of building forts. +Shortly after building Fort Bourbon, he built Fort Paskoyac, on the +Saskatchewan, at a place now known as the Pas, between Cedar Lake and +the Forks. It is interesting to know that a railway has just been +completed to this place, and that it is to be continued from there to +the shores of Hudson Bay. How this modern change would have startled +the old fur-traders! Even if they could have dreamed of anything so +wonderful as a railway, we can imagine their ridicule of the idea that +some day men should travel from the East to the far-off +<SPAN CLASS="pagenum">{<A NAME="P94"></A>94}</SPAN> +shores of +the Saskatchewan in two or three days, a trip which cost them months of +wearisome paddling. +</P> + +<P> +In carrying on his work in the West, La Vérendrye had to face +difficulties even greater than those caused by the hard life in the +wilderness. His base of supplies was in danger. He had many enemies +in Canada, who took advantage of his absence in the West to prejudice +the governor against him. They even sent false reports to the king of +France, saying that he was spending his time, not in searching for a +way to the Western Sea, but in making money out of the fur trade. This +was not true. Not only was he making no money out of the fur trade, +but, as we have seen, he was heavily in debt because of the enormous +cost of carrying on his explorations. For a time, however, the truth +did not help him. The tales told by his enemies were believed, and he +was ordered to return to Montreal with his sons. He and they withdrew +from their work in the West, left behind their promising beginnings, +and returned to the East. Never again, as it happened, was the father +to resume his work. Another officer, M. de Noyelle, was sent to the +West to continue the work of exploration. Noyelle spent two years in +the West without +<SPAN CLASS="pagenum">{<A NAME="P95"></A>95}</SPAN> +adding anything to the information La Vérendrye +had gained. By that time a natural reaction had come in favour of La +Vérendrye, and the acting governor of Canada, the Marquis de La +Galissonière, decided to put the work of exploration again in charge of +La Vérendrye and his sons. In recognition of his services he was given +the rank of captain and was decorated with the Cross of St Louis. +</P> + +<P> +While these events were ripening, the years passed, and not until 1749 +was La Vérendrye restored to his leadership in the West. Though now +sixty-four years old, he was overjoyed at the prospect. Not only was +he permitted to continue his search for the Western Sea; the quality of +his work was recognized, for the governor and the king had at last +understood that, instead of seeking his own profit in his explorations, +as his enemies had said, he had the one object of adding to the honour +and glory of his country. He made preparations to start from Montreal +in the spring of 1750, and intended to push forward as rapidly as +possible to Fort Bourbon, or Fort Paskoyac, where he would spend the +winter. In the spring of the following year he would ascend the +Saskatchewan river and make his way over the mountains to the shores of +the Western +<SPAN CLASS="pagenum">{<A NAME="P96"></A>96}</SPAN> +Sea, the Pacific ocean as we know it to-day. But the +greatest of all enemies now blocked his way. La Vérendrye was taken +ill while making his preparations for the expedition, and before the +close of the year 1749 he had set out on the journey from which no man +returns. +</P> + +<A NAME="img-096"></A> +<CENTER> +<IMG CLASS="imgcenter" SRC="images/img-096.jpg" ALT="The Marquis de la Galissonière. From an engraving in the Château de Ramezay." BORDER="2" WIDTH="455" HEIGHT="692"> +<H4 CLASS="h4center" STYLE="width: 455px"> +The Marquis de la Galissonière. <BR> +From an engraving in the Château de Ramezay. +</H4> +</CENTER> + +<P> +After the death of La Vérendrye, his sons made preparations to carry +out his plan for reaching the Western Sea by way of the Saskatchewan +river. They had the same unselfish desire to bring honour to their +king and to add new territories to their native land. Moreover, this +project, which their father had had so much at heart, had become now +for them a sacred duty. To their dismay, however, they soon found that +the promise made to their father did not extend to themselves. Another +officer, Legardeur de Saint-Pierre, was appointed by the governor of +Canada to carry on the search for the Western Sea. They had spent +years of toil and discomfort in the wilderness and endured countless +hardships and dangers. They had carefully studied the languages, +manners, and customs of the Indian tribes, and they had found out by +hard experience what would be the best means of completing their +discovery. Yet now they were thrown aside in +<SPAN CLASS="pagenum">{<A NAME="P97"></A>97}</SPAN> +favour of an officer +who had never been in the Far West and who knew nothing of the +conditions he would there be compelled to meet. +</P> + +<P> +They could at least appeal for justice. In a last attempt to obtain +this for himself and his brothers, François de La Vérendrye wrote this +letter to the king's minister: +</P> + +<BR> + +<P CLASS="block"> +The only resource left to me is to throw myself at the feet of your +Lordship and to trouble you with the story of my misfortunes. My name +is La Vérendrye; my late father is known here [in Canada] and in France +by the exploration for the discovery of the Western Sea to which he +devoted the last fifteen years of his life. He travelled and made +myself and my brothers travel with such vigour that we should have +reached our goal, if he had had only a little more help, and if he had +not been so much thwarted, especially by envy. Envy is still here, +more than elsewhere, a prevailing passion against, which one has no +protection. While my father, my brothers, and myself were exhausting +ourselves with toil, and while we were incurring a crushing burden of +expense, his steps and ours were represented as directed only towards +[our own gain by] the finding of +<SPAN CLASS="pagenum">{<A NAME="P98"></A>98}</SPAN> +beaver; the outlay he was forced +to incur was described as dissipation; and his narratives were spoken +of as a pack of lies. Envy as it exists in this country is no half +envy; its principle is to calumniate furiously in the hope that if even +half of what is said finds favour, it will be enough to injure. In +point of fact, my father, thus opposed, had to his sorrow been obliged +more than once to return and to make us return because of the lack of +help and protection. He has even been reproached by the court [for not +giving adequate reports upon his work]; he was, indeed, more intent on +making progress than on telling what he was doing until he could give +definite statements. He was running into debt, he failed to receive +promotions. Yet his zeal for his project never slackened, persuaded as +he was that sooner or later his labours would be crowned with success +and recompense. +</P> + +<P CLASS="block"> +At the time when he was most eager in the good work, envy won the day, +and he saw the posts he had established and his own work pass into +other hands. While he was thus checked in his operations, the reward +of a plentiful harvest of beaver skins [which he had made possible] +went +<SPAN CLASS="pagenum">{<A NAME="P99"></A>99}</SPAN> +to another rather than himself. Yet [in spite of this +profitable trade the good work slackened]; the posts, instead of +multiplying, fell into decay, and no progress was made in exploration; +it was this, indeed, which grieved him the most. +</P> + +<P CLASS="block"> +Meanwhile the Marquis de la Galissonière arrived in the country [to act +as governor]. In the hubbub of contradictory opinions that prevailed, +he came to the conclusion that the man who had pursued such discoveries +at his own charge and expense, without any cost to the king, and who +had gone into debt to establish useful posts, merited better fortune. +Apart from advancing the project of discovery, practical services had +been rendered. There was [the marquis reported] a large increase of +beaver in the colony, and four or five posts had been well-established, +and defended by forts as good as could be made in countries so distant; +a multitude of savages had been turned into subjects of the king; some +of them, in a party which I commanded, showed an example to our own +domiciled savages by striking at the Anniers Indians, who are devoted +to England. Progress [the marquis concluded] could be hastened and +rendered +<SPAN CLASS="pagenum">{<A NAME="P100"></A>100}</SPAN> +more efficacious only by allowing the work to remain in +the same hands. +</P> + +<P CLASS="block"> +Thus it was that the Marquis de la Galissonière was good enough to +explain his position. No doubt he expressed himself to the court to a +similar effect, for in the following year, that is to say last year, my +father was honoured with the Cross of St Louis, and was invited to +continue with his sons the work which he had begun. He made +arrangements with great earnestness for starting on his expedition; he +spared nothing that might make for success; he had already bought and +prepared all the goods to be used in trade; he inspired me and my +brothers with his own ardour. Then in the month of December last death +carried him off. +</P> + +<P CLASS="block"> +Great as was my grief at the time, I could never have imagined or +foreseen all that I lost in losing him. When I succeeded to his +engagements and his responsibilities, I ventured to hope that I should +succeed to the same advantages. I had the honour to write on the +subject to the Marquis de la Jonquière [then governor], informing him +that I had recovered from an indisposition from which I had been +suffering, and which might +<SPAN CLASS="pagenum">{<A NAME="P101"></A>101}</SPAN> +serve as a pretext to some one seeking +to supplant me. His reply was that he had chosen Monsieur de +Saint-Pierre to go to the Western Sea. +</P> + +<P CLASS="block"> +I started at once for Quebec from Montreal, where I then was; I +represented the situation in which I was left by my father; I declared +that there was more than one post in the direction of the Western Sea +and that I and my brothers would be delighted to be under the orders of +Monsieur de Saint-Pierre, and that we could content ourselves, if +necessary, with a single post, and that the most distant one; I stated +that we even asked no more than leave to go on in advance [of the new +leader], so that while we were pushing the work of exploration, we +might be able to help ourselves by disposing of my father's latest +purchases and of what remained to us in the posts. We should in this +have the consolation of making our utmost efforts to meet the wishes of +the court. +</P> + +<P CLASS="block"> +The Marquis de la Jonquière, though he felt the force of my +representations, and, as it seemed to me, was touched by them, told me +at last that Monsieur de Saint-Pierre did not wish for either me or my +brothers. I asked what would become of the debts we +<SPAN CLASS="pagenum">{<A NAME="P102"></A>102}</SPAN> +had +incurred. Monsieur de Saint-Pierre, however, had spoken, and I could +not obtain anything. I returned to Montreal with this not too +consoling information. There I offered for sale a small piece of +property, all that I had inherited from my father. The proceeds of +this sale served to satisfy my most urgent creditors. +</P> + +<P CLASS="block"> +Meanwhile the season was advancing. There was now the question of my +going as usual to the rendezvous arranged with my hired men, so as to +save their lives [by bringing provisions], and to secure the stores +which, without this precaution, would probably be pillaged and +abandoned. In spite of Monsieur de Saint-Pierre, I obtained permission +to make this trip, and I was subject to conditions and restrictions +such as might be imposed on the commonest voyageur. Nevertheless, +scarcely had I left when Monsieur de Saint-Pierre complained of my +action and alleged that this start of mine before him injured him to +the amount of more than ten thousand francs. He also accused me, +without the slightest reserve, of having loaded my canoe beyond the +permission accorded me. +</P> + +<P> +The accusation was considered and my canoe was pursued; had I been +overtaken +<SPAN CLASS="pagenum">{<A NAME="P103"></A>103}</SPAN> +at once, Monsieur de Saint-Pierre would have been +promptly reassured. He overtook me at Michilimackinac, and if I can +believe what he said, he now saw that he had been in the wrong in +acting as he did, and was vexed with himself for not having taken me +and my brothers with him. He expressed much regret to me and paid me +many compliments. It may be that this is his usual mode of acting; but +it is difficult for me to recognize in it either good faith or humanity. +</P> + +<P CLASS="block"> +Monsieur de Saint-Pierre might have obtained all that he has obtained; +he might have made sure of his interests and have gained surprising +advantages; and have taken [as he desired] some relative with him while +not shutting us out entirely. Monsieur de Saint-Pierre is an officer +of merit, and I am only the more to be pitied to find him thus turned +against me. Yet in spite of the favourable impressions he has created +on different occasions, he will find it difficult to show that in this +matter he kept the main interest [that of discovery] in view, and that +he conformed to the intentions of the court and respected the kindly +disposition with which the Marquis de la Galissonière honours us. +Before +<SPAN CLASS="pagenum">{<A NAME="P104"></A>104}</SPAN> +such a wrong could be done to us, he must have injured us +seriously in the opinion of Monsieur de la Jonquière, who himself is +always disposed to be kind. +</P> + +<P CLASS="block"> +None the less am I ruined. My returns for this year were only half +collected, and a thousand subsequent difficulties make the disaster +complete; with credit gone in relation both to my father and to myself, +I am in debt for over twenty thousand francs; I remain without funds +and without patrimony. Moreover, I am a simple ensign of the second +grade; my elder brother has only the same rank as myself, while my +younger brother is only a junior cadet. +</P> + +<P CLASS="block"> +Such is the net result of all that my father, my brothers, and I have +done. The one who was murdered some years ago was not the most +unfortunate of us. His blood does not count in our behalf. Unless +Monsieur de Saint-Pierre becomes imbued with better sentiments and +communicates them to the Marquis de la Jonquière, all my father's toils +and ours fail to serve us, and we must abandon what has cost us so +much. We certainly should not have been and should not be useless to +Monsieur de Saint-Pierre. I explained to him fully how I believed I +could serve him; clever as he +<SPAN CLASS="pagenum">{<A NAME="P105"></A>105}</SPAN> +may be, and inspired with the best +intentions, I venture to say that by keeping us away he is in danger of +making many mistakes and of getting often on the wrong track. It is +something gained to have gone astray, but to have found out your error; +we think that now we should be sure of the right road to reach the +goal, whatever it may be. It is our greatest cause of distress to find +ourselves thus snatched away from a sphere of action in which we were +proposing to use every effort to reach a definite result. +</P> + +<P CLASS="block"> +Deign therefore, Monseigneur, to judge the cause of three orphans. Our +misfortune is great, but is it without remedy? There are in the hands +of your Lordship resources of compensation and of consolation, and I +venture to hope for some benefit from them. To find ourselves thus +excluded from the West would be to find ourselves robbed in the most +cruel manner of our heritage. We should have had all that was bitter +and others all that was sweet. +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +This eloquent appeal of François fell upon unheeding ears; the +appointment of his rival was confirmed. The only grace he could obtain +was leave to take to the West a small portion of the supplies for which +he and his +<SPAN CLASS="pagenum">{<A NAME="P106"></A>106}</SPAN> +brothers had already paid, and to return with the furs +his men had collected and brought down to Michilimackinac. Thus ended, +sadly enough, the devoted efforts of this remarkable family of +explorers to complete the long search for a route overland to the +Pacific ocean. The brothers La Vérendrye, ruined in purse and denied +opportunity, fell into obscurity and were forgotten. +</P> + +<P> +It remains only to tell briefly of the attempts of Saint-Pierre and his +men to carry out the same great project. In obedience to the +governor's instructions, Saint-Pierre left Montreal in the spring of +1750. He paddled up the Ottawa, and then through Lake Nipissing, and +down the French river to Georgian Bay. He crossed Lake Huron to +Michilimackinac, where he remained for a short time to give his men a +rest. Then he pushed on to Grand Portage, where he spent some time in +talking to the Indians. In spite of his ungenerous treatment of the +sons of La Vérendrye, Saint-Pierre was a brave and capable soldier; but +he knew very little of the hardships of western exploration, or of the +patience needed in dealing with Indians. He grumbled bitterly about +the difficulties and hardships of the portages, which La Vérendrye +<SPAN CLASS="pagenum">{<A NAME="P107"></A>107}</SPAN> +had taken as a matter of course; and, instead of treating the +Indians with patience and forbearance, he lost no opportunity to +harangue and scold them. We need not wonder, therefore, that the +natives, who had looked up to La Vérendrye as a superior being, soon +learned to dislike the overbearing Saint-Pierre, and would do nothing +to help him in his attempts at exploration. +</P> + +<P> +Saint-Pierre visited Fort St Charles; he spent the winter at Fort +Maurepas; in the spring of 1751 he went on to Fort La Reine. Meanwhile +he had sent Niverville, a young officer of his party, to the +Saskatchewan river, with instructions to push his discoveries westward +beyond the farthest point reached by La Vérendrye. Winter had set in +before Niverville set out on his long journey, and he travelled over +the snow and ice with snowshoes, dragging his provisions on toboggans. +He knew nothing of the Indian method of harnessing dogs to their +toboggans, and he and his men dragged the toboggans themselves. He +travelled slowly across Lake Winnipeg, over rough ice and through deep +snowdrifts, with no protection from the bitter winds. So great were +the hardships that, in the end, he was compelled to abandon some of the +heavier +<SPAN CLASS="pagenum">{<A NAME="P108"></A>108}</SPAN> +supplies and provisions. Before he and his men reached +Fort Paskoyac they were at the point of starvation. During the last +few days they had nothing to eat but a few small fish caught through +holes in the ice. +</P> + +<P> +Niverville was taken seriously ill, and had to remain at Fort Paskoyac, +while some of his men in the spring of 1751 ascended the Saskatchewan +in canoes. These men, we are told, paddled up the river to the foot of +the Rocky Mountains, where they built a fort, named Fort La Jonquière, +in honour of the governor. Later in the year Niverville followed his +men up the river. At Fort La Jonquière he met a party of Western +Indians, who told him that in the course of a war expedition they had +encountered a number of Indians of a strange tribe carrying loads of +beaver skins. These strange Indians told the Frenchmen that they were +on their way over the Rocky Mountains to trade their furs with white +men on the sea-coast. For some reason, either through lack of supplies +or because he did not possess the courage and enthusiasm which had +carried the La Vérendryes through so many difficulties, Niverville made +no effort to cross the mountains. This attempt to reach the Western +Sea ended, so far as French +<SPAN CLASS="pagenum">{<A NAME="P109"></A>109}</SPAN> +explorers were concerned, at Fort La +Jonquière. All the toils and hardships of the French explorers ended +in failure to achieve the great end at which they aimed. Members of +another race reaped the coveted reward. Many years later a +Scottish-Canadian explorer, Alexander Mackenzie, realized La +Vérendrye's dream by successfully crossing the Rocky Mountains and +forcing his way through the difficult country that lay beyond, until at +last he stood upon the shores of the Pacific ocean. +</P> + +<P> +Meanwhile Saint-Pierre had remained at Fort La Reine, leaving the work +of exploration to his young lieutenant, Niverville. One incident of +his life there remains to be described before we close this story of +the search for the Western Sea. It cannot be better told than in +Saint-Pierre's own narrative: +</P> + +<BR> + +<P CLASS="block"> +On February 22, 1752 [he says], about nine o'clock in the morning, I +was at this post with five Frenchmen. I had sent the rest of my +people, consisting of fourteen persons, to look for provisions, of +which I had been in need for several days. I was sitting quietly in my +room, when two hundred Assiniboines entered the fort, all of them +armed. These Indians scattered immediately all through the place; +several +<SPAN CLASS="pagenum">{<A NAME="P110"></A>110}</SPAN> +of them even entered my room, but unarmed; others +remained in adjacent parts of the fort. My people came to warn me of +the behaviour of these Indians. I ran to them and told them sharply +that they were very impudent to come in a crowd to my house, and armed. +One of them answered in the Cree language that they came to smoke. I +told them that they were not behaving properly, and that they must +leave the fort at once. I believe that the firmness with which I spoke +somewhat frightened them, especially as I put four of the most resolute +out of the door, without their saying a word. +</P> + +<P CLASS="block"> +I went at once to my room. At that very moment, however, a soldier +came to tell me that the guard-house was full of Indians, who had taken +possession of the arms. I ran to the guard-house and demanded, through +a Cree interpreter, what they meant by such behaviour. During all this +time I was preparing to fight them with my weak force. My interpreter, +who proved a traitor, said that these Indians had no bad intentions. +Yet, a moment before, an Assiniboine orator, who had been constantly +making fine speeches to me, had told the interpreter that, in spite of +him, the Indians would kill and rob me. +</P> + +<SPAN CLASS="pagenum">{<A NAME="P111"></A>111}</SPAN> + +<P CLASS="block"> +When I had barely made out their intentions I failed to realize that I +ought to have taken their arms from them. [To frighten them] I seized +hold of a blazing brand, broke in the door of the powder magazine, and +knocked down a barrel of gunpowder. Over this I held the brand, and I +told the Indians in an assured tone [through the interpreter] that I +expected nothing at their hands, and that even if I was killed I should +have the glory of subjecting them to the same fate. No sooner had the +Indians seen the lighted brand, and the barrel of gunpowder with its +head staved in, and heard my interpreter, than they all fled out of the +gate of the fort. They damaged the gate considerably in their hurried +flight. I soon laid down my brand, and then I had nothing more +exciting to do than to close the gate of the fort. +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +Soon after this incident with the Assiniboines, Saint-Pierre gave up +his half-hearted attempt to find a route to the Western Sea, and +returned to Montreal. He had proved himself a brave man enough. He +did not, however, understand, and made no attempt to understand, the +character of the Indians, and, as an explorer, he was a complete +failure. In +<SPAN CLASS="pagenum">{<A NAME="P112"></A>112}</SPAN> +a couple of years he managed to undo all the work +which La Vérendrye had accomplished. After he abandoned the West, the +forts which had been built there with such difficulty and at such great +expense soon fell into decay. The only men who had the knowledge and +the enthusiasm to make real La Vérendrye's dream of exploration, his +own sons, were denied the privilege of doing so; and no one else seemed +anxious even to attempt such a difficult task. +</P> + +<P> +The period of French rule in Canada was now rapidly drawing to a close. +Instead of adding to the territories of France in North America, her +sons were preparing to make their last stand in defence of what they +already possessed. Half a dozen years later their dream of western +exploration, and of a great North American empire reaching from the +Atlantic to the Pacific, came to an end on the Plains of Abraham. It +was left for those of another race who came after them to turn the +dream of their rivals into tangible achievements. It must never be +forgotten, however, that, although Pierre de La Vérendrye failed to +complete the great object of his ambition, we owe to him and his +gallant sons the discovery of a large part of what is to-day Western +Canada. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="biblio"></A> + +<SPAN CLASS="pagenum">{<A NAME="P113"></A>113}</SPAN> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTE +</H3> + +<P> +An English translation of <I>The Journals of La Vérendrye</I> edited by +Lawrence J. Burpee, with the French text, will be found among the +publications of the Champlain Society. The reader should consult also +Parkman, <I>A Half Century of Conflict</I>, chapter xvi.; Burpee, <I>The +Search for the Western Sea</I>; Shortt and Doughty (editors), <I>Canada and +Its Provinces</I>, vol. i., 'The Pathfinders of the Great West.' +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="index"></A> + +<SPAN CLASS="pagenum">{<A NAME="P115"></A>115}</SPAN> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +INDEX +</H3> + +<P CLASS="index"> +Abnakis, <A HREF="#P4">4</A>. +</P> + +<P CLASS="index"> +Assiniboines, <A HREF="#P49">49</A>, <A HREF="#P50">50-63</A>, <A HREF="#P90">90</A>, <A HREF="#P109">109</A>. +</P> + +<P CLASS="index"> +Aulneau, Father, <A HREF="#P37">37-40</A>. +</P> + +<BR> + +<P CLASS="index"> +Beauharnois, Marquis de, <A HREF="#P16">16</A>, <A HREF="#P31">31</A>, <A HREF="#P33">33</A> +</P> + +<P CLASS="index"> +Bow Indians, <A HREF="#P78">78-87</A>. +</P> + +<BR> + +<P CLASS="index"> +Caughnawagas, <A HREF="#P4">4</A>. +</P> + +<P CLASS="index"> +Chippewas, <A HREF="#P39">39</A>, <A HREF="#P41">41</A>, <A HREF="#P43">43</A>, <A HREF="#P46">46</A>. +</P> + +<P CLASS="index"> +Coureurs de bois, <A HREF="#P10">10-12</A>. +</P> + +<P CLASS="index"> +Cree Indians, <A HREF="#P39">39</A>, <A HREF="#P46">46</A>, <A HREF="#P47">47</A>, <A HREF="#P49">49</A>, <A HREF="#P93">93</A>. +</P> + +<BR> + +<P CLASS="index"> +Fort Bourbon, <A HREF="#P92">92</A>. +</P> + +<P CLASS="index"> +Fort Dauphin, <A HREF="#P92">92</A>. +</P> + +<P CLASS="index"> +Fort La Jonquière, <A HREF="#P108">108</A>. +</P> + +<P CLASS="index"> +Fort La Reine, <A HREF="#P49">49</A>, <A HREF="#P68">68</A>, <A HREF="#P91">91</A>, <A HREF="#P107">107</A>. +</P> + +<P CLASS="index"> +Fort Maurepas, <A HREF="#P31">31</A>, <A HREF="#P47">47</A>, <A HREF="#P107">107</A>. +</P> + +<P CLASS="index"> +Fort Michilimackinac, <A HREF="#P19">19</A>, <A HREF="#P29">29</A>. +</P> + +<P CLASS="index"> +Fort Paskoyac, <A HREF="#P93">93</A>, <A HREF="#P108">108</A>. +</P> + +<P CLASS="index"> +Fort Rouge, <A HREF="#P49">49</A>. +</P> + +<P CLASS="index"> +Fort St Charles, <A HREF="#P30">30</A>, <A HREF="#P37">37</A>, <A HREF="#P47">47</A>, <A HREF="#P107">107</A>. +</P> + +<P CLASS="index"> +Fort St Pierre, <A HREF="#P30">30</A>. +</P> + +<BR> + +<P CLASS="index"> +Good-looking Indians, <A HREF="#P76">76</A>, <A HREF="#P77">77</A>. +</P> + +<BR> + +<P CLASS="index"> +Horse Indians, <A HREF="#P78">78</A>. +</P> + +<BR> + +<P CLASS="index"> +Kaministikwia river, <A HREF="#P15">15</A>, <A HREF="#P31">31</A>, <A HREF="#P37">37</A>. +</P> + +<BR> + +<P CLASS="index"> +La Galissonière, Marquis de, <A HREF="#P95">95</A>, <A HREF="#P96">96</A>, <A HREF="#P99">99</A>, <A HREF="#P100">100</A>. +</P> + +<P CLASS="index"> +La Jemeraye, <A HREF="#P19">19</A>, <A HREF="#P28">28</A>, <A HREF="#P29">29</A>, <A HREF="#P30">30</A>; dies, <A HREF="#P37">37</A>. +</P> + +<P CLASS="index"> +La Jonquière, Marquis de, <A HREF="#P100">100</A>, <A HREF="#P101">101</A>. +</P> + +<P CLASS="index"> +La Vérendrye, François, <A HREF="#P19">19</A>, <A HREF="#P65">65</A>, <A HREF="#P67">67</A>, <A HREF="#P74">74</A>, <A HREF="#P81">81</A>; reaches Rocky Mountains, +<A HREF="#P84">84</A>; <A HREF="#P87">87</A>, <A HREF="#P92">92</A>, <A HREF="#P96">96</A>, <A HREF="#P97">97-106</A>. +</P> + +<P CLASS="index"> +La Vérendrye, Jean-Baptiste, <A HREF="#P19">19</A>, <A HREF="#P30">30</A>, <A HREF="#P36">36</A>, <A HREF="#P37">37</A>; is killed by the Sioux, <A HREF="#P40">40</A>. +</P> + +<P CLASS="index"> +La Vérendrye, Louis, <A HREF="#P36">36</A>, <A HREF="#P47">47</A>. +</P> + +<P CLASS="index"> +La Vérendrye, Pierre, son of the elder Pierre, <A HREF="#P19">19</A>, <A HREF="#P47">47</A>, <A HREF="#P74">74</A>, <A HREF="#P87">87</A>. +</P> + +<P CLASS="index"> +La Vérendrye, Pierre Gaultier de, birth and childhood, <A HREF="#P1">1-3</A>; enters +army, <A HREF="#P3">3</A>; expedition against Deerfield, <A HREF="#P4">4-7</A>; raid on St John's, <A HREF="#P7">7</A>; +serves in War of Spanish Succession, and is made lieutenant, <A HREF="#P8">8</A>; returns +to Canada and enters fur trade, <A HREF="#P9">9</A>; determines to find the Western Sea, +<A HREF="#P14">14</A>; marries Mlle Dandonneau, <A HREF="#P14">14</A>; commands trading-post on Fort Nipigon, +<A HREF="#P15">15</A>; granted monopoly of Western fur trade as a means of financing his +Western expedition, <A HREF="#P17">17-19</A>; his first journey of exploration, <A HREF="#P20">20-32</A>; +returns to Montreal, <A HREF="#P33">33-5</A>; starts again for the West, <A HREF="#P36">36</A>; refuses to +revenge himself on the Sioux for the murder of his son, <A HREF="#P46">46</A>; with the +Assiniboines, <A HREF="#P49">49-54</A>; with the Mandans, <A HREF="#P55">55-68</A>; falls ill, <A HREF="#P69">69</A>; returns to +Assiniboines, <A HREF="#P70">70</A>; at Fort La Reine, <A HREF="#P71">71</A>, <A HREF="#P72">72</A>, <A HREF="#P74">74</A>, <A HREF="#P92">92</A>; returns to +Montreal, <A HREF="#P94">94</A>; given the rank of captain and decorated, <A HREF="#P95">95</A>; dies, <A HREF="#P96">96</A>; +<A HREF="#P112">112</A>. +</P> + +<P CLASS="index"> +Louvière, builds Fort Rouge, <A HREF="#P49">49</A>. +</P> + +<BR> + +<P CLASS="index"> +Mackenzie, Alexander, <A HREF="#P109">109</A>. +</P> + +<P CLASS="index"> +Mandans, tribe of Indians, <A HREF="#P44">44-67</A>, <A HREF="#P72">72</A>, <A HREF="#P73">73</A>, <A HREF="#P89">89</A>. +</P> + +<P CLASS="index"> +Messager, Father, <A HREF="#P19">19</A>, <A HREF="#P30">30</A>. +</P> + +<BR> + +<P CLASS="index"> +Niverville, <A HREF="#P107">107-8</A>. +</P> + +<P CLASS="index"> +Noyelle, M. de, <A HREF="#P94">94</A>. +</P> + +<BR> + +<P CLASS="index"> +Ochagach, his story of the Western Sea, <A HREF="#P15">15-16</A>, <A HREF="#P19">19</A>. +</P> + +<BR> + +<P CLASS="index"> +Parkman, Francis, his description of Bow Indians, <A HREF="#P81">81-3</A>. +</P> + +<P CLASS="index"> +People of the Little Cherry, <A HREF="#P87">87-89</A>. +</P> + +<BR> + +<P CLASS="index"> +Rainy Lake, fort built at, <A HREF="#P29">29</A>. +</P> + +<P CLASS="index"> +Rocky Mountains, explorers reach, <A HREF="#P85">85</A>, <A HREF="#P93">93</A>, <A HREF="#P108">108</A>, <A HREF="#P109">109</A>. +</P> + +<P CLASS="index"> +Rouville, Hertel de, guerilla leader, <A HREF="#P4">4</A>. +</P> + +<BR> + +<P CLASS="index"> +Saint-Pierre, Legardeur de, <A HREF="#P96">96</A>, <A HREF="#P102">102-3</A>, <A HREF="#P104">104</A>, <A HREF="#P106">106-7</A>, <A HREF="#P109">109-11</A>. +</P> + +<P CLASS="index"> +Sioux Indians, <A HREF="#P39">39-43</A>, <A HREF="#P46">46</A>, <A HREF="#P90">90</A>, <A HREF="#P91">91</A>. +</P> + +<P CLASS="index"> +Snake Indians, <A HREF="#P80">80</A>, <A HREF="#P86">86</A>, <A HREF="#P88">88</A>. +</P> + +<P CLASS="index"> +Subercase, leader of raid on St John's, <A HREF="#P8">8</A>. +</P> + +<BR> + +<P CLASS="index"> +Three Rivers, <A HREF="#P1">1-2</A>. +</P> + +<BR> + +<P CLASS="index"> +Western Sea, <A HREF="#P12">12-19</A>, <A HREF="#P21">21</A>, <A HREF="#P73">73</A>, <A HREF="#P93">93</A>, <A HREF="#P95">95</A>, <A HREF="#P109">109</A>. +</P> + +<P CLASS="index"> +Winnipeg, Lake, fort built at, <A HREF="#P30">30-1</A>. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<H5> +Printed by T. and A. Constable, Printers to His Majesty<BR> +at the Edinburgh University Press<BR> +</H5> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<HR> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<H2 ALIGN="center"> +THE CHRONICLES OF CANADA +</H2> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THIRTY-TWO VOLUMES ILLUSTRATED +</H3> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +Edited by GEORGE M. WRONG and H. H. LANGTON +</H4> + +<BR><BR> + +<H2 ALIGN="center"> +THE CHRONICLES OF CANADA +</H2> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +PART I +<BR> +THE FIRST EUROPEAN VISITORS +</H3> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +1. THE DAWN OF CANADIAN HISTORY +<SPAN STYLE="margin-left: 1em">By Stephen Leacock.</SPAN><BR> +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +2. THE MARINER OF ST MALO +<SPAN STYLE="margin-left: 1em">By Stephen Leacock.</SPAN><BR> +</P> + +<BR> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +PART II +<BR> +THE RISE OF NEW FRANCE +</H3> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +3. THE FOUNDER OF NEW FRANCE +<SPAN STYLE="margin-left: 1em">By Charles W. Colby.</SPAN><BR> +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +4. THE JESUIT MISSIONS +<SPAN STYLE="margin-left: 1em">By Thomas Guthrie Marquis.</SPAN><BR> +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +5. THE SEIGNEURS OF OLD CANADA +<SPAN STYLE="margin-left: 1em">By William Bennett Munro.</SPAN><BR> +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +6. THE GREAT INTENDANT +<SPAN STYLE="margin-left: 1em">By Thomas Chapais.</SPAN><BR> +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +7. THE FIGHTING GOVERNOR +<SPAN STYLE="margin-left: 1em">By Charles W. Colby.</SPAN><BR> +</P> + +<BR> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +PART III +<BR> +THE ENGLISH INVASION +</H3> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +8. THE GREAT FORTRESS +<SPAN STYLE="margin-left: 1em">By William Wood.</SPAN><BR> +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +9. THE ACADIAN EXILES +<SPAN STYLE="margin-left: 1em">By Arthur G. Doughty.</SPAN><BR> +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +10. THE PASSING OF NEW FRANCE +<SPAN STYLE="margin-left: 1.5em">By William Wood.</SPAN><BR> +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +11. THE WINNING OF CANADA +<SPAN STYLE="margin-left: 1.5em">By William Wood.</SPAN><BR> +</P> + +<BR> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +PART IV +<BR> +THE BEGINNINGS OF BRITISH CANADA +</H3> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +12. THE FATHER OF BRITISH CANADA +<SPAN STYLE="margin-left: 1.5em">By William Wood.</SPAN><BR> +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +13. THE UNITED EMPIRE LOYALISTS +<SPAN STYLE="margin-left: 1.5em">By W. Stewart Wallace.</SPAN><BR> +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +14. THE WAR WITH THE UNITED STATES +<SPAN STYLE="margin-left: 1.5em">By William Wood.</SPAN><BR> +</P> + +<BR> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +PART V +<BR> +THE RED MAN IN CANADA +</H3> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +15. THE WAR CHIEF OF THE OTTAWAS +<SPAN STYLE="margin-left: 1.5em">By Thomas Guthrie Marquis.</SPAN><BR> +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +16. THE WAR CHIEF OF THE SIX NATIONS +<SPAN STYLE="margin-left: 1.5em">By Louis Aubrey Wood.</SPAN><BR> +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +17. TECUMSEH: THE LAST GREAT LEADER OF HIS PEOPLE +<SPAN STYLE="margin-left: 1.5em">By Ethel T. Raymond.</SPAN><BR> +</P> + +<BR> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +PART VI +<BR> +PIONEERS OF THE NORTH AND WEST +</H3> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +18. THE 'ADVENTURERS OF ENGLAND' ON HUDSON BAY +<SPAN STYLE="margin-left: 1.5em">By Agnes C. Laut.</SPAN><BR> +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +19. PATHFINDERS OF THE GREAT PLAINS +<SPAN STYLE="margin-left: 1.5em">By Lawrence J. Burpee.</SPAN><BR> +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +20. ADVENTURERS OF THE FAR NORTH +<SPAN STYLE="margin-left: 1.5em">By Stephen Leacock.</SPAN><BR> +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +21. THE RED RIVER COLONY +<SPAN STYLE="margin-left: 1.5em">By Louis Aubrey Wood.</SPAN><BR> +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +22. PIONEERS OF THE PACIFIC COAST +<SPAN STYLE="margin-left: 1.5em">By Agnes C. Laut.</SPAN><BR> +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +23. THE CARIBOO TRAIL +<SPAN STYLE="margin-left: 1.5em">By Agnes C. Laut.</SPAN><BR> +</P> + +<BR> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +PART VII +<BR> +THE STRUGGLE FOR POLITICAL FREEDOM +</H3> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +24. THE FAMILY COMPACT +<SPAN STYLE="margin-left: 1.5em">By W. Stewart Wallace.</SPAN><BR> +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +25. THE 'PATRIOTES' OF '37 +<SPAN STYLE="margin-left: 1.5em">By Alfred D. DeCelles.</SPAN><BR> +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +26. THE TRIBUNE OF NOVA SCOTIA +<SPAN STYLE="margin-left: 1.5em">By William Lawson Grant.</SPAN><BR> +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +27. THE WINNING OF POPULAR GOVERNMENT +<SPAN STYLE="margin-left: 1.5em">By Archibald MacMechan.</SPAN><BR> +</P> + +<BR> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +PART VIII +<BR> +THE GROWTH OF NATIONALITY +</H3> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +28. THE FATHERS OF CONFEDERATION +<SPAN STYLE="margin-left: 1.5em">By A. H. U. Colquhoun.</SPAN><BR> +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +29. THE DAY OF SIR JOHN MACDONALD +<SPAN STYLE="margin-left: 1.5em">By Sir Joseph Pope.</SPAN><BR> +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +30. THE DAY OF SIR WILFRID LAURIER +<SPAN STYLE="margin-left: 1.5em">By Oscar D. Skelton.</SPAN><BR> +</P> + +<BR> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +PART IX +<BR> +NATIONAL HIGHWAYS +</H3> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +31. ALL AFLOAT +<SPAN STYLE="margin-left: 1.5em">By William Wood.</SPAN><BR> +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +32. THE RAILWAY BUILDERS +<SPAN STYLE="margin-left: 1.5em">By Oscar D. Skelton.</SPAN><BR> +</P> + +<BR><BR> + +<H5 ALIGN="center"> +TORONTO: GLASGOW, BROOK & COMPANY +</H5> + +<BR><BR><BR><BR> + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Pathfinders of the Great Plains, by +Lawrence J. 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Burpee + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Pathfinders of the Great Plains + A Chronicle of La Verendrye and his Sons + +Author: Lawrence J. Burpee + +Release Date: October 1, 2009 [EBook #30145] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK PATHFINDERS OF THE GREAT PLAINS *** + + + + +Produced by Al Haines (This file was produced from images +obtained from The Internet Archive) + + + + + + + + + + +PATHFINDERS OF + +THE GREAT PLAINS + + +A Chronicle of La Verendrye and his Sons + +BY + +LAWRENCE J. BURPEE + + + +TORONTO + +GLASGOW, BROOK & COMPANY + +1914 + + + + + Copyright in all Countries subscribing to + the Berne Convention + + + + +{ix} + +CONTENTS + + Page + + I. EARLY SERVICE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 + II. FIRST ATTEMPT AT EXPLORATION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 + III. ACROSS THE PLAINS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44 + IV. THE MANDAN INDIANS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55 + V. THE DISCOVERY OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS . . . . . . . . . . 72 + VI. LA VERENDRYES' LATTER DAYS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92 + BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113 + INDEX . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115 + + + + +ILLUSTRATIONS + +LA VERENDRYE EXPLORATIONS, 1731-43 . . . . . . . . . _Facing page_ 1 + Map by Bartholomew. + +AN INDIAN ENCAMPMENT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . " " 48 + Painting by Paul Kane. + +AN ASSINIBOINE INDIAN . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . " " 52 + From a pastel by Edmund Morris. + +MANDAN GIRLS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . " " 68 + From Pritchard's 'Natural History of Man.' + +TABLET DEPOSITED BY LA VERENDRYE, 1743 . . . . . . . " " 90 + From photographs lent by Charles N. Bell, + F.R.G.S., President of the Manitoba + Historical and Scientific Society. + +THE MARQUIS DE LA GALISSONIERE . . . . . . . . . . . " " 96 + From an engraving in the Chateau de Ramezay. + + + +[Illustration: La Verendrye Explorations, 1731-43] + + + + +{1} + +CHAPTER I + +EARLY SERVICE + +Canada has had many brave sons, but none braver than Pierre Gaultier de +La Verendrye, who gave all that he had, including his life, for the +glory and welfare of his country. La Verendrye was born in the quaint +little town of Three Rivers, on the St Lawrence, on November 17, 1685. +His father was governor of the district of which Three Rivers was the +capital; his mother was a daughter of Pierre Boucher, a former governor +of the same district. In those days, when Canada was still a French +colony, both Three Rivers and Montreal had their own governors, while +the whole colony was under the authority of the governor-general, who +lived at Quebec. + +At that time Three Rivers was a more important place than it is to-day. +Next to Quebec and Montreal, it was the largest town in Canada. If we +could see it as it was in the days of La Verendrye, we should find it +very {2} different from the towns we know. It was surrounded by a +strong wall and protected with cannon. The town had always a garrison +of regular soldiers, and this garrison was supported in times of +necessity by every man and boy in Three Rivers. Those who lived in the +neighbourhood were also liable to be called upon for the service of +defence. In those days, when the dreaded Iroquois might at any moment +swoop down upon the little settlement, every man kept his gun within +reach, and every man knew how to use it. When the alarm was given, +men, women, and children swarmed into Three Rivers, and the town became +a secure fortress; for the Indians, ready enough to ambush small +parties of white men in the forest or in the fields, rarely dared to +attack walled towns. + +In this little walled town Pierre Gaultier de La Verendrye was born, +and spent his boyhood. He was one of ten children, so that he must +have had no lack of companions. We have no exact description of the +home of the governor of Three Rivers, but it was probably much like +that of other seigneurs or landed gentry of New France--a low, +rambling, stone building, with walls solid enough to resist a siege, +perhaps a wing or two, many {3} gables, and a lofty roof. It would be +flanked, too, with many outhouses. It must not be supposed, however, +that the governor of Three Rivers and his family lived in luxury. +People then were obliged to live more simply than they live to-day. +The governor had a salary of 1200 francs a year, or about 240 dollars +of the money of the present day. At that time, it is true, food and +clothing were cheaper than they are now, so that this sum would buy a +great deal more than it would at the present time; and the governor had +other slight resources, for he was able to add to his official income +the profits of a small farm and of a trading post on the St Maurice +river. Still, it was a small income on which to support a family of +ten lusty children, and at the same time keep up the dignity of the +position as governor of an important town. Pierre, therefore, like +most of the other boys of New France, had to shift for himself at an +age when the boys of to-day are still at school. + +In those days there was practically only one career for a gentleman's +son--that of a soldier. Accordingly we find Pierre entering the army +as a cadet at the age of twelve. Nothing is known of his military +service up to the year 1704. In that year, however, he took part in +{4} an expedition against Deerfield, on the north-western frontier of +the colony of Massachusetts. The expedition was commanded by a +well-known guerilla leader, Hertel de Rouville, and consisted of about +fifty Canadians and two hundred Abnakis and Caughnawagas. These +adventurers and redskins were accustomed to all kinds of hardship. In +the depth of winter they set out from Montreal to make a journey of +nearly three hundred miles. They travelled on snow-shoes through the +forest, carrying supplies and provisions on their backs. At the end of +a long day's tramp, some comparatively sheltered spot would be found +for the camp; the snow would be cleared away with their snowshoes, and +a big camp-fire built in the midst of the clearing. Round this the +weary men, white and red, would gather to eat their simple meal and +smoke a pipe; then each man would wrap himself in his cloak or blanket +and fall asleep, with his feet towards the fire. From time to time +some one, warned by the increasing cold, would spring up to throw on +the fire another log or two. With the first appearance of dawn, the +party would be once more astir; a hasty breakfast would be swallowed, +and they would be off again on their long tramp to the south. + +{5} + +So day after day they journeyed until at last, just when they had come +to the very end of their provisions, they arrived within sight of the +doomed little English frontier village of Deerfield. In the dead of +the night Rouville called a halt in a pine forest two miles from the +village, and made preparations to surprise the inhabitants. The people +of Deerfield were wholly unconscious of the danger from the approach of +the French raiders. Although the place had a rude garrison this force +was ineffective, since it had little or no discipline. On this +particular night even the sentries seem to have found their patrol duty +within the palisades of the village so uncomfortable, in the bitter +night air, that they had betaken themselves to bed. + +Parkman has described the next step: + + +Rouville and his men, savage with hunger, lay shivering under the pines +till about two hours before dawn; then, leaving their packs and their +snow-shoes behind, they moved cautiously towards their prey. There was +a crust on the snow strong enough to bear their weight, though not to +prevent a rustling noise, as it crunched under the weight of so many +men. It is said that from time to time Rouville commanded a halt, in +order {6} that the sentinels, if such there were, might mistake the +distant sound for rising and falling gusts of wind. In any case, no +alarm was given till they had mounted the palisade and dropped silently +into the unconscious village. Then with one accord they screeched the +war-whoop, and assailed the doors of the houses with axes and hatchets. + + +The surprised villagers, awakened out of their sleep to find a howling +force of French and Indians in their midst, hastily barricaded their +doors, and fought desperately with any weapons they could snatch up. +In some cases the defenders succeeded in keeping the enemy at bay; but +others were not so successful. The French and the Indians, hacked +openings in the doors and the windows of some of the houses, and +through these shot down the inmates. Finally, when day broke, the +French had gained possession of most of the village. Then they +collected their prisoners and drove them out to their camp in the +forest. A few burned houses, a score or so of dead bodies, not only of +men but of helpless women and children, and a crowd of shivering +prisoners, some of whom were butchered by the way, were the evidences +of this inglorious victory. + +{7} + +From the plunder of the houses the victors obtained some provisions +which helped to feed their party on the long homeward journey. Before +noon of the following day they had started northward again, driving +their captives before them through the deep snow. The mid-winter tramp +through the wilderness proved extremely trying to both the French and +their prisoners, but particularly to the prisoners, among whom were +many women and children. Many of them were unaccustomed to snowshoes. +Yet now they had to make long forced marches in this way over the deep +snow. Food, too, was scarce. Some of the prisoners died of +starvation; others of exhaustion. Finally the remnant reached the +French settlements on the St Lawrence, where they were kindly treated +by the inhabitants. Some were afterwards exchanged for French captives +in New England, but many never again saw their former homes. + +The year after his return from the expedition to Deerfield, Pierre de +La Verendrye took part in another raid against the English settlements. +On this occasion, however, the attack was not upon a New England +village, but against the town of St John's, in Newfoundland. The +expedition was commanded {8} by an officer named Subercase, who +afterwards became governor of Acadia. St John's was defended by two +forts, with small English garrisons. The French, who had about four +hundred and fifty soldiers, found themselves unable to capture the +forts. They therefore abandoned the attack on St John's and returned +to the French settlement of Placentia, burning, as they went, a number +of English fishing villages along the shore. + +This kind of warfare could not bring much honour to a young soldier, +and it was probably joyful news to Pierre to learn that he had been +appointed an ensign in the Bretagne regiment of the Grenadiers serving +in Flanders. He sailed from Canada in 1706, and for three years fought +with his regiment in what was known as the War of the Spanish +Succession, in which the English armies were commanded by the famous +Duke of Marlborough. Finally, at the terrible battle of Malplaquet, in +which thousands of both English and French were killed, Pierre so +distinguished himself that he won the rank of lieutenant. He received +no less than nine wounds, and was left for dead upon the field. +Fortunately he managed to escape, to render to his country in the years +to come much greater service. + +{9} + +Finding that there was little hope of further promotion in the French +army, since he had no influence in high quarters, Pierre returned to +Canada. After several years' service in the colonial forces, he +abandoned the army, and engaged in the fur trade. As a boy at Three +Rivers, he had enjoyed many chances of meeting the fur-traders who came +down to the little town on the St Lawrence with their packs of valuable +peltry, and had shown an especial and fascinated interest in their +stories of the boundless country that lay north and west of the string +of settlements on the St Lawrence. This country was so vast in extent +that even the most remote tribes yet visited by the white traders could +state nothing definite as to its outer boundaries, though, in answer to +the eager questions of the white men, they invented many untrue tales +about it. + +The fur-traders themselves were divided into two classes. The more +staid and respectable class built trading forts in the interior on the +borders of territories occupied by the Indians. Here they kept a +supply of the things required by the natives: guns, powder and balls, +tobacco, blankets, bright-coloured cotton, axes and small tools, flints +and steels, vermilion for war-paint, and beads of every colour and {10} +description. The Indians brought their furs into the forts and +bartered them for the goods that they needed. Sometimes, with no sense +of real values, they traded beaver skins and other pelts of high worth +for a piece of gaudy cotton, a little vermilion, or a handful of beads. +The white men, of course, brought things which rapidly became +indispensable to the Indians, whose native bows and arrows and hatchets +of stone seemed almost useless compared with the muskets and the steel +axes brought from Europe. To acquire these things became vital to the +Indians, and the traders who now supplied them acquired each year +thousands of beautiful furs. These were tied up securely into packs +and carried in canoes down to Montreal or Three Rivers, where they were +bought by the great merchants and sent by ship to France. The furs +that had been bought from the Indian for a mere trifle fetched hundreds +of francs when they finally reached Paris. + +The second class of traders, known as coureurs de bois, or +wood-runners, were very different from the first. Speaking generally, +they were young men, sometimes of good family, who found life in the +older towns and settlements prosaic and uninteresting, and when {11} +they went to the interior did not care to be tied down to the humdrum +existence of the trading forts. Instead of requiring the Indians to +bring their furs down to some fort, these enterprising rovers of the +forest went into the Indian country. Sometimes they took light trading +goods with them to barter with the redskins for furs, but oftener they +themselves hunted and trapped the beaver, the otter, and the fox. The +coureurs de bois were generally men of reckless courage, ready to face +danger and hardship. From long living among the savages they +themselves became in time half savage. Some of them took Indian wives +and were adopted into the tribes. + +When one of these wood-runners had obtained a quantity of furs, he made +them up into packs, loaded them carefully in his canoe, and set out for +the distant settlements, Montreal, Three Rivers, or Quebec. He knew +the wild northern streams as well as any Indian; he could run his canoe +safely down a rapid where an inch one way or the other would dash it +against the rocks; and he could paddle all day with only an occasional +stop for a meal or a smoke. When he came to an impassable rapid or +waterfall, he beached his canoe and carried everything--canoe, packs, +gun, and {12} provisions--overland to the navigable water ahead. At +night he pulled his canoe ashore, built a campfire, and cooked over the +flames a partridge, a wild duck, or a venison steak. If he had not +been fortunate enough to meet with such game, he made a simple meal of +pemmican--dried venison mixed with fat--a supply of which he always +carried in a bag in case of need. Then he smoked his pipe, rolled +himself in his blanket, placed his gun within reach, and slept soundly +until the sun awakened him on the following morning. When he reached +the far-off towns on the St Lawrence, he traded part of his furs for +any goods which he needed, and was only too likely to get rid of the +rest in dissipation. As soon as his money was spent, he would turn his +back on civilization and live once more the wild life of the Indian +country. + +From such men as these, who were constantly to be seen in the little +town of Three Rivers, Pierre de La Verendrye heard many stories of the +wonderful country that lay far towards the setting sun. They told him +of mighty rivers and great lakes. Some of these they had seen; others +they had heard of from the Indians. Always the young man heard rumours +of a great _Mer de l'Ouest_, or Western {13} Sea, which French +explorers had been seeking ardently ever since the days of Jacques +Cartier and Samuel Champlain. In the earlier days, when the French +first came to Canada, this Western Sea was supposed to be somewhere +above Montreal. Probably the Indians who first spoke of it to Jacques +Cartier meant nothing more than Lake Ontario. Then, in the days of +Champlain, the sea was sought farther westward. Champlain heard +rumours of a great water beyond the Ottawa river. He paddled up the +Ottawa, reached Lake Nipissing, and, descending what is now known as +French River, found the immense body of water of which the Indians had +told him. He had discovered Lake Huron, but this, again, was not the +Western Sea. Other explorers, following in his footsteps, discovered +Lake Michigan and Lake Superior; but still neither of these was the +Western Sea. So, in La Verendrye's day, men were dreaming of a Western +Sea somewhere beyond Lake Superior. How far was it westward of Lake +Superior? Who could tell? The Indians were always ready with a +plausible tale, and many believed that the Western Sea would still be +found at no great distance beyond the uppermost of the Great Lakes. + +{14} + +La Verendrye was a young man of ambition and imagination. The spirit +of adventure called him to a great exploit in discovery, as it had +called earlier explorers French in blood--Jacques Cartier and Champlain +and Radisson, Nicolet and Etienne Brule, Marquette and La Salle. They +one and all had sought diligently for the Western Sea; they had made +many notable discoveries, but in this one thing they all had failed. +La Verendrye determined to strive even more earnestly than any of his +great predecessors to discover a way to the Western Sea, not so much +for his own advantage as for the honour and glory of his native +country. This great idea had been taking form in his mind from the +days of his early boyhood, when, seated before the great log fire in +his father's home in Three Rivers, he had first listened to the +stirring tales of the woodrunners. + +Years went by, however, before he could attempt to put his plans into +execution. Soon after his return from the French wars, he married the +daughter of a gentleman of New France named Dandonneau and made his +home on the island of Dupas in the St Lawrence, near Three Rivers. +Here four sons were born to him, all of whom were {15} later to +accompany their father on his western explorations. His principal +occupation at this time was to look after the trading-post of La +Gabelle on the St Maurice river, not far from the point where it +discharges its waters into the St Lawrence. + +La Verendrye's experience and capacity as a fur-trader, gained at this +post of La Gabelle, led the governor of the colony to offer him, in the +year 1726, the command of an important trading fort on Lake Nipigon, +north of Lake Superior. With his great project of western exploration +always in mind, he eagerly accepted the offer. For three or four years +he remained in command of the Nipigon post, faithfully discharging his +duties as a fur-trader, but with his mind always alert for any +information that might help him later to discover a way to the Western +Sea. + +One day there came to him from the Kaministikwia river--on which the +city of Fort William now stands--an Indian named Ochagach. According +to his own story, Ochagach had travelled far towards the setting sun, +until he came to a great lake, out of which a river flowed westward. +He said that he had paddled down this river until he reached a point +where the water ebbed and flowed. {16} Through fear of the savage +tribes that inhabited the shores of the river, he had not gone to its +mouth, but he had been told that the river emptied into a great salt +lake or sea, upon the coasts of which dwelt men of terrifying mien, who +lived in fortified towns; he had been told that these men wore armour +and rode on horseback, and that great ships visited the towns which +they had built on the coasts. + +Ochagach's story made a deep impression on La Verendrye. Not that he +accepted the whole account as true. He knew too well the wild +imagination of the Indian, and his delight in telling marvellous tales +to the white men. But the river that flowed westward and fell into a +great sea answered so closely to his own dream, and seemed on the whole +so probable, that he was persuaded of the truth of the story. He +determined, therefore, to surrender his command of the Nipigon post and +to equip an expedition for the discovery of the Western Sea, which now +seemed to be within comparatively easy reach. To do this, he must +obtain the permission and support of the governor-general of Canada, +the Marquis de Beauharnois. He therefore set out for Quebec, taking +with him a rough map which Ochagach had drawn for him. This map {17} +professed to make clear the position of the countries which Ochagach +declared that he had visited. + +The governor at Quebec was keenly interested in these plans for western +discovery, and wrote immediately to the French king, urging that La +Verendrye should be provided with one hundred men and the necessary +supplies and equipment. But King Louis at this time was deeply engaged +in European wars and intrigues and could not spare any money for the +work of exploration. All that he would grant was a monopoly of the +western fur trade. That is to say, La Verendrye was to be allowed to +build trading forts in the country which he was about to explore, and, +out of the profits of his traffic with the Indians, he might pay the +cost of his expedition to the Western Sea. No other French traders +would be permitted to trade in this part of the country. + +This was sorry encouragement to a man whose only desire was to bring +glory and honour to his native country; but it was all that could be +hoped for from the government or the king. La Verendrye was too true a +leader to abandon plans merely because the road was not made easy for +him. As the king would not pay the cost of his expedition, he {18} +made up his mind to find help from some other source. He must have +men; he must have canoes, provisions, and goods to trade with the +natives. All this demanded a great deal of money. He devoted at once +to the cause his own little fortune, but this was far from sufficient. +Off he went to Montreal, to plead with its merchants to help him. The +merchants, however, were not much interested in his plans for western +discovery. They were business men without patriotism; they looked for +something that would bring profit, not for what might advance the +interests of their country. + +It thus happened that if La Verendrye had had nothing to offer them but +the opportunity of sharing in the distinction of his great discovery, +they would have turned deaf ears to his appeal, no matter how eloquent +he might have been. But he was too shrewd a man to urge plans to which +he knew the merchants would not listen. He could turn the king's +monopoly to good account. 'Give me money to pay my men,' he said, 'and +goods to trade with the western tribes, and I will bring you rich +returns in beaver skins. No other traders are permitted to go into the +country west of Lake Superior. I will build trading forts {19} there. +From these as a base I will continue my search for the Western Sea. +All the profits of the enterprise, the rich furs that are brought into +my posts, shall be yours.' Here was something that the self-seeking +merchants could understand. They saw in the fur-trading monopoly a +chance of a golden harvest, a return of hundreds for every franc that +they advanced towards the expenses of the undertaking. With cheerful +haste, therefore, they agreed to pay the cost of the expedition. La +Verendrye was delighted and lost no time in employing such persons as +he needed--soldiers, canoe-men, and hunters. Birch-bark canoes were +procured and laden with provisions, equipment, and packages of goods to +trade with the Indians; and in the early summer of 1731 all was ready +for the great western journey. With La Verendrye were to go three of +his sons, Jean-Baptiste, Pierre, and Francois, and his nephew La +Jemeraye. A Jesuit missionary, Father Messager, would join the party +at Fort Michilimackinac, and the Indian Ochagach was to act as guide. + +{20} + +CHAPTER II + +FIRST ATTEMPT AT EXPLORATION + +As La Verendrye led his men from the gates of Montreal to the river +where waited his little fleet of birch-bark canoes, his departure was +watched with varied and conflicting emotions. In the crowd that +surrounded him were friends and enemies; some who openly applauded his +design, others who less openly scoffed at it; priests exhorting him to +devote all his energies to furthering the missionary aims of their +Church among the wild tribes of the West; jealous traders commenting +among themselves upon the injustice involved in granting a monopoly of +the western fur trade to this scheming adventurer; partners in the +enterprise anxiously watching the loading of the precious merchandise +they had advanced to him, and wondering whether their cast of the dice +would bring fortune or failure; busybodies bombarding him with advice; +and a crowd of idle onlookers, divided in their minds {21} as to +whether La Verendrye would return triumphantly from the Western Sea +laden with the spoils of Cathay and Cipango, or would fall a victim to +the half-human monsters that were reputed to inhabit the wilderness of +the West. + +But now everything was ready. La Verendrye gave the word of command, +and the canoes leaped forward on their long voyage. A new search for +the Western Sea had begun. No man knew how it would end. The perils +and hardships encountered by the discoverers of America in crossing the +Atlantic were much less terrible than those with which La Verendrye and +his men must battle in exploring the boundless plains of the unknown +West. The voyage across the sea would occupy but a few weeks; this +journey by inland waterways and across the illimitable spaces of the +western prairies would take many months and even years. There was a +daily menace from savage foes lurking on the path of the adventurers. +Hardy and dauntless must they be who should return safely from such a +quest. Little those knew who stood enviously watching the departure of +the expedition what bitter tribute its leader must pay to the +relentless gods of the Great Plains for his hardihood in invading their +savage domain. + +{22} + +The way lay up the broad and picturesque Ottawa, rich even then with +the romantic history of a century of heroic exploits. This was the +great highway between the St Lawrence and the Upper Lakes for +explorers, missionaries, war parties, and traders. Up this stream, one +hundred and eighteen years before, Champlain had pushed his way, +persuaded by the ingenious impostor Nicolas Vignau that here was the +direct road to Cathay. At St Anne's the expedition made a brief halt +to ask a blessing on the enterprise. Here the men, according to +custom, each received a dram of liquor. When they had again taken +their places, paddles dipped at the word of command, and, like a covey +of birds, the canoes skimmed over the dark waters of the Ottawa, +springing under the sinewy strokes of a double row of paddlers against +the swift current of the river. Following the shore closely, they made +rapid progress up-stream. At noon they landed on a convenient island, +where they quickly kindled a fire. A pot of tea was swung above it +from a tripod. With jest and story the meal went on, and as soon as it +was finished they were again afloat, paddling vigorously and making +quick time. Sunset approached--the brief but indescribably beautiful +sunset {23} of a Canadian summer. The sun sank behind the maples and +cedars, and a riot of colour flooded the western horizon. Rainbow hues +swept up half-way to the zenith, waving, mingling, changing from tint +to tint, as through the clouds flamed up the last brightness of the +sinking sun. A rollicking chorus sank away on the still air, and the +men gazed for a moment upon a scene which, however familiar, could +never lose its charm. The song of the birds was hushed. All nature +seemed to pause. Then as the outermost rim of the sun dropped from +sight, and the brilliant colouring of a moment ago toned to rose and +saffron, pink and mauve, the world moved on again, but with a seemingly +subdued motion. The voyageurs resumed their song, but the gay chorus +that had wakened echoes from the overhanging cliffs, + + En roulant ma boule, + Rouli, roulant, ma boule roulant, + En roulant ma boule roulant, + En roulant ma boule, + +was changed to the pathetic refrain of a song then as now dear to the +heart of French Canadians--_A la claire fontaine_. + +In the cool twilight the men paddled on, placing mile after mile +between them and {24} Montreal. Presently the river widened into a +lakelike expanse. The moon rose and shot its soft gleam across the +water. No ripple stirred the smooth surface, save where the paddles +dipped and the prow of each canoe cut like a knife through the stream. +Belated birds flew overhead, making for home. A stag broke through the +bushes on the farther shore, caught sight of the canoes, gazed at them +for a moment, and then disappeared. It was growing late when La +Verendrye, from the foremost canoe, gave the word to camp. The canoes +turned shoreward, lightly touching the shelving bank, and the men +sprang nimbly to the land. Fires were lighted, the tents were pitched, +and everything was made snug for the night. The hunters had not been +idle during the day, and a dozen brace of birds were soon twirling +merrily on the spit, while venison steaks added appetizing odours. + +Their hunger satisfied, the men lounged about on the grass, smoking and +listening to the yarns of some famous story-teller. He would tell +them, perhaps, the pathetic story of Cadieux, who, on this very stream, +had held the dreaded Iroquois at bay while his comrades escaped. +Cadieux himself escaped the Iroquois, only to fall a victim to the +_folie des bois_, or {25} madness of the woods, wandering aimlessly in +circles, until, famished and exhausted, he lay down to die. When his +comrades returned in search of him, they found beside him a birch bark +on which he had written his death chant: + + Thou little rock of the high hill, attend! + Hither I come this last campaign to end! + Ye echoes soft, give ear unto my sigh; + In languishing I speedily shall die. + + Dear little birds, your dulcet harmony + What time you sing makes this life dear to me. + Ah! had I wings that I might fly like you; + Ere two days sped I should be happy too. + +Then, as the camp-fires sank into heaps of glowing embers, each man +would wrap his blanket about him and with kind mother earth for his +pillow and only the dome of heaven above him, would sleep as only those +may whose resting-place is in the free air of the wilderness. + +At sunrise they were once more away, on a long day's paddle up-stream. +They passed the Long Sault, where long before the heroic Dollard and +his little band of Frenchmen held at bay a large war party of +Iroquois--sacrificing their lives to save the little struggling colony +at Montreal. Again, their way lay beneath those towering cliffs +overlooking the Ottawa, on which now stand the Canadian Houses of {26} +Parliament. They had just passed the curtain-like falls of the Rideau +on one side, and the mouth of the turbulent Gatineau on the other, and +before them lay the majestic Chaudiere. Here they disembarked. The +voyageurs, following the Indian example, threw a votive offering of +tobacco into the boiling cauldron, for the benefit of the dreaded +Windigo. Then, shouldering canoes and cargo, they made their way along +the portage to the upper stream, and, launching and reloading the +canoes, proceeded on their journey. So the days passed, each one +carrying them farther from the settlements and on, ever on, towards the +unknown West, and perhaps to the Western Sea. + +From the upper waters of the Ottawa they carried their canoes over into +a series of small lakes and creeks that led to Lake Nipissing, and +thence they ran down the French river to Lake Huron. Launching out +fearlessly on this great lake, they paddled swiftly along the north +shore to Fort Michilimackinac, where they rested for a day or two. +Fort Michilimackinac was on the south side of the strait which connects +Lake Huron and Lake Michigan, and lay so near the water that the waves +frequently broke against the stockade. Passing through the gates, +above which floated {27} the fleurs-de-lis of France, they found +themselves in an enclosure, some two acres in extent, containing thirty +houses and a small church. On the bastions stood in a conspicuous +position two small brass cannon, captured from the English at Fort +Albany on Hudson Bay, in 1686, by De Troyes and Iberville.[1] + +It was now the end of July, and La Verendrye had still a long way to +go. After a brief rest, he gathered his party together, embarked once +more, and steered his way on that great inland sea, Lake Superior. All +that had gone before was child's play to what must now be encountered. +In contrast to the blue and placid waters of Lake Huron, the explorers +now found themselves in the midst of a dark and sombre sea, whose +waves, seldom if ever still, could on occasion rival the Atlantic in +their fierce tumult. Even in this hottest month of the year the water +was icy cold, and the keen wind that blew across the lake forced those +who were not paddling to put on extra clothing. They must needs be +hardy and experienced voyageurs who could safely navigate these mad +waters in frail bark canoes. Slowly they made their way along the +north shore, buffeted by storms and in constant peril of their lives, +until at last, on {28} August 26, they reached the Grand Portage, near +the mouth of the Pigeon river, or about fifteen leagues south-west of +Fort Kaministikwia, where the city of Fort William now stands. + +La Verendrye would have pushed on at once for Lac la Pluie, or Rainy +Lake, where he purposed to build the first of his western posts, but +when he ordered his men to make the portage there was first deep +muttering, and then open mutiny. Two or three of the boatmen, bribed +by La Verendrye's enemies at Montreal, had drawn such terrible pictures +of the horrors before them, and had so played upon the fears of their +superstitious comrades, that these now refused flatly to follow their +leader into the unhallowed and fiend-infested regions which lay beyond. +The hardships they had already endured, and the further hardships of +the long and difficult series of portages which lay between them and +Rainy Lake, also served to dishearten the men. Some of them, however, +had been with La Jemeraye at Lake Pepin, on the Mississippi, and were +not to be dismayed. These La Verendrye persuaded to continue the +exploration. The others gradually weakened in their opposition, and at +last it was agreed that La Jemeraye, with half the men, should go on to +Rainy Lake and build a {29} fort there, while La Verendrye, with the +other half, should spend the winter at Kaministikwia, and keep the +expedition supplied with provisions. + +In this way the winter passed. The leader was, we may be sure, +restless at the delay and impatient to advance farther. The spring +brought good news. Late in May La Jemeraye returned from Rainy Lake, +bringing canoes laden with valuable furs, the result of the winter's +traffic. These were immediately sent on to Michilimackinac, for +shipment to the partners at Montreal. La Jemeraye reported that he had +built a fort at the foot of a series of rapids, where Rainy Lake +discharges into the river of the same name. He had built the fort in a +meadow, among groves of oak. The lake teemed with fish, and the woods +which lined its shores were alive with game, large and small. The +picture was one to make La Verendrye even more eager to advance. On +June 8 he set out with his entire party for Fort St Pierre, as the new +establishment had been named, to commemorate his own name of Pierre. +It took a month to traverse the intricate chain of small lakes and +streams, with their many portages, connecting Lake Superior and Rainy +Lake. + +{30} + +After a short rest at Fort St Pierre, La Verendrye pushed on rapidly, +escorted in state by fifty canoes of Indians, to the Lake of the Woods. +Here he built a second post, Fort St Charles, on a peninsula running +out far into the lake on the south-west side--an admirable situation, +both for trading purposes and for defence. This fort he describes as +consisting of 'an enclosure made with four rows of posts, from twelve +to fifteen feet in height, in the form of an oblong square, within +which are a few rough cabins constructed of logs and clay, and covered +with bark.' + +In the spring of 1735 Father Messager returned to Montreal, and with +him went La Jemeraye, to report the progress already made. He +described to the governor the difficulties they had encountered, and +urged that the king should be persuaded to assume the expense of +further exploration towards the Western Sea. The governor could, +however, do nothing. + +Meanwhile Jean, La Verendrye's eldest son, had advanced still farther +and had made his way to Lake Winnipeg. He took with him a handful of +toughened veterans, and tramped on snow-shoes through the frozen +forest--four hundred and fifty miles in the stern midwinter {31} of a +region bitterly cold. Near the mouth of the Winnipeg river, where it +empties into Lake Winnipeg, they found an ideal site for the fort which +they intended to build. Immediately they set to work, felled trees, +drove stout stakes into the frozen ground for a stockade, put up a +rough shelter inside, and had everything ready for La Verendrye's +arrival in the spring. They named the post Fort Maurepas, in honour of +a prominent minister of the king in France at the time. + +La Verendrye had now carried out, and more than carried out, the +agreement made with the governor Beauharnois. He had established a +chain of posts--strung like beads on a string--from Lake Superior to +Lake Winnipeg, from the river Kaministikwia to the open prairie. But +the distance he had traversed, the difficulties he had encountered, +and, above all, the expense incurred, had been far in excess of +anything he had anticipated. These were discouraging experiences. He +seemed at last to have reached the limit of his resources and +endurance. To advance farther with the slender means now at his +command seemed almost impossible. Should he turn back? His men were +more than willing. Every step eastward would bring them nearer their +{32} homes, their families, and the pleasures and dissipations of the +Canadian towns on the far-off St Lawrence. To turn back was the +easiest thing for them. But it was not easy for a man like La +Verendrye. To return meant failure; and for him there was no such +thing as failure while health and strength endured. At whatever cost, +he must push on towards the Western Sea. + +The situation was nevertheless most critical. His own means had long +since been exhausted. True, he possessed a monopoly of the fur trade, +but what did it profit him? He had not touched, and never would be +able to touch, a franc of the proceeds: the shrewd merchants of +Montreal had made sure of this. To La Verendrye the monopoly was +simply a millstone added to the burdens he was already forced to bear. +It did not increase his resources; it delayed his great enterprise; and +it put an effective weapon in the hands of his enemies. Little cause +had he to be grateful for the royal monopoly. He would have infinitely +preferred the direct grant of even a score of capable, well-equipped +men. These, maintained at the king's expense, he might lead by the +quickest route to the Western Sea. + +As it was, the merchants in Montreal refused {33} to send up further +supplies; his men remained unpaid; he even lacked a sufficient supply +of food. There was nothing for it but to turn back, make the long +journey to Montreal and Quebec, and there do his utmost to arrange +matters. He had already sunk from 40,000 to 50,000 livres in the +enterprise. In all justice, the king should assume the expense of +further explorations in quest of the Great Sea. The governor, the +Marquis de Beauharnois, shared this view, and had already pressed the +court to grant La Verendrye the assistance he so urgently needed. 'The +outlay,' he wrote to the king's minister, Maurepas, 'will not be great; +the cost of the _engages_ [hired men] for three years, taking into +account what can be furnished from the king's stores, would not exceed +30,000 livres at most.' The king, however, refused to undertake the +expense of the expedition. Those who had assumed the task should, he +thought, be in a position to continue it by means of the profits +derived from their monopoly of the fur trade. The facts did not +justify the royal view of the matter. La Verendrye had enjoyed the +monopoly for two or three years--with the result that he was now very +heavily, indeed alarmingly, in debt. + +{34} + +His was not a nature, however, to be crushed by either indifference or +opposition. He had reached the parting of the ways. Nothing was to be +hoped for from the court. He must either abandon his enterprise or +continue it at his own risk and expense. He went to Montreal and saw +his partners. With infinite patience he suffered their unjust +reproaches. He was neglecting their interests, they grumbled. The +profits were not what they had a right to expect. He thought too much +of the Western Sea and not enough of the beavers. He was a dreamer, +and they were practical men of business. + +What could La Verendrye say that would have weight with men of this +stamp? Should he tell them of the glory that would accrue to his and +their country by the discovery of the Western Sea? At this they would +only shrug their shoulders. Should he tell them of the unseen forces +that drew him to that wonderful land of the West--where the crisp clear +air held an intoxicating quality unknown in the East; where the eye +foamed on and on over limitless expanses of waving green, till the mind +was staggered at the vastness of the prospect; where the very largeness +of nature seemed to enter into a man and to {35} crush out things petty +and selfish? In doing this he would be beating the air. They were +incapable of understanding him. They would deem him mad. + +Crushing down, therefore, both his enthusiasm for the western land and +his anger at their dulness, he met the merchants of Montreal on their +own commercial level. He told them that the posts he had established +were in the very heart of the fur country; that the Assiniboines and +Crees had engaged to bring large quantities of beaver skins to the +forts; that the northern tribes were already turning from the English +posts of the Hudson's Bay Company in the Far North to the more +accessible posts of the French; that the richly watered and wooded +country between Kaministikwia and Lake Winnipeg abounded in every +description of fur-bearing animal; that over the western prairies +roamed the buffalo in vast herds which seemed to blacken the green +earth as far as eye could reach. His eloquence over the outlook for +trade proved convincing. As he painted the riches of the West in terms +that appealed with peculiar force to these traders in furs, their +hostility melted away. The prospect of profit at the rate of a hundred +per cent once more filled {36} them with enthusiasm. They agreed to +equip the expedition anew. It thus happened that when the intrepid +explorer again turned his face towards the West, fortune seemed to +smile once more. His canoes were loaded with a second equipment for +the posts of the Western Sea. Perhaps at that moment it seemed to him +hardly to matter that he was in debt deeper than ever. + +While in the East completing these arrangements, La Verendrye took +steps to ensure that his youngest son, Louis, now eighteen years of +age, should join the other members of the family engaged in the work. +The boy was to be taught how to prepare maps and plans, so that, when +he came west in the following year, he might be of material assistance +to the expedition. The explorer would then have his four sons and his +nephew in the enterprise. + +The hopeful outlook did not long endure. It was soon clear that La +Verendrye had again to meet trials which should try his mettle still +more severely. Shortly after his return to Fort St Charles on the Lake +of the Woods, his son Jean arrived from Fort Maurepas, with evil news +indeed. La Jemeraye, his nephew and chief lieutenant, whose knowledge +of the western tribes was invaluable, whose {37} enthusiasm for the +great project was only second to his own, whose patience and +resourcefulness had helped the expedition out of many a tight +corner--La Jemeraye was dead. He had remained in harness to the last, +and had laboured day and night, in season and out of season, pushing +explorations in every direction, meeting and conciliating the Indian +tribes, building up the fur trade at the western posts. Though sorely +needing rest, he had toiled on uncomplainingly, with no thought that he +was showing heroism, till at last his overtaxed body collapsed and he +died almost on his feet--the first victim of the search for the Western +Sea. + +Meanwhile the little garrison at Fort St Charles was almost at the +point of starvation. La Verendrye had travelled ahead at such rapid +speed that his supplies were still a long way in the rear when he +reached the fort. In face of the pressing need, it was decided to send +a party down to meet the boats at Kaministikwia and to fetch back at +once the supplies which were most urgently required. Jean, now +twenty-three years of age, was placed in charge of the expedition, and +with him went the Jesuit missionary, Father Aulneau, on his way down to +Fort Michilimackinac. The day for departure was named, {38} and +everything was made ready the night before so that there might be no +delay in starting early in the morning. The sun had hardly risen above +the horizon and was yet filtering through the dense foliage of pine and +cedar, when Jean de La Verendrye and his men embarked and pushed off +from the shore. The paddles dipped almost noiselessly, and the three +light canoes skimmed lightly over the surface of the Lake of the Woods, +followed by shouts of farewell from the fort. + +For a time the party skirted the shore. Then they struck out boldly +across the lake. The melodies of the forest followed them for a time, +and then died away in the distance. Nothing was now to be heard but +the dip of paddles and the soft swirl of eddies flying backward from +either side of the canoes. The morning sun swept across the lake; a +faint breeze stirred a ripple on the surface of the water. From far +away came faintly the laugh of a solitary loon. The men paddled +strenuously, with minds intent upon nothing more serious than the halt +for breakfast. The priest was lost in meditation. Jean de La +Verendrye sat in the foremost canoe, with eyes alert, scanning the +horizon as the little flotilla drew rapidly across the lake. + +{39} + +At the same time, approaching from the opposite direction, was a fleet +of canoes manned by a hundred savages, the fierce and implacable Sioux +of the prairie. They had reached the Lake of the Woods by way of a +stream that bore the significant name _The Road of War_. This was the +war-path of the Sioux from their own country, south of what is now the +province of Manitoba, to the country of the Chippewas and the Crees +farther east. Whenever the Sioux followed this route, they were upon +no peaceful errand. As the Sioux entered the lake, a mist was rising +slowly from the water; but before it completely hid their canoes a +keen-sighted savage saw the three canoes of the French, who were about +to land on the far side of an island out in the lake. Cautiously the +Sioux felt their way across to the near side of the island, and landed +unperceived. They glided noiselessly through the thick underbrush, +and, as they approached the other shore, crept from tree to tree, +finally wriggling snake-wise to the very edge of the thicket. Beneath +them lay a narrow beach, on which some of the voyageurs had built a +fire to prepare the morning meal. Others lay about, smoking and +chatting idly. Jean de La Verendrye sat a little apart, perhaps {40} +recording the scanty particulars of the journey. The Jesuit priest +walked up and down, deep in his breviary. + +The circumstances could hardly have been more favourable for the sudden +attack which the savages were eager to make. The French had laid aside +their weapons, or had left them behind in the canoes. They had no +reason to expect an attack. They were at peace with the western +tribes--even with those Ishmaelites of the prairie, the Sioux. +Presently a twig snapped under the foot of a savage. Young La +Verendrye turned quickly, caught sight of a waving plume, and shouted +to his men. Immediately from a hundred fierce throats the war-whoop +rang out. The Sioux leaped to their feet. Arrows showered down upon +the French. Jean, Father Aulneau, and a dozen voyageurs fell. The +rest snatched up their guns and fired. Several of the Sioux, who had +incautiously left cover, fell. The odds were, however, overwhelmingly +against the French. They must fight in the open, while the Indians +remained comparatively secure among the trees. The French made an +attempt to reach the canoes, but had to abandon it, for the Sioux now +completely commanded the approach and no man could reach the water +alive. + +{41} + +The surviving French, now reduced to half a dozen, retreated down the +shore. With yells of triumph the Sioux followed, keeping within +shelter of the trees. In desperation the voyageurs dropped their guns +and took to the water, hoping to be able to swim to a neighbouring +island. This was a counsel of despair, for wounded and exhausted as +they were, the feat was impossible. When the Sioux rushed down to the +shore, they realized the plight of the French, and did not even waste +an arrow on them. One by one the swimmers sank beneath the waves. +After watching their tragic fate, the savages returned to scalp those +who had fallen at the camp. With characteristic ferocity they hacked +and mutilated the bodies. Then, gathering up their own dead, they +hastily retreated by the way they had come. + +For some time it was not known why the Sioux had made an attack, +seemingly unprovoked, upon the French. Gradually, however, it leaked +out that earlier in the year a party of Sioux on their way to Fort St +Charles on a friendly visit had been fired upon by a party of +Chippewas. The Sioux had shouted indignantly, 'Who fire on us?' and +the Chippewas, in ambush, had yelled back with grim humour, 'The +French.' The Sioux {42} retreated, vowing a terrible vengeance against +the treacherous white men. Their opportunity came even sooner than +they had expected. A trader named Bourassa, who had left Fort St +Charles for Michilimackinac shortly before the setting out of Jean de +La Verendrye and his party, had camped for the night on the banks of +the Rainy river. The following morning, as he was about to push off +from the shore, he was surrounded by thirty canoes manned by a hundred +Sioux. They bound him hand and foot, tied him to a stake, and were +about to burn him alive when a squaw who was with him sprang forward to +defend him. Fortunately for him his companion had been a Sioux maiden; +she had been captured by a war party of Monsones some years before and +rescued from them by Bourassa. She knew of the projected journey of +Jean de La Verendrye. 'My kinsmen,' she now cried, 'what are you about +to do? I owe my life to this Frenchman. He has done nothing but good +to me. Why should you destroy him? If you wish to be revenged for the +attack made upon you, go forward and you will meet twenty-four +Frenchman, with whom is the son of the chief who killed your people.' + +Bourassa was too much frightened to oppose {43} the statement. In his +own account of what happened he is, indeed, careful to omit any mention +of this particular incident. The Sioux released Bourassa, after taking +possession of his arms and supplies. Then they paddled down to the +lake, where they were only too successful in finding the French and in +making them the victims of the cruel joke of the Chippewas. + +This murder of his son was the most bitter blow that had yet fallen +upon La Verendrye. But he betrayed no sign of weakness. Not even the +loss of his son was sufficient to turn him back from his search for the +Western Sea. 'I have lost,' he writes simply to Maurepas, 'my son, the +reverend Father, and my Frenchmen, misfortunes which I shall lament all +my life.' Some comfort remained. The great explorer still had three +sons, ready and willing like himself to sacrifice their lives for the +glory of New France. + + + +[1] See _The 'Adventurers of England' on Hudson Bay_, pages 73-88. + + + + +{44} + +CHAPTER III + +ACROSS THE PLAINS + +For several years La Verendrye had been hearing wonderful accounts of a +tribe of Indians in the West who were known as the Mandans. Wherever +he went, among the Chippewas, the Crees, or the Assiniboines, some one +was sure to speak of the Mandans, and the stories grew more and more +marvellous. La Verendrye knew that Indians were very much inclined to +exaggerate. They would never spoil a good story by limiting it to what +they knew to be true. They liked a joke as well as other people; and, +when they found that the white men who visited them were eager to know +all about the country and the tribes of the far interior, they invented +all sorts of impossible stories, in which truth and fiction were so +mingled that at length the explorers did not know what to believe. + +Much that was told him by the Indians concerning the Mandans La +Verendrye knew {45} could not possibly be true; he thought that some of +their stories were probably correct. The Indians said that the Mandans +were white like himself, that they dressed like Europeans, wore armour, +had horses and cattle, cultivated the ground, and lived in fortified +towns. Their home was described as being far towards the setting sun, +on a great river that flowed into the ocean. La Verendrye knew that +the Spaniards had made settlements on the western coast of America, and +he thought that the mysterious strangers might perhaps be Spaniards. +At any rate, they seemed to be white men, and, if the Indian stories +were even partially true, they would be able to show him that way to +the great water which it was the ambition of his life to find. His +resolve, therefore, was inevitable. He would visit these white +strangers, whoever they might be; and he had great hopes that they +would be able to guide him to the object of his quest. + +For some time, however, he was not able to carry out this intended +visit to the Mandans. The death of his nephew La Jemeraye, followed +soon after by the murder of his son Jean, upset all his plans for a +time. Further, he had great difficulty in keeping peace among the +Indian {46} tribes. The Chippewas and the Crees, who had always been +friendly to the French, were indignant at the treacherous massacre of +the white men by the Sioux, and urged La Verendrye to lead a war party +against this enemy. La Verendrye not only refused to do this himself, +but he told them that they must on no account go to war with the Sioux. +He warned them that their Great Father, the king of France, would be +very angry with them if they disobeyed his commands. Had they not +known him so well, the Indians would have despised La Verendrye as a +coward for refusing to revenge himself upon the Sioux for the death of +his son; but they knew that, whatever his reason might be, it was not +due to any fear of the Sioux. As time went on, they thought that he +would perhaps change his mind, and again and again they came to him +begging for leave to take the war-path. 'The blood of your son,' they +said, 'cries for revenge. We have not ceased to weep for him and for +the other Frenchmen who were slain. Give us permission and we will +avenge their death upon the Sioux.' + +La Verendrye, however, disregarding his personal feelings, knew that it +would be fatal to all his plans to let the friendly Indians have {47} +their way. An attack on the Sioux would be the signal for a general +war among all the neighbouring tribes. In that case his forts would be +destroyed and the fur trade would be broken up. In the end, he and his +men would probably be driven out of the western country, and all his +schemes for the discovery of the Western Sea would come to nothing. It +was therefore of the utmost importance that he should remain where he +was, in the country about the Lake of the Woods, until the excitement +among the Indians had quieted down and there was no longer any +immediate danger of war. + +At length, in the summer of 1738, La Verendrye felt that he could carry +out his plan of visiting the Mandans. He left one of his sons, Pierre, +in charge of Fort St Charles, and with the other two, Francois and +Louis, set forth on his journey to the West. Travelling down the +Winnipeg river in canoes, they stopped for a few hours at Fort +Maurepas, then crossed Lake Winnipeg and paddled up the muddy waters of +Red River to the mouth of the Assiniboine, the site of the present city +of Winnipeg, then seen by white men for the first time. La Verendrye +found it occupied by a band of Crees under two war chiefs. He landed, +{48} pitched his tent on the banks of the Assiniboine, and sent for the +two chiefs and reproached them with what he had heard--that they had +abandoned the French posts and had taken their furs to the English on +Hudson Bay. They replied that the accusation was false; that they had +gone to the English during only one season, the season in which the +French had abandoned Fort Maurepas after the death of La Jemeraye, and +had thus left the Crees with no other means of getting the goods they +required. 'As long as the French remain on our lands,' they said, 'we +promise you not to go elsewhere with our furs.' One of the chiefs then +asked him where he was now going. La Verendrye replied that it was his +purpose to ascend the Assiniboine river in order to see the country. +'You will find yourself among the Assiniboines,' said the chief; 'and +they are a useless people, without intelligence, who do not hunt the +beaver, and clothe themselves only in the skins of buffalo. They are a +good-for-nothing lot of rascals and might do you harm.' But La +Verendrye had heard such tales before and was not to be frightened from +his purpose. He took leave of the Crees, turned his canoes up the +shallow waters of the Assiniboine river, and ascended {49} it to where +now stands the city of Portage la Prairie. Here he built a fort, which +he named Fort La Reine, in honour of the queen of France. + +[Illustration: An Indian encampment. From a painting by Paul Kane.] + +While this was being done, a party of Assiniboines arrived. La +Verendrye soon found, as he had expected, that the Crees through +jealousy had given the Assiniboines a character which they did not +deserve. With all friendliness they welcomed the strangers and were +overjoyed at the presents which the French gave them. The most valued +presents consisted of knives, chisels, awls, and other small tools. Up +to this time these people had been dependent upon implements made of +stone and of bone roughly fashioned to serve their purposes, and these +implements were very crude and inferior compared with the sharp steel +tools of the white men. + +While La Verendrye had been occupied in building Fort La Reine, one of +his men, Louviere, had been sent to the mouth of the Assiniboine to put +up a small post for the Crees. He found a suitable place on the south +bank of the Assiniboine, near the point where it enters the Red, and +here he built his trading post and named it Fort Rouge. This fort was +abandoned in a year or two, as it was {50} soon found more convenient +to trade with the Indians either at Fort Maurepas near the mouth of the +Winnipeg, or at Fort La Reine on the Assiniboine. The memory of the +fort is, however, preserved to this day. The quarter of Winnipeg in +the vicinity of the old fort is still known as Fort Rouge. The memory +of La Verendrye is also preserved, for a large school built near the +site of the old fort bears the name of the great explorer. + +The completion of Fort La Reine freed La Verendrye to make preparations +for his journey to the Mandans. He left some of his men at the fort +and selected twenty to accompany him on his expedition. To each of +these followers he gave a supply of powder and bullets, an ax, a +kettle, and other things needful by the way. In later years horses +were abundant on the western prairie, but at that time neither the +French nor the Indians had horses, and everything needed for the +journey was carried on men's backs. + +Three days after leaving Fort La Reine, La Verendrye met a party of +Assiniboines travelling over the prairie. He gave them some small +presents, and told them that he had built in their country a fort where +they could get all kinds of useful articles in {51} exchange for their +furs and provisions. They seemed delighted at having white men so +near, and promised to keep the fort supplied with everything that the +traders required. + +A day or two afterwards several other Indians appeared, from an +Assiniboine village. They bore hospitable messages from the chiefs, +who begged the white travellers to come to visit them. This it was +difficult to do. The village was some miles distant from the road on +which they were travelling and already they had lost much time because +their guide was either too lazy or too stupid to take them by the most +direct way to the Mandan villages on the banks of the Missouri. Still, +La Verendrye did not think it wise to disappoint the Assiniboines, or +to offend them, since he might have to depend upon their support in +making his plans for further discoveries. Accordingly, although it was +now nearly the middle of November, the very best time of the year for +travelling across the plains, he made up his mind to go to the +Assiniboine village. + +As the party drew near the village, a number of young warriors came to +meet them, and to tell them that the Assiniboines were greatly pleased +to have them as guests. It is {52} possible that the Assiniboines had +heard of the presents which the French had given to some of their +countrymen, and that they too hoped to receive knives, powder and +bullets, things which they prized very highly. At any rate, the +explorer and his men received vociferous welcome when they entered the +village. 'Our arrival,' says La Verendrye, 'was hailed with great joy, +and we were taken into the dwelling of a young chief, where everything +had been made ready for our reception. They gave us and all our men +very good cheer, and none of us lacked appetite.' + +[Illustration: An Assiniboine Indian. From a pastel by Edmund Morris.] + +The following day La Verendrye sent for the principal chiefs of the +tribe, and gave to each of them a present of powder and ball, or knives +and tobacco. He told them that if the Assiniboines would hunt beaver +diligently and would bring the skins to Fort La Reine, they should +receive in return everything that they needed. One of the chiefs made +a speech in reply. 'We thank you,' he said, 'for the trouble you have +taken to come to visit us. We are going to accompany you to the +Mandans, and then to see you safely back to your fort. We have already +sent word to the Mandans that you are on your way to visit them, and +the Mandans are delighted. We shall travel {53} by easy marches, so +that we may hunt by the way and have plenty of provisions.' The +explorer was not wholly pleased to find that the entire village was to +accompany him, for this involved still further delays on the journey. +It was necessary, however, to give no cause of offence; so he thanked +them for their good-will, and merely urged that they should be ready to +leave as soon as possible and travel with all speed by the shortest +road, as the season was growing late. + +On the next morning they all set out together, a motley company, the +French with their Indian guides and hunters accompanied by the entire +village of Assiniboines. La Verendrye was astonished at the orderly +way in which these savages, about six hundred in number, travelled +across the prairies. Everything was done in perfect order, as if they +were a regiment of trained soldiers. The warriors divided themselves +into parties; they sent out scouts in advance to both the right and the +left, in order to keep watch for enemies and also to look out for +buffalo and other game; the old men marched in the centre with the +women and the children; and in the rear was a strong guard of warriors. +If the scouts saw buffalo ahead, they signalled to the rear-guard, {54} +who crept round the herd on both sides until it was surrounded. They +killed as many buffaloes as were needed to provision the camp, and this +completed the men's part of the work. It was the women who cut up the +meat and carried it to the place where the company encamped for the +night. The women, indeed, were the burden-bearers and had to carry +most of the baggage. There were, of course, dogs in great numbers on +such excursions, and these bore a part of the load. The men burdened +themselves with nothing but their arms. + + + + +{55} + +CHAPTER IV + +THE MANDAN INDIANS + +It was towards the end of November when La Verendrye and his party +reached the point where the Mandans had promised to meet them. When he +arrived no one was on the spot; but presently, after he had encamped, a +Mandan chief appeared with thirty followers. This chief advanced to La +Verendrye and presented him with Indian corn in the ear and with a roll +of Indian tobacco. These were tokens of friendship. He told La +Verendrye how glad he and his countrymen were to welcome him to their +villages, and begged him to consider the Mandans as his children. + +La Verendrye was surprised to find the appearance of the Mandans very +much like that of the other tribes he had met. Stories told by the +Crees and the Assiniboines had prepared him to find them of a different +type, a type like that of the white men. In reality they looked like +the Assiniboines and dressed {56} in the same fashion. Their clothing +was scanty enough, for it consisted of only a buffalo robe worn from +the shoulders. It was clear now that the Indians had been telling him +not what was true but what they thought he would like to hear. 'I knew +then,' he says shrewdly, 'that a heavy discount must be taken off +everything that an Indian tells you.' + +The Mandan chief invited La Verendrye to be his guest in the nearest +village, and the whole party made ready to continue their journey to +that point. Then the chief made a speech to the Assiniboines, very +friendly in tone, but artfully intended to make them uneasy and send +them back home. He was really anxious to have the white men as his +guests, but he was not at all anxious to have as guests and to be +obliged to feed an entire village of Assiniboines; and so, thinking to +get rid of them, he played on their well-known fear of the fiery Sioux. +'We thank you,' he said to them, 'for having brought the French to see +us. They could not have arrived at a better time. The Sioux are on +the war-path, and may be here at any moment. We know the valour and +courage of the French, and also of the Assiniboines, and we hope that +you will both help us to defend ourselves from the Sioux.' + +{57} + +La Verendrye was at first as much imposed upon by this story as were +the Assiniboines, but with a very different effect. They were +dismayed, while he rejoiced at the opportunity of having at last a fair +chance to avenge the cruel death of his son. After the speech, the +Mandan chief took him aside, and explained that the alarm was merely a +trick to get rid of the Assiniboines. They had not food enough at the +village, he said, to satisfy such a hungry horde. But, to the surprise +and disgust of the chief, the Assiniboines swallowed their fears and +decided to go forward. At first, in their terror, the majority of the +tribe had thought it better to turn back; but one of their old chiefs +shamed them into a different course. 'Do not think,' he said, in +scornful accents, 'that our Father [La Verendrye] is a coward,' and he +looked about him at the young Assiniboine warriors until each felt that +he himself was branded as a coward. 'I know him,' he continued, +'better than you do, and I tell you that the Sioux cannot frighten him +or any of his men. What will he think of us? At our request, he went +out of his way to visit our village. We promised to conduct him to the +Mandans, and to bring him safely back to his fort. And now you talk of +{58} abandoning him, because you fear the Sioux. This must never be. +Let those of you who are faint-hearted remain here in camp with the +women; but let those who are without fear follow our father.' After +this scornful eloquence there was no further talk of turning back. + +Early on the following morning the camp broke up, and the whole party, +French and Assiniboines and Mandans, marched across the plains towards +the Mandan village. One can imagine the striking picture made up by +the little party of white men in their picturesque costumes, surrounded +by hundreds of half-naked savages. Had the Indians cared to exercise +their power, they might have overwhelmed the French at any moment, but +apparently they had no thought of doing so. Indeed it is quite true +that the Indians of North America, when first they met white men, +treated them in nearly every case with the utmost friendship. Only +after the Indians had been deceived or betrayed by some rascals among +the white men did they learn to look upon them as enemies and become +cruel and treacherous in dealing with them. + +When La Verendrye had travelled some distance from the camp, he found +that the bag {59} containing his papers and many other things that +would be required at the Mandan villages had been stolen by one of the +Assiniboines. The thief, he also learned, had made off with his spoil. +Instantly he sent two young warriors to secure him. The culprit was +overtaken on the following day and the bag was recovered. The +pursuers, however, instead of bringing it back to La Verendrye, carried +it on to their village to keep for him until his return. This singular +conduct was due to their fear of the Sioux. The white man's bag would +be safe at the Assiniboine village, but if they ventured to carry it +back to La Verendrye they were not so sure that either it or their own +scalps would be safe at the Mandan village, with the ferocious Sioux +hovering about. They did not know, of course, that the story of the +Sioux was nothing but a hoax. + +When La Verendrye arrived within a few miles of the Mandan village, he +found awaiting him another party of Mandans under two of their chiefs. +They had lighted a camp-fire and had brought food for their guests. +The chiefs welcomed him, led him to the place of honour beside the +fire, and presented him with some of their native dishes--corn pounded +into a paste and baked in the coals and something {60} that looked like +a pumpkin pie without the pastry. The party smoked the pipe of peace +and carried on a rather clumsy conversation by means of an interpreter. +Then they resumed the journey and presently the Mandan village appeared +in sight. If the explorer had been disappointed in finding the Mandans +very similar in appearance to other western tribes, now at least he was +gratified to find their buildings more elaborate and interesting than +any he had before met with. The village was in fact a fort, apparently +strong enough to protect the inhabitants from anything less powerful +than artillery, of which of course they had no knowledge. + +La Verendrye, knowing that the Indians were always impressed by an +imposing ceremony, now drew up his men in military order. He told his +son Francois to march in front, bearing the flag of France. The +Mandans, who looked upon the explorer as a great white chief, would not +permit him to walk, but carried him upon their shoulders to the gate of +the fort. Naturally he did not like this mode of travel, but he +submitted to it for fear of displeasing his hosts. As they drew near +the fort, he ordered his men to fire a volley as a salute to the +Mandans. The {61} principal chiefs and warriors flocked out to meet +him, and escorted him within their walls. When he marched in with his +force, he saw the ramparts crowded with men, women, and children, who +looked with astonishment upon the first white men they had ever seen. +The principal chief of the tribe led La Verendrye into his own lodge, +and told him to consider it his home so long as he cared to remain in +the village. When the two entered the lodge a crowd of Mandans +followed and the place became suffocating. La Verendrye told the crowd +that they should have many opportunities later to see him, and after +some difficulty he managed to have the place cleared. + +This, however, was not effected before the unfortunate explorer had +suffered another loss. He found that, in the confusion, an +enterprising Indian had snatched the bag of presents from one of his +men, and had made off with it. This was serious. The bag contained +nearly all the gifts which he had brought for the chiefs of the +Mandans, and he feared that these chiefs might now look coldly upon a +white man who was unable to offer the customary presents. He explained +what had happened to the principal chief. The chief seemed very much +put out and told La Verendrye for his {62} consolation that there were +a good many rascals among the Mandans. Later, when the Assiniboines +told the chief that he was himself the thief, he made the weak retort +that one of his accusers might be the culprit. He promised to do his +best to recover the bag, but La Verendrye never saw it again. + +In a day or two the Assiniboines took leave of La Verendrye, and, much +to the relief of the Mandans, prepared to return to their own village. +Before their departure, the chief of the Assiniboines made a speech to +the Mandans. 'We are leaving you our father,' he said. 'Take great +care of him, and of all the French. Learn to know them, for they are +wise; they know how to do everything. We love our father, and we also +fear him. Do as we do.' The Mandans promised to take every care of +the visitors. Everything the village contained, they said, was at +their service for the asking. They begged that the white chief would +count them among the members of his family. In compliance with their +wish, La Verendrye went through the usual ceremony of placing his hands +on the heads of each of the chiefs. By this ceremony they became his +'children.' The Assiniboines, though they had taken leave of La +Verendrye, {63} still delayed their departure. The Mandans, alarmed at +the quantities of provisions their unwelcome guests required, again +spread the report that the Sioux were approaching. Indeed, they said, +several Mandan hunters had caught sight of them. This time the ruse +succeeded. The Assiniboines, in a panic of alarm, marched off in great +haste, lest the Sioux should intercept them before they could reach +their own country. + +Further troubles awaited La Verendrye. The day following the departure +of the Assiniboines he found that his Cree interpreter had gone off +with them, although he had promised faithfully to remain. Even with +this interpreter communications with the Mandans had been difficult. +Before La Verendrye's thoughts expressed in French could reach the +Mandans, they had to pass through the medium of three other languages. +One of La Verendrye's sons, who understood Cree, was able to translate +the explorer's questions into that language; then the Cree interpreter +put the questions into Assiniboine; and several of the Mandans were +sufficiently familiar with the language of the Assiniboines to complete +the chain and express the ideas in their own tongue. With the Cree +interpreter gone, the problem of {64} communication became much more +difficult. Indeed, the only method that remained of carrying on +conversation with the Mandans was by means of signs and gestures. + +One of La, Verendrye's principal reasons for visiting the Mandans had +been to find out from them as much as possible of the country which lay +westward. He had hoped that they would be able to tell him something +definite about the Western Sea, something of the best way of reaching +it, and of the tribes he should meet on the way. He had had very +little time to put questions before his interpreter deserted, and now +he feared that he should have to turn back, because he had no means of +getting information from the Mandans. With a great deal of difficulty +he managed to learn that there were six Mandan villages or forts, some +on one side of the Missouri, some on the other, and that farther down +this river lived two other tribes, the Panana and the Pananis, who were +at war with the Mandans, although they had formerly been their fast +friends. The Mandans told him by signs that as one went down the +Missouri it became very wide, and that there a race dwelt who were +white like himself. These people, they said, rode on horseback both +when they hunted {65} and when they went to war; they wore armour and +fought with lances and sabres, which they handled with great skill. +Their forts and houses were of stone and they cultivated their fields. +A whole summer was necessary to reach their country from the Mandan +villages. + +La Verendrye did not know how much of this to believe, and he was not +even sure that he correctly understood what the Mandans tried to convey +to him by signs. He was not at all certain that the quarter in which +these people, so different from the Mandans, were said to live was the +direction it was necessary to take in order to reach the Western Sea. +He did not know the truth, that the river by which he stood, the +Missouri, emptied into the Mississippi, and that the settlements spoken +of by the Mandans were probably the Spanish settlements on the lower +waters of the Mississippi. In order to extend his information, he used +every agency to learn as much as possible about the Mandans themselves. +He sent his son Francois to another village near by, to examine it and +to make further inquiries. + +La Verendrye himself made close observations. He walked about the +village in which he was quartered, and examined the {66} fortifications +with a great deal of interest. There were about one hundred and thirty +cabins within the walls; the streets and squares were laid out +regularly and were kept remarkably neat and clean. The smooth, wide +ramparts were built of timber strengthened with cross-pieces. At each +corner was a bastion, and the fort was surrounded by a ditch fifteen +feet deep and from fifteen to eighteen feet wide. He was astonished to +find such elaborate fortifications among a savage tribe. Nowhere else +in the New World had he seen anything of the kind. + +The dwellings of the Mandans were large and comfortable; they were +divided into several rooms and round the walls were beds in the form of +bunks. They had earthen vessels in which they cooked their food. The +women made very neat baskets of wicker-work. The most remarkable thing +about these people was their prudence for the future. They had +storerooms underground in which they stored the dressed skins which +they preserved to trade with neighbouring tribes for guns and +ammunition; they had products of Europe in use, though they had not yet +come into direct contact with Europeans. In these storerooms they +preserved also dried meat and grain for food in the winter. This +foresight {67} impressed La Verendrye. Most of the Indian tribes lived +only in the present; when they had food they feasted upon it from +morning to night, and when their provisions were gone they starved. +The Mandans, however, kept on hand an ample supply of food, both for +their own use and for that of strangers who might visit them. They +amused themselves with rude sports. Among these La Verendrye mentions +a game of ball, but he does not describe it. Probably it was the game +of lacrosse, which was played by many of the Indian tribes long before +white men came to copy it from them. + +After an absence of a few days, Francois de La Verendrye returned from +the village which he had visited. He had been warmly welcomed. He +reported that the village was much larger than the one his father was +living in, and that it was fortified in the same way. He had tried to +question the Mandans of this village, but could make nothing out of +their answers. They were so impatient to speak that they would +constantly interrupt one another; when asked about one thing they would +answer about another, because they did not really understand the +question. The Mandans tried to make up in hospitality for {68} their +inability to answer the Frenchman's questions. 'As we found that it +was a waste of time to question them, we had to fall back on feasting +the whole time we were with them, and even then we could not attend +nearly all the feasts to which we were invited.' + +[Illustration: Mandan girls. From Pritchard's 'Natural History of +Man.'] + +Early in December La Verendrye decided to leave the Mandans and to make +the long return journey to Fort La Reine. He now saw that, even if he +could gain useful information from the Mandans about the nearest way to +the Western Sea, it would be impossible to attempt the journey without +a supply of presents for the tribes he should meet. To get these +presents he must return to the fort, but he would leave two of his men +with the Mandans for the winter, in order to learn the language. Then, +when he returned, he would have interpreters upon whom he could rely. +When he told the Mandans by signs that he must leave them, they seemed +sorry to lose him, and loaded him with provisions for his journey. +They also promised to take care of his two men during his absence. He +distributed among them all the small articles which he had in his +stores, particularly the needles, which they highly prized. To the +principal chief he gave a flag, and a lead tablet {69} bearing an +inscription to the effect that he had taken possession of the Missouri +country in the name of the king of France. This inscription the chief +promised to preserve as his greatest treasure. + +Misfortune, however, still dogged the path of La Verendrye. The day +before that on which he had arranged to leave for the north, he was +taken violently ill and for three days could not move from his bed. As +ill luck would have it, his stock of medicines was in the bag which the +Assiniboines had carried off to their village, so that he could do +nothing for himself until he reached that place. About the middle of +December he was a little better, and made up his mind to attempt the +journey. When he and his men set out on their long march across the +plains, it was bitterly cold. They had no means of making a fire, and +were compelled to sleep at night on the open prairie in a half-frozen +condition. We can imagine what La Verendrye must have suffered before +at last he reached the Assiniboine village, more dead than alive. +After a few days' rest, he managed to make his way slowly to Fort La +Reine. 'Never in my life,' he says, 'did I endure so much misery, +pain, and fatigue as on that journey.' + +{70} + +While at the Assiniboine village La Verendrye reproached the Indians +with having lied to him about the Mandans, so as to lead him to believe +that they were white men. They replied that he had misunderstood them; +that they had not referred to the Mandans, but to another nation who +lived farther down the river. One of the Assiniboines sprang up before +him and exclaimed: 'I am the man best able to talk to you about this +matter. Last summer I killed one of this nation of white men. He was +covered with iron armour. If I had not killed his horse first, I +should myself have been destroyed.' La Verendrye asked him what he had +brought back to prove his story. 'I had no chance to bring anything,' +he said. 'When I was about to cut off his head, I saw some men on +horseback, who were trying to prevent my retreat, and I had much +difficulty in making my escape. I had to throw away everything I had, +even to my blanket, and ran away naked.' + +La Verendrye thought that this man was probably telling the truth. +What he said agreed fairly well with what he had himself heard from the +Mandans, and was applicable probably to the Spaniards. But he was +still as far away as ever from any direct information {71} about the +road he should follow to reach the Western Sea, and this was first and +always the thought that occupied his mind. He hoped that the men whom +he had left behind to winter with the Mandans would be able to obtain +from them the facts for which he was so anxiously waiting, and he +looked forward eagerly to the spring, when they were to return to Fort +La Reine with such news as they had been able to gather. + + + + +{72} + +CHAPTER V + +THE DISCOVERY OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS + +La Verendrye had expected the return in the spring of 1739 of the two +men whom he had left in the Mandan villages, but it was well into the +autumn before they reached Fort La Reine. They brought good news, +however. During the winter they had lost no opportunity of picking up +Mandan words and phrases, until at last they were able to make +themselves fairly well understood in that tongue. In the early summer +a number of strange Indians had arrived from the West at the Mandan +villages. They were on horseback, and brought with them many +additional horses to carry their provisions and supplies. They came in +order to trade embroidered buffalo hides and other skins with the +Mandans for corn and beans, which they did not grow in their own +country. + +The young Frenchmen learned from the Mandans that a band of these +Indians had their home in the extreme West, towards the {73} setting +sun. The Mandans also reported that in this country there were white +men, who lived in brick and stone houses. In order to make further +inquiries the two Frenchmen visited these Indians, and were fortunate +enough to find among them a chief who spoke the language of the +Mandans. He professed to speak also the language of the white men who +dwelt in the West, but when the French heard this language they could +make nothing of it. The chief declared that the strangers in his +country wore beards and that in many other respects they resembled the +white men. He declared that they prayed to the Master of Life in great +buildings, where the Indians had seen them holding in their hands what, +from their description, must have been books, the leaves like 'husks of +Indian corn.' Their houses were described as standing near the shores +of the great lake, whose waters rise and fall, and are unfit to drink. +This would mean tides and salt water. If this Indian story was true, +and there did not seem to be any reason for doubting it, La Verendrye +at last had something definite to guide him in his search for the +Western Sea. He had but to find his way to the homes of these +mysterious white strangers on its shores; and he hoped that the Indian +{74} band who had visited the Mandans, and from whom his men had +obtained these particulars, would be able and willing to provide him +with competent guides. + +For some reason La Verendrye was unable himself to return to the +country of the Mandans or to go still farther west. But in the spring +of 1740 he sent his eldest son Pierre into that country in order to +make further inquiries, and to obtain guides if possible for the +projected journey to the Western Sea. Pierre spent the following +winter with the Mandans, but he could not find the men he needed as +guides, and so he returned to Fort La Reine in the summer of 1741. + +In the spring of 1742, not discouraged by the failure of the previous +year, Pierre set out again for the Mandans, accompanied this time by +his brother Francois, who was known as the Chevalier, and by two men +from the fort. The journey was to prove momentous, but at first the +outlook was dark. When they arrived in the Mandan country they could +find no sign of the Horse Indians, as the mounted Indians from the West +were called. Pierre and his brother waited long at the Mandan village +with what patience they could summon. The month of May went by, then +June, then {75} most of July, with still no sign of the missing band. +Finally the brothers decided that, if they were to go farther west, +they could wait no longer, for the season was advancing and it would +soon be too late to do anything. At last they found among the Mandans +two young men who agreed to lead them to the country of the Horse +People. This would bring them to their hoped-for guides. Without a +moment's delay they set out towards the south-west in search of the +missing Indians. + +They travelled for twenty days in a south-westerly direction, through +what were afterwards known as the Bad Lands of the Little Missouri, a +country unlike anything they had ever seen before. On every side they +could see mounds and pillars of brilliantly-coloured earth, blue and +crimson and green and yellow. So much were they struck with the +singular spectacle that they would have liked to carry some of the +coloured earth with them to show to their father on their return. But +a long journey lay before them. They had to carry everything they +needed on their backs, and it would have been folly to add to the load +something that was useless for their immediate needs, something that +they could neither eat nor wear. + +{76} + +About the beginning of August the party reached a mountain where the +Mandans expected to find the Horse Indians so eagerly sought. But the +Horse Indians had gone on a hunting expedition and had not yet +returned; so Pierre and his brother decided to wait for them. On the +summit of the mountain they made a signal fire, and every day one of +the explorers climbed up to the lookout to see if there were any signs +of the Indians. At the foot of the mountain they built a small house +in which they lived. Some of their time they spent in hunting to +provision the camp, while waiting as patiently as they could for the +Horse Indians to return from their hunting. + +At last, on September 14, a smoke was seen rising in the south-western +sky. One of the men was sent to investigate, and he found not the +Horse Indians but a band known to the Mandans as the Good-looking +Indians. Difficulties multiplied. One of the Mandan guides had +already deserted them to go back to the Missouri, and the other now +told the brothers that he must leave them. He was prompted by fear. +The Good-looking Indians were not on friendly terms with the Mandans, +and, although they had not offered to do him any harm, he was afraid to +remain near these enemies. + +{77} + +After the Mandan had gone back, the brothers La Verendrye managed to +explain to the Good-looking Indians by signs that they were seeking the +Horse Indians and asked for guides to one of the camps of these +Indians. One of the Good-looking Indians said he knew the way, and +they set out under his guidance; but they became anxious on finding +that they were still travelling in the same direction as before, for +this did not seem to be a very direct road to the Western Sea. Still, +they had fixed their hopes on the Horse Indians as the people able to +lead them there, and the most urgent thing to do was to find some +members of that tribe, even though they had to go a long way out of +their course to do so. + +On the second day after they left the camp of the Good-looking Indians, +they met a party of another tribe known as the Little Foxes, who were +very friendly. The explorers gave them some small presents, and made +them understand that they were seeking the Horse Indians, who had +promised to show them the way to the sea. 'We will take you to the +Horse Indians,' they said, and their whole party turned about and +joined the French. But these new guides also, to the disgust of +Francois La Verendrye, {78} still marched towards the south-west. 'I +felt sure,' he said, 'that in this direction we should never find the +Western Sea.' However, there was nothing to do but to go forward, and +to trust to better luck after they reached the Horse Indians. + +After tramping on for many days they came at last to an encampment of +the Horse Indians. These people, just then, were in great trouble. +They had been attacked not long before by a war party of the Snake +Indians; many of their bravest warriors had been killed, and many of +their women had been carried into captivity. When asked the way to the +sea these Indians now declared that none of them had ever been there, +for the very good reason that the country of the fierce Snake Indians +must be crossed to reach it. They said that a neighbouring tribe, the +Bow Indians, might be able to give some information, as they either +themselves traded with the white men of the sea-coast, or were on +friendly terms with other tribes who had been down to the sea. These +Bow Indians, they added, were the only tribe who dared to fight against +the Snake Indians, for they were under the leadership of a wise and +skilful chief, who had more than once led his tribe to victory against +these dangerous enemies. A guide {79} was found to lead the explorers +to the Bow Indians, and they went off once more, still travelling +south-westerly, until at length, on November 21, they came in sight of +the camp of the Bows. It was a huge camp, much larger than any the +explorers had yet visited. Everywhere they could see numbers of +horses, asses, and mules--animals unknown among the northern tribes. + +When they reached the camp the chief of the Bows met them and at once +took them to his own lodge. Nothing could be more friendly or polite +than his treatment of the white travellers. In fact, as Francois said, +he did not seem to have the manners of a savage. 'Up to that time we +had always been very well received in the villages we had visited, but +what we had before experienced in that way was nothing in comparison +with the gracious manners of the head chief of the Bows. He took as +much care of all our belongings as if they had been his own.' With him +Francois and his brother remained for some time; and, very soon, +through the kindness of the chief, they learnt enough of the language +to make themselves understood. + +The explorers had many interesting talks with this friendly chief. +They asked him if he {80} knew anything about the white people who +lived on the sea-coast. 'We know them,' he replied, 'through what has +been told us by prisoners of the Snake tribe. We have never been to +the sea ourselves.' 'Do not be surprised,' he continued, 'to see so +many Indians camped round us. Word has been sent in all directions to +our people to join us here. In a few days we shall march against the +Snakes; and if you will come with us, we will take you to the high +mountains that are near the sea. From their summits you will be able +to look upon it.' The brothers La Verendrye were overjoyed to hear +such encouraging news, and agreed that one of them should accompany the +Bow Indians on their expedition against the Snakes. It seemed almost +too good to be true that they might be actually within reach of the +sea, the goal towards which they and their father had been struggling +for so many years. In fact, it proved too good to be true. Whether +they had misunderstood the chief, or whether he was merely speaking +from hearsay, certainly the view was far from correct that the +mountains which they were approaching lay near the sea. These +mountains, not far off, were the Rocky Mountains. Even if the +explorers should succeed in reaching and in crossing them at {81} this +point, there would still be hundreds of miles of mountain forest and +plain to traverse before their eyes could rest on the waters of the +Pacific ocean. Pierre and his brother never knew this, however, for +they were not destined to see the western side of the mountains. + +The great war party of the Bows, consisting of more than two thousand +fighting men, with their families, started out towards the Snake +country in December, the comparatively mild December of the +south-western plains. The scene must have been singularly animated as +this horde of Indians, with their wives and children, their horses and +dogs, and the innumerable odds and ends that made up their camp +equipage, moved slowly across the plains. Francois was too full of his +own affairs to describe the odd appearance of this native army in the +journal which he wrote of the expedition, but fortunately the historian +Francis Parkman lived for some time among these tribes of the western +plains, and he has given us a good idea of what such an Indian army +must have looked like on the march. 'The spectacle,' he says, 'was +such as men still young have seen in these western lands, but which no +man will see again. The vast plain {82} swarmed with the moving +multitude. The tribes of the Missouri and the Yellowstone had by this +time abundance of horses, the best of which were used for war and +hunting, and the others as beasts of burden. These last were equipped +in a peculiar manner. Several of the long poles used to frame the +teepees, or lodges, were secured by one end to each side of a rude +saddle, while the other end trailed on the ground. Crossbars lashed to +the poles, just behind the horse, kept them three or four feet apart, +and formed a firm support, on which was laid, compactly folded, the +buffalo-skin covering of the lodge. On this, again, sat a mother with +her young family, sometimes stowed for safety in a large, open, willow +basket, with the occasional addition of some domestic pet--such as a +tame raven, a puppy, or even a small bear cub. Other horses were laden +in the same manner with wooden bowls, stone hammers, and other +utensils, along with stores of dried buffalo meat packed in cases of +raw hide whitened and painted. Many of the innumerable dogs--whose +manners and appearance strongly suggested their relatives the wolves, +to whom, however, they bore a mortal grudge--were equipped in a similar +way, with shorter poles and lighter loads. Bands of {83} naked boys, +noisy and restless, roamed the prairie, practising their bows and +arrows on any small animal they might find. Gay young squaws--adorned +on each cheek with a spot of ochre or red clay and arrayed in tunics of +fringed buckskin embroidered with porcupine quills--were mounted on +ponies, astride like men; while lean and tattered hags--the drudges of +the tribe, unkempt and hideous--scolded the lagging horses or screeched +at the disorderly dogs, with voices not unlike the yell of the great +horned owl. Most of the warriors were on horseback, armed with round +white shields of bull hide, feathered lances, war clubs, bows, and +quivers filled with stone-headed arrows; while a few of the elders, +wrapped in robes of buffalo hide, stalked along in groups with a +stately air, chatting, laughing, and exchanging unseemly jokes.' + +On the first day of January 1743, the Indians, accompanied by the +brothers La Verendrye and their Frenchmen, came within sight of the +mountains. Rising mysteriously in the distance were those massive +crags, those silent, snow-capped peaks, upon which, as far as we know, +Europeans had never looked before. The party of Frenchmen and Indians +pressed {84} on, for eight days, towards the foot of the mountains. +Then, when they had come within a few days' journey of the place where +they expected to find the Snakes, they altered their mode of advance. +It was now decided to leave the women and children in camp under a +small guard, while the warriors pushed on in the hope of surprising the +Snakes in their winter camp near the mountains. Pierre remained in +camp to look after the baggage of the party, which the Indians would +probably pillage if left unguarded. Francois and his two Frenchmen +went forward with the war party, and four days later they arrived at +the foot of the mountains, the first Europeans who had ever put foot on +those majestic slopes. Francois gazed with the keenest interest at the +lofty summits, and longed to climb them to see what lay beyond. + +Meanwhile he was obliged to share in a vivid human drama. The chief of +the Bows had sent scouts forward to search for the camp of the Snakes, +and these scouts now reappeared. They had found the camp, but the +enemy had fled; and had, indeed, gone off in such a hurry that they had +abandoned their lodges and most of their belongings. The effect +produced by this news was singular. Instead of {85} rejoicing because +the dreaded Snakes had fled before them, which was evidently the case, +the Bow warriors at once fell into a panic. The Snakes, they cried, +had discovered the approach of their enemies, and must have gone back +to attack the Bow camp and capture the women and children. The great +chief tried to reason with his warriors; he pointed out that the Snakes +could not know anything about the camp, that quite evidently they had +been afraid to meet the Bows and had fled before them. But it was all +to no purpose. The Bows would not listen to reason; they were sure +that the Snakes had played them a cunning trick and that they should +hasten back as speedily as possible to save their families. The result +was characteristic of savage warfare. The Indian army that had marched +a few days earlier in good order to attack the enemy now fled back +along the trail in a panic, each man for himself. + +It was in these ignominious circumstances that Francois La Verendrye, +having reached the foot of the Rocky Mountains, was obliged to turn +back without going farther, leaving the mystery of the Great Sea still +unsolved. Francois rode by the side of the disgusted chief and the two +Frenchmen followed behind. Presently Francois noticed that his men had +{86} disappeared. He galloped back for some miles, and found them +resting their horses on the banks of a river. While he talked with +them, his quick eye detected the approach of a party of Snake Indians +from a neighbouring wood. They were covering themselves with their +shields, and were evidently bent on an attack. Francois and his men +loaded their guns and waited until the Indians were well within range. +Then they took aim and fired. The Snakes knew little or nothing about +firearms, and when one or two of their number fell before this volley, +they fled in disorder. + +There was still danger of an attack by a larger band of the enemy, and +the Frenchmen remained on guard where they were until nightfall. Then, +under cover of darkness, they attempted to follow the trail of the +Bows. But the ground was so dry and hard at that season of the year +that they found it impossible to pick up the trail of their friends. +For two days they wandered about. Skill or good fortune, however, +aided them, and at last they arrived at the camp of the Bows, tired and +half starved. The chief had been anxious at the disappearance of his +white guests, and was overjoyed at their safe return. It is almost +needless to say that the panic-stricken warriors {87} had found their +camp just as they had left it; no one had heard or seen anything of the +Snakes; and the warriors were forced to submit to the jeers of the +squaws for their failure to come even within sight of the enemy. + +Pierre, Francois, and their two men accompanied the Bows for some days +on their homeward journey. They found, however, that the Bows were +travelling away from the course which they wished to follow, and so +decided to leave them and to turn towards the Missouri river. The +chief of the Bows seemed to feel genuine regret at bidding farewell to +his French guests, and he made them promise to return and pay him +another visit in the following spring, after they had seen their father +at Fort La Reine. On the long journey to this point the three +Frenchmen now set out across the limitless frozen prairie. + +About the middle of March they came upon a party of strange Indians +known as the People of the Little Cherry. They were returning from +their winter's hunting, and were then only two days' journey from their +village on the banks of the Missouri. Like all the other tribes, the +People of the Little Cherry received the Frenchmen with perfect +friendliness. The party lingered with these Indians in their {88} +village until the beginning of April, and Francois spent most of his +time learning their language. This he found quite easy, perhaps +because he had already picked up a fair knowledge of the language of +some of the neighbouring tribes, and it proved not unlike that of the +Little Cherry Indians. Francois found in the village an Indian who had +been brought up among the Spaniards of the Pacific Coast, and who still +spoke their language as readily as he spoke his mother tongue. He +questioned him eagerly about the distance to the Spanish settlements +and the difficulties of the way. The man replied that the journey was +long. It was also, he said, very dangerous, because it must be through +the country of the Snake Indians. This Indian assured Francois that +another Frenchman lived in the country where they were, in a village +distant about three days' journey. Naturally this surprised Francois +and his brother. They thought of going to visit him; but their horses +were badly in need of a rest after the long trip from the mountains, +and must be kept fresh for the journey to the Mandan villages. They +therefore sent instead a letter to the Frenchman, asking him to visit +them at the village of the Little Cherries, or, if that was not +possible, {89} at least to send them an answer. No answer came, and we +may well doubt whether such a Frenchman existed. Before leaving the +country, La Verendrye buried on the summit of a hill a tablet of lead, +with the arms and inscription of the French king. This was to take +possession of the country for France. He also built a pyramid of +stones in honour of the governor of Canada.[1] + +About the beginning of April, when the horses were in good condition +and all preparations had been made for the journey, the explorers said +good-bye to the People of the Little Cherry and set out for the Mandan +villages. Like the Bow Indians, the Little Cherries seemed sorry to +lose them and begged them to come back. In return for the kindness and +hospitality he had received, La Verendrye distributed some presents and +promised to visit them again when he could. + +On May 18 the travellers reached the {90} Mandan villages and were +welcomed as if they had returned from the dead. Their long absence had +led the Mandans to conclude that they had been killed by some +unfriendly Indians, or that some fatal accident had happened on the +way. They had intended to rest for some time at the Mandan villages, +but they found that a party of Assiniboines was going to Fort La Reine, +and they determined to travel with them. The Assiniboines had in fact +already left on their journey, but the Frenchmen overtook them at their +first camp. + +[Illustration: Tablet deposited by La Verendrye, 1743. Obverse and +reverse sides. From photographs lent by Charles N. Bell, F.R.G.S., +President of the Manitoba Historical and Scientific Society.] + +This latter part of the journey had its own excitements and perils. On +the last day of May, as they were travelling over the prairie, they +discovered a party of Sioux waiting in ambush. The Sioux had expected +to meet a smaller party, and now decided not to fight. At the same +time, they were too proud to run away before the despised Assiniboines, +even though they numbered only thirty and the Assiniboines numbered +more than a hundred. They retreated with dignified slowness, facing +around on the Assiniboines from time to time, and driving them back +when they ventured too near. But when they recognized the Frenchmen, +mounted on horses and armed with their deadly muskets, their attitude +changed; they {91} forgot their dignity and made off as fast as they +could go. Even with heavy odds against them these virile savages +managed to wound several of the Assiniboines, while they lost only one +man, who mistook the enemy for his friends and was captured. Pierre +and Francois La Verendrye finally reached Fort La Reine on July 2, to +the great delight of their father, who had grown anxious on account of +their long absence. They had been away from the fort for one year and +eighty-four days. + + + +[1] This tablet remained buried where it was deposited for 170 years. +In March 1913 it was found by a young girl on the west bank of the +Missouri river opposite the city of Pierre, N. Dakota, thus bearing +testimony to the trustworthiness of Francois La Verendrye's journal, +from which this chapter was written before the tablet was discovered. +Photographs of the tablet were made by W. O'Reilly of Pierre and +published in the _Manitoba Free Press_ and are reproduced in this book +by courtesy of Charles N. Bell, F.R.G.S., of Winnipeg. + + + + +{92} + +CHAPTER VI + +LA VERENDRYES' LATTER DAYS + +During all this time the elder La Verendrye had been working at other +plans for discovery and for trade in the Far West. In the year 1739, +on his return from the first visit to the Mandans, he had sent his son +Francois to build a fort on the Lake of the Prairies, now known as Lake +Manitoba. When young La Verendrye had built this fort, he went farther +north to Cedar Lake, near the mouth of the Saskatchewan river, and +there built another fort. The purpose was to intercept the trade of +the Indians with the English on Hudson Bay. For over half a century +the Indians of this region had taken their furs down the rivers leading +from Lake Winnipeg to the trading-posts of the Hudson's Bay Company on +the shores of the Bay, but now the French intended to offer them a +market nearer home and divert to themselves this profitable trade. The +first of their new forts was named Fort Dauphin, and the one on Cedar +Lake was called Fort Bourbon. + +{93} + +Having built Fort Bourbon, Francois La Verendrye had ascended the +Saskatchewan river as far as the Forks, where the north and south +branches of that great river join. Here he met a number of Crees, whom +he questioned as to the source of the Saskatchewan. They told him that +it came from a great distance, rising among lofty mountains far to the +west, and that beyond those mountains they knew of a great lake, as +they called it, the water of which was not good to drink. The +mountains were of course the Rocky Mountains, and the waters of the +great lake which the Crees spoke of were the salt waters of the Pacific +ocean. Francois La Verendrye had continued his work of building forts. +Shortly after building Fort Bourbon, he built Fort Paskoyac, on the +Saskatchewan, at a place now known as the Pas, between Cedar Lake and +the Forks. It is interesting to know that a railway has just been +completed to this place, and that it is to be continued from there to +the shores of Hudson Bay. How this modern change would have startled +the old fur-traders! Even if they could have dreamed of anything so +wonderful as a railway, we can imagine their ridicule of the idea that +some day men should travel from the East to the far-off {94} shores of +the Saskatchewan in two or three days, a trip which cost them months of +wearisome paddling. + +In carrying on his work in the West, La Verendrye had to face +difficulties even greater than those caused by the hard life in the +wilderness. His base of supplies was in danger. He had many enemies +in Canada, who took advantage of his absence in the West to prejudice +the governor against him. They even sent false reports to the king of +France, saying that he was spending his time, not in searching for a +way to the Western Sea, but in making money out of the fur trade. This +was not true. Not only was he making no money out of the fur trade, +but, as we have seen, he was heavily in debt because of the enormous +cost of carrying on his explorations. For a time, however, the truth +did not help him. The tales told by his enemies were believed, and he +was ordered to return to Montreal with his sons. He and they withdrew +from their work in the West, left behind their promising beginnings, +and returned to the East. Never again, as it happened, was the father +to resume his work. Another officer, M. de Noyelle, was sent to the +West to continue the work of exploration. Noyelle spent two years in +the West without {95} adding anything to the information La Verendrye +had gained. By that time a natural reaction had come in favour of La +Verendrye, and the acting governor of Canada, the Marquis de La +Galissoniere, decided to put the work of exploration again in charge of +La Verendrye and his sons. In recognition of his services he was given +the rank of captain and was decorated with the Cross of St Louis. + +While these events were ripening, the years passed, and not until 1749 +was La Verendrye restored to his leadership in the West. Though now +sixty-four years old, he was overjoyed at the prospect. Not only was +he permitted to continue his search for the Western Sea; the quality of +his work was recognized, for the governor and the king had at last +understood that, instead of seeking his own profit in his explorations, +as his enemies had said, he had the one object of adding to the honour +and glory of his country. He made preparations to start from Montreal +in the spring of 1750, and intended to push forward as rapidly as +possible to Fort Bourbon, or Fort Paskoyac, where he would spend the +winter. In the spring of the following year he would ascend the +Saskatchewan river and make his way over the mountains to the shores of +the Western {96} Sea, the Pacific ocean as we know it to-day. But the +greatest of all enemies now blocked his way. La Verendrye was taken +ill while making his preparations for the expedition, and before the +close of the year 1749 he had set out on the journey from which no man +returns. + +[Illustration: The Marquis de la Galissoniere. From an engraving in +the Chateau de Ramezay.] + +After the death of La Verendrye, his sons made preparations to carry +out his plan for reaching the Western Sea by way of the Saskatchewan +river. They had the same unselfish desire to bring honour to their +king and to add new territories to their native land. Moreover, this +project, which their father had had so much at heart, had become now +for them a sacred duty. To their dismay, however, they soon found that +the promise made to their father did not extend to themselves. Another +officer, Legardeur de Saint-Pierre, was appointed by the governor of +Canada to carry on the search for the Western Sea. They had spent +years of toil and discomfort in the wilderness and endured countless +hardships and dangers. They had carefully studied the languages, +manners, and customs of the Indian tribes, and they had found out by +hard experience what would be the best means of completing their +discovery. Yet now they were thrown aside in {97} favour of an officer +who had never been in the Far West and who knew nothing of the +conditions he would there be compelled to meet. + +They could at least appeal for justice. In a last attempt to obtain +this for himself and his brothers, Francois de La Verendrye wrote this +letter to the king's minister: + + +The only resource left to me is to throw myself at the feet of your +Lordship and to trouble you with the story of my misfortunes. My name +is La Verendrye; my late father is known here [in Canada] and in France +by the exploration for the discovery of the Western Sea to which he +devoted the last fifteen years of his life. He travelled and made +myself and my brothers travel with such vigour that we should have +reached our goal, if he had had only a little more help, and if he had +not been so much thwarted, especially by envy. Envy is still here, +more than elsewhere, a prevailing passion against, which one has no +protection. While my father, my brothers, and myself were exhausting +ourselves with toil, and while we were incurring a crushing burden of +expense, his steps and ours were represented as directed only towards +[our own gain by] the finding of {98} beaver; the outlay he was forced +to incur was described as dissipation; and his narratives were spoken +of as a pack of lies. Envy as it exists in this country is no half +envy; its principle is to calumniate furiously in the hope that if even +half of what is said finds favour, it will be enough to injure. In +point of fact, my father, thus opposed, had to his sorrow been obliged +more than once to return and to make us return because of the lack of +help and protection. He has even been reproached by the court [for not +giving adequate reports upon his work]; he was, indeed, more intent on +making progress than on telling what he was doing until he could give +definite statements. He was running into debt, he failed to receive +promotions. Yet his zeal for his project never slackened, persuaded as +he was that sooner or later his labours would be crowned with success +and recompense. + +At the time when he was most eager in the good work, envy won the day, +and he saw the posts he had established and his own work pass into +other hands. While he was thus checked in his operations, the reward +of a plentiful harvest of beaver skins [which he had made possible] +went {99} to another rather than himself. Yet [in spite of this +profitable trade the good work slackened]; the posts, instead of +multiplying, fell into decay, and no progress was made in exploration; +it was this, indeed, which grieved him the most. + +Meanwhile the Marquis de la Galissoniere arrived in the country [to act +as governor]. In the hubbub of contradictory opinions that prevailed, +he came to the conclusion that the man who had pursued such discoveries +at his own charge and expense, without any cost to the king, and who +had gone into debt to establish useful posts, merited better fortune. +Apart from advancing the project of discovery, practical services had +been rendered. There was [the marquis reported] a large increase of +beaver in the colony, and four or five posts had been well-established, +and defended by forts as good as could be made in countries so distant; +a multitude of savages had been turned into subjects of the king; some +of them, in a party which I commanded, showed an example to our own +domiciled savages by striking at the Anniers Indians, who are devoted +to England. Progress [the marquis concluded] could be hastened and +rendered {100} more efficacious only by allowing the work to remain in +the same hands. + +Thus it was that the Marquis de la Galissoniere was good enough to +explain his position. No doubt he expressed himself to the court to a +similar effect, for in the following year, that is to say last year, my +father was honoured with the Cross of St Louis, and was invited to +continue with his sons the work which he had begun. He made +arrangements with great earnestness for starting on his expedition; he +spared nothing that might make for success; he had already bought and +prepared all the goods to be used in trade; he inspired me and my +brothers with his own ardour. Then in the month of December last death +carried him off. + +Great as was my grief at the time, I could never have imagined or +foreseen all that I lost in losing him. When I succeeded to his +engagements and his responsibilities, I ventured to hope that I should +succeed to the same advantages. I had the honour to write on the +subject to the Marquis de la Jonquiere [then governor], informing him +that I had recovered from an indisposition from which I had been +suffering, and which might {101} serve as a pretext to some one seeking +to supplant me. His reply was that he had chosen Monsieur de +Saint-Pierre to go to the Western Sea. + +I started at once for Quebec from Montreal, where I then was; I +represented the situation in which I was left by my father; I declared +that there was more than one post in the direction of the Western Sea +and that I and my brothers would be delighted to be under the orders of +Monsieur de Saint-Pierre, and that we could content ourselves, if +necessary, with a single post, and that the most distant one; I stated +that we even asked no more than leave to go on in advance [of the new +leader], so that while we were pushing the work of exploration, we +might be able to help ourselves by disposing of my father's latest +purchases and of what remained to us in the posts. We should in this +have the consolation of making our utmost efforts to meet the wishes of +the court. + +The Marquis de la Jonquiere, though he felt the force of my +representations, and, as it seemed to me, was touched by them, told me +at last that Monsieur de Saint-Pierre did not wish for either me or my +brothers. I asked what would become of the debts we {102} had +incurred. Monsieur de Saint-Pierre, however, had spoken, and I could +not obtain anything. I returned to Montreal with this not too +consoling information. There I offered for sale a small piece of +property, all that I had inherited from my father. The proceeds of +this sale served to satisfy my most urgent creditors. + +Meanwhile the season was advancing. There was now the question of my +going as usual to the rendezvous arranged with my hired men, so as to +save their lives [by bringing provisions], and to secure the stores +which, without this precaution, would probably be pillaged and +abandoned. In spite of Monsieur de Saint-Pierre, I obtained permission +to make this trip, and I was subject to conditions and restrictions +such as might be imposed on the commonest voyageur. Nevertheless, +scarcely had I left when Monsieur de Saint-Pierre complained of my +action and alleged that this start of mine before him injured him to +the amount of more than ten thousand francs. He also accused me, +without the slightest reserve, of having loaded my canoe beyond the +permission accorded me. + +The accusation was considered and my canoe was pursued; had I been +overtaken {103} at once, Monsieur de Saint-Pierre would have been +promptly reassured. He overtook me at Michilimackinac, and if I can +believe what he said, he now saw that he had been in the wrong in +acting as he did, and was vexed with himself for not having taken me +and my brothers with him. He expressed much regret to me and paid me +many compliments. It may be that this is his usual mode of acting; but +it is difficult for me to recognize in it either good faith or humanity. + +Monsieur de Saint-Pierre might have obtained all that he has obtained; +he might have made sure of his interests and have gained surprising +advantages; and have taken [as he desired] some relative with him while +not shutting us out entirely. Monsieur de Saint-Pierre is an officer +of merit, and I am only the more to be pitied to find him thus turned +against me. Yet in spite of the favourable impressions he has created +on different occasions, he will find it difficult to show that in this +matter he kept the main interest [that of discovery] in view, and that +he conformed to the intentions of the court and respected the kindly +disposition with which the Marquis de la Galissoniere honours us. +Before {104} such a wrong could be done to us, he must have injured us +seriously in the opinion of Monsieur de la Jonquiere, who himself is +always disposed to be kind. + +None the less am I ruined. My returns for this year were only half +collected, and a thousand subsequent difficulties make the disaster +complete; with credit gone in relation both to my father and to myself, +I am in debt for over twenty thousand francs; I remain without funds +and without patrimony. Moreover, I am a simple ensign of the second +grade; my elder brother has only the same rank as myself, while my +younger brother is only a junior cadet. + +Such is the net result of all that my father, my brothers, and I have +done. The one who was murdered some years ago was not the most +unfortunate of us. His blood does not count in our behalf. Unless +Monsieur de Saint-Pierre becomes imbued with better sentiments and +communicates them to the Marquis de la Jonquiere, all my father's toils +and ours fail to serve us, and we must abandon what has cost us so +much. We certainly should not have been and should not be useless to +Monsieur de Saint-Pierre. I explained to him fully how I believed I +could serve him; clever as he {105} may be, and inspired with the best +intentions, I venture to say that by keeping us away he is in danger of +making many mistakes and of getting often on the wrong track. It is +something gained to have gone astray, but to have found out your error; +we think that now we should be sure of the right road to reach the +goal, whatever it may be. It is our greatest cause of distress to find +ourselves thus snatched away from a sphere of action in which we were +proposing to use every effort to reach a definite result. + +Deign therefore, Monseigneur, to judge the cause of three orphans. Our +misfortune is great, but is it without remedy? There are in the hands +of your Lordship resources of compensation and of consolation, and I +venture to hope for some benefit from them. To find ourselves thus +excluded from the West would be to find ourselves robbed in the most +cruel manner of our heritage. We should have had all that was bitter +and others all that was sweet. + + +This eloquent appeal of Francois fell upon unheeding ears; the +appointment of his rival was confirmed. The only grace he could obtain +was leave to take to the West a small portion of the supplies for which +he and his {106} brothers had already paid, and to return with the furs +his men had collected and brought down to Michilimackinac. Thus ended, +sadly enough, the devoted efforts of this remarkable family of +explorers to complete the long search for a route overland to the +Pacific ocean. The brothers La Verendrye, ruined in purse and denied +opportunity, fell into obscurity and were forgotten. + +It remains only to tell briefly of the attempts of Saint-Pierre and his +men to carry out the same great project. In obedience to the +governor's instructions, Saint-Pierre left Montreal in the spring of +1750. He paddled up the Ottawa, and then through Lake Nipissing, and +down the French river to Georgian Bay. He crossed Lake Huron to +Michilimackinac, where he remained for a short time to give his men a +rest. Then he pushed on to Grand Portage, where he spent some time in +talking to the Indians. In spite of his ungenerous treatment of the +sons of La Verendrye, Saint-Pierre was a brave and capable soldier; but +he knew very little of the hardships of western exploration, or of the +patience needed in dealing with Indians. He grumbled bitterly about +the difficulties and hardships of the portages, which La Verendrye +{107} had taken as a matter of course; and, instead of treating the +Indians with patience and forbearance, he lost no opportunity to +harangue and scold them. We need not wonder, therefore, that the +natives, who had looked up to La Verendrye as a superior being, soon +learned to dislike the overbearing Saint-Pierre, and would do nothing +to help him in his attempts at exploration. + +Saint-Pierre visited Fort St Charles; he spent the winter at Fort +Maurepas; in the spring of 1751 he went on to Fort La Reine. Meanwhile +he had sent Niverville, a young officer of his party, to the +Saskatchewan river, with instructions to push his discoveries westward +beyond the farthest point reached by La Verendrye. Winter had set in +before Niverville set out on his long journey, and he travelled over +the snow and ice with snowshoes, dragging his provisions on toboggans. +He knew nothing of the Indian method of harnessing dogs to their +toboggans, and he and his men dragged the toboggans themselves. He +travelled slowly across Lake Winnipeg, over rough ice and through deep +snowdrifts, with no protection from the bitter winds. So great were +the hardships that, in the end, he was compelled to abandon some of the +heavier {108} supplies and provisions. Before he and his men reached +Fort Paskoyac they were at the point of starvation. During the last +few days they had nothing to eat but a few small fish caught through +holes in the ice. + +Niverville was taken seriously ill, and had to remain at Fort Paskoyac, +while some of his men in the spring of 1751 ascended the Saskatchewan +in canoes. These men, we are told, paddled up the river to the foot of +the Rocky Mountains, where they built a fort, named Fort La Jonquiere, +in honour of the governor. Later in the year Niverville followed his +men up the river. At Fort La Jonquiere he met a party of Western +Indians, who told him that in the course of a war expedition they had +encountered a number of Indians of a strange tribe carrying loads of +beaver skins. These strange Indians told the Frenchmen that they were +on their way over the Rocky Mountains to trade their furs with white +men on the sea-coast. For some reason, either through lack of supplies +or because he did not possess the courage and enthusiasm which had +carried the La Verendryes through so many difficulties, Niverville made +no effort to cross the mountains. This attempt to reach the Western +Sea ended, so far as French {109} explorers were concerned, at Fort La +Jonquiere. All the toils and hardships of the French explorers ended +in failure to achieve the great end at which they aimed. Members of +another race reaped the coveted reward. Many years later a +Scottish-Canadian explorer, Alexander Mackenzie, realized La +Verendrye's dream by successfully crossing the Rocky Mountains and +forcing his way through the difficult country that lay beyond, until at +last he stood upon the shores of the Pacific ocean. + +Meanwhile Saint-Pierre had remained at Fort La Reine, leaving the work +of exploration to his young lieutenant, Niverville. One incident of +his life there remains to be described before we close this story of +the search for the Western Sea. It cannot be better told than in +Saint-Pierre's own narrative: + + +On February 22, 1752 [he says], about nine o'clock in the morning, I +was at this post with five Frenchmen. I had sent the rest of my +people, consisting of fourteen persons, to look for provisions, of +which I had been in need for several days. I was sitting quietly in my +room, when two hundred Assiniboines entered the fort, all of them +armed. These Indians scattered immediately all through the place; +several {110} of them even entered my room, but unarmed; others +remained in adjacent parts of the fort. My people came to warn me of +the behaviour of these Indians. I ran to them and told them sharply +that they were very impudent to come in a crowd to my house, and armed. +One of them answered in the Cree language that they came to smoke. I +told them that they were not behaving properly, and that they must +leave the fort at once. I believe that the firmness with which I spoke +somewhat frightened them, especially as I put four of the most resolute +out of the door, without their saying a word. + +I went at once to my room. At that very moment, however, a soldier +came to tell me that the guard-house was full of Indians, who had taken +possession of the arms. I ran to the guard-house and demanded, through +a Cree interpreter, what they meant by such behaviour. During all this +time I was preparing to fight them with my weak force. My interpreter, +who proved a traitor, said that these Indians had no bad intentions. +Yet, a moment before, an Assiniboine orator, who had been constantly +making fine speeches to me, had told the interpreter that, in spite of +him, the Indians would kill and rob me. + +{111} + +When I had barely made out their intentions I failed to realize that I +ought to have taken their arms from them. [To frighten them] I seized +hold of a blazing brand, broke in the door of the powder magazine, and +knocked down a barrel of gunpowder. Over this I held the brand, and I +told the Indians in an assured tone [through the interpreter] that I +expected nothing at their hands, and that even if I was killed I should +have the glory of subjecting them to the same fate. No sooner had the +Indians seen the lighted brand, and the barrel of gunpowder with its +head staved in, and heard my interpreter, than they all fled out of the +gate of the fort. They damaged the gate considerably in their hurried +flight. I soon laid down my brand, and then I had nothing more +exciting to do than to close the gate of the fort. + + +Soon after this incident with the Assiniboines, Saint-Pierre gave up +his half-hearted attempt to find a route to the Western Sea, and +returned to Montreal. He had proved himself a brave man enough. He +did not, however, understand, and made no attempt to understand, the +character of the Indians, and, as an explorer, he was a complete +failure. In {112} a couple of years he managed to undo all the work +which La Verendrye had accomplished. After he abandoned the West, the +forts which had been built there with such difficulty and at such great +expense soon fell into decay. The only men who had the knowledge and +the enthusiasm to make real La Verendrye's dream of exploration, his +own sons, were denied the privilege of doing so; and no one else seemed +anxious even to attempt such a difficult task. + +The period of French rule in Canada was now rapidly drawing to a close. +Instead of adding to the territories of France in North America, her +sons were preparing to make their last stand in defence of what they +already possessed. Half a dozen years later their dream of western +exploration, and of a great North American empire reaching from the +Atlantic to the Pacific, came to an end on the Plains of Abraham. It +was left for those of another race who came after them to turn the +dream of their rivals into tangible achievements. It must never be +forgotten, however, that, although Pierre de La Verendrye failed to +complete the great object of his ambition, we owe to him and his +gallant sons the discovery of a large part of what is to-day Western +Canada. + + + + +{113} + +BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTE + +An English translation of _The Journals of La Verendrye_ edited by +Lawrence J. Burpee, with the French text, will be found among the +publications of the Champlain Society. The reader should consult also +Parkman, _A Half Century of Conflict_, chapter xvi.; Burpee, _The +Search for the Western Sea_; Shortt and Doughty (editors), _Canada and +Its Provinces_, vol. i., 'The Pathfinders of the Great West.' + + + + +{115} + +INDEX + + +Abnakis, 4. + +Assiniboines, 49, 50-63, 90, 109. + +Aulneau, Father, 37-40. + + +Beauharnois, Marquis de, 16, 31, 33 + +Bow Indians, 78-87. + + +Caughnawagas, 4. + +Chippewas, 39, 41, 43, 46. + +Coureurs de bois, 10-12. + +Cree Indians, 39, 46, 47, 49, 93. + + +Fort Bourbon, 92. + +Fort Dauphin, 92. + +Fort La Jonquiere, 108. + +Fort La Reine, 49, 68, 91, 107. + +Fort Maurepas, 31, 47, 107. + +Fort Michilimackinac, 19, 29. + +Fort Paskoyac, 93, 108. + +Fort Rouge, 49. + +Fort St Charles, 30, 37, 47, 107. + +Fort St Pierre, 30. + + +Good-looking Indians, 76, 77. + + +Horse Indians, 78. + + +Kaministikwia river, 15, 31, 37. + + +La Galissoniere, Marquis de, 95, 96, 99, 100. + +La Jemeraye, 19, 28, 29, 30; dies, 37. + +La Jonquiere, Marquis de, 100, 101. + +La Verendrye, Francois, 19, 65, 67, 74, 81; reaches Rocky Mountains, +84; 87, 92, 96, 97-106. + +La Verendrye, Jean-Baptiste, 19, 30, 36, 37; is killed by the Sioux, 40. + +La Verendrye, Louis, 36, 47. + +La Verendrye, Pierre, son of the elder Pierre, 19, 47, 74, 87. + +La Verendrye, Pierre Gaultier de, birth and childhood, 1-3; enters +army, 3; expedition against Deerfield, 4-7; raid on St John's, 7; +serves in War of Spanish Succession, and is made lieutenant, 8; returns +to Canada and enters fur trade, 9; determines to find the Western Sea, +14; marries Mlle Dandonneau, 14; commands trading-post on Fort Nipigon, +15; granted monopoly of Western fur trade as a means of financing his +Western expedition, 17-19; his first journey of exploration, 20-32; +returns to Montreal, 33-5; starts again for the West, 36; refuses to +revenge himself on the Sioux for the murder of his son, 46; with the +Assiniboines, 49-54; with the Mandans, 55-68; falls ill, 69; returns to +Assiniboines, 70; at Fort La Reine, 71, 72, 74, 92; returns to +Montreal, 94; given the rank of captain and decorated, 95; dies, 96; +112. + +Louviere, builds Fort Rouge, 49. + + +Mackenzie, Alexander, 109. + +Mandans, tribe of Indians, 44-67, 72, 73, 89. + +Messager, Father, 19, 30. + + +Niverville, 107-8. + +Noyelle, M. de, 94. + + +Ochagach, his story of the Western Sea, 15-16, 19. + + +Parkman, Francis, his description of Bow Indians, 81-3. + +People of the Little Cherry, 87-89. + + +Rainy Lake, fort built at, 29. + +Rocky Mountains, explorers reach, 85, 93, 108, 109. + +Rouville, Hertel de, guerilla leader, 4. + + +Saint-Pierre, Legardeur de, 96, 102-3, 104, 106-7, 109-11. + +Sioux Indians, 39-43, 46, 90, 91. + +Snake Indians, 80, 86, 88. + +Subercase, leader of raid on St John's, 8. + + +Three Rivers, 1-2. + + +Western Sea, 12-19, 21, 73, 93, 95, 109. + +Winnipeg, Lake, fort built at, 30-1. + + + + + Printed by T. and A. Constable, Printers to His Majesty + at the Edinburgh University Press + + + + + + +THE CHRONICLES OF CANADA + +THIRTY-TWO VOLUMES ILLUSTRATED + +Edited by GEORGE M. WRONG and H. H. LANGTON + + + +THE CHRONICLES OF CANADA + +PART I + +THE FIRST EUROPEAN VISITORS + +1. THE DAWN OF CANADIAN HISTORY + By Stephen Leacock. + +2. THE MARINER OF ST MALO + By Stephen Leacock. + + +PART II + +THE RISE OF NEW FRANCE + +3. THE FOUNDER OF NEW FRANCE + By Charles W. Colby. + +4. THE JESUIT MISSIONS + By Thomas Guthrie Marquis. + +5. THE SEIGNEURS OF OLD CANADA + By William Bennett Munro. + +6. THE GREAT INTENDANT + By Thomas Chapais. + +7. THE FIGHTING GOVERNOR + By Charles W. Colby. + + +PART III + +THE ENGLISH INVASION + +8. THE GREAT FORTRESS + By William Wood. + +9. THE ACADIAN EXILES + By Arthur G. Doughty. + +10. THE PASSING OF NEW FRANCE + By William Wood. + +11. THE WINNING OF CANADA + By William Wood. + + +PART IV + +THE BEGINNINGS OF BRITISH CANADA + +12. THE FATHER OF BRITISH CANADA + By William Wood. + +13. THE UNITED EMPIRE LOYALISTS + By W. Stewart Wallace. + +14. THE WAR WITH THE UNITED STATES + By William Wood. + + +PART V + +THE RED MAN IN CANADA + +15. THE WAR CHIEF OF THE OTTAWAS + By Thomas Guthrie Marquis. + +16. THE WAR CHIEF OF THE SIX NATIONS + By Louis Aubrey Wood. + +17. TECUMSEH: THE LAST GREAT LEADER OF HIS PEOPLE + By Ethel T. Raymond. + + +PART VI + +PIONEERS OF THE NORTH AND WEST + +18. THE 'ADVENTURERS OF ENGLAND' ON HUDSON BAY + By Agnes C. Laut. + +19. PATHFINDERS OF THE GREAT PLAINS + By Lawrence J. Burpee. + +20. ADVENTURERS OF THE FAR NORTH + By Stephen Leacock. + +21. THE RED RIVER COLONY + By Louis Aubrey Wood. + +22. PIONEERS OF THE PACIFIC COAST + By Agnes C. Laut. + +23. THE CARIBOO TRAIL + By Agnes C. Laut. + + +PART VII + +THE STRUGGLE FOR POLITICAL FREEDOM + +24. THE FAMILY COMPACT + By W. Stewart Wallace. + +25. THE 'PATRIOTES' OF '37 + By Alfred D. DeCelles. + +26. THE TRIBUNE OF NOVA SCOTIA + By William Lawson Grant. + +27. THE WINNING OF POPULAR GOVERNMENT + By Archibald MacMechan. + + +PART VIII + +THE GROWTH OF NATIONALITY + +28. THE FATHERS OF CONFEDERATION + By A. H. U. Colquhoun. + +29. THE DAY OF SIR JOHN MACDONALD + By Sir Joseph Pope. + +30. THE DAY OF SIR WILFRID LAURIER + By Oscar D. Skelton. + + +PART IX + +NATIONAL HIGHWAYS + +31. ALL AFLOAT + By William Wood. + +32. THE RAILWAY BUILDERS + By Oscar D. Skelton. + + + +TORONTO: GLASGOW, BROOK & COMPANY + + + + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Pathfinders of the Great Plains, by +Lawrence J. 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