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CHAPTER II.
JOHN NICOLET, THE EXPLORER
As early as the year 1615, Champlain had selected a number of young men and put them in care of some of his Indian friends, to have them trained to the life of the woods – to the language, manners, customs, and habits of the savages. His object was to open, through them, as advisers and interpreters, friendly relations, when the proper time should come, with the Indian nations not yet brought in close alliance with the French. In 1618, an opportunity presented itself for him to add another young Frenchman to the list of those who had been sent to be trained in all the mysteries of savage life; for, in that year, John Nicolet2 arrived from France, and was dispatched to the woods.3 The new-comer was born in Cherbourg, in Normandy. His father, Thomas Nicolet, was a mail-carrier from that city to Paris. His mother's name was Marguerite de la Mer.4
Nicolet was a young man of good character, endowed with a profound religious feeling, and an excellent memory. He awakened in the breast of Champlain high hopes of usefulness, and was by him sent to the Algonquins of Isle des Allumettes, in the Ottawa river. These Indians were the same Algonquins that were visited by Champlain in 1613. They are frequently spoken of, in early annals of Canada, as Algonquins of the Isle. But all Algonquins, wherever found, were afterward designated as Ottawas by the French. To "the Nation of the Isle," then, was sent the young Norman, that he might learn their language, which was in general use upon the Ottawa river and upon the north bank of the St. Lawrence. With them he remained two years, following them in their wanderings, partaking of their dangers, their fatigues, and their privations, with a courage and fortitude equal to the boldest and the bravest of the tribe. During all this time, he saw not the face of a single white man. On several different occasions he passed a number of days without a morsel of food, and he was sometimes fain to satisfy the cravings of hunger by eating bark.5
Nicolet, while residing with the Algonquins of Isle des Allumettes, with whose language he had now become familiar, accompanied four hundred of those savages upon a mission of peace to the Iroquois. The voyage proved a successful one, Nicolet returning in safety. Afterward, he took up his residence among the Nipissings, with whom he remained eight or nine years. He was recognized as one of the nation. He entered into the very frequent councils of those savages. He had his own cabin and establishment, doing his own fishing and trading. He had become, indeed, a naturalized Nipissing.6 The mental activity displayed by him while sojourning among these savages may be judged of from the circumstance of his having taken notes descriptive of the habits, manners, customs, and numbers of the Nipissing Indians, written in the form of memoirs, which were afterward presented by him to one of the missionaries, who, doubtless, made good use of them in after-time in giving an account of the nation.7
Nicolet finally left the savages, and returned to civilization, being recalled by the government and employed as commissary and Indian interpreter.8 It is probable, however, that he had signified his desire to leave the Nipissings, as he could not live without the sacraments,9 which were denied him so long as he remained with them, there being no mission established in their country.10
Quebec having been reoccupied by the French, Nicolet took up his residence there. He was in high favor with Champlain, who could not but admire his remarkable adaptation to savage life – the result of his courage and peculiar temperament; at least, this admiration may be presumed, from the circumstance of his having, as the sequel shows, soon after sent him upon an important mission.
Whether Nicolet visited Quebec during his long residence among the Nipissing Indians is not known. Possibly he returned to the St. Lawrence in 1628, to receive orders from Champlain on account of the new state of things inaugurated by the creation of the system of 1627 – the Hundred Associates; but, in that event, he must have soon returned, for it is known that he remained with the Nipissings during the occupation of Quebec by the English – from July, 1629, to July, 1632. The month during which, in the early days of New France, the trade of the Ottawa was performed on the St. Lawrence, was July; and, in 1632, this trade was largely carried on where the city of Three Rivers now stands, but which was not then founded.11 The flotilla of bark canoes used to spend usually from eight to ten days in that place – seldom reaching Quebec. In the month and the year just mentioned, De Caen arrived in Canada; and he was, therefore, in the position to send word, by the assembled Indians, to the French who were living among the savages upon the Ottawa and the Georgian bay of Lake Huron, requesting their return to the St. Lawrence.
Champlain, in June, 1633, caused a small fort to be erected about forty miles above Quebec, for the rendezvous of the trading flotilla descending the St. Lawrence – to draw the market nearer Quebec. It was thus the St. Croix fort was established where the trade with the Indians would be much less likely to be interrupted by incursions of the Iroquois than at Three Rivers. At this time, one hundred and fifty Huron canoes arrived at the newly-chosen position, for traffic with the French. Possibly so great a number was the result of the change in the government of the colony – the return of the French to Quebec the preceding year. With this large fleet of canoes Nicolet probably returned to civilization; for it is certain that he was upon the St. Lawrence as early as June, 1634, ready to embark in an undertaking which, of necessity, would have caused so much consultation and preparation as to preclude the idea of his arrival, just then, from the Ottawa. An Indian interpreter – one well acquainted with the Algonquins of the Ottawa, and to a certain extent with the Hurons of Georgian bay – who could Champlain more safely depend upon than Nicolet to develop his schemes of exploration in the unknown western country, the door of which he had himself opened in previous years? Who was there better qualified than his young protégé, familiar as he was with the Algonquin and Huron-Iroquois tongues, to hold "talks" with savage tribes still further west, and smoke with them the pipe of peace – to the end that a nearer route to China and Japan might be discovered; or, at least, that the fur-trade might be made more profitable to the Hundred Associates? Surely, no one. Hence it was that Nicolet was recalled by the governor of Canada.
CHAPTER III.
NICOLET DISCOVERS THE NORTHWEST
Notwithstanding Champlain had previously ascended the Ottawa and stood upon the shores of the Georgian bay of Lake Huron, and although he had received from western Indians numerous reports of distant regions, his knowledge of the great lakes was, in 1634, exceedingly limited. He had heard of Niagara, but was of the opinion that it was only a rapid, such as the St. Louis, in the river St. Lawrence. He was wholly uninformed concerning Lake Erie, Lake St. Clair, and Lake Michigan; while, of Lake Huron, he knew little, and of Lake Superior still less. He was assured that there was a connection between the last-named lake and the St. Lawrence; but his supposition was, that a river flowed from Lake Huron directly into Lake Ontario. Such, certainly was the extent of his information in 1632, as proven by his map of that date;12 and that, for the next two years, he could have received much additional information concerning the great lakes is not probable.
He had early been told that near the borders of one of these "fresh-water seas," were copper mines; for, in June, 1610, while moving up the St. Lawrence to join a war-party of Algonquins, Hurons, and Montagnais, he met, after ascending the river about twenty-five miles above Quebec, a canoe containing two Indians – an Algonquin and a Montagnais – who had been dispatched to urge him to hasten forward with all possible speed. He entertained them on his bark, and conferred with them about many matters concerning their wars. Thereupon, the Algonquin savage drew from a sack a piece of copper, a foot long, which he gave Champlain. It was very handsome and quite pure. He said there were large quantities of the metal where he obtained the piece, and that it was found on the bank of a river near a great lake. He also declared that the Indians gathered it in lumps, and, having melted it, spread it in sheets, smoothing it with stones.13
Champlain had, also, early information that there dwelt in those far-off countries a nation which once lived upon the borders of a distant sea. These people were called, for that reason, "Men of the Sea," by the Algonquins. Their homes were less than four hundred leagues away. It was likewise reported that another people, without hair or beards, whose costumes and manners somewhat resembled the Tartars, came from the west to trade with this "sea-tribe." These more remote traders, as was claimed, made their journeys upon a great water in large canoes. The missionaries among the Hurons, as well as Champlain and the best informed of the French settlers upon the St. Lawrence, thought this "great water" must be a western sea leading to Asia.14 Some of the Indians who traded with the French were in the habit of going occasionally to barter with those "People of the Sea," distant from their homes five or six weeks' journey. A lively imagination on part of the French easily converted these hairless traders coming from the west into Chinese or Japanese; although, in fact, they were none other than the progenitors of the savages now known as the Sioux,15 while the "sea-tribe" was the nation called, subsequently, Winnebagoes.16 Upon these reports, the missionaries had already built fond expectations of one day reaching China by the ocean which washed alike the shores of Asia and America. And, as already noticed, Champlain, too, was not less sanguine in his hopes of accomplishing a similar journey.
Nicolet, while living with the Nipissings, must have heard many stories of the strange people so much resembling the Chinese, and doubtless his curiosity was not less excited than was Champlain's. But the great question, was, who should penetrate the wilderness to the "People of the Sea" – to "La Nation des Puants," as they were called by Champlain? Naturally enough, the eyes of the governor of Canada were fixed upon Nicolet as the man to make the trial. The latter had returned to Quebec, it will be remembered, and was acting as commissary and interpreter for the Hundred Associates. That he was paid by them and received his orders from them through Champlain, their representative, is reasonably certain. So he was chosen to make a journey to the Winnebagoes, for the purpose, principally, of solving the problem of a near route to China.17
If he should fail in discovering a new highway to the east in reaching these "People of the Sea," it would, in any event, be an important step toward the exploration of the then unknown west; and why should not the explorer, in visiting the various nations living upon the eastern and northern shores of Lake Huron, and beyond this inland sea, create friends among the savage tribes, in hopes that a regular trade in peltries might be established with them. To this end, he must meet them in a friendly way; have talks with them; and firmly unite them, if possible, to French interests. Champlain knew, from personal observation made while traveling upon the Ottawa and the shores of the Georgian bay of Lake Huron – from the reports of savages who came from their homes still further westward, and from what fur-traders, missionaries, and the young men sent by him among the savages to learn their languages (of whom Nicolet himself was a notable example) had heard that there were comparatively easy facilities of communication by water between the upper country and the St. Lawrence. He knew, also, that the proper time had come to send a trusty ambassador to these far-off nations; so, by the end of June, 1634, Nicolet, at Quebec, was ready to begin his eventful journey, at the command of Champlain.
"Opposite Quebec lies the tongue of land called Point Levi. One who, in the summer of the year 1634, stood on its margin and looked northward, across the St. Lawrence, would have seen, at the distance of a mile or more, a range of lofty cliffs, rising on the left into the bold heights of Cape Diamond, and on the right sinking abruptly to the bed of the tributary river St. Charles. Beneath these cliffs, at the brink of the St. Lawrence, he would have descried a cluster of warehouses, sheds, and wooden tenements. Immediately above, along the verge of the precipice, he could have traced the outlines of a fortified work, with a flag-staff and a few small cannon to command the river; while, at the only point where nature had made the heights accessible, a zigzag path connected the warehouses and the fort.
"Now, embarked in the canoe of some Montagnais Indian, let him cross the St. Lawrence, land at the pier, and, passing the cluster of buildings, climb the pathway up the cliff. Pausing for a rest and breath, he might see, ascending and descending, the tenants of this out-post of the wilderness: a soldier of the fort, or an officer in slouched hat and plume; a factor of the fur company, owner and sovereign lord of all Canada; a party of Indians; a trader from the upper country, one of the precursors of that hardy race of coureurs de bois, destined to form a conspicuous and striking feature of the Canadian population: next, perhaps, would appear a figure widely different. The close, black cassock, the rosary hanging from the waist, and the wide, black hat, looped up at the sides, proclaimed the Jesuit."18
There were in Canada, at this date, six of these Jesuits – Le Jeune, Masse, De Nouë, Daniel, Davost, and Brébeuf; to the last three had been assigned the Huron mission. On the first day of July, 1634, Daniel and Brébeuf left Quebec for Three Rivers, where they were to meet some Hurons. Davost followed three days after. About the same time another expedition started up the St. Lawrence, destined for the same place, to erect a fort. The Jesuits were bound for the scene of their future labors in the Huron country. They were to be accompanied, at least as far as Isle des Allumettes, by Nicolet on his way to the Winnebagoes.19
At Three Rivers, Nicolet assisted in a manner in the permanent foundation of the place, by helping to plant some of the pickets of the fort just commenced. The Hurons, assembled there for the purposes of trade, were ready to return to their homes, and with them the missionaries, as well as Nicolet, expected to journey up the Ottawa. The savages were few in number, and much difficulty was experienced in getting permits from them to carry so many white men, as other Frenchmen were also of the company. It was past the middle of July before all were on their way.
That Nicolet did not visit the Winnebagoes previous to 1634, is reasonably certain. Champlain would not, in 1632, have located upon his map Green bay north of Lake Superior, as was done by him in that year, had Nicolet been there before that date. As he was sent by Champlain, the latter must have had knowledge of his going; so that had he started in 1632, or the previous year, the governor would, doubtless, have awaited his return before noting down, from Indian reports only, the location of rivers and lakes and the homes of savage nations in those distant regions.
It has already been shown, that Nicolet probably returned to Quebec in 1633, relinquishing his home among the Nipissing Indians that year. And that he did not immediately set out at the command of Champlain to return up the Ottawa and journey thence to the Winnebagoes, is certain; as the savages from the west, then trading at the site of what is now Three Rivers, were in no humor to allow him to retrace his steps, even had he desired it.20
It may, therefore, be safely asserted that, before the year 1634, "those so remote countries," lying to the northward and northwestward, beyond the Georgian bay of Lake Huron, had never been seen by civilized man. But, did Nicolet visit those ulterior regions in 1634, returning thence in 1635? That these were the years of his explorations and discoveries, there can be no longer any doubt.21 After the ninth day of December, of the last-mentioned year, his continued presence upon the St. Lawrence is a matter of record, up to the day of his death, except from the nineteenth of March, 1638, to the ninth of January, 1639. These ten months could not have seen him journeying from Quebec to the center of what is now Wisconsin, and return; for, deducting those which could not have been traveled in because of ice in the rivers and lakes, and the remaining ones were too few for his voyage, considering the number of tribes he is known to have visited. Then, too, the Iroquois had penetrated the country of the Algonquins, rendering it totally unsafe for such explorations, even by a Frenchman. Besides, it may be stated that Champlain was no longer among the living, and that with him died the spirit of discovery which alone could have prompted the journey.
Furthermore, the marriage of Nicolet which had previously taken place, militates against the idea of his having attempted any more daring excursions among savage nations. As, therefore, he certainly traveled up the Ottawa, as far as Isle des Allumettes, in 1634,22 and as there is no evidence of his having been upon the St. Lawrence until near the close of the next year, the conclusion, from these facts alone, is irresistible that, during this period, he accomplished, as hereafter detailed, the exploration of the western countries; visited the Winnebagoes, as well as several neighboring nations, and returned to the St. Lawrence; all of which, it is believed, could not have been performed in one summer.23 But what, heretofore, has been a very strong probability, is now seen clearly to be a fact; as it is certainly known that an agreement for peace was made some time before June, 1635, between certain Indian tribes (Winnebagoes and Nez Percés), which, as the account indicates, was brought about by Nicolet in his journey to the Far West.24 that is to say, of the Nation of the Puants [Winnebagoes], who have broken the treaty of peace, and have killed two of their men, of whom they have made a feast."
25 Not so with the rest of the party. "Barefoot, lest their shoes should injure the frail vessel, each crouched in his canoe, toiling with unpracticed hands to propel it. Before him, week after week, he saw the same lank, unkempt hair, the same tawny shoulders, and long naked arms ceaselessly plying the paddle."26 A scanty diet of Indian-corn gave them little strength to assist in carrying canoes and baggage across the numerous portages. They were generally ill-treated by the savages, and only reached the Huron villages after great peril. Nicolet remained for a time at Isle des Allumettes, where he parted with Brébeuf.
To again meet "the Algonquins of the Isle" must have been a pleasure to Nicolet; but he could not tarry long with them. To the Huron villages, on the borders of Georgian bay, he was to go before entering upon his journey to unexplored countries. To them he must hasten, as to them he was first accredited by Champlain. He had a long distance to travel from the homes of that nation before reaching the Winnebagoes. There was need, therefore, for expedition. He must yet make his way up the Ottawa to the Mattawan, a tributary, and by means of the latter reach Lake Nipissing. Thence, he would float down French river to Georgian bay.27 And, even after this body of water was reached, it would require a considerable canoe navigation, coasting along to the southward, before he could set foot upon Huron territory. So Nicolet departed from the Algonquins of the Isle, and arrived safely at the Huron towns.28 Was he a stranger to this nation? Had he, during his long sojourn among the Nipissings, visited their villages? Certain it is he could speak their language. He must have had, while residing with the Algonquins, very frequent intercourse with Huron parties, who often visited Lake Nipissing and the Ottawa river for purposes of trade.29 But why was Nicolet accredited by Champlain to the Hurons at all? Was not the St. Lawrence visited yearly by their traders? It could not have been, therefore, to establish a commerce, with them. Neither could it have been to explore their country; for the voyageur, the fur-trader, the missionary, even Champlain himself, as we have seen, had already been at their towns. Was the refusal, a year previous, of their trading-parties at Quebec to take the Jesuits to their homes the cause of Nicolet's being sent to smoke the pipe of peace with their chiefs? This could not have been the reason, else the missionaries would not have preceded him from the Isle des Allumettes. He certainly had to travel many miles out of his way in going from the Ottawa to the Winnebagoes by way of the Huron villages. His object was, evidently, to inform the Hurons that the governor of Canada was anxious to have amicable relations established between them and the Winnebagoes, and to obtain a few of the nation to accompany him upon his mission of peace.30
It was now that Nicolet, after all ceremonies and "talks" with the Hurons were ended, began preparations for his voyage to the Winnebagoes. He was to strike boldly into undiscovered regions. He was to encounter savage nations never before visited. It was, in reality, the beginning of a voyage full of dangers – one that would require great tact, great courage, and constant facing of difficulties. No one, however, understood better the savage character than he; no Frenchman was more fertile of resources. From the St. Lawrence, he had brought presents to conciliate the Indian tribes which he would meet. Seven Hurons were to accompany him.31 Before him lay great lakes; around him, when on land, would frown dark forests. A birch-bark canoe was to bear the first white man along the northern shore of Lake Huron, and upon Saint Mary's strait32 to the falls – "Sault Sainte Marie;" many miles on Lake Michigan; thence, up Green bay to the homes of the Winnebagoes:33 and that canoe was to lead the van of a mighty fleet indeed, as the commerce of the upper lakes can testify. With him, he had a number of presents.
What nations were encountered by him on the way to "the People of the Sea," from the Huron villages? Three – all of Algonquin lineage – occupied the shores of the Georgian bay, before the mouth of French river had been reached. Concerning them, little is known, except their names.34 Passing the river which flows from Lake Nipissing, Nicolet "upon the same shores of this fresh-water sea," that is, upon the shores of Lake Huron, came next to "the Nation of Beavers,"35 whose hunting-grounds were northward of the Manitoulin islands.36 This nation was afterward esteemed among the most noble of those of Canada. They were supposed to be descended from the Great Beaver, which was, next to the Great Hare, their principal divinity. They inhabited originally the Beaver islands, in Lake Michigan; afterward the Manitoulin islands; then they removed to the main-land, where they were found by Nicolet. Farther on, but still upon the margin of the great lake, was found another tribe.37 This people, and the Amikoüai, were of the Algonquin family, and their language was not difficult to be understood by Nicolet. Entering, finally, St. Mary's strait, his canoes were urged onward for a number of miles, until the falls – Sault de Sainte Marie38– were reached: and there stood Nicolet, the first white man to set foot upon any portion of what was, more than a century and a half after, called "the territory northwest of the river Ohio,"39 now the States of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, and Wisconsin, and so much of Minnesota as lies east of the Mississippi river.
Among "the People of the Falls,"40 at their principal village, on the south side of the strait, at the foot of the rapids,41 in what is now the State of Michigan,42 Nicolet and his seven Hurons rested from the fatigues of their weary voyage.43 They were still with Algonquins. From Lake Huron they had entered upon one of the channels of the magnificent water-way leading out from Lake Superior, and threaded their way, now through narrow rapids, now across (as it were) little lakes, now around beautiful islands, to within fifteen miles of the largest expanse of fresh water on the globe – stretching away in its grandeur to the westward, a distance of full four hundred miles.44 Nicolet saw beyond him the falls; around him clusters of wigwams, which two centuries and a half have changed into public buildings and private residences, into churches and warehouses, into offices and stores – in short, into a pleasantly-situated American village,45 frequently visited by steamboats carrying valuable freight and crowded with parties of pleasure. The portage around the falls, where, in early times, the Indian carried his birch-bark canoe, has given place to an excellent canal. Such are the changes which "the course of empire" continually brings to view in "the vast, illimitable, changing west."
Nicolet tarried among "the People of the Falls," probably, but a brief period. His voyage, after leaving them, must have been to him one of great interest. He returned down the strait, passing, it is thought, through the western "detour" to Mackinaw.46 Not very many miles brought him to "the second fresh-water sea," Lake Michigan.47 He is fairly entitled to the honor of its discovery; for no white man had ever before looked out upon its broad expanse. Nicolet was soon gliding along upon the clear waters of this out-of-the-way link in the great chain of lakes. The bold Frenchman fearlessly threaded his way along its northern shore, frequently stopping upon what is now known as "the upper peninsula" of Michigan, until the bay of Noquet48 was reached, which is, in reality, a northern arm of Green bay.49 Here, upon its northern border, he visited another Algonquin tribe;50 also one living to the northward of this "small lake."51 These tribes never navigated those waters any great distance, but lived upon the fruits of the earth.52 Making his way up Green bay, he finally reached the Menomonee river, its principal northern affluent.53
In the valley of the Menomonee, Nicolet met a populous tribe of Indians – the Menomonees.54 To his surprise, no doubt, he found they were of a lighter complexion than any other savages he had ever seen. Their language was difficult to understand, yet it showed the nation to be of the Algonquin stock. Their food was largely of wild rice, which grew in great abundance in their country. They were adepts in fishing, and hunted, with skill, the game which abounded in the forests. They had their homes and hunting grounds upon the stream which still bears their name.55
Nicolet soon resumed his journey toward the Winnebagoes, who had already been made aware of his near approach; for he had sent forward one of his Hurons to carry the news of his coming and of his mission of peace. The messenger and his message were well received. The Winnebagoes dispatched several of their young men to meet the "wonderful man." They go to him – they escort him – they carry his baggage.56 He was clothed in a large garment of Chinese damask, sprinkled with flowers and birds of different colors.57 But, why thus attired? Possibly, he had reached the far east; he was, really, in what is now the State of Wisconsin.58 Possibly, a party of mandarins would soon greet him and welcome him to Cathay. And this robe – this dress of ceremony – was brought all the way from Quebec, doubtless, with a view to such contingency. As soon as he came in sight, all the women and children fled, seeing a man carrying thunder in his two hands; for thus it was they called his pistols, which he discharged on his right and on his left.59 He was a manito! Nicolet's journey was, for the present, at an end. He and his Huron's "rested from their labors," among the Winnebagoes,60 who were located around the head of Green bay,61 contiguous to the point where it receives the waters of Fox river.62 Nicolet found the Winnebagoes a numerous and sedentary people,63 speaking a language radically different from any of the Algonquin nations, as well as from the Hurons.64 They were of the Dakota stock.65 The news of the Frenchman's coming spread through the country. Four or five thousand people assembled of different tribes.66 Each of the chiefs gave a banquet. One of the sachems regaled his guests with at least one hundred and twenty beavers.67 The large assemblage was prolific of speeches and ceremonies. Nicolet did not fail to "speak of peace" upon that interesting occasion.68 He urged upon the nation the advantages of an alliance, rather than war, with the nations to the eastward of Lake Huron. They agreed to keep the peace with the Hurons, Nez Percés, and, possibly, other tribes; but, soon after Nicolet's return, they sent out war parties against the Beaver nation. Doubtless the advantages of trade with the colony upon the St. Lawrence were depicted in glowing colors by the Frenchman. But the courageous Norman was not satisfied with a visit to the Winnebagoes only. He must see the neighboring tribes. So he ascended the Fox river of Green bay, to Winnebago lake – passing through which, he again entered that stream, paddling his canoe up its current, until he reached the homes of the Mascoutins,69 the first tribe to be met with after leaving the "Winnebagoes; for the Sacs70 and Foxes71 were not residents of what is now Wisconsin at that period, – their migration thither, from the east, having been at a subsequent date. Nicolet had navigated the Fox river, a six-days' journey, since leaving the Winnebagoes.72
There is no complete translation of the Relations into the English language. Numerous extracts from the originals bearing particularly upon the West – especially upon what is now Wisconsin – were made some years since by Cyrus Woodman, of Mineral Point, translations of which are to be found in Smith's history of that State, Vol. III., pp. 10-112. But none of these are from the Relation of 1643 – the most important one in its reference to Nicolet and his visit to the Northwest.
"On his [Nicolet's] first arrival [in New France], by orders of those who presided over the French colony of Quebec, he spent two whole years among the Algonquins of the island, for the purpose of learning their language, without any Frenchman as companion, and in the midst of those hardships, which may be readily conceived, if we will reflect what it must be to pass severe winters in the woods, under a covering of cedar or birch bark; to have one's means of subsistence dependent upon hunting; to be perpetually hearing rude outcries; to be deprived of the pleasant society of one's own people; and to be constantly exposed, not only to derision and insulting words, but even to daily peril of life. There was a time, indeed, when he went without food for a whole week; and (what is really wonderful) he even spent seven weeks without having any thing to eat but a little bark." – Du Creux, Historia Canadensis, Paris, 1664, p. 359. "Probably," says Margry, "he must, from time to time, have added some of the lichen which the Canadians call rock tripe." —Journal Général de l'Instruction Publique, Paris, 1862.
"As for the towns in Canada, there are but three of any considerable figure. These are Quebec, Montreal, and Trois Rivieres [Three Rivers]… Trois Rivieres is a town so named from its situation at the confluence of three rivers, one whereof is that of St. Lawrence, and lies almost in the midway between Quebec and Montreal. It is said to be a well-built town, and considerable mart, where the Indians exchange their skins and furs for European goods." —An Account of the French Settlements in North America, Boston, 1746, pp. 12, 14.
"Three Rivers, or Trois Rivieres, is a town of Canada East, at the confluence of the rivers St. Maurice and St. Lawrence, ninety miles from Quebec, with which it is connected by electric telegraph, and on the line of the proposed railway thence to Montreal. It is one of the oldest towns in Canada, and was long stationary as regarded enterprise or improvement; but recently it has become one of the most prosperous places in the province – a change produced principally by the commencement of an extensive trade in lumber on the river St. Maurice and its tributaries, which had heretofore been neglected, and also by increased energy in the manufacture of iron-ware, for which the St. Maurice forges, about three miles distant from the town, have always been celebrated in Canada. Three Rivers is the residence of a Roman Catholic bishop, whose diocese bears the same name; and contains a Roman Catholic cathedral, a church of England, a Scotch kirk, and a Wesleyan chapel, an Ursuline convent, with a school attached, where over two hundred young females are educated; two public and several private schools, a mechanics' institute, a Canadian institute, and a Young Men's Improvement, and several other societies. It sends a member to the provincial parliament. Population in 1852, was 4,966; in 1861, 6,058. The district of Three Rivers embraces both sides of the St. Lawrence, and is subdivided into four counties." —Lippincott's Gazetteer, Philadelphia, 1874.
"The Sioux, or Dakotah [Dakota], … were [when first visited by civilized men] a numerous people, separated into three great divisions, which were again subdivided into bands… [One of these divisions – the most easterly – was the Issanti.] The other great divisions, the Yanktons and the Tintonwans, or Tetons, lived west of the Mississippi, extending beyond the Missouri, and ranging as far as the Rocky Mountains. The Issanti cultivated the soil; but the extreme western bands lived upon the buffalo alone…
"The name Sioux is an abbreviation of Nadoucssioux, an Ojibwa [Chippewa] word, meaning enemies. The Ojibwas used it to designate this people, and occasionally, also, the Iroquois – being at deadly war with both." – Parkman's "La Salle and the Discovery of the Great West" (revised ed.), p. 243, note.
"Quelques François les appellant la Nation des Puans, à cause que le mot Algonquin ouinipeg signifie eau puante; or ils nomment ainsi l'eau de la mer salée, si bien que ces peuples se nomment Ouinipigou, pource qu'ils viennent des bords d'vne mer dont nous n'auons point de cognoissance, et par consequent il ne faut pas les appeller la nation des Puans, mais la nation de la mer." The same is reiterated in the Relations of 1648 and 1654. Consult, in this connection, Smith's "History of Wisconsin," Vol. III., pp. 11, 15, 17. To John Gilmary Shea belongs the credit of first identifying the "Ouinipigou," or "Gens de Mer," of Vimont (Relation, 1640), with the Winnebagoes. See his "Discovery and Exploration of the Mississippi Valley," 1853, pp. 20, 21.
It was the identification by Mr. Shea, of the Winnebagoes as the "Ouinipigou," or "Gens de Mer," of the Relations, that enabled him to call the attention of the public to the extent of the discoveries of Nicolet. The claims of the latter, as the discoverer of the Northwest, were thus, for the first time, brought forward on the page of American history.
"On the 18th of June [1635], the chief of the Nez Percés, or Beaver Nation, which is three days' journey from us [the Jesuit missionaries, located at the head of Georgian bay of Lake Huron], came to demand of us some one of our Frenchmen to go with them to pass the summer in a fort which they have made, by reason of the fear which they have of the Aweatiswaenrrhonon;138138
The figure 8 which occurs in this word in the Relation of 1636, is supposed to be equivalent, in English, to "w," "we," or "oo."
A "portage" is a place, as is well known, where parties had to "port" their baggage in order to reach the next navigable water.
The Hurons and Nipissings were, at that date, great friends, having constant intercourse, according to all accounts of those days.
"Pendant qu'il exerçoit cette charge, il [Nicolet] fut delegué pour faire vn voyage en la nation appellée des Gens de Mer, et traitter la paix auec eux et les Hurons, desquels il sont esloignés, tirant, vers l'Oüest, d'enuiron trois cents lieuës."
"In the years 1611 and 1612, he [Champlain] ascended the Grand river [Ottawa] as far as Lake Huron, called the Fresh sea [La Mer Douce]; he went thence to the Petun [Tobacco] Nation, next to the Neutral Nation and to the Macoutins [Mascoutins], who were then residing near the place called the Sakiman [that part of the present State of Michigan lying between the head of Lake Erie and Saginaw bay, on Lake Huron]; from that he went to the Algonquin and Huron tribes, at war against the Iroquois [Five Nations]. He passed by places he has, himself, described in his book [Les Voyages De La Novvelle France, etc., 1632], which are no other than Detroit [i. e., "the straight," now called Detroit river] and Lake Erie." —Mem. of M. de Denonville, May 8, 1688.
The reader is referred to Champlain's Map of 1632, and to "his book" of the same date, for a complete refutation of the assertion as to his visiting, at any time before that year, the Mascoutins. In 1632, Champlain, as shown by his map of that year, had no knowledge whatever of Lake Erie or Lake St. Clair, nor had he previously been so far west as Detroit river. It is, of course, well known, that he did not go west of the St. Lawrence during that year or subsequent to that date. Locating the Mascoutins "near the place called the Sakiman," is as erroneous as that Champlain ever visited those savages. The reported distance between him when at the most westerly point of his journeyings and the Mascoutins is shown by himself: "After having visited these people [the Tobacco Nation, in December, 1615] we left the place and came to a nation of Indians which we have named the Standing Hair [Ottawas], who were very much rejoiced to see us again [he had met them previously on the Ottawa river], with whom also we formed a friendship, and who, in like manner, promised to come and find us and see us at the said habitation. At this place it seems to me appropriate to give a description of their country, manners, and modes of action. In the first place, they make war upon another nation of Indians, called the Assistagueronon, which means nation of fire [Mascoutins], ten days distant from them." —Voyages, 1632, I., p. 262 [272].
Upon his map of 1632, Champlain speaks of the "discoveries" made by him "in the year 1614 and 1615, until in the year 1618" – "of this great lake [Huron], and of all the lands from the Sault St. Louis [the rapids in the St. Lawrence];" – but he nowhere intimates that he had made discoveries west of that lake. It is, therefore, certain that the first white man who ever saw or explored any portion of the territory forming the present State of Michigan was John Nicolet – not Champlain. Compare Parkman's "Pioneers of France in the New World," Chap. XIV., and map illustrative of the text.
By the French, these tribes, collectively, were called Sauteurs; but they were known to the Iroquois as Estiaghicks, or Stiagigroone – the termination, roone, meaning men, being applied to Indians of the Algonquin family. They were designated by the Sioux as Raratwaus or "people of the falls." They were the ancestors of the modern Otchipwes, or Ojibwas (Chippewas).
"I'ay dit qu'à l'entrée du premier de ces Lacs se rencontrent les Hurons; les quittans pour voguer plus haut dans le lac, on truue au Nord les Ouasouarim, plus haut sont les Outchougai, plus haut encore à l'embouchure du fleuue qui vient du Lac Nipisin sont les Atchiligoüan. Au delà sur les mesmes riues de ceste mer douce sont les Amikoüai, ou la nation du Castor, au Sud desquels est vne Isle dans ceste mer douce longue d'enuiron trente lieuës habitée des Outaouan, ce sont peuples venus de la nation des cheueux releuez. Apres les Amikoüai sur les mesmes riues du grand lac sont les Oumisagai, qu'on passe pour venir à Baouichtigouin, c'est à dire, à la nation des gens du Sault, pource qu'en effect il y a vn Sault qui se iette en cet endroit dans la mer douce."
"Passant ce plus petit lac, on entre dans la seconde mer douce, sur les riues de laquelle sont les Maroumine." – Vimont, Relation, 1640, p. 35.
"Ils [Nicolet and his seven Hurons] passerent par quantité de petites nations, en allant et en reuenant; lors qu'ils y arriuoient, ils fichoient deux bastons en terre, auquel ils pendoient des presens, afin d'oster à ces peuples la pensée de les prendre pour ennemis et de les massacrer. A deux iournées de cette nation, il enuoya vn de ces Sauuages porter la nouuelle de la paix, laquelle fut bien receuë, nommément quand on entendit que c'estoit vn European qui portoit la parole. On depescha plusieurs ieunes gens pour aller au deuant du Manitouiriniou, c'est à dire de l'homme merueilleux; on y vient, on le conduit, on porte tout son bagage."
Compare Shea's Discovery and Exploration of the Mississippi, pp. 6 (note) and 268; Foster's Mississippi Valley, p. 2 (note); Schoolcraft's Thirty Years with the Indian Tribes, p. 220 and note.
Two definitions of the word are current – as widely differing from each other as from the one just given. (See Wis. Hist. Soc. Coll., Vol. I., p. 111, and Webster's Dic., Unabridged, p. 1632.) The first – "the gathering of the waters" – has no corresponding words in Algonquin at all resembling the name; the same may be said of the second – "wild rushing channel." (See Otchipwe Dic. of Rev. F. Baraga.)
Since first used by the French, the word "Wisconsin" has undergone considerable change. On the map by Joliet, recently brought to light by Gravier, it is given as "Miskonsing." In Marquette's journal, published by Thevenot, in Paris, 1681, it is noted as the "Meskousing." It appeared there for the first time in print. Hennepin, in 1683, wrote "Onisconsin" and "Misconsin;" Charlevoix, 1743, "Ouisconsing;" Carver, 1766, "Ouisconsin" (English – "Wisconsin"): since which last mentioned date, the orthography has been uniform.
Du Creux (Hist. Canada, p. 360) has this rendering of Vimont's language: "He [Nicolet] carried in each hand a small pistol. When he had discharged these (for he must have done this, though the French author does not mention the fact), the more timid persons, boys and women, betook themselves to flight, to escape as quickly as possible from a man who (they said) carried the thunder in both his hands." And thus Parkman ("Discovery of the Great West," p. xx.): "[Nicolet] advanced to meet the expectant crowd with a pistol in each hand. The squaws and children fled, screaming that it was a manito, or spirit, armed with thunder and lightning."
By the Hurons, this nation was known as A8eatsi8aenrrhonon (Relation, 1636, p. 92); by the Sioux, as Ontonkah; but they called themselves Otchagras, Hochungara, Ochungarand, or Horoji.
… "Nous auons aussi pensé d'appliquer quelques-vns à la connoissance de nouuelles langues. Nous iettions les yeux sur trois autres des Peuples plus voisins: sur celle des Algonquains, espars de tous costez, et au Midy, et au Septentrion de nostre grand Lac; sur celle de la Nation neutre, qui est vne maistresse porte pour les païs meridionaux, et sur celle de la Nation des Puants, qui est vn passage des plus considerables pour les païs Occidentaux, vn peu plus Septentrionaux."
"We [the missionaries] have also thought of applying ourselves, some of us, to the task of acquiring a knowledge of new languages. We turn our eyes on three other nations nearer: on that of the Algonquins, scattered on every side, both to the south and north of our great lake [Huron]; on that of the Neuter nation, which affords a principal entrance to the countries on south; and on that of the nation of the Puants [Winnebagoes], which is one of the more important thoroughfares to the western countries, a little more northern."
The river leaves Winnebago lake in two channels, at the cities of Menasha and Neenah, flowing in a westerly course to the Little Butte Des Morts lake, and through the latter in a north course, when it soon takes a northeasterly direction, which it holds until it empties into the head of Green bay. The stream gets its name from the Fox tribe of Indians formerly residing in its valley. Upon Champlain's map of 1632, it is noted as "Riviere des Puans;" that is, "River of the Puans" – Winnebago river. The name Neenah (water), sometimes applied to it, is a misnomer.
But this number is lessened somewhat by the Relation of 1656 (p. 39):
"Vn François m'a dit autrefois, qu'il auoit veu trois mille hommes dans vne assemblée qui se fit pour traiter de paix, au Païs des gens de Mer."
"A Frenchman [Nicolet] told me some time ago, that he had seen three thousand men together in one assemblage, for the purpose of making a treaty of peace in the country of the People of the Sea [Winnebagoes]."
"The Fire Nation bears this name erroneously, calling themselves Maskoutench, which signifies 'a land bare of trees,' such as that which these people inhabit; but because by the change of a few letters, the same word signifies, 'fire,' from thence it has come that they are called the 'Fire Nation.'" —Relation, 1671, p. 45.
"The 16th of April [1670], I embarked to go and commence the mission of the Outagamis [Fox Indians], a people well known in all these parts. We were lying at the head of the bay [Green bay], at the entrance of the River of the Puants [Fox river], which we have named 'St. Francis;' in passing, we saw clouds of swans, bustards, and ducks; the savages take them in nets at the head of the bay, where they catch as many as fifty in a night; this game, in the autumn, seek the wild rice that the wind has shaken off in the month of September.
"The 17th [of April of the same year], we went up the River St. Francis [the Fox] – two and sometimes three arpens wide. After having advanced four leagues, we found the village of the savages named Saky [Sacs, Saukis, or Sauks], who began a work that merits well here to have its place. From one side of the river to the other, they made a barricade, planting great stakes, two fathoms from the water, in such a manner that there is, as it were, a bridge above for the fishers, who, by the aid of a little bow-net, easily take sturgeons and all other kinds of fish which this pier stops, although the water does not cease to flow between the stakes. They call this device Mitihikan ["Mitchiganen" or "Machihiganing," now "Michigan"]; they make use of it in the spring and a part of the summer.
"The 18th [of the same month], we made the portage which they call Kekaling [afterwards variously spelled, and pronounced "Cock-o-lin;" meaning, it is said, the place of the fish. In the fall of 1851, a village was laid out there, which is known as Kaukauna]; our sailors drew the canoe through the rapids; I walked on the bank of the river, where I found apple-trees and vine stocks [grape vines] in abundance.
"The 19th [April], our sailors ascended the rapids, by using poles, for two leagues. I went by land as far as the other portage, which they call Oukocitiming; that is to say, the highway. We observed this same day the eclipse of the sun, predicted by the astrologers, which lasted from mid-day until two o'clock. The third, or near it, of the body of the sun appeared eclipsed; the other two-thirds formed a crescent. We arrived, in the evening, at the entrance of the Lake of the Puants [Winnebago lake], which we have called Lake St. Francis; it is about twelve leagues long and four wide; it is situated from north-northeast to south-southwest; it abounds in fish, but uninhabited, on account of the Nardoüecis [Sioux], who are here dreaded.
"The 20th [of April, 1670], which was on Sunday, I said mass, after having navigated five or six leagues in the lake; after which, we arrived in a river [the Fox, at what is now Oshkosh], that comes from a lake of wild rice [Big Butte Des Morts lake], which we came into; at the foot [head] of which we found the river [the Wolf] which leads to the Outagamis [Fox Indians] on one side, and that [the Fox] which leads to the Machkoutenck [Mascoutins] on the other. We entered into the former [the Wolf]…
"The 29th [of April of the same year, having returned from the Fox Indians living up the Wolf river], we entered into the [Fox] river, which leads to the Machkoutench [Mascoutins], called Assista Ectaeronnons, Fire Nation ["Gens de Feu"], by the Hurons. This [Fox] river is very beautiful, without rapids or portages [above the mouth of the Wolf]; it flows to [from] the southwest.
"The 30th [of April, 1670], having disembarked opposite the village [of the Mascoutins], and left our canoe at the water's edge, after a walk of a league, over beautiful prairies, we perceived the fort [of the Mascoutins]."
