Kitabı oku: «History of the Discovery of the Northwest by John Nicolet in 1634», sayfa 3
The Mascoutins, as we have seen, were heard of by Champlain as early as 1615, as being engaged in a war with the Neuter nation and the Ottawas. But, up to the time of Nicolet's visit, and for a number of years subsequent (as he gave no clue himself to their locality), they were only known as living two hundred leagues or more beyond the last mentioned tribe – that is, that distance beyond the south end of the Georgian bay of Lake Huron.73 Their villages were in the valley of the Fox river, probably in what is now Green Lake county, Wisconsin.74 They had, doubtless, for their neighbors, the Miamis75 and Kickapoos.76 They were a vigorous and warlike nation, of Algonquin stock, as were also the two tribes last mentioned. Nicolet, while among the Mascoutins, heard of the Wisconsin river, which was distant only three days' journey up the tortuous channel of the Fox. But the accounts given him of that tributary of the Mississippi were evidently very confused. A reference to the parent stream (confounded with the Wisconsin) as "the great water,"77 by the savages, caused him to believe that he was, in reality, but three days' journey from the sea; and so he reported after his return to the St. Lawrence.78 Strange to say, Nicolet resolved not to visit this ocean, although, as he believed, so near its shores.
He traveled no further upon the Fox river,79 but turned his course to the southward. And the Jesuits consoled themselves, when they heard of his shortcoming, with the hope that one day the western sea would be reached by one of their order.80 "In passing, I will say," wrote one of their missionaries, in 1640, "that we have strong indications that one can descend through the second lake of the Hurons … into this sea."81
But why should Nicolet leave the Fox river and journey away from the Mascoutins to the southward? The answer is, that, at no great distance, lived the Illinois.82 Their country extended eastward to Lake Michigan, and westward to the Mississippi, if not beyond it. This nation was of too much importance, and their homes too easy of access, for Nicolet not to have visited them.83 Upon the beautiful prairies of what is now the state bearing their name, was this tribe located, with some bands, probably nearly as far northward as the southern counties of the present State of Wisconsin. It is not known in how many villages of these savages he smoked the pipe of peace. From their homes he returned to the Winnebagoes.
Before Nicolet left the country, on his return to the St. Lawrence, he obtained knowledge of the Sioux – those traders from the west who, it will be remembered, were represented as coming in canoes upon a sea to the Winnebagoes; the same "sea," doubtless, he came so near to, but did not behold – the Wisconsin and Mississippi rivers! Although without beards, and having only a tuft of hair upon their crowns, these Sioux were no longer mandarins – no longer from China or Japan! Bands of this tribe had pushed their way across the Mississippi, far above the mouth of the Wisconsin, but made no further progress eastward. They, like the Winnebagoes, as previously stated, were of the Dakota family. Whether any of them were seen by Nicolet is not known;84 but he, doubtless, learned something of their real character. There was yet one tribe near the Winnebagoes to be visited – the Pottawattamies.85 They were located upon the islands at the mouth of Green bay, and upon the main land to the southward, along the western shores of Lake Michigan.86 On these Algonquins – for they were of that lineage – Nicolet, upon his return trip, made a friendly call.87 Their homes were not on the line of his outward voyage, but to the south of it. Nicolet gave no information of them which has been preserved, except that they were neighbors of the Winnebagoes.88
So Nicolet, in the spring of 1635,89 having previously made many friends in the far northwest for his countrymen upon the St. Lawrence, and for France, of nations of Indians, only a few of which had before been heard of, and none ever before visited by a white man; having been the first to discover Lake Michigan and "the territory northwest of the river Ohio;" having boldly struck into the wilderness for hundreds of leagues beyond the Huron villages – then the Ultima Thule of civilized discoveries; returned, with his seven dusky companions, by way of Mackinaw and along the south shores of the Great Manitoulin island to the home thereon of a band of Ottawas.90 He proceeded thence to the Hurons; retracing, afterward, his steps to the mouth of French river, up that stream to Lake Nipissing, and down the Mattawan and Ottawa to the St. Lawrence; journeying, upon his return, it is thought, with the savages upon their annual trading-voyage to the French settlements.91 And Nicolet's exploration was ended.92
CHAPTER IV.
NICOLET'S SUBSEQUENT CAREER AND DEATH
It is not difficult to imagine the interest which must have been awakened in the breast of Champlain upon the return of Nicolet to Quebec. With what delight he must have heard his recital of the particulars of the voyage! How he must have been enraptured at the descriptions of lakes of unknown extent; of great rivers never before heard of – never before seen by a Frenchman! How his imagination must have kindled when told of the numerous Indian nations which had been visited! But, above all, how fondly he hoped one day to bring all these distant countries under the dominion of his own beloved France! But the heart thus beating quick with pleasurable emotions at the prospects of future glory and renown, soon ceased its throbs. On Christmas day, 1635, Champlain died. In a chamber of the fort in Quebec, "breathless and cold, lay the hardy frame which war, the wilderness, and the sea had buffeted so long in vain."
The successor of Champlain was Marc Antoine de Bras-de-fer de Chasteaufort. He was succeeded by Charles Huault de Montmagny, who reached New France in 1636. With him came a considerable reinforcement; "and, among the rest, several men of birth and substance, with their families and dependents." But Montmagny found the affairs of his colony in a woful condition. The "Company of One Hundred" had passed its affairs into the hands of those who were wholly engrossed in the profits of trade. Instead of sending out colonists, the Hundred Associates "granted lands, with the condition that the grantees should furnish a certain number of settlers to clear and till them, and these were to be credited to the company." The Iroquois, who, from their intercourse with the Dutch and English traders, had been supplied with firearms, and were fast becoming proficient in their use, attacked the Algonquins and Hurons – allies of the French, interrupting their canoes, laden with furs, as they descended the St. Lawrence, killing their owners, or hurrying them as captives into the forests, to suffer the horrors of torture.
At a point to which was given the name of Sillery, four miles above Quebec, a new Algonquin mission was started; still, in the immediate neighborhood of the town, the dark forests almost unbroken frowned as gloomily as when, thirty years before, Champlain founded the future city. Probably, in all New France, the population, in 1640, did not much exceed two hundred, including women and children. On the eighteenth of May, 1642, Montreal began its existence. The tents of the founders were "inclosed with a strong palisade, and their altar covered by a provisional chapel, built, in the Huron mode, of bark." But the Iroquois had long before become the enemies of the French, sometimes seriously threatening Quebec. So, upon the Island of Montreal, every precaution was taken to avoid surprise. Solid structures of wood soon defied the attacks of the savages; and, to give greater security to the colonists, Montmagny caused a fort to be erected at the mouth of the Richelieu, in the following August. But the end of the year 1642 brought no relief to the Algonquins or Hurons, and little to the French, from the ferocious Iroquois.
It was not long after Nicolet's return to Quebec, from his visit to "the People of the Sea," and neighboring nations, before he was assigned to Three Rivers by Champlain, where he was to continue his office of commissary and interpreter; for, on the ninth of December, 1635, he "came to give advice to the missionaries who were dwelling at the mission that a young Algonquin was sick; and that it would be proper to visit him."93 And, again, on the seventh of the following month, he is found visiting, with one of the missionaries, a sick Indian, near the fort, at Three Rivers.94 His official labors were performed to the great satisfaction of both French and Indians, by whom he was equally and sincerely loved. He was constantly assisting the missionaries, so far as his time would permit, in the conversion of the savages, whom he knew how to manage and direct as he desired, and with a skill that could hardly find its equal. His kindness won their esteem and respect. His charity seemed, indeed, to know no bounds.95 As interpreter for one of the missionaries, he accompanied him from Three Rivers on a journey some leagues distant, on the twelfth of April, 1636, to visit some savages who were sick; thus constantly administering to their sufferings.96
Notwithstanding the colonists of New France were living in a state of temporal and spiritual vassalage, yet the daring Nicolet, and others of the interpreters of Champlain, although devout Catholics and friendly to the establishment of missions among the Indian nations, were not Jesuits, nor in the service of these fathers; neither was their's the mission work, in any sense, which was so zealously prosecuted by these disciples of Loyola. They were a small class of men, whose home – some of them – was the forest, and their companions savages. They followed the Indians in their roamings, lived with them, grew familiar with their language, allied themselves, in some cases, with their women, and often became oracles in the camp and leaders on the war-path. Doubtless, when they returned from their rovings, they often had pressing need of penance and absolution. Several of them were men of great intelligence and an invincible courage. From hatred of restraint, and love of wild and adventurous independence, they encountered privations and dangers scarcely less than those to which the Jesuit exposed himself from motives widely different: – he, from religious zeal, charity, and the hope of paradise; they, simply because they liked it. Some of the best families of Canada claim descent from this vigorous and hardy stock.97
"The Jesuits from the first had cherished the plan of a seminary for Huron boys at Quebec. The governor and the company favored the design; since not only would it be an efficient means of spreading the faith and attaching the tribe to the French interest, but the children would be pledges for the good behavior of the parents, and hostages for the safety of missionaries and traders in the Indian towns. In the summer of 1636, Father Daniel, descending from the Huron country, worn, emaciated, his cassock patched and tattered, and his shirt in rags, brought with him a boy, to whom two others were soon added; and through the influence of the interpreter, Nicolet, the number was afterward increased by several more. One of them ran away, two ate themselves to death, a fourth was carried home by his father, while three of those remaining stole a canoe, loaded it with all they could lay their hands upon, and escaped in triumph with their plunder."98
Nicolet frequently visited Quebec. Upon one of these occasions he had a narrow escape. He found the St. Lawrence incumbered with ice. Behind him there came so great a quantity of it that he was compelled to get out of his canoe and jump upon one of the floating pieces. He saved himself with much difficulty and labor. This happened in April, 1637.99 On the twenty-seventh of the same month Nicolet was present at Quebec, on the occasion of a deputation of Indians from Three Rivers waiting upon the governor, asking a favor at his hands promised by Champlain. He was consulted as to what the promise of the former governor was.100
In June, he was sent, it seems, up from the fort at Three Rivers to ascertain whether the Iroquois were approaching. He went as far as the river Des Prairies – the name for the Ottawa on the north side of the island of Montreal.101 In August, the enemy threatened Three Rivers in force. The French and Indians in the fort could not be decoyed into danger. However, a boat was sent up the St. Lawrence, conducted by Nicolet. The bark approached the place where the Iroquois were, but could not get within gun-shot; yet a random discharge did some execution. The enemy were judged to be about five hundred strong. Although the fort at Three Rivers was thus seriously threatened, no attack was made.102
On the seventh of October, 1637, Nicolet was married at Quebec to Marguerite Couillard, a god-child of Champlain.103 The fruit of this marriage was but one child – a daughter. Nicolet continued his residence at Three Rivers, largely employed in his official duties of commissary and interpreter, remaining there until the time of his death.104 In 1641, he, with one of the Jesuit fathers, was very busy in dealing with a large force of Iroquois that was threatening the place.105
About the first of October, 1642, Nicolet was called down to Quebec from Three Rivers, to take the place of his brother-in-law, M. Olivier le Tardiff, who was General Commissary of the Hundred Partners, and who sailed on the seventh of that month for France. The change was a very agreeable one to Nicolet, but he did not long enjoy it; for, in less than a month after his arrival, in endeavoring to make a trip to his place of residence to release an Indian prisoner in the possession of a band of Algonquins, who were slowly torturing him, his zeal and humanity cost him his life.106 On the 27th of October,107 he embarked at Quebec, near seven o'clock in the evening, in the launch of M. de Savigny, which was headed for Three Rivers. He had not yet reached Sillery, when a northeast squall raised a terrible tempest on the St. Lawrence and filled the boat. Those who were in it did not immediately go down; they clung some time to the launch. Nicolet had time to say to M. de Savigny, "Save yourself, sir; you can swim; I can not. I am going to God. I recommend to you my wife and daughter."108
The wild waves tore the men, one after another, from the boat, which had capsized and floated against a rock, and four, including Nicolet, sank to rise no more.109 M. de Savigny alone cast himself into the water, and swam among the waves, which were like small mountains. The launch was not very far from the shore, but it was pitch dark, and the bitter cold had covered the river banks with ice. Savigny, feeling his resolution and his strength failing him, made a vow to God, and a little after, reaching down with his feet, he felt the bottom, and stepping out of the water, he reached Sillery half dead. For quite a while he was unable to speak; then, at last, he recounted the fatal accident which, besides the death of Nicolet – disastrous to the whole country – had cost him three of his best men and a large part of his property. He and his wife suffered this great loss, in a barbarous country, with great patience and resignation to the will of God, and without losing any of their courage.110
The savages of Sillery, at the report of Nicolet's shipwreck, ran to the place, and not seeing him any where, displayed indescribable sorrow. It was not the first time he had exposed himself to danger of death for the good of the Indians. He had done so frequently. Thus perished John Nicolet, in the waters of the great river of Canada – the red man and the Frenchman alike mourning his untimely fate.111
Twelve days after the shipwreck, the prisoner to the Algonquins, for whose deliverance Nicolet started on his journey, arrived at Sillery – the commander at Three Rivers, following the order of the governor, having ransomed him. He was conducted to the hospital of the place to be healed of the injuries he had received from his captors. They had stripped the flesh from his arms, in some places to the bone. The nuns at the hospital cared for him with much sympathy, and cured him so quickly that in a month's time he was able to return to his country. All the neophytes showed him as much compassion and charity as the Algonquins had displayed of cruelty. They gave him two good, Christianized savages to escort him as far as the country of a neighboring tribe of his own, to the end that he might reach his home in safety.112
After the return of the French to Quebec, the Jesuits, as previously mentioned, were commissioned with the administration of spiritual affairs in New France. Some of these turned their attention to the Europeans; the rest were employed in missions among the savages. In the autumn of 1635, the residences and missions of Canada contained fifteen Fathers and five Brothers of the Society of Jesus. At Quebec, there were also formed two seculars – ecclesiastics. One of these was a brother of Nicolet.113 He had come from Cherbourg to join him upon the St. Lawrence; and, during his residence in the colony, which was continued to 1647, he was employed in visiting French settlements at a distance from Quebec.114 Another brother – Pierre – who was a navigator, also resided in Canada, but left the country some time after Nicolet's death.115 The widow of Nicolet was married at Quebec, in 1646, to Nicholas Macard.
Nicolet's discoveries, although not immediately followed up because of the hostility of the Iroquois and the lack of the spirit of adventure in Champlain's successor, caused, finally, great results. He had unlocked the door to the Far West, where, afterward, were seen the fur-trader, the voyageur, the Jesuit missionary, and the government agent. New France was extended to the Mississippi and beyond; yet Nicolet did not live to witness the progress of French trade and conquest in the countries he had discovered.
The name of the family of Nicolet appears to have been extinguished in Canada, with the departure of M. Gilles Nicolet, priest, already mentioned; but the respect which the worthy interpreter had deserved induced the people of Three Rivers to perpetuate his memory. The example had been given before his death. We read in the Relation of 1637 that the river St. John, near Montreal (now the river Jésus), took its name from John Nicolet. To-day Canada has the river, the lake, the falls, the village, the city, the college, and the county of Nicolet.116 From the United States – especially from the Northwest – equal honor is due.
"History can not refrain from saluting Nicolet as a disinterested traveler, who, by his explorations in the interior of America, has given clear proofs of his energetic character, and whose merits have not been disputed, although subsequently they were temporarily forgotten." The first fruits of his daring were gathered by the Jesuit fathers even before his death; for, in the autumn of 1641, those of them who were among the Hurons received a deputation of Indians occupying "the country around a rapid, in the midst of the channel by which Lake Superior empties into Lake Huron," inviting them to visit their tribe. These "missionaries were not displeased with the opportunity thus presented of knowing the countries lying beyond Lake Huron, which no one of them had yet traversed;" so Isaac Jogues and Charles Raymbault were detached to accompany the Chippewa deputies, and view the field simply, not to establish a mission. They passed along the shore of Lake Huron, northward, and pushed as far up St. Mary's strait as the "Sault," which they reached after seventeen days' sail from their place of starting. There they – the first white men to visit the Northwest after Nicolet – harangued two thousand of that nation, and other Algonquins. Upon their return to the St. Lawrence, Jogues was captured by the Iroquois, and Raymbault died on the twenty-second of October, 1642 – a few days before the death of Nicolet.
The Relation, it will be noticed, says, "had he sailed three days more," etc. This implies a sailing already of some days. But such could not have been the case had he been upon the Wisconsin; as that river is only one hundred and eighteen miles in length, below the portage, and the time of its canoe navigation between three and four days only; whereas, upon the Fox, it was nine days; six, from its mouth to the Mascoutins, as previously shown, and three from the Mascoutins to the Wisconsin.
The first white men who passed up the Fox river above the Mascoutins, were Louis Joliet and Father James Marquette, with five French attendants, in June, 1673. "We knew," says Marquette, "that there was, three leagues from Maskoutens [Mascoutins], a river [Wisconsin] emptying into the Mississippi; we knew, too, that the point of the compass we were to hold to reach it, was the west-southwest; but the way is so cut up by marshes, and little lakes, that it is easy to go astray, especially as the river leading to it is so covered by wild oats, that you can hardly discover the channel."
That Marquette, instead of "three leagues" intended to say "thirty leagues" or "three days," it is evident to any one acquainted with the Fox river from the "portage" down; besides, the mistake is afterward corrected in his narrative as well as on his map accompanying it, where the home of the Mascoutins is marked as indicated by Allouez in the Relation of 1670. See, also, the map of Joliet, before alluded to, as recently published by Gravier, where the same location is given. Joliet and Marquette were seven days in their journey from the Mascoutins to the Mississippi; this gave them three days upon the Fox and four upon the Wisconsin (including the delay at the portage). Canoes have descended from the portage in two days.
The Relation of 1670 (pp. 99, 100) says: "These people [the Mascoutins] are established in a very fine place, where we see beautiful plains and level country, as far as the eye reaches. Their river leads into a great river called Messisipi; [to which] their is a navigation of only six days."
But the question is evidently settled by the Relation of 1654 (p. 30), which says:
"It is only nine days' journey from this great lake [Green bay and Lake Michigan – 'Lac de gens de mer'] to the sea;" where "the sea," referred to, is, beyond doubt, identical with "la mer" of Nicolet.
"He told us wonderful things of New Mexico. 'I learned,' said he, 'that one can sail to that country by means of the seas which lie to the north of it. Two years ago, I explored all the southern coast from Virginia to Quinebiqui to try whether I could not find some large river or some large lake which should bring me to tribes having knowledge of this sea, which is northward from Mexico. Not having found any such in these countries, I entered into the Saguené region, to penetrate, if I could, with the savages of the locality, as far as to the northern sea.'
"In passing, I will say that we have strong indications that one can descend through the second lake of the Hurons [Lake Michigan and Green bay] and through the country of the nations we have named [as having been visited by Nicolet] into this sea which he [the Englishman] was trying to find." – Vimont, Relation, 1640, p. 35.
The Ottawas were first visited by Champlain. This was in the year 1615. They lived southwest of the Hurons. It was he who gave them the name Cheveux Relevés – Standing Hair. Sagard saw some of them subsequently, and calls them Andatahonats. See his "Histoire du Canada," p. 199.
Although, in the citation from the Relation of 1640, just given, the band of the Ottawas upon the Great Manitoulin are said to have "come from the nation of the Standing Hair," it does not fix the residence of those from whom they came as in the valley of the Ottawa river. On the contrary, Champlain, in his "Voyages" and Map, places them in an opposite direction, not far from the south end of the Nottawassaga bay of Lake Huron. Says J. G. Shea (Wis. Hist. Soc. Coll., III., 135): "There is no trace in the early French writers of any opinion then entertained that they [the Ottawas] had ever been [resided] in the valley of the Ottawa river. After the fall of the Hurons [who were cut off by the Iroquois a number of years subsequent to Nicolet's visit], when trade was re-opened with the west, all tribes there were called Ottawas, and the river, as leading to the Ottawa country, got the name."
"Il [Nicolet] … continua sa charge de Commis et Interprete [at Three Rivers] auec vne satisfaction grande des François et des Sauuages, desquels il estoit esgalement et vniquement aymé. Il conspiroit puissamment, autant que sa charge le permettoit, auec nos Peres, pour la conuersion de ces peuples, lesquels il sçauoit manier et tourner où il vouloit d'vne dexterité qui à peine trouuera son pareil." – Vimont, Relation, 1643, p. 4.
Compare, also, Relation, 1637, p. 24.
Nicolet's wife was a daughter of Guillaume Couillard and Guillemette Hébert. Nicolet's marriage contract was dated at Quebec, October 22, 1637, several days subsequent to his nuptials. This was not an uncommon thing in New France in early days, but has not been allowed in Canada for about a century past. The contract was drawn up by Guitet, a notary of Quebec. There were present François Derré de Gand, Commissaire-Général; Olivier le Tardif; Noël Juchereau; Pierre De la Porte; Guillaume Huboust; Guillaume Hébert; Marie Rollet aïeule de la future épouse; Claude Racine; Etienne Racine.
Nicolet's daughter afterwards married Jean-Baptiste le Gardeur de Repentigny, entering into a family which was one of the most considerable in French America. Her son, Augustin le Gardeur de Courtemanche, – "officier dans les troupes, se distingua, par de longs et utiles services dans l'ouest, fut un digne contemporain de Nicolas Perot, de même qu'un honorable rejeton de son grandpère Nicolet." – Sulte's "Mélanges d'Histoire et de Littérature," p. 446.
"Le 29 septembre 1642, aux Trois-Rivières, le Père Jean de Brebeuf baptista deux petites filles de race algonquine dont les parrains et marraines furent 'Jean Nicolet avec Perrette (nom indien), et Nicolas Marsolet (l'interprète), avec Marguerite Couillard, femme de M. Nicolet.'
"Le 7 octobre suivant eut lieu, à Québec, le départ des navires pour la France. (Relation, 1643, p. 46.) Cette Relation écrite vers la fin de l'été de 1643, raconte ce qui s'est passé après le départ des navires de 1642.
"Le sieur Olivier le Tardif partit pour la France cet automne, 1642, et fut remplacé à Québec, dans sa charge de commis-général de la compagnie des Cent-Associés, par son beau-frère Nicolet, qui descendit des Trois-Rivières expressément pour cela (Relation, 1643, p. 4), par conséquent entre le 29 septembre et le 7 octobre.
"Le 19 octobre, un sauvage d'une nation alliée aux Iroquois fut amené captif aux Trois-Rivières par les Algonquins de ce lieu, qui le condamnèrent à périr sur le bûcher. (Relation, 1643, p. 46.) Les Pères Jésuites et M. des Rochers, le commandant du fort, ayant épuisé tous les arguments qu'ils croyaient pouvoir employer pour induire ces barbares à ne pas faire mourir leur prisonnier, envoyèrent un messager à Québec avertir Nicolet de ce qui se passait et réclamer son assistance. (Relation, 1643, p. 4.)
"Ces pourparlers et ces démarches paraissent avoir occupé plusieurs jours.
"A cette nouvelle, Nicolet, n'écoutant que son cœur, s'embarqua à Québec, dans la chaloupe de M. Chavigny, vers les sept heures du soir. L'embarcation n'était pas arrivée à Sillery, qu'un coup de vent du nord-est qui avait soulevé une grosse tempête, la remplit d'eau et la coula à fond. M. de Chavigny seul se sauva. La nuit était très-noire et il faisait un froid âpre qui avait couvert de 'bordages' les rives du fleuve. (Relation, 1643, p. 4.)
"Dans ses Notes sur les registres de Notre-Dame de Québec, M. l'abbé Ferland nous donne le texte de l'acte qui suit: 'Le 29 octobre, on fit les funérailles de monsieur Nicollet et de trois hommes de M. de Chavigny, noyés dans une chaloupe qui allait de Québec à Sillery; les corps ne furent point trouvés.'
"M. de Chavigny demeurait à Sillery. Il est probable que Nicolet comptait repartir de là le lendemain, soit à la voile (en chaloupe) ou en canot d'ècorce, selon l'état du fleuve, pour atteindre les Trois-Rivières.
"Le captif des Algonquins ayant été délivré par l'entremise de M. des Rochers, arriva à Québec douze jours après le naufrage de Nicolet (Relation, 1643, p. 4), le 9 novembre (Relation, 1643, p. 44), ce qui fixerait au 27 ou 28 octobre la date demandée.
"Comme ce malheur eut lieu à la nuit close, pendant une tempête, il est raisonable de supposer que la recherche des cadavres ne put se faire que le lendemain, surtout lorsque nous songeons que Sillery n'est pas Quebec, quoiqu'assez rapproché. Le service funèbre dût être célébré le troisième jour, et non pas le lendemain de l'événement en question.
"J'adopte donc la date du lundi 27 octobre comme celle de la mort de Nicolet.
"Il est vrai que la Relation citée plus haut nous dit (p. 3) que le Père Charles Raymbault décéda le 22 octobre, et que la mort de Nicolet eut lieu dix jours après; mais l'acte du 29 octobre au registre de Québec renverse ce calcul de dix jours qui nous mènerait au 1er ou 2 novembre.
"La même Relation (p. 4) dit aussi que Nicolet périt un mois ou deux après son arrivée à Québec, tandis que nous voyons par ce que j'expose ci-dessus qu'il n'a guère été plus de trois semaines absent des Trois-Rivières avant de partir pour sa fatale expédition.
"La date du 27 octobre paraît irréfutable." – M. Sulte, in L'Opinion Publique, Montreal, July 24, 1879.
"Peu d'années après la mort de Jean Nicolet, les trifluviens donnaient déjà son nom à la rivière en question, malgré les soins que prenaient les fonctionnaires civils de ne désigner cet endroit que par les mots 'la rivière de Laubia ou la rivière Cressé.' M. de Laubia ne concéde la seigneurie qu'en 1672, et M. Cressé ne l'obtint que plus tard, mais avant ces deux seigneurs, la rivière portait le nom de Nicolet, et l'usage en prevalut en dépit des tentatives faites pour lui imposer d'autres dénominations."
