Chevalier La Salle The Explorer Of The Mississippi
There are two great explorers whose names have been made famous by their
association with the mighty river of the West, the Mississippi, or
Father of Waters,--De Soto, the discoverer, and La Salle, the explorer,
of that stupendous stream. Among all the rivers of the earth the
Mississippi ranks first. It has its rivals in length and volume, but
stands without a rival as a noble channel of commerce, the pride of the
West
by De Soto, the Spanish adventurer; we have now to tell that of its
exploration by La Salle, the French chevalier.
Let us say here that though the honor of exploring the Mississippi has
been given to La Salle, he was not the first to traverse its waters. The
followers of De Soto descended the stream from the Arkansas to its mouth
in 1542. Father Marquette and Joliet, the explorer, descended from the
Wisconsin to the Arkansas in 1673. In 1680 Father Hennepin, a Jesuit
missionary sent by La Salle, ascended the stream from the Illinois to
the Falls of St. Anthony. Thus white men had followed the great river
for nearly its whole length. But the greatest of all these explorers and
the first to traverse the river for the greater part of its course, was
the Chevalier Robert de la Salle, and to his name is given the glory of
revealing this grand stream to mankind.
Never was there a more daring and indefatigable explorer than Robert de
la Salle. He seemed born to make new lands and new people known to the
world. Coming to Canada in 1667, he began his career by engaging in the
fur trade on Lake Ontario. But he could not rest while the great
interior remained unknown. In 1669 he made an expedition to the west and
south, and was the first white man to gaze on the waters of the swift
Ohio. In 1679 he launched on the Great Lakes the first vessel that ever
spread its sails on those mighty inland seas, and in this vessel, the
Griffin, he sailed through Lakes Erie, Huron, and Michigan.
La Salle next descended the Illinois River, and built a fort where the
city of Peoria now stands. But his vessel was wrecked, and he was forced
to make his way on foot through a thousand miles of wilderness to obtain
supplies at Montreal. Such was the early record of this remarkable man,
and for two years afterward his life was full of adventure and
misfortune. At length, in 1682, he entered upon the great performance of
his life, his famous journey upon the bosom of the Father of Waters.
It was midwinter when La Salle and his men set out from the lakes with
their canoes. On the 4th of January, 1682, they reached the mouth of the
Chicago River, where its waters enter Lake Michigan. The river was
frozen hard, and they had to build sledges to drag their large and heavy
canoes down the ice-closed stream. Reaching the portage to the Illinois,
they continued their journey across the bleak and snowy waste,
toilsomely dragging canoes, baggage, and provisions to the other stream.
Here, too, they found a sheet of ice, and for some days longer trudged
down the channel of the silent and dreary stream. Its banks had been
desolated by Indian wars, and where once many flourishing villages rose
there were to be seen only ashes and smoke-blackened ruins.
About the 1st of February they reached Crevecoeur, the fort La Salle
had built some years earlier. Below this point the stream was free from
ice, and after a week's rest the canoes were launched on the liquid
surface. They were not long in reaching the point where the Illinois
buries its waters in the mighty main river, the grave of so many broad
and splendid streams.
Past the point they had now reached the Mississippi poured swiftly
downward, its waters swollen, and bearing upon them great sheets of ice,
the contribution of the distant north. It was no safe channel for their
frail birch-bark canoes, and they were obliged to wait a week till the
vast freightage of ice had run past. Then, on the 13th of February,
1682, they launched their canoes on the great stream, and began their
famous voyage down its mighty course.
A day's journey brought them to the place where the turbulent Missouri
pours its contribution, gathered from thousands of miles of mountain and
prairie, into the parent stream, rushing with the force and roar of a
rapid through a channel half a mile broad, and quickly converting the
clear Mississippi waters into a turbid yellow torrent, thick with mud.
La Salle, like so many of the early explorers, was full of the idea of
finding a short route across the continent to the Pacific Ocean, and he
found the Indians at the mouth of the Missouri ready to tell him
anything he wanted to know. They said that by sailing ten or twelve days
up the stream, through populous villages of their people, he would come
to a range of mountains in which the river rose; and by climbing to the
summit of these lofty hills he could gaze upon a vast and boundless sea,
whose waves broke on their farther side. It was one of those imaginative
stories which the Indians were always ready to tell, and the whites as
ready to believe, and it was well for La Salle that he did not attempt
the fanciful adventure.
Savage settlements were numerous along the Mississippi, as De Soto had
found a century and more earlier. About thirty miles below the Missouri
they came to another village of peaceful natives, whose souls they made
happy by a few trifling gifts which were of priceless worth to their
untutored minds. Then downward still they went for a hundred miles or
more farther, to the mouth of another great stream, this one flowing
from the east, and as noble in its milder way as the Missouri had been
in its turbulent flow. Unlike the latter, this stream was gentle in its
current, and its waters were of crystal clearness. It was the splendid
river which the Indians called the Wabash, or Beautiful River, and the
French by the similar name of La Belle Riviere. It is now known as the
Ohio, the Indian name being transferred to one of its tributaries. This
was the stream on whose waters La Salle had gazed with admiration
thirteen years before.
The voyagers were obliged to proceed slowly. Unable to carry many
provisions in their crowded canoes, they were often forced to stop and
fish or hunt for game. As the Indians told them they would find no good
camping-grounds for many miles below the Ohio, they stopped for ten days
at its mouth, hunting and gathering supplies. Parties were sent out to
explore in various directions, and one of the men, Peter Prudhomme,
failed to return. It was feared that he had been taken captive by the
Indians, traces of whom had been seen near by, and a party of Frenchmen,
with Indian guides, was sent out on the trails of the natives. They
returned without the lost man, and La Salle, at length, reluctantly
giving him up, prepared to continue the journey. Just as they were
entering the canoes the missing man reappeared. For nine days he had
been lost in the forest, vainly seeking his friends, and wandering
hopelessly. His gun, however, had provided him with food, and he reached
the stream just in time.
Once more the expedition was launched on the swift-flowing current,
eight or ten large birch canoes filled with Indians and Frenchmen in
Indian garb, and laden with supplies. The waters bore them swiftly
onward, there was little labor with the paddles, the wintry weather was
passing and the air growing mild, the sky sunny, and the light-hearted
sons of France enjoyed their daily journey through new and strange
scenes with the warmest zest.
About one hundred and twenty miles below the Ohio they reached the
vicinity of the Arkansas River, the point near which the voyage of
Marquette had ended and that of the followers of De Soto began. Here,
for the first time in their journey, they met with hostile Indians. As
the flotilla glided on past the Arkansas bluffs, on the 3d of March, its
people were startled by hearing the yells of a large body of savages and
the loud sound of a drum, coming from behind the bluff. The natives had
taken the alarm, supposing that a war party of their enemies was coming
to attack them.
La Salle ordered his canoes at once to be paddled to the other side of
the stream, here a mile wide. The party landing, some intrenchments were
hastily thrown up, for across the river they could now see a large
village, filled with excited and armed warriors. Preparations for
defence made, La Salle advanced to the water's edge and made signs of
friendship and amity. Pacified by these signals of peace, some of the
Indian chiefs rowed across until near the bank, when they stopped and
beckoned to the strangers to come to them.
Father Membre, the priest who accompanied the expedition, entered a
canoe and was rowed out to the native boat by two Indians. He held out
to them the calumet, or pipe of peace, the Indian signal of friendship,
and easily induced the chiefs to go with him to the camp of the whites.
There were six of them, frank and cordial in manner, and seemingly
disposed to friendship. La Salle made them very happy with a few small
presents, and at their request the whole party embarked and accompanied
them across the river to their village.
All the men of the place crowded to the bank to receive their strange
visitors, women and children remaining timidly back. They were escorted
to the wigwams, treated with every show of friendship, and regaled with
the utmost hospitality. These Arkansas Indians were found to be a
handsome race, and very different in disposition from the northern
tribes, for they replaced the taciturn and often sullen demeanor of the
latter with a gay and frank manner better suited to their warmer clime.
They were also much more civilized, being skilled agriculturists, and
working their fields by the aid of slaves captured in war. Corn, beans,
melons, and a variety of fruits were grown in their fields, and large
flocks of turkeys and other fowls were seen round their dwellings.
La Salle and his party stayed in the village for some two weeks, and
before leaving went through the form of taking possession of the
country in the name of the king of France. This proceeding was conducted
with all the ceremony possible under the circumstances, a large cross
being planted in the centre of the village, anthems sung, and religious
rites performed. The Indians looked on in delight at the spectacle,
blankly ignorant of what it all meant, and probably thinking it was got
up for their entertainment. Had they known its full significance they
might not have been so well pleased.
Embarking again on the 17th of March, the explorers continued their
journey down the stream, coming after several days to a place where the
river widened into a lake-like expanse. This broad sheet of water was
surrounded with villages, forty being counted on the east side and
thirty-four on the west. On landing in this populous community, they
found the villages to be well built, the houses being constructed of
clay mixed with straw, and covered with dome-like roofs of canes. Many
convenient articles of furniture were found within.
These Southern Indians proved to be organized under a very different
system from that prevailing in the North. There each tribe was a small
republic, electing its chiefs, and preserving the liberty of its people.
Here the tribes were absolute monarchies. The head-chief, or king, had
the lives and property of all his subjects at his disposal, and kept his
court with the ceremonious dignity of a European monarch. When he called
on La Salle, who was too sick at that time to go and see him, the
ceremony was regal. Every obstruction was removed from his path by a
party of pioneers, and the way made level for his feet. The spot where
he gave audience was carefully smoothed and covered with showy mats.
The dusky autocrat made his appearance richly attired in white robes,
and preceded by two officers who bore plumes of gorgeously colored
feathers. An official followed with two large plates of polished copper.
The monarch had the courteous dignity and gravity of one born to the
throne, though his interview with La Salle was conducted largely with
smiles and gestures, as no word spoken could be understood. The
travellers remained among this friendly people for several days,
rambling through the villages and being entertained in the dwellings,
and found them far advanced in civilization beyond the tribes of the
North.
Father Membre has given the following account of their productions: "The
whole country is covered with palm-trees, laurels of two kinds, plums,
peaches, mulberry, apple, and pear-trees of every variety. There are
also five or six kinds of nut-trees, some of which bear nuts of
extraordinary size. They also gave us several kinds of dried fruit to
taste. We found them large and good. They have also many varieties of
fruit-trees which I never saw in Europe. The season was, however, too
early to allow us to see the fruit. We observed vines already out of
blossom."
Continuing their journey down the stream, the adventurers next came to
the country of the Natchez Indians, whom they found as friendly as those
they had recently left. La Salle, indeed, was a man of such genial and
kind disposition and engaging manners that he made friends of all he
met. As Father Membre says, "He so impressed the hearts of these Indians
that they did not know how to treat us well enough." This was a very
different reception to that accorded De Soto and his followers, whose
persistent ill-treatment of the Indians made bitter enemies of all they
encountered.
The voyagers, however, were soon to meet savages of different character.
On the 2d of April, as they floated downward through a narrow channel
where a long island divided the stream, their ears were suddenly greeted
with fierce war-whoops and the hostile beating of drums. Soon a cloud of
warriors was seen in the dense border of forest, gliding from tree to
tree and armed with strong bows and long arrows. La Salle at once
stopped the flotilla and sent one canoe ahead, the Frenchmen in it
presenting the calumet of peace. But this emblem here lost its effect,
for the boat was greeted with a volley of arrows. Another canoe was
sent, with four Indians, who bore the calumet; but they met with the
same hostile reception.
Seeing that the savages were inveterately hostile, La Salle ordered his
men to their paddles, bidding them to hug the opposite bank and to row
with all their strength. No one was to fire, as no good could come from
that. The rapidity of the current and the swift play of the paddles
soon sent the canoes speeding down the stream, and though the natives
drove their keen arrows with all their strength, and ran down the banks
to keep up their fire, the party passed without a wound.
A few days more took the explorers past the site of the future city of
New Orleans and to the head of the delta of the Mississippi, where it
separates into a number of branches. Here the fleet was divided into
three sections, each taking a branch of the stream, and very soon they
found the water salty and the current becoming slow. The weather was
mild and delightful, and the sun shone clear and warm, when at length
they came into the open waters of the Gulf and their famous voyage was
at an end.
Ascending the western branch again until they came to solid ground, a
massive column bearing the arms of France was erected, and by its side
was planted a great cross. At the foot of the column was buried a leaden
plate, on which, in Latin, the following words were inscribed:
"Louis the Great reigns. Robert, Cavalier, with Lord Tonti, Ambassador,
Zenobia Membre, Ecclesiastic, and twenty Frenchmen, first navigated this
river from the country of the Illinois, and passed through this mouth on
the ninth of April, sixteen hundred and eighty-two."
La Salle then made an address, in which he took possession for France of
the country of Louisiana; of all its peoples and productions, from the
mouth of the Ohio; of all the rivers flowing into the Mississippi from
their sources, and of the main stream to its mouth in the sea. Thus,
according to the law of nations, as then existing, the whole valley of
the Mississippi was annexed to France; a magnificent acquisition, of
which that country was destined to enjoy a very small section, and
finally to lose it all.
We might tell the story of the return voyage and of the fierce conflict
which the voyagers had with the hostile Quinnipissa Indians, who had
attacked them so savagely in their descent, but it will be of more
interest to give the account written by Father Membre of the country
through which they had passed.
"The banks of the Mississippi," he writes, "for twenty or thirty leagues
from its mouth are covered with a dense growth of canes, except in
fifteen or twenty places where there are very pretty hills and spacious,
convenient landing-places. Behind this fringe of marshy land you see the
finest country in the world. Our hunters, both French and Indian, were
delighted with it. For an extent of six hundred miles in length and as
much in breadth, we were told there are vast fields of excellent land,
diversified with pleasing hills, lofty woods, groves through which you
might ride on horseback, so clear and unobstructed are the paths.
"The fields are full of all kinds of game,--wild cattle, does, deer,
stags, bears, turkeys, partridges, parrots, quails, woodcock, wild
pigeons, and ring-doves. There are also beaver, otters, and martens.
The cattle of this country surpass ours in size. Their head is monstrous
and their look is frightful, on account of the long, black hair with
which it is surrounded and which hangs below the chin. The hair is fine,
and scarce inferior to wool.
"We observed wood fit for every use. There were the most beautiful
cedars in the world. There was one kind of tree which shed an abundance
of gum, as pleasant to burn as the best French pastilles. We also saw
fine hemlocks and other large trees with white bark. The
cottonwood-trees were very large. Of these the Indians dug out canoes,
forty or fifty feet long. Sometimes there were fleets of a hundred and
fifty at their villages. We saw every kind of tree fit for
ship-building. There is also plenty of hemp for cordage, and tar could
be made in abundance.
"Prairies are seen everywhere. Sometimes they are fifty or sixty miles
in length on the river front and many leagues in depth. They are very
rich and fertile, without a stone or a tree to obstruct the plough.
These prairies are capable of sustaining an immense population. Beans
grow wild, and the stalks last several years, bearing fruit. The
bean-vines are thicker than a man's arm, and run to the top of the
highest trees. Peach-trees are abundant and bear fruit equal to the best
that can be found in France. They are often so loaded in the gardens of
the Indians that they have to prop up the branches. There are whole
forests of mulberries, whose ripened fruit we begin to eat in the month
of May. Plums are found in great variety, many of which are not known in
Europe. Grape-vines and pomegranates are common. Three or four crops of
corn can be raised in a year."
From all this it appears that the good Father was very observant, though
his observation, or the information he obtained from the Indians, was
not always to be trusted. He goes on to speak of the tribes, whose
people and customs he found very different from the Indians of Canada.
"They have large public squares, games, and assemblies. They seem
mirthful and full of vivacity. Their chiefs have absolute authority. No
one would dare to pass between the chief and the cane torch which burns
in his cabin and is carried before him when he goes out. All make a
circuit around it with some ceremony."
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The conquest of Asia Minor by Cyrus and his Persian army was the first step towards that invasion of Greece by the Persians which proved such a vital element in the history of the Hellenic people. The next step was taken in the reign of Darius, th... De Soto And The Father Of Waters
America was to the Spaniards the land of gold. Everywhere they looked for the yellow metal, more precious in their eyes than anything else the earth yields. The wonderful adventures of Cortez in Mexico and of Pizarro in Peru, and the vast wealth in ... Drake The Sea-king And The Spanish Treasure-ships
At the end of October, 1578, Sir Francis Drake, the Sea-King of Devon, as he was called, and the most daring and persistent of the enemies of the Spanish settlements in America, sailed from Cape Horn, at the southern extremity of the continent, an... Earl Haakon And The Jomsvikings
Chief among the nobles of Haakon the Good, of Norway, was Earl Sigurd of Hlade; and first among those who followed him was Earl Haakon, Sigurd's son. After the death of Haakon the Good, the sons of Gunhild became the masters of Norway, where they ru... Eli Whitney The Inventor Of The Cotton-gin
In the harvest season of the cotton States of the South a vast, fleecy snow-fall seems to have come down in the silence of the night and covered acres innumerable with its virgin emblem of plenty and prosperity. It is the regal fibre which is to set... Elizabeth Farnese And Alberoni
In 1714 certain events took place in Spain of sufficient interest to be worth the telling. Philip V., a feeble monarch, like all those for the century preceding him, was on the throne. In his youth he had been the Duke of Anjou, grandson of Louis ... Episodes In The Life Of A Traitor
At the early hour of one o'clock in the morning of September 8, 1523, a train of men-at-arms and servants, headed by a tall, stern-faced, soldierly-looking man, rode from the gates of the strong castle of Chantelle, and headed southward in the direc... Erik Blood-axe And Egil The Icelander
In the year 900 Harold the Fair-Haired, the famous monarch who made a kingdom of Norway, passed a law which was to work mischief for centuries to come. Erik, his favorite son, was named overlord of the kingdom, but with the proviso that his other so... Exploits Of A Blockade-runner
There were no more daring adventures and hair-breadth escapes during the Civil War than those encountered in running the blockade, carrying sadly-needed supplies into the ports of the Confederacy, and returning with cargoes of cotton and other valua... Fontain The Scout And The Besiegers Of Vicksburg
The Civil War was not lacking in its daring and interesting adventures of scouts, spies, despatch-bearers, and others of that interesting tribe whose field of operations lies between the armies in the field, and whose game is played with life as the... Forrest's Chase Of The Raiders
Foremost in dash and daring among the cavalry leaders of the Confederacy was Lieutenant-General Nathan B. Forrest, a hero in the saddle, some of whose exploits were like the marvels of romance. There is one of his doings in particular which General ... Four Famous Men Of Athens
In the days of Croesus, the wealthiest of ancient kings, a citizen of Athens, Alkmaeon by name, kindly lent his aid to the messengers sent by the Lydian monarch to consult the Delphian oracle, before his war with King Cyrus of Persia, This generou... Francia The Dictator The Louis Xi Of Paraguay
Among the varied countries of South America the little republic of Paraguay, clipped closely in between Bolivia, Argentina, and Brazil, presents the most singular history, this being due to the remarkable career of the dictator Francia, who ruled ... Frederick Barbarossa And Milan
A proud old city was Milan, heavy with its weight of years, rich and powerful, arrogant and independent, the capital of Lombardy and the lord of many of the Lombard cities. For some twenty centuries it had existed, and now had so grown in populati... From The Hovel To The Throne
The reign of Peter the Great was signalized by two notable instances of the rise of persons from the lowest to the highest estate, ability being placed above birth and talent preferred to noble descent. A poor boy, Mentchikof by name, son of a mon... From The Shoemaker's Bench To The Throne
At the beginning of the fifth century of the Christian era China had fallen into a state of decrepitude. The second dynasty of the Tsins was near its end. For a century and a half it had held the imperial power, but now it had fallen a prey to luxur... General Greene's Famous Retreat
The rain was pouring pitilessly from the skies. The wind blew chill from the north. The country was soaked with the falling flood, dark rain-clouds swept across the heavens, and a dreary mist shut out all the distant view. In the midst of this cheer... Gonzalo Pizarro And The Land Of Cinnamon
We have now to relate the most remarkable adventure in the story of the conquest of Peru, and one of the most remarkable in the history of the New World,--the expedition of Gonzalo Pizarro to the upper waters of the Amazon and the pioneer voyage d... Gordon And The Bayonet Charge At Antietam
In the opening chapter of General John B. Gordon's interesting "Reminiscences of the Civil War" he tells us that the bayonet, so far as he knew, was very rarely used in that war, and never effectively. The bayonet, the lineal descendant of the lance... Gorm The Old Denmark's First King
In ancient times Denmark was not a kingdom, but a multitude of small provinces ruled over by warlike chiefs who called themselves kings. It was not until the ninth century that these little king-ships were combined into one kingdom, this being done ... Governor Tryon And The Carolina Regulators
The first blood shed by "rebels" in America, in those critical years when the tide of events was setting strong towards war and revolution, was by the settlers on the upper waters of the Cape Fear River in North Carolina. A hardy people these were, ... Gustavus Adolphus On The Field Of Leipsic
With the accession to the throne of Sweden in 1611 of Gustavus Adolphus, grandson of Gustavus Vasa, that country gained its ablest king, and the most famous with the exception of the firebrand of war, Charles XII., of later date. For courage, judgme... Haakon The Good And The Sons Of Gunhild
We have told how King Haakon succeeded his brother, Erik Blood-Axe, on the throne, and how, from his kindly and gentle nature, people called him Haakon the Good. There were other sons and several grandsons of Harold the Fair-Haired in the kingdom, b... Hannibal Crosses The Alps
In the year 235 B.C. the gates of the Temple of Janus were closed, for the first time since the reign of Numa Pompilius, the second king of Rome, nearly five centuries before. During all that long period war had hardly ever ceased in Rome. And these... Harold Fair-haired Founds The Kingdom Of Norway
To the far-off island of Iceland we must go for the story of the early days of Norway. In that frosty isle, not torn by war or rent by tumult, the people, sitting before their winter fires, had much time to think and write, and it is to Iceland we o... Henry Morgan And The Buccaneers
As the seventeenth century passed on, Spain, under the influence of religious intolerance and bad government, grew weak, both at home and abroad. Its prominent place in Europe was lost. Its vast colonial provinces in America were scenes of persecu... Hereward The Wake
Through the mist of the far past of English history there looms up before our vision a notable figure, that of Hereward the Wake, the "last of the Saxons," as he has been appropriately called, a hero of romance perhaps more than of history, but in...