CHAPTER III.

La Salle Returns to the Illinois Country-Ft. St. Louis Built -La Salle leaves Tonty in Command of Ft. St. Louis, and Starts for France Tonty Unjustly Superseded in Command by La Barre, the New Governor of Canada-La Salle at the Court of Louis XIV.-La Barre Recalled-Tonty Restored to Command-La Salle furnished with a Fleet to Sail for the Mouth of the Mississippi and Establish a Colony"The Fleet Passes its Destination, and Lands on the Coast of Texas-Treachery of Beaujeu-La Salle Builds a Fort-His Vessels Lost-Desperate Condition of the Colony-La Salle starts Across the Wilds for the Illinois Country-He is Assassinated on the Way-The Murderers fall upon each other -Return of Cavelier and His Party-Tonty's Fort on the Arkansas-Mendacious Concealment of La Salle's DeathIberville and Bienville make a Settlement at the Mouth of Mississippi-Analysis of the English Colonies.

La Salle's exploration of the Mississippi was the work of a master mind; but, for the present, it was an unwieldy acquisition to the complicated as well as overburdened executive capabilities of the Canadian government.

Had La Salle's means been sufficient, he would have immediately established a fort at the mouth of the river, as a depot for receiving and shipping buffalo hides and furs, from the inexhaustible sources of supply for these valuable goods, in the limitless wilds drained by the Mississippi and its tributaries. But his labors thus far had not only exhausted his own means in exploration, but had drawn largely upon the resources of his friends, as well as leaving him in debt even to the men who had performed the drudgery of the camp.

On his passage up the Mississippi, he had been seized with a violent attack of fever, and was unable to pursue his journey, with the comfortless accommodations afforded by their canoes; but, fortunately for him, a fort had been built at the Chickasaw bluffs, on their passage down,* and his strength barely held out

*Fort Prudhomme. On their passage down the river, a landing was made here for the purpose of hunting. While thus engaged, Father Prudhomme was lost in the woods, and, while searching for him, a fort was built and named for him. He was found after two days' search, in a state of great exhaustion.

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till their arrival at this place. Here he remained till he was able to resume his journey, attended by Father Membre. Meantime, Tonty hastened forward to the Illinois country with the men, for it was all-important that a nucleus of French power should be established here, in order to utilize the late discoveries.

This was no easy task to accomplish, especially from the untempered materials out of which it was to be improvised; but La Salle, who never looked upon any obstacle in his way as insurmountable, went to work with his accustomed resolution, as soon as he was able again to take the field. The yellow tints of autumn had begun to imprint their stamp upon the forests when he and Tonty had commenced building Ft. St. Louis at Starved Rock, where the western tribes might gather around the lilies of France, with an assurance of protection.*

This work completed, La Salle intended to sail for France, as soon as he could arrive at Quebec, the starting point.

At this juncture, rumors of an Iroquois invasion of the Illinois country came to hand, and postponed his anticipated visit to the French court; for to desert his Illinois allies in this hour of danger, would be a forfeiture of French interests on the prairies, as well as a relinquishment of his plans for a French colony at the mouth of the Mississippi.

A large number of Indians, composed of several western tribes besides the Illinois, were now tenanted along the Illinois river adjacent to the fort, who, with the aid of a small number of Frenchmen, would be able to repel any Iroquois invasion likely to be sent against them. But to hold these capricious wanderers to the French interest, a stock of goods for barter with them, and a few Frenchmen to do military duty, were necessary. These must come from Canada. Had Frontenac still been Governor, all would have been well; but this able man had been removed through the machinations of some of the jarring interests of the province, and La Barre put in his place. He was no friend to La Salle, and instead of reinforcing him with the necessary men for service in the Illinois country, he detained those in Canada designed for that post, and withheld all supplies from him. La Salle had now no other recourse left, but to remain at his post in the Illinois country during the winter, ruminating in his fertile brain on future plans, whereby he could bring to the knowledge of the French king an appreciative sense of the magnitude of his discoveries. The next summer was nearly spent in the same painful uncertainty amidst the servile tribes of the prairies, whose lack of courage to protect them

*This spot was chosen as a place of great natural strength, where a few Frenchmen could hold a nation of savages at bay.

selves contrasted unfavorably with the prowess of the conquering Iroquois.

Autumn was approaching-the expected invasion of these champions of the forest had not come and La Salle determined to start for France. On his way to Quebec, he met an officer going to the Illinois country, with a commission from La Barre, the governor of Canada, to take possession of Ft. St. Louis, the citadel of the rock tower, which was then the key to the interior. Tonty had first built this fort, and, by virtue of La Salle's authority, now held command of it; and though he alone was better qualified to command it than any other one except La Salle, yet he peaceably conformed to the authority of La Barre, and took a subordinate position under Baugis, the late appointee of La Barre.

The following March, the expected Iroquois came and besieged the place for six days. The fort held out, and the discomfitted invaders, for once balked of their expected victory, retreated.

La Salle was now in Paris. La Barre's villainous aspersions had preceded him, in the vain attempt to undervalue his discoveries and wrest from him what little authority yet remained in his hands as commander of Ft. Frontenac and almoner of seigniorial rights of the lands of the Illinois country.* This was more than calumny could accomplish. Sixteen years of toil and disappointment, of hope deferred, crowned at last with a success only waiting recognition, had moulded lines of irresistible advocacy into the weather-beaten face of La Salle. He no sooner gained a hearing at the court of Versailles than the reports of his enemies recoiled upon themselves. La Barre was recalled, Denonville was made governor of Canada, and the command of Ft. St. Louis restored to Tonty, the incarnation of courage and fidelity, and the only one now worthy of holding it.

La Salle, now fully restored to the confidence of the French court, was furnished with a fleet of four vessels to fulfill the cherished project of his ambition-the establishment of a French colony at the mouth of the Mississippi. The fleet sailed from Rochelle on the 24th of July, 1684, with 280 adventurers who enlisted in the service as emigrants, to form a colony in the wilds of America. Among them were artisans of various trades and a few young women. Several priests also accompanied the expedition, among whom was Cavelier, the brother of La Salle,

*La Salle's patent of nobility had invested him with authority to parcel out the lands around Ft. St. Louis to French settlers, who would marry natives and settle on the land. This was done to encourage permanent colonization, but the recipients of these emoluments abused their privileges by marrying new wives as often as their whimsical propensities or their interests demanded, greatly to the disgust of La Salle.

and Joutel, whose history of the progress and tragical termina tion of the scheme is now esteemed as the best authority.

The general command was given to La Salle, but unfortunately another person, by the name of Beaujeu, had charge of the fleet, whose authority did not go beyond the management of the vessels. He was by birth from a family of note, and had been for many years in the king's service-at least long enough to spoil him for the position he was now to occupy as a subordinate to La Salle, whose experience in the wilds of America was sneered at by the officious captain.

On their way to the mouth of the Mississippi, much dissension arose between Beaujeu and La Salle. The former was envious and the latter tenacious. One vessel, containing valuable stores, was captured by Spanish cruisers in consequence of Beaujeu's disobedience of La Salle's orders to land at Port de Paix, a harbor of La Tortue.

After much detention at the West India Islands, in consequence of the sickness of La Salle, the fleet finally entered the Gulf of Mexico, and made sail for their destination, as near as they could calculate their course from the latitude and longitude taken by La Salle when he with his canoe fleet, two years before, had discovered the mouth of the river to which they were now tending.

Coasting along the northern shore of the gulf, they made several landings, but finally passed by the place, either through ignorance or design of the faithless Beaujeu. Continuing along the shore, which trended southwardly, La Salle soon became convinced that they had missed their destination, and urged upon Beaujeu to retrace the mysterious path which had now brought them to the treeless and sandy shores of Texas. This he refused to do, on the ground that his provisions were getting short, and he must return immediately to France. La Salle, convinced of the mistake they had made, offered him fifteen days' extra provisions, which would have been more than sufficient to feed the crew while engaged in continuing the search. Even this proposition Beaujeu had the effrontery to discard.

In attempting to land, one of the three remaining vessels was stranded, and became a total wreck; but, notwithstanding this calamity, Beaujeu set sail for France, leaving La Salle and his men to their fate on the savage and unknown shore whither they had been drifted like lost travelers.

In this extremity La Salle landed his men and built a fort on the shores of Matagorda Bay, for this was the spot where the winds and waves had cast them. He was not without hopes that one of the rivers which emptied into it was one of the devious mouths of the Mississippi; which, perhaps, may account for

his not continuing his search for this illusive object with the remaining vessel.*

The note in the margin is Joutal's account of the building of the fort. The same faithful historian has recorded in his journal the wanderings of La Salle in his search for the fatal river, as he (Joutal) always called it. This search was persisted in for two years, during which time disease and death were wasting away the unhappy colony, till but a feeble remnant was left, while, to make their situation still more desperate, their last remaining vessel was wrecked in crossing the bay on some local service. To save them, La Salle formed the desperate resolution to make his way on foot across the country to Canada, and obtain relief for these victims of his unlucky enterprise.

Joutel, in giving an account of his starting, says:

"We set out on the 12th of January, in the year 1687, being seventeen in number, viz: Monsieur de La Salle, Monsieur Carelier the priest, his brother, Father Anastasius the recollet, Messieurs Moranget and Cavelier, nephews to Monsieur de La Salle,

"When Mons. de Beaujeu was gone, we fell to work to make a fort, of the wreck of the ship that had been cast away and many pieces of timber the sea threw up; and during that time several men deserted, which added to Monsieur de La Salle's affliction. A Spaniard and a Frenchman stole away and fled, and were never more heard of. Four or five others followed their example, but Monsieur de La Salle, having timely notice, sent after them, and they were brought back. One of them was condemned to death, and the others to serve the king ten years in that country.

"When our fort was well advanced, Monsieur de La Salle resolved to clear his doubts, and to go up the river where we were, to know whether it was not an arm of the Mississippi, and accordingly ordered fifty men to attend him, of which number were Monsieur Cavelier, his brother, and Monsieur Chedeville, both priests, two recollet friars, and several volunteers, who set out in five canoes we had, with the necessary provisions. There remained in the fort about an hundred and thirty persons, and Monsieur de La Salle gave me the command of it, with orders not to have any commerce with the natives, but to fire at them if they appeared.

"Whilst Monsieur de La Salle was absent, I caused an oven to be built, which was a great help to us, and employed myself in finishing the fort and putting it in a posture to withstand the Indians, who came frequently in the night to range about us, howling like wolves and dogs; but two or three musket shots put them to flight. It happened one night that, having fired six or seven shots, Monsieur de La Salle, who was not far from us, heard them, and being in pain about it, he returned with six or seven men, and found all things in a good posture.

"He told us he had found a good country, fit to sow and plant all sorts of grain, abounding in beeves and wild-fowl; that he designed to erect a fort farther up the river, and accordingly he left me orders to square out as much timber as I could get, the sea casting up much upon the shore. He had given the same orders to the men he had left on the spot, seven or eight of whom, detached from the rest, being busy at that work, and seeing a number of the natives, fled, and unadvisably left their tools behind them. Monsieur de La Salle returning thither, found a paper made fast to a reed, which gave him notice of that accident, which he was concerned at, because of the tools, not so much for the value of the loss, as because it was furnishing the natives with such things as they might afterward make use of against us."