XIX. CHAP. says Marquette, "I will ascend that river and pass beyond its head-waters and proclaim the gospel." Further on 1670. they see a stream flowing from the north-east ;-it is the Ohio, of which the Iroquois have told them. We can imagine Marquette, noticing the fertility of the soil, looking with awe upon the dark and impenetrable forests, and hoping that in future ages these shores would be the homes of many millions of civilized and Christian men. As they went on they approached a warmer climate; and now they were sure that the great river flowed into the Gulf of Mexico, and not into that of California, as had been supposed. They met with Indians who showed them tools of European manufacture; obtained either from the English of Virginia or from the Spaniards further south. It was deemed prudent to return, as they might fall into the hands of the latter, and thus be deprived of the privilege of making known their discovery. At the mouth of the Arkansas they began the toilsome labor of paddling their canoes up the stream down which they had so easily floated. They reached the mouth of the Illinois; thinking it would lead them to the lakes, they passed up that river to its head-waters, and thence across to Lake Michigan. Joliet immediately set out to carry the news of the discovery to Quebec. Marquette was desirous to begin his work, and he chose to remain in the humble station of a missionary in the wilderness. One day he retired to his private devotions, at a simple altar he had erected in a grove. An hour afterward he was found kneeling beside it; his prayers and his labors for the good of the poor Indian were ended ;-in that hour of quiet retirement his spirit had passed away. Among the adventurers who came to Canada to seek their fortunes, was Robert Cavalier de la Salle, a young man who had been educated as a Jesuit, but had renounced the order. A large domain at the outlet of Lake ENTERPRISE OF LA SALLE-LOUISIANA. 205 XIX. Ontario was granted him on condition that he would main- CHAP tain Fort Frontenac, now Kingston. But his main object was to obtain the entire trade of the Iroquois. The news 1675 of the discovery of the great river inflamed his ardent mind with a desire to make settlements on its banks, and thus secure its vast valley for his king. Leaving his lands and his herds, he sailed for France, and there obtained a favora- 1677. ble grant of privileges. He returned, passed up to Lake Erie, at the foot of which he built a vessel of sixty tons, in which, with a company of sailors, hunters, and priests, he passed through the straits to the upper lakes, and anchored in Green Bay. There, lading his ship with a cargo 1679. of precious furs, he sent her to Niagara, with orders to Aug. return as soon as possible with supplies. Meanwhile he passed over into the valley of the Illinois, and on a bluff by the river side, near where Peoria now stands, built a fort, and waited for his ship; but he waited in vain; she was wrecked on the voyage. After three years of toils, wanderings in the wilderness, and voyages to France, during which he experienced disappointments that would have broken the spirit of an ordinary man, we find him once more on the banks of the Illinois. Now he built a barge, on board of which, with 1682. his companions, he floated down to the Mississippi, and April thence to the Gulf. Thus were his hopes, after so much toil and sacrifice, realized. He had triumphantly traced the mighty stream to its mouth. He remained only to take possession of the country in the name of his sovereign, Louis XIV., in honor of whom he named it LOUISIANA. 9. La Salle returned to Quebec, and immediately sailed for France. He desired to carry into effect his great design of planting a colony at the mouth of the Mississippi. The enterprise was looked upon with favor by both the French people and the king. He was furnished with an armed frigate and three other vessels, and two hundred 1684. and eighty persons to form a colony. One hundred of XIX. Feb. CHAP. these were soldiers; of the remainder, some were volunteers, some mechanics, and some priests. Unfortunately, 1684. the command of the ships was given to Beaujeu, a man as ignorant as he was self-willed and conceited. After surmounting many difficulties, they entered the Gulf of Mexico, but missed the mouth of the Mississippi. La 1685. Salle soon discovered the error, but the stubborn Beaujeu, deaf to reason, sailed on directly west, till fortunately arrested by the eastern shore of Texas. La Salle determined to disembark and seek by land the mouth of the great river. The careless pilot ran the store-ship on the breakers; suddenly a storm arose, and very little was saved of the abundance which Louis had provided for the enterprise. It is said that he gave more to aid this one colony than the English sovereigns combined gave to all theirs in North America. 1687 Jan. As the ships were about to leave them on that desolate shore, many became discouraged, and returned home. The waters in the vicinity abounded in fish, and the forests in game, and with a mild climate and productive soil, there was no danger from starvation. A fort was built in a suitable place; the trees of a grove three miles distant furnished the material, which they dragged across the prairie. La Salle explored the surrounding country, but sought in vain for the Mississippi. On his return to the fort, he was grieved to find his colony reduced to forty persons, and they disheartened and mutinous. He did not despair; he would yet accomplish the darling object of his ambition; he would thread his way through the wilderness to Canada, and induce colonists to join him. With a company of sixteen men he commenced the journey; they travelled two months across the prairies west of the Mississippi; but the hopes that had cheered his heart amidst hardships and disappointments were never to be realized. Two of his men, watching their opportunity, murdered him. Thus perished Robert Cavalier de la DEATH OF LA SALLE. 207 XIX. Salle, assassinated in the wilderness by his own country- CHAP. men. He was the first to fully appreciate the importance of securing to France the two great valleys of this conti- 1687. nent. His name will ever be associated with his unsuccessful enterprise, and his tragical fate will ever excite a feeling of sympathy. Retribution was not long delayed; his murderers, grasping at spoils, became involved in a quarrel with their companions, and both perished by the hand of violence. The remainder of the company came upon a tributary of the Mississippi, down which they passed to its mouth, where their eyes were greeted by a cross, and the arms of France engraved upon a tree. This had been done by Tonti, a friend of La Salle, who had descended from the Illinois, but in despair of seeing him had returned. The colony of Texas perished without leaving a memento of its existence. CHAPTER XX. MARAUDING EXPEDITIONS; SETTLEMENT OF LOUISIANA; CAPTURE Mohawks hostile to the French.-Dover attacked; Major Waldron.-Schenectady captured and burned.-The inhuman Frontenac.-The Colonists act for themselves.-Invasion of Canada.-Settlements in Maine abandoned.-Heroism of Hannah Dustin.-Deerfield taken; Eunice Wil liams.-D'Ibberville plants a Colony on the Pascagoula.-Trading Posts on the Illinois and the Mississippi.-The Choctaws; the Natchez; attempts to subdue the Chickasaws.-King George's War.-Capture of Louisburg. The English Ministry alarmed.-Jonathan Edwards.-The "Great Revival."-Princeton College. CHAP. PEACE had continued for some time between the Five NaXX. tions and the French, but now the former were suspicious 1685. of the expeditions of La Salle. James II. had instructed Dongan, the Catholic governor of New York, to conciliate the French, to influence the Mohawks to receive Jesuit missionaries, and to quietly introduce the Catholic religion into the colony. But Dongan felt more interest in the fur trade, which the French seemed to be monopolizing, than in Jesuit missions among the Mohawks, and he rather encouraged the latter in their hostility. An act of treachery increased this feeling. Some of their chiefs, who were enticed to enter Fort Frontenac, were seized and forcibly carried to France, and there made slaves. When the indignant people of England drove the bigoted James from his throne and invited William of 1688. Orange to fill it, Louis XIV. took up the quarrel in behalf of James, or of legitimacy, as he termed it. He believed |