CHAPTER I

1643-1669.

CAVELIER DE LA SALLE.

The Youth of La Salle: his Connection with the Jesuits; he goes to

Canada; his Character; his Schemes; his Seigniory at La Chine; his

Expedition in Search of a Western Passage to India.

Among the burghers of Rouen was the old and rich family of the

Caveliers. Though citizens and not nobles, some of their connections

held high diplomatic posts and honorable employments at Court. They were

destined to find a better claim to distinction. In 1643 was born at

Rouen Robert Cavelier, better known by the designation of La Salle.[1]

His father Jean and his uncle Henri were wealthy merchants, living more

like nobles than like burghers; and the boy received an education

answering to the marked traits of intellect and character which he soon

began to display. He showed an inclination for the exact sciences, and

especially for the mathematics, in which he made great proficiency. At

an early age, it is said, he became connected with the Jesuits; and,

though doubt has been expressed of the statement, it is probably

true.[2]

[Sidenote: LA SALLE AND THE JESUITS.]

La Salle was always an earnest Catholic; and yet, judging by the

qualities which his after-life evinced, he was not very liable to

religious enthusiasm. It is nevertheless clear that the Society of Jesus

may have had a powerful attraction for his youthful imagination. This

great organization, so complicated yet so harmonious, a mighty machine

moved from the centre by a single hand, was an image of regulated power,

full of fascination for a mind like his. But if it was likely that he

would be drawn into it, it was no less likely that he would soon wish to

escape. To find himself not at the centre of power, but at the

circumference; not the mover, but the moved; the passive instrument of

another's will, taught to walk in prescribed paths, to renounce his

individuality and become a component atom of a vast whole,--would have

been intolerable to him. Nature had shaped him for other uses than to

teach a class of boys on the benches of a Jesuit school. Nor, on his

part, was he likely to please his directors; for, self-controlled and

self-contained as he was, he was far too intractable a subject to serve

their turn. A youth whose calm exterior hid an inexhaustible fund of

pride; whose inflexible purposes, nursed in secret, the confessional and

the "manifestation of conscience" could hardly drag to the light; whose

strong personality would not yield to the shaping hand; and who, by a

necessity of his nature, could obey no initiative but his own,--was not

after the model that Loyola had commended to his followers.

La Salle left the Jesuits, parting with them, it is said, on good terms,

and with a reputation of excellent acquirements and unimpeachable

morals. This last is very credible. The cravings of a deep ambition, the

hunger of an insatiable intellect, the intense longing for action and

achievement, subdued in him all other passions; and in his faults the

love of pleasure had no part. He had an elder brother in Canada, the

Abbé Jean Cavelier, a priest of St. Sulpice. Apparently, it was this

that shaped his destinies. His connection with the Jesuits had deprived

him, under the French law, of the inheritance of his father, who had

died not long before. An allowance was made to him of three or (as is

elsewhere stated) four hundred livres a year, the capital of which was

paid over to him; and with this pittance he sailed for Canada, to seek

his fortune, in the spring of 1666.[3]

[Sidenote: LA SALLE AT MONTREAL.]

Next, we find him at Montreal. In another volume, we have seen how an

association of enthusiastic devotees had made a settlement at this

place.[4] Having in some measure accomplished its work, it was now

dissolved; and the corporation of priests, styled the Seminary of St.

Sulpice, which had taken a prominent part in the enterprise, and,

indeed, had been created with a view to it, was now the proprietor and

the feudal lord of Montreal. It was destined to retain its seignorial

rights until the abolition of the feudal tenures of Canada in our own

day, and it still holds vast possessions in the city and island. These

worthy ecclesiastics, models of a discreet and sober conservatism, were

holding a post with which a band of veteran soldiers or warlike

frontiersmen would have been better matched. Montreal was perhaps the

most dangerous place in Canada. In time of war, which might have been

called the normal condition of the colony, it was exposed by its

position to incessant inroads of the Iroquois, or Five Nations, of New

York; and no man could venture into the forests or the fields without

bearing his life in his hand. The savage confederates had just received

a sharp chastisement at the hands of Courcelle, the governor; and the

result was a treaty of peace which might at any moment be broken, but

which was an inexpressible relief while it lasted.

The priests of St. Sulpice were granting out their lands, on very easy

terms, to settlers. They wished to extend a thin line of settlements

along the front of their island, to form a sort of outpost, from which

an alarm could be given on any descent of the Iroquois. La Salle was the

man for such a purpose. Had the priests understood him,--which they

evidently did not, for some of them suspected him of levity, the last

foible with which he could be charged,--had they understood him, they

would have seen in him a young man in whom the fire of youth glowed not

the less ardently for the veil of reserve that covered it; who would

shrink from no danger, but would not court it in bravado; and who would

cling with an invincible tenacity of gripe to any purpose which he might

espouse. There is good reason to think that he had come to Canada with

purposes already conceived, and that he was ready to avail himself of

any stepping-stone which might help to realize them. Queylus, Superior

of the Seminary, made him a generous offer; and he accepted it. This

was the gratuitous grant of a large tract of land at the place now

called La Chine, above the great rapids of the same name, and eight or

nine miles from Montreal. On one hand, the place was greatly exposed to

attack; and, on the other, it was favorably situated for the fur-trade.

La Salle and his successors became its feudal proprietors, on the sole

condition of delivering to the Seminary, on every change of ownership, a

medal of fine silver, weighing one mark.[5] He entered on the

improvement of his new domain with what means he could command, and

began to grant out his land to such settlers as would join him.

Approaching the shore where the city of Montreal now stands, one would

have seen a row of small compact dwellings, extending along a narrow

street, parallel to the river, and then, as now, called St. Paul Street.

On a hill at the right stood the windmill of the seigniors, built of

stone, and pierced with loopholes to serve, in time of need, as a place

of defence. On the left, in an angle formed by the junction of a rivulet

with the St. Lawrence, was a square bastioned fort of stone. Here lived

the military governor, appointed by the Seminary, and commanding a few

soldiers of the regiment of Carignan. In front, on the line of the

street, were the enclosure and buildings of the Seminary, and, nearly

adjoining them, those of the Hôtel-Dieu, or Hospital, both provided for

defence in case of an Indian attack. In the hospital enclosure was a

small church, opening on the street, and, in the absence of any other,

serving for the whole settlement.[6]

Landing, passing the fort, and walking southward along the shore, one

would soon have left the rough clearings, and entered the primeval

forest. Here, mile after mile, he would have journeyed on in solitude,

when the hoarse roar of the rapids, foaming in fury on his left, would

have reached his listening ear; and at length, after a walk of some

three hours, he would have found the rude beginnings of a settlement. It

was where the St. Lawrence widens into the broad expanse called the Lake

of St. Louis. Here, La Salle had traced out the circuit of a palisaded

village, and assigned to each settler half an arpent, or about the third

of an acre, within the enclosure, for which he was to render to the

young seignior a yearly acknowledgment of three capons, besides six

deniers--that is, half a sou--in money. To each was assigned, moreover,

sixty arpents of land beyond the limits of the village, with the

perpetual rent of half a sou for each arpent. He also set apart a

common, two hundred arpents in extent, for the use of the settlers, on

condition of the payment by each of five sous a year. He reserved four

hundred and twenty arpents for his own personal domain, and on this he

began to clear the ground and erect buildings. Similar to this were the

beginnings of all the Canadian seigniories formed at this troubled

period.[7]

[Sidenote: LA CHINE.]

That La Salle came to Canada with objects distinctly in view, is

probable from the fact that he at once began to study the Indian

languages,--and with such success that he is said, within two or three

years, to have mastered the Iroquois and seven or eight other languages

and dialects.[8] From the shore of his seigniory, he could gaze westward

over the broad breast of the Lake of St. Louis, bounded by the dim

forests of Chateauguay and Beauharnois; but his thoughts flew far

beyond, across the wild and lonely world that stretched towards the

sunset. Like Champlain, and all the early explorers, he dreamed of a

passage to the South Sea, and a new road for commerce to the riches of

China and Japan. Indians often came to his secluded settlement; and, on

one occasion, he was visited by a band of the Seneca Iroquois, not long

before the scourge of the colony, but now, in virtue of the treaty,

wearing the semblance of friendship. The visitors spent the winter with

him, and told him of a river called the Ohio, rising in their country,

and flowing into the sea, but at such a distance that its mouth could

only be reached after a journey of eight or nine months. Evidently, the

Ohio and the Mississippi are here merged into one.[9] In accordance with

geographical views then prevalent, he conceived that this great river

must needs flow into the "Vermilion Sea;" that is, the Gulf of

California. If so, it would give him what he sought, a western passage

to China; while, in any case, the populous Indian tribes said to inhabit

its banks might be made a source of great commercial profit.

[Sidenote: SCHEMES OF DISCOVERY.]

La Salle's imagination took fire. His resolution was soon formed; and he

descended the St. Lawrence to Quebec, to gain the countenance of the

governor for his intended exploration. Few men were more skilled than he

in the art of clear and plausible statement. Both the governor Courcelle

and the intendant Talon were readily won over to his plan; for which,

however, they seem to have given him no more substantial aid than that

of the governor's letters patent authorizing the enterprise.[10] The

cost was to be his own; and he had no money, having spent it all on his

seigniory. He therefore proposed that the Seminary, which had given it

to him, should buy it back again, with such improvements as he had made.

Queylus, the Superior, being favorably disposed towards him, consented,

and bought of him the greater part; while La Salle sold the remainder,

including the clearings, to one Jean Milot, an iron-monger, for

twenty-eight hundred livres.[11] With this he bought four canoes, with

the necessary supplies, and hired fourteen men.

Meanwhile, the Seminary itself was preparing a similar enterprise. The

Jesuits at this time not only held an ascendency over the other

ecclesiastics in Canada, but exercised an inordinate influence on the

civil government. The Seminary priests of Montreal were jealous of these

powerful rivals, and eager to emulate their zeal in the saving of souls

and the conquering of new domains for the Faith. Under this impulse,

they had, three years before, established a mission at Quinté, on the

north shore of Lake Ontario, in charge of two of their number, one of

whom was the Abbé Fénelon, elder brother of the celebrated Archbishop of

Cambray. Another of them, Dollier de Casson, had spent the winter in a

hunting-camp of the Nipissings, where an Indian prisoner, captured in

the Northwest, told him of populous tribes of that quarter living in

heathenish darkness. On this, the Seminary priests resolved to essay

their conversion; and an expedition, to be directed by Dollier, was

fitted out to this end.

[Sidenote: DEPARTURE.]

He was not ill suited to the purpose. He had been a soldier in his

youth, and had fought valiantly as an officer of cavalry under Turenne.

He was a man of great courage; of a tall, commanding person; and of

uncommon bodily strength, which he had notably proved in the campaign of

Courcelle against the Iroquois, three years before.[12] On going to

Quebec to procure the necessary outfit, he was urged by Courcelle to

modify his plans so far as to act in concert with La Salle in exploring

the mystery of the great unknown river of the West. Dollier and his

brother priests consented. One of them, Galinée, was joined with him as

a colleague, because he was skilled in surveying, and could make a map

of their route. Three canoes were procured, and seven hired men

completed the party. It was determined that La Salle's expedition and

that of the Seminary should be combined in one,--an arrangement ill

suited to the character of the young explorer, who was unfit for any

enterprise of which he was not the undisputed chief.

Midsummer was near, and there was no time to lose. Yet the moment was

most unpropitious, for a Seneca chief had lately been murdered by three

scoundrel soldiers of the fort of Montreal; and, while they were

undergoing their trial, it became known that three other Frenchmen had

treacherously put to death several Iroquois of the Oneida tribe, in

order to get possession of their furs. The whole colony trembled in

expectation of a new outbreak of the war. Happily, the event proved

otherwise. The authors of the last murder escaped; but the three

soldiers were shot at Montreal, in presence of a considerable number of

the Iroquois, who declared themselves satisfied with the atonement; and

on this same day, the sixth of July, the adventurers began their voyage.

FOOTNOTES:

[1] The following is the _acte de naissance_, discovered by Margry in

the _registres de l'état civil_, Paroisse St. Herbland, Rouen: "Le

vingt-deuxième jour de novembre, 1643, a été baptisé Robert Cavelier,

fils de honorable homme Jean Cavelier et de Catherine Geest; ses parrain

et marraine honorables personnes Nicolas Geest et Marguerite Morice."

La Salle's name in full was René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de la Salle. La

Salle was the name of an estate near Rouen, belonging to the Caveliers.

The wealthy French burghers often distinguished the various members of

their families by designations borrowed from landed estates. Thus,

François Marie Arouet, son of an ex-notary, received the name of

Voltaire, which he made famous.

[2] Margry, after investigations at Rouen, is satisfied of its truth

(_Journal Général de l'Instruction Publique_, xxxi. 571.) Family papers

of the Caveliers, examined by the Abbé Faillon, and copies of some of

which he has sent to me, lead to the same conclusion. We shall find

several allusions hereafter to La Salle's having in his youth taught in

a school, which, in his position, could only have been in connection

with some religious community. The doubts alluded to have proceeded from

the failure of Father Felix Martin, S. J., to find the name of La Salle

on the list of novices. If he had looked for the name of Robert

Cavelier, he would probably have found it. The companion of La Salle,

Hennepin, is very explicit with regard to this connection with the

Jesuits, a point on which he had no motive for falsehood.

[3] It does not appear what vows La Salle had taken. By a recent

ordinance (1666), persons entering religious orders could not take the

final vows before the age of twenty-five. By the family papers above

mentioned, it appears, however, that he had brought himself under the

operation of the law, which debarred those who, having entered religious

orders, afterwards withdrew, from claiming the inheritance of relatives

who had died after their entrance.

[4] The Jesuits in North America, chap. xv.

[5] _Transport de la Seigneurie de St. Sulpice_, cited by Faillon. La

Salle called his new domain as above. Two or three years later, it

received the name of La Chine, for a reason which will appear.

[6] A detailed plan of Montreal at this time is preserved in the

Archives de l'Empire, and has been reproduced by Faillon. There is

another, a few years later, and still more minute, of which a fac-simile

will be found in the Library of the Canadian Parliament.

[7] The above particulars have been unearthed by the indefatigable Abbé

Faillon. Some of La Salle's grants are still preserved in the ancient

records of Montreal.

[8] _Papiers de Famille._ He is said to have made several journeys into

the forests, towards the North, in the years 1667 and 1668, and to have

satisfied himself that little could be hoped from explorations in that

direction.

[9] According to Dollier de Casson, who had good opportunities of

knowing, the Iroquois always called the Mississippi the Ohio, while the

Algonquins gave it its present name.

[10] _Patoulet à Colbert, 11 Nov., 1669._

[11] _Cession de la Seigneurie; Contrat de Vente_ (Margry, i. 103, 104).

[12] He was the author of the very curious and valuable _Histoire de

Montréal_, preserved in the Bibliothèque Mazarine, of which a copy is in

my possession. The Historical Society of Montreal has recently resolved

to print it.