menu_book Chapter 4

recording by thomas bosk discovery and exploration of the mississippi valley by john gilmarie shea part i of the life of father james marquette near a little branch of the river oase in the department of ain the traveller finds perched on the mountain-side the small but stately city of laon strong fortifications without and a vast cathedral within show that in former days it was one of those cities which were constantly replete with life and movement in the endless contest between noble and noble and not unfrequently between the suzerain himself and his more powerful vassal the most ancient family in this renowned city is that of marquette and in its long annals we find the highest civic honors borne almost constantly by members of that illustrious race it already held an important place in the reign of louis the young and its armorial bearings still commemorate the devotedness of the sieur james marquette sheriff of leon to the cause of his royal master the unfortunate john of france in thirteen sixteen

a martial spirit has always characterized this citizen family and its members have constantly figured in the dazzling wars of france our own republic is not without its obligations to the valor of the marquettes three of whom died here in the french army during the revolutionary war yet not their high antiquity nor their reckless valor would ever have given the name of marquette to fame the unsought tribute which it has acquired among us is due to the labors of one who renounced the enjoyments of country and home to devote his days to the civilization and conversion of our indian tribes who died in the bloom of youth and worn down by toil in a lonely neglected spot whose name every effort was made to enshrine in oblivion but who has been at last by the hand of strangers raised on a lofty pedestal among the great the good and the holy who have honored our land the family is known to us only as connected with father james marquette of the society of jesus the first explorer of the mississippi born at the ancient seat of his family in the year sixteen thirty seven he was through his pious mother rose de la salle allied to the venerable jean baptiste de la

the founder of the institute known as the brothers of the christian schools whose services and the cause of gratuitous education of the poor had instructed thousands before any of the modern systems of public schools had been even conceived footnote devisme histoire de la ville de leon a member of his family francis marquette founded similar schools for girls in sixteen thirty five and the religious were commonly called sores marquette from his pious mother the youthful marquette imbibed that warm generous and unwavering devotion to the mother of god which makes him so conspicuous among her servants none but a mother could have infused such a filial affection for mary at the age of seventeen his heart detached from this world and all its bright allurements impelled him to enter the society of jesus as he did in the year sixteen fifty four when the two years of self-study and examination had passed away he was as is usual with the young jesuits employed in teaching or study and twelve years glided away in the faithful performance of the unostentatious duties assigned him

no sooner however he was invested with the sacred character of the priesthood than his ardent desire to become in all things an imitator of his chosen patron st francis xavier induced him to seek a mission in some land that knew not god that he might labor there to his latest breath and die unaided and alone the province of champaign in which he was enrolled contained no foreign mission he was transferred to that of france and in sixteen sixty six sailed for canada on the twentieth of september he landed buoyant with life and health at quebec and amid his brethren awaited the new destination on which his superiors should decide the moment of his arrival was one of deep interest in the religious history of a colony which had in its early settlement so nobly represented the purest catholicity neither hampered by civil jealousy nor heartened by the cold and selfish policy of a pagan age the halcyon days of the canadian church were passing away but god had raised up one to guide and guard his church that is in fact his poor and little ones with the coming struggle with worldliness and policy

this was francis de laval who landed at quebec in sixteen fifty nine with the title of bishop of petreia and vicar apostolique of new france gradually he gathered around him a few secular priests and began to settle the ecclesiastical affairs of the french posts till then mere missions in the hands of the jesuits at the period of marquette's arrival he had already begun to see his diocese assume a regular shape his clergy had increased his cathedral and seminary were rapidly rising the war with the iroquois which had so long checked the prosperity of the colony and the hopes of the missionaries was at last brought to a successful issue by the efforts of the viceroy de tracy and a new field was opened for the missions these had always been an object of his deep solicitude the wide west especially was a field with which he sighed to penetrate himself cross in hand but this could not be as early as sixteen sixty from the new impulse thus given an ottawa mission was resolved upon and the veteran menard one of the last survivors of the old huron mission

cheered by the parting words of his holy bishop embarked to raise the cross of salt st mary's which his companions joguet and rimbaud had planted twenty years before he board on to cowina bay in lake superior and while full of projects for reaching the sioux on the upper mississippi died in the woods a victim to famine or the hatchet or the roving indian at the time of marquette's arrival father alouz was there exploring parts which no white man had yet visited and as he saw a wide field opening before his view earnestly imploring a new missionary reenforcement such was the ottawa mission but there were others also father joget thus associated with the earliest western discoveries had penetrated into new york and reddening the mohawk with his life's blood brought it within the bounds of catholicity from this moment new york was a land which each missionary ambitioned visited successively by two more as prisoners their sufferings and blood confirmed the title of the missionaries

and in sixteen fifty four father simon le moyne visited onondaga and gave the first account of western new york a mission was established the next year and the missionaries explored the whole state from the hudson to the niagara but a sudden change took place a plot was formed against the french colony at onondaga and this first mission was crushed in its infancy after a brief existence of three years the war which ensued made canada itself tremble and a new mission in new york was not even thought of the attempt to renew that in michigan is indeed one of the hardiest undertakings in the annals of the jesuit missions and a noble monument of their fearless zeal but now the tree of peace was planted the war parties had ceased and missionaries hastened to the iroquois cantons which for nearly twenty years were to be so well instructed in the truths of christianity that even now the catholic iroquois almost outnumber the rest of their countrymen another great mission of the time was that of the obnachis in maine founded by Drouillets in 1647, and continued by him at intervals until it became at last

the permanent residence of several zealous men. Besides these were the missions of the wandering Algonquins of the river, which centered at Sillery and Three Rivers, but had been almost entirely destroyed by the Iroquois after the destruction of the Huron missions and depopulation of Upper Canada. These expiring missions the Jesuits still maintained, but another and a harder field was that of the montañas, of which Tadoussac was the centre. Here at the mouth of

that strange river, the Saguenay, which pours its almost fathomless tide into the shallower St. Lawrence, is the oft-mentioned post of Tadoussac. For a few weeks each year, it was a scene of busy, stirring life. Indians of every petty tribe, from the Eskimo of Labrador to the Mi'kmaq of Nova Scotia, came to trade with the French. Here then, a missionary was always found to instruct them as much as time permitted, and when found sufficiently acquainted with the mysteries of our faith to

baptize them. The Christian Indian always repaired to this post to fulfill the obligations of the church, to lay down the burthen of sin, to receive the bread of life, and then to depart for the wilderness, with his calendar and pin, to be able to distinguish the Sundays and holidays, and thus amid the snows and crags join in the prayers and devotions of the universal church. When the trade was over, a new field lay before the missionary. The country was to be traversed in every direction

to carry the light of faith from cabin to cabin, to exhort, instruct, confirm. These adventurous expeditions, through parts still a wilderness, are full of interest, and, strange as it may seem, are rife with early notices of our western country. They reached from the Saginae to Hudson's Bay, and, stretching westward, almost reached Lake Superior. This mission required one full of life, zeal and courage and to it father marquette was in the first instance destined the montañas was the key language to the various tribes and as early as the tenth of october we find him starting for three rivers to begin the study of that language under father gabriel

while thus engaged his leisure hours were of course devoted to the exercise of his ministry and here he remained until april sixteen sixty eight when the first project was abandoned and he was ordered to prepare for the ottawa mission as that of lake superior was then called he had by this time acquired also a knowledge of the algonquin and thus fitted for his new mission he left quebec on the twenty first of april with three companions from montreal where he was to await the ottawa flotilla which was to bear him westward party of nez per se came at last bearing father nicholas lewis the companion of allouz and with them father marquette embarked the journey up the ottawa river and through french river to lake huron and then across that inland sea to salt st mary's has been too often and too vividly described to need repetition here its toil and danger are associated with the accounts of all the early huron missionaries when he reached lake superior marquette found that the tribes whom fear of the iroquois had driven to the extremity of the lake were now returning to their former abodes

new missionaries were thus required and it was resolved to erect two one at salt site mary's the other in green bay the former was assigned to father marquette and planting his cabin at the foot of the rapid on the american side he began his missionary career here in the following year he was joined by father de blonne as superior of the ottawa missions and by their united exertion a church was soon built and thus at last a sanctuary worthy of the faith raised at that cradle of christianity in the west the tribes to which he ministered directly here were all algonquin and numbered about two thousand souls they showed the greatest docility to his teaching and would all gladly have received baptism but caution was needed and the prudent missionary contented himself for a time with giving them clear distinct instructions and with efforts to root out all lurking superstitions conferring the sacrament only on the dying the missionary's first lesson was to learn to labor and to wait his stay at the salt among the powating dak erini ochiboo marumegs etc was not however to be of long duration

father alanese departed for green bay and a missionary was to be sent to la pointe to continue the disheartening labors of that ungrateful field marquette was chosen without repugnance he set out for his new station in the autumn of sixteen sixty nine we cannot better depict his labors than by inserting at length the letter descriptive of his mission which he addressed to father francis de mercier the superior of the missions in the following year rev father the peace of christ footnote for the benefit of investigators of manuscripts i would remark that these words or the letters p c and across at the top of the page are alone almost sufficient to show a paper to be written by one of the jesuit missionaries End of footnote. I'm obliged to render you an account of the mission of the Holy Ghost among the Ottawas,

according to the orders I received from you and again from Father de Blon on my arrival here, after a month's navigation on snow and through ice which closed my way and kept me in constant peril of life. Divine Providence, having destined me to continue the mission of the Holy Ghost begun by Father Alouz, who had baptized the chiefs of the Kiskakonk. I arrived there on the 13th of September,

and went to visit the Indians who were in the clearings which are divided into five towns. The Hurons, to the number of about four or five hundred, almost all baptized, still preserve some little Christianity. A number of the chiefs, assembled in council, were at first well pleased to see me. But I explained that I did not yet know their language perfectly, and that no other missionary was coming, both because all had gone to the Iroquois,

and because Father Luz, who understood them perfectly, did not wish to return that winter, as they did not love the prayer enough. They acknowledged that it was a just punishment, and during the winter held talks about it, and resolved to amend, as they tell me. The nation of the Aotauks Synago is far from the kingdom of God, being above all other nations addicted to lewdness, sacrifices, and juggleries. They ridicule the prayer, and will scarcely hear

us speak of Christianity. They are proud and undeveloped, and I think that so little can be done with this tribe, that I have not baptized healthy infants who seem likely to live, watching only for such as are sick. The Indians of the Kinoche tribe declare openly that it is not yet time. There are, however, two men among them formally baptized. One now rather old, is looked upon as a kind of miracle among the Indians, having always refused to marry, persisting in

this resolution, in spite of all that had been said. He has suffered much, even from his relatives, but he is as little affected by this, as by the loss of all the goods which he brought last year from the settlement, not having even enough left to cover him. These are hard trials for Indians, who generally seek only to possess much in this world. The other, a new married young man, seems of another nature than the rest. The Indians, extremely attached to their reveries,

had also resolved that a certain number of young women should prostitute themselves, each to choose such partners she liked. No one in these cases ever refuses, as the lives of men are supposed to depend on it. This young Christian was called. On entering the cabin he saw the orgies which were about to begin, and feigning illness immediately left, and though they came to call him back, he refused to go. His confession was as prudent as it could be, and I wondered

that an Indian could live so innocently and so nobly profess himself a Christian. His mother and some of his sisters are also good Christians. The Ottowas, extremely superstitious in their feasts and juggleries, seem hardened to the instructions given them, yet they like to have their children baptized. God permitted a woman to die this winter in her sin. Her illness had been concealed from me, and I heard it only by the report that she had asked a very improper

dance for her cure. I immediately went to a cabin where all the chiefs were at a feast, and some Kiskekonk Christians among them. To these I exposed the impiety of the woman and her medicine men, and gave them proper instructions. I then spoke to all present, and god permitted that an old ottawa rose to advise granting what i asked as it made no matter he said if the woman did die an old christian then rose and told the nation that they must stop the licentiousness of their youth and not permit christian girls to take part in such dances to satisfy the woman some child's play was substituted for the dance but this did not prevent her dying before morning the dangerous state of a sick young man caused the medicine man to proclaim that the devil must be invoked by extraordinary superstitions

the christians took no part the actors were these jugglers and the sick man who has passed over great fires lighted in every cabin it was said that he did not feel the heat although his body had been greased with oil for five or six days men women and children ran through the cabins asking as a riddle to divine their thoughts and the successful guesser was glad to give the object named i prevented the abominable lewdness so common at the end of these diabolical rites i do not think they will recur as the sick man died soon after the nation of the kiskakons which for three years refused to receive the gospel preached to them by father resolved in the fall of sixteen sixty eight to obey god footnote father lewes in the relation of sixteen sixty eight to sixty nine does not use the term kiskakon he calls them and states that they had formerly lived on lake huron where they had been visited by the old huron missionaries and had been first visited by menard on lake superior i add this to my subsequent note on them as it may throw some new light on their original position

end of footnote this resolution was adopted in full council and announced to that father who spent four winter months instructing them the chiefs of the nation became christians and as father eluse was called to another mission he gave it to my charge to cultivate and i entered on it in september all the christians were then in the fields harvesting their indian corn they listened with pleasure as i told them that i came to la pont for their sake and that of the hurons that they never should be abandoned but be loved above all other nations and that they and the french were one i had the consolation of seeing their love for their prayer and their pride in being christians i baptized the new-born infants and instructed the chiefs whom i found well disposed the head chief having allowed a dog to be hung on a pole near his cabin which is a kind of sacrifice the indians make to the sun i told him that this was wrong and he went and threw it down a sick man instructed but not baptized begged me to grant him that favor or to live near him as he did not wish medicine men to cure him and that he feared the fires of hell i prepared him for baptism and frequently visited his cabin

his joy at this partly restored his health he thanked me for my care and soon after saying that i had recalled him to life gave me a little slave he had brought from the illinois two or three months before one evening while in the cabin of the christian where i sleep i taught him to pray to his guardian angel and told him some stories to show him the assistance they give us especially when in danger of offending god now said he i know the invisible hand that struck me when since my baptism i was going to commit a sin and the voice that bid me remember that i was a christian for i left the companion of my guilt without committing the sin he now often speaks of devotion to the angels and explains it to the other indians some young christian women are examples to the tribe and are not ashamed to profess christianity marriages among the indians are dissolved almost as easily as they are made and then it is no dishonor to marry again hearing that a young christian woman abandoned by her husband was in danger of being forced to marry by her family

i encouraged her to act as a christian she has kept her word not a breath has been uttered against her this conduct with my remonstrances induced the husband to take her back again at the close of winter since which time she has come regularly to the chapel for she was too far off before she has unbosomed her conscience to me and i admired such a life in a young woman the pagans make no feast without sacrifices and we have great trouble to prevent them christians have now changed these customs and to effect it more easily i have retained some suppressing only what is really bad the feast must open with a speech they then address god asking him for health and all they need as they now give food to men it has pleased god to preserve all our christians in health except two children whom they tried to hide and for whom a medicine man performed his diabolic rites but they died soon after my baptizing them having invited the kiskakans to come and winter near the chapel they left all the other tribes to gather around us so as to be able to pray to god be instructed and have their children baptized

they call themselves christians hence in all councils and important affairs i address them and when i wish to show them that i really wish what i ask i need only address them as christians they told me even that they obeyed me for that reason they have taken the upper hand and control the three other tribes it is a great consolation to a missionary to see such pliancy in savages and thus live in such peace with his indians spending the whole day instructing them in our mysteries and teaching them the prayers neither the rigor of the winter nor the state of the weather prevents their coming to the chapel many never let a day pass and i was thus busily employed from morning till night preparing some for baptism some for confession disabusing others of their reveries the old men told me that the young men had lost their senses and that i must stop their excesses i often spoke to them of their daughters urging to prevent their being visited at night i knew almost all that passed in the two tribes near us but though others were spoken of i never heard anything against the christian women and when i spoke to the old men about their daughters they told me that they prayed to god

i often inculcated this knowing the importunities to which they are constantly exposed and the courage they need to resist they have learned to be modest and the french who have seen them perceive how little they resemble the others from whom they are thus distinguished and of section four