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Citation |
- Permanent Link:
- https://ufdc.ufl.edu/UF00082114/00001
Material Information
- Title:
- The great West
- Series Title:
- Young folks' library of American history
- Creator:
- Pratt-Chadwick, Mara L ( Mara Louise )
Educational Publishing Company ( Publisher )
- Place of Publication:
- Boston
- Publisher:
- Educational Publishing Company
- Publication Date:
- 1893, c1890
- Copyright Date:
- 1890
- Language:
- English
- Physical Description:
- 176 p. : ill., maps ; 17 cm
Subjects
- Subjects / Keywords:
- Adventure and adventurers -- Juvenile literature ( lcsh )
Voyages and travels -- Juvenile literature ( lcsh ) Explorers -- Juvenile literature ( lcsh ) Animals -- Juvenile literature ( lcsh ) Indians of North America -- Juvenile literature ( lcsh ) Natural history -- Juvenile literature ( lcsh ) Gold -- Juvenile literature ( lcsh ) History -- Juvenile literature -- West (U.S.) ( lcsh ) Publishers' advertisements -- 1893 ( rbgenr ) Bldn -- 1893
- Genre:
- Publishers' advertisements ( rbgenr )
novel ( marcgt )
- Spatial Coverage:
- United States -- Massachusetts -- Boston
- Target Audience:
- juvenile ( marctarget )
Notes
- General Note:
- Publisher's advertisements on back cover.
- Statement of Responsibility:
- by Mara L. Pratt.
Record Information
- Source Institution:
- University of Florida
- Holding Location:
- University of Florida
- Rights Management:
- This item is presumed to be in the public domain. The University of Florida George A. Smathers Libraries respect the intellectual property rights of others and do not claim any copyright interest in this item. Users of this work have responsibility for determining copyright status prior to reusing, publishing or reproducing this item for purposes other than what is allowed by fair use or other copyright exemptions. Any reuse of this item in excess of fair use or other copyright exemptions may require permission of the copyright holder. The Smathers Libraries would like to learn more about this item and invite individuals or organizations to contact The Department of Special and Area Studies Collections (special@uflib.ufl.edu) with any additional information they can provide.
- Resource Identifier:
- 026924177 ( ALEPH )
ALH6703 ( NOTIS ) 83651731 ( OCLC )
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THE GREAT WEST. a:
University
of
Florida
The Baldwin Library
RmB
“£3
A
YOUNG FOLKS’ LIBRARY OF AMRRICAN HISTORY. —
THE GREAT WEST. —
By MARA L. PRATT, M.D.
i BOSTON:
BDUCATIONAL PUBLISHING COMPANY,
3 x
COPYRIGHT 1890,
BY EDUCATIONAL PUBLISHING COMPANY,
BOSTON. 5
Lich ae,
M
72
Melendez \565
St, Augustine
i,
§ Columbus
San Saluador® oO Z|
o d
Cotumbus eon
EARLY DISCOVERERS
ENGLISH in Capital letters,
u"
French in Roman
Spanish in Italic Y _Gorted 1519
THE GREAT WEST.
EOPLE who never travel away from their own homes
are very apt, we are told, to think of their village,
their town, their city, as the one great and important
spot upon this earth. .
In these days of books and newspapers, one does not grow
quite so narrow-minded as that, I think, even if he does
“forever stay at home.†Still, we need to be wide awake
and generous, quick to see, and willing to hear, or we might
wake up some day, and, like old Rip Van Winkle, find a.
world grown up around us of which we had not dreamed.
It is, of course, a grand thing to be loyal to one’s own
state ; to love it a little better than any other state; and to
always “stand up†for it, and never allow it to be slandered
in one’s presence.
6 THE GREAT WEST.
Did you ever hear of the Michigan boy who, after listening
for an hour or more to the boasting of a Massachusetts boy,
said, “Now you just let up, you young Yankee. I’d just like
you to understand that we've got ponds out our way that are
big enough to float the whole state of Massachusetts, and
leave room round the edges for all the states about her.â€
The Michigan boy was not quite elegant in his language,
perhaps, but he had the right spirit; and we can excuse
language, sometimes, when the spirit is right.
I once heard a Boston boy —a little fellow in knicker-
bockers — fly up in defense of his city, much to the amuse-
ment of his New York uncle, who had been bothering him
about the narrow, crooked streets. ‘I don’t care if the
streets are narrow; and I don’t care if they are crooked.
Didn’t our men fight in ’em? an’ didn’t they lick the
British ?â€
But in being proud of our own part of the world, we need
not fancy that other parts have not just as much of beauty,
just as much of usefulness,—that there are not just as noble
men and women, just as bright, wide-awake boys and girls
as there are in our own. ©
Now, there is the “Great West,†as our geographies call
it. Let us take a journey out through that country and see
THE GREAT WEST. 7
if it is great; and, if it is, then in what respect it is.
great. We eastern people, as we delight to call ourselves,
are so apt to pride ourselves on our “ first settlements,†our
“early history,†and our “brave forefathers,†that we some-
times forget that over toward the setting sun is a great,
broad, beautiful Wonderland.
New England is a little older, to be sure; that is, it was
settled a little earlier. But what of that! If Europe
had happened to be on the Pacific instead of on the
Atlantic coast, then California would have been settled first ;
and New England,— well, who knows? There might never
have been any New England. I am afraid that if those old
Puritans, sturdy and hardy as they were, had landed upon
the beautiful, sunny shores of California, and had breathed in
the warm, fruit-laden air, they would have been quite con-
tent to settle there, caring nothing at all for our wonderful
“Plymouth Rock.†:
So let us leave our brave old state, dear as she i is, and like
broad, generous reader s; journey into this Western Wonder-
land.
MOUNDS.
THE MOUND BUILDERS.
F the people who lived in this country before white*men
came had only left some written history, there would
have been a record of the Great West as wonderful and
as grand as any records of early Europe or Asia.
That the country was settled hundreds and hundreds of
years before white men came, is proved in many ways.
Vases and ornaments, axes and knives, have been found
far down in the earth, beneath trees which’ must of them-
selves be hundreds of years old.
We do not know who these early people were, where they
came from, or what language they spoke. But we do know
that, whoever they were, they were industrious and skillful,
and that they left behind them wonderful works.
The mounds these people left are, perhaps, the most won-
derful. It is because so many of these mounds are to be
seen through the West, that the people who built them have
been called “The Mound Builders.†One of the oddest of
these mounds is to be seen in Adams County, Qhio.
9
10 ~ THE GREAT WEST.
It is built in the shape of a great snake, thousands of feet
long. You can plainly trace the head, the long body,— if, in-
deed, you can speak of a snake’s body, — and the tail, which
is coiled like a sailor’s coil of rope.
In the mouth of this snake is an egg-shaped mound, which
is, of itself, one hundred and sixty feet long.
Sometimes these mounds are in the shape of animals,
sometimes they are in the shape of men; sometimes there are
many little round mounds at equal distances apart ; some-
times there are many long, straight ones arranged in a line,
or placed side by side. There are some very high mounds,
with steps cut in the sides reaching to the top; some have
chambers within them; some seem to have been used for
great fires. Often they are made of brick, or of stone, which
proves that these mysterious people must have known some-
thing about machinery, and such things as civilized people
know about to-day.
Many of these mounds are in perfect squares, or circles, or
ellipses ; and from that we learn that they must have known
of form, and must have had ways of measuring and reck-
oning.
These mounds are found here and there up and down the
Mississippi; and in Ohio alone there are hundreds of them.
THE GREAT WEST. 11
These people knew about mining, too ; for, near Lake
Superior, in one mine there is a great mass of copper weigh-
ing nearly six tons. They must have had some kind of
powerful machinery in these mines, for this mass of copper
is raised from the bottom of the mine and is supported on
great logs.
Who could these people have been? Were they the great-
great-great-grandparents of the present American Indians?
It hardly seems likely ; for they and the present Indians are
so very different. Excepting one particular tribe living in
New Mexico, the Indians are all very wild and ignorant,
showing no such skill and industry as these early people
possessed.
It seems, now, as if it would remain forever a mystery who
these people could have been.
T. W. Higginson, who wrote the charming Young Folks’
History of the United States, says of them :—
“They may have come from Asia, or have been the de-
scendants of Asiatics accidentally cast on the American
shore. Within the last hundred years, no less than fifteen
Japanese vessels have been driven across the Pacific Ocean
by storms, and wrecked on the Pacific coast of North
America; and this may have happened as easily a thousand
12 THE GREAT WEST.
years ago as a hundred. It is certain that some men among
the Mound-Builders had reached the sea in their travels ;
for on some of their carved pipes there are representations
of the seal, and of the manati, or sea-cow, —animals which
they could only have seen by traveling very far east or west,
or else by descending the Mississippi to its mouth. We
know neither whence they came nor whither they went.
Very few human bones have been found; and those had
nearly crumbled to dust. We only know that the Mound-
Builders came, built wonderful works, and then made way
for another race, of whose origin we know almost as little
as we do of these.â€
AMERICAN INDIANS.
HILE some discoverers were searching up and down
the Atlantic coast, others were pushing on into the
Great West, as we now call it, —some for the
pleasure of discovery, others for trade. There they found,
as they had on the coasts, tribes of copper-colored people,
living in wigwams, and busying themselves with. hunting
and fishing.
The copper-colored people had high cheek-bones, small,
shining, black eyes, and coarse, straight, black hair. . They
called themselves by all sorts of odd names; indeed, their
whole language seemed odd enough to the white men. They
had no written Mgmguage except their picture writing, so that
it was very hard work to learn to talk with them. _There
being no books, the white man could only remember the
words they gave him, as well as he could by sound. Some-
times these words, because of the faulty memory of the
white 1 man, became very much perverted, —so much so that
I doubt if the Indians themselves. would have recognized
13
14 THE GREAT WEST.
them. For example, one point of land on the southern
shore of Lake Superior, which the Indians called Sha-ga-
-waum-ic-ong, has had. its.name so made over in the course
of years that it now stands as Chequamegon. Would the
Indians of those times of discovery recognize that name
now, do you think, if they heard it?
It is said that among the Algonquin Indians, there were in
their language no sounds of f, 1, q, r, v, x, or z, so that any
word claimed as an Indian word, having in it any of those
sounds, is surely not an Algonquin word, and very likely not
a true Indian word at all. For example, Minwaukie, when it
came to be used by the French, whose language is so full of
the smooth, liquid sound of 1, was very soon changed into
Milwaukie.
I hardly think you would care to learn the Indian language,
but let us take just one lesson in it. I’m sure ‘you will be
amused to learn what the names of some’@f our states, and
rivers, and lakes mean in real Indian language.
But before we do that, I want, just here, before it slips my
mind, to speak of the pretty way these Indians had in nam-
ing their babies. These Indians did not know very much,
judging their education from the things we are so proud to
know to-day; but they had many beautiful and fanciful
THE GREAT WEST. _ 15
notions in their heads after all. They loved their forests and
the beautiful flowers; they loved the warm sun and the
beautiful pale moon ; they dreamed of a heaven of rest away
off in the great, blue sky; they spoke tenderly of the bright
land of the “setting sunâ€; and they were ready always to
see the Good Spirit in the gentle breezes and in the smiling
waters. b ‘
But the baby names! No Baby Mays or Baby Beths,
perhaps; but other names quite as dear, no doubt, to the
babies’ mothers and fathers.
When the baby had reached a certain age, he was taken
from the wigwam and carried out into the open country.
The first object which seemed to attract the baby’s
“notice gave to him its name. Very carefully did the parent
watch the baby’s face, for there was a belief that the name
would some way influence the baby’s future. So we find
among these Indians, names like a Harte, Great Wolf,
and Laughing Water. : ;
The names of their towns, and the names of the rivers and~.
mountains had meanings, too. Here are a few of these
names, many of which, zi am sure, are poy familiar words
to you.
=
INDIAN NAMES.
RKANSAW, a town in Wisconsin. Named from a
tribe of Indians who made a very superior sort of
bows for shooting. Hence they were called “arc
kansas,†or, in our language, “dow [nudzans.â€
ANAMAKEE, a county in Iowa. The Indian word for
thunder. -
ANOKA, a town in Minnesota; meaning a “ busy place.â€
ANAmoSA, a town in Iowa; from the Indian word Anamosh,
meaning a dog.
CHEBANSE, a town in [Illinois; meaning Little Duck.
Named in honor of an Indian chief cS that name.
IsHPEMING, a town in Niehiean “meaning “ High-above-
Heaven.â€
Kickapoo, a town in Illinois; meaning “the ghost of
an otter.â€
Koxomo, a town in Indiana; meaning “wise like an ow|â€â€™
a: ? oD
: ee 16
|
|
THE GREAT WEST. 17
Manitrosa, a lake of the Northwest; meaning “ Spirit-
â€
voice.
Manito, a town of Illinois; the Indian name for the
“Great Spirit,†or God.
MINNEHAHA, a water-fall in Minnesota ; meaning “ Laugh-
ing water.â€
MILWAUKEE, a town of Wisconsin ; meaning “good earth.â€
MisippPi (Mississippi) means “ Father of Waters.â€
Nokomis, a town in Illinois ; meaning “grandmother.â€
Onto, meaning “how beautiful.â€
YANKTON, a town in Dakota; meaning “ People of the
spirit lakes.â€
WISCONSIN, meaning “strong current.â€
These are very few of our geographical Indian names ; but
perhaps they are all you will care to hear about at one time.
Now that you find these names do have some meaning, why
not, as you come upon new ones in your study of geography,
try to learn their meanings and why they were given? Very
often there is an odd little legend connected with the name
of a town or state that would help you to remember it for-
ever.
INDIAN LEGEND OF THE BEAR.
E are apt to think of the Indian of these times as a |
\V mere savage animal given only to eating, drinking,
hunting, fishing, fighting, and scalping.
Very true: this was, perhaps, what they seemed always to
be doing ; and it is altogether likely the white man found it |
quite all he could do to keep out of the way of their arrows |
and tomahawks, and so had little time, and less desire, to look |
very closely into their lives to see what might be there. |
The Jesuits, who went among them to live, and who
studied into their history and their legends, learned that, —
savage as they were, they were not without ideas of the
good and the beautiful, of justice and honor, — ideas that are
by no means to be scorned. ,
Their legends of animals show more than any others, |
perhaps, the Indian’s idea of character.
An Indian chief once shot a huge bear, breaking its back.
The animal fell, setting up a most plaintive cry. The chief
then approached the bear and said, “Hark ye! bear. You are
’
18
THE GREAT WEST. 16
a coward! You are not the warrior you claim to be! If you
were, you would now show it by your firmness. You would
not lie there crying and whimpering like a pappoose. You
know, O bear, that your tribe and mine are deadly enemies.
You know, too, that the Indians are too powerful for you.
You dare not come out and meet us. You go sneaking and
stealing about in the night time, stealing from us. Had you
conquered me, J would have died like a brave warrior. Ax
Indian never whimpers.
“But how could the bear understand the warrior?†asked
a Jesuit.
' “Indeed he could,†answered the Indian, ‘the bear under-
stood very well. Had you seen him, you would have noticed
how ashamed he looked.â€
fe A
A PUEBLO RESTORED.
THE ZUNIS.
N 1846, Col. A. W. Doniphan marched into the territory
of New Mexico. Imagine his surprise to find living
there a tribe of Indians wholly unlike any before seen
in this country.
Instead of wigwams, these Indians had great stone houses,
some of them six stories high.
There were about ten thousand of these people living in
settlements, or towns, of about a thousand each. They
_ claimed to have descended from those races who were living
in Mexico at the time of the “Conquest.†They certainly
did have many customs like the Indians of that time as
described by Cortez.
These ‘ pueblos,†or houses, are built of stone, and look
very much like great forts. They have no doors or stair-
cases, but are entered by means of ladders set up against
the building. These being drawn up at night, the people
within are free from all attacks.
These stories are arranged something like steps, so that
21
22 THE GREAT WEST.
the top of one story makes a sort of balcony for the people
living in the story above.
In each of these buildings is an underground place in
which the “sacred fires†are kept burning. These fires
have been kept burning for hundreds of years. “If we never
allow the sacred fire to be lost,†say these Zufiis, ‘and if we
keep it ever hidden from the sight of the white man, then some
day our great chief will come for us, and we shall all return
to our old home in the south from which we once were so
cruelly driven.â€
These Indians are Sun-worshippers ; and often they may be
seen sitting upon the roofs of their houses, watching for the
rising of the sun. “The sun,†they say, “is the golden
chariot which sometime will bring our chief to take us back
to our southern home.â€
The Zufiis, one group of these house-building Indians, are
a gentle, peace-loving people, living simply and honestly in
their homes, waiting, waiting, waiting for their old chief, hop-
ing always that with the next appearing of the fire-chariot he
may come to them.
SPANISH CONQUESTS.
HEN this great continent of North America was
discovered, and it began to be really understood
how large it was, how rich, and how varied in it
productions, thinking men began to say, “What, indeed, is
going to be the effect of this wonderful discovery upon
Europe, its trade and its people?â€
Then each of the three nations that had sent out its ships
_began to contend over the ownership of it.
“Tt shall be mine,†said Spain, “because our ships carried
Columbus.â€
“Tt shall be mine,†said Portugal.
“Tt shall be mine,†said England.
But England was not yet the proud monarch of the sea.
Spain then held that honor. Her royal standard floated
far and wide over the broad seas. Columbus had carried it
even to the shores of Mexico; but meantime Diaz, a Portu-
guese mariner, has sailed around Cape Good Hope.
Wonderful voyages were these for the times and the frail
ships then built.
23
24 THE GREAT WEST.
And now Spain and Portugal agree to divide between
themselves all the unknown lands and seas east and west of
a certain line drawn not far from the Azores, from the
North Pole to the South Pole.
By this, you see, they planned to cut off from this New
World every other nation. Spain, from the very beginning,
had the advantage. Columbus had taken possession in her
name of those islands which guarded the entrance to the
Gulf of Mexico, which is a sort of watery door-yard to
the great new house. You may be sure she was wise
enough to make these places strongly fortified, and to keep
a sharp lookout that no English or Portuguese ships should
get into this door-yard. ;
' Spain now arose suddenly to an importance in the world of ©
which she had néver dreamed. Europe looked on in amaze- |
ment to see the grand conquests Spain was making, while |
Portugal and England stood back and gazed, awe-struck. It |
was the old story of the big boy and the admiring little boys
over again. And how these little boys longed to get just a |
finger in this great, rich pie! But the big boy said, “Touch :
it if you dare!†And the little boys did n’t dare. ,
But by and by Francis I., king of France, said, “ Pray tell
me, where did you get your right, great neighbor mine,s to |
THE GREAT WEST. 25
claim this new world as yours? Did old Father Adam leave
a will in which he gave to Spain this great, new, island-
farm?â€
And Spain only growled, “ ess away ! keep away! We’ll
fight! we ‘Il fight !â€â€™
“Fight then,†said France, “and we ’ll fight, too!†Aad so
the two great armies of France and Spain met at Pavia and
fought. It was a hard, fierce battle, and in it the French
were so badly defeated that Francis I., when the battle was
over, wrote to his mother one brief sentence, which has since
come to be a familiar phrase — “Madam, all is lost except
honor.â€
Spain was now greater than ever. Other nations, inspired
by her success, began to reach out, little by little, taking
good care, however, always to keep a most respectful dis-
tance from any playground which she might care to possess.
Iam greatly tempted to stop here and tell you about the
conquest of Mexico by one of Spain’s great explorers — Cor-
tez. It is like a grand, good novel to hear of his wonderful
adventures and his wonderful discoveries. You must read
all about it sometime, — about the great king Montezuma and
his wonderful city. Cortez may have been a great explorer,
and a daring one, but he was a cruel man; and his treatment
26 THE GREAT WEST.
of the noble Montezuma and his people is one of the saddest
stories in early American history. Because he was so need-
lessly cruel, I have never cared very much that, after he re-
turned to Spain to lay his great discoveries at the royal feet,
the king scornfully asked, “ Who is this man?†We will be
just, however, and remember the daring reply Cortez made
to this insulting question of the king: “I am the man,†said
he, “‘who has gained Your Majesty more provinces than your
fathér left you towns.â€
INDIAN STORY OF THE SEASONS.
N old man was sitting in his wigwam, by the side of a
frozen stream. It was the close of winter, and his
fire was almost out. He appeared very old and lone-
some. His hair was white with age, and he trembled and
shivered as he walked. Day after day was passed in soli-
tude, and no sound heard he except the loud winds sweeping
before the light new snow.
One day, as his fire was dying out, a handsome youth ap-
proached and entered the wigwam of the old chief. His
cheeks were red, his eyes danced, and a smile played upon
his lips. His step was light and quick.
On his forehead was a garland of sweet grass, and in his
hand were fragrant flowers.
“Ah, my son,†said the lone chief, “come in. I rejoice to
see you. Come, tell me of your travels, of the strange lands
you have seen.â€
The youth entered, and the old man, after making his guest
_ comfortable, began to speak : —
24
28 THE GREAT WEST.
*‘T breathe forth, and the streams stand still; the waters.
harden as crystal stone.†|
“J breathe,†said the youth, “and the flowers, and grasses,
and ferns spring forth on hill and plain.†|
“T shake my Jong hair,†said the old man, “and snow.
covers the land; the leaves fall from the trees and my breath.
blows them away. The animals hide from me, and the|
sround itself grows cold.†|
,
“T shake my ringlets,†said the young man, “and warm|
showers fall upon the earth, and the soft dews are like the|
glistening eyes of children. At the sound of my voice, the|
birds come back; at the warmth of my breath, the streams
â€
|
leap forth; music is in the groves wherever I walk, and the.
whole earth is filled with joy. |
All night long they talked. At length the sun began to|
rise, and a gentle warmth came over the place. The old
man grew silent. The birds began to sing in the trees,
about the wigwam; the stream began to murmur, and the|
fragrance of the flowers came in at the door. |
t
And now, as the youth looked upon his host, he saw the
higher and higher, the old man grew less and less in stature,
I
streams begin to flow from his eyes. As the sun rose
i
I
and at last was melted quite away, and nothing was left
THE GREAT WEST. 29
upon the hearth but the Miskodeed, a small white flower with
a pink border, that even now always comes when the winter
goes,
-
‘River of the Holy Ghost,†noted it on their maps, and sailed :
DISCOVERY OF THE MISSISSIPPI.
aaa
N the very first maps the Spaniards drew of the Gulf
of Mexico and its surrounding country, they located :
the entrance of this great river. They had little idea,
however, that the muddy waters flowing into the gulf were
the waters of a river so long and so large that the Indians |
themselves had given it the name of Mississippi, meaning |
“Father of Waters.â€
The Spaniards gave it, for some reason, the name of “ The
on, little suspecting how great an opportunity they had lost
for going into the very heart of the new continent.
It was, therefore, to De Soto that the real discovery of |
this river is due. In 1539, with six hundred men, he set sail
‘ i
from Havana, determined to make an exploration of the in-
terior of this land bordering the gulf.
When Cortez started inland to Mexico, he burned his ships
that his men might understand that, let come what might,
there was no hope of escape for them.
jo
THE GREAT WEST. 31
De Soto, though ‘equally determined, was less rash. He
thought it just as well not to destroy them; so he sent them
back to Havana. They were fierce, war-like people,— these
Spaniards,— not looking for homes as did the peaceful col-
onists of later times, but bent only on discovery and conquest,
no matter what the cost.
De Soto, with his camps, his infantry, his cavalry, his
sparkling armor, and his loud-sounding trumpets, made a
picture very different from that of the peace-loving colonists.
“Let us find gold! gold!†Gold was their aim in all they
did. “Gold at any cost !â€â€™ was De Soto’s watchword. What
wonder, then, that he had no time for justice toward the
natives, no thought of kindness for them.
“Indians,†said he, “have no rights except to bow to us
and serve as our slaves.†:
Meaning from the very beginning to make slaves of them,
he had brought with him bloodhounds to hunt them down,
and chains to bind them with. Wherever the army marched,
these poor Indians were dragged along, loaded down with
baggage, and lashed by their cruel masters if they sank be-
neath their burdens.
At their first landing, De Soto found a Spaniard who had
for twelve years lived among the Florida Indians. ‘“ Where
CAMPING IN THE FLORIDA FORESTS.
THE GREAT WEST. 33
is the gold? Where is the gold?†asked he, eagerly.
“T do not know,†answered the Spaniard.
“Do not know?†cried De Soto. “Lived here twelve
years, and do not know? Away with him to the chains!
He shall guide us to the gold, or he shall die! on
The Indians came to his rescue. Pointing to the moun-
tains far away, they said, “ There is gold! there is gold!â€
De Soto had heard,—and was greedy enough to hope it
was true,—that semewhere in Florida was a golden city,
with golden streets, and golden- palaces, ruled over by a king
who, every day, was sprinkled over with fine golden powder,
who lay upon a golden couch, and was served always from
golden plates.
This absurd story was enough to keep up the courage of
these wealth-seeking Spaniards ; and on they went, enduring
all sorts of hardships for the sake of the hoped-for “ El
Dorado,†or “ City of the Gilded King.â€
Perhaps if these Spaniards had not been so dazzled with
their visions of shining gold, they might have seen more
clearly their way through the deep Florida forests. Good
soldiers though they were, and skillful as was their leader,
this little band of six hundred became most hopelessly lost
34 THE GREAT WEST.
in the wildernesses,— so lost that never has it been possible
to trace their line of march. |
It must have’ been a terrible journey, covering thousands
of miles, and lasting many years; and they led on always by |
nothing higher and better than the greed of gold. Wherever
this could be heard of, De Soto hurried on his weary,
wretched soldiers, until, at last, worn out by disease and
famine, De Soto himself died. ,
Then the few miserable followers who were left made.
their way to the coast, flying before the wrath of the
Indians, whom, a few short years before, they had so cruelly
trampled upon.
Where they had been all this time, they hardly knew them-
selves; but that they had, in their wanderings, reached the
banks of the Mississippi, there is no doubt. One of the sol- |
diers in.speaking of it says, “We found a river so wide that |
if a man stood upon the opposite bank, it could not be seen |
whether he was a man or not. So great was it, and so
strong was the current, that great trees were borne along
on its waters.’ This, of course, must have been the
Mississippi, since we know that there is nowhere in that
part of the country, another river of which any. such
description could have been true,
6
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36 THE GREAT WEST.
In Irving’s ‘Conquest of Florida,†he gives this descrip-
tion of De Soto’s burial : —
“They buried him in the dead of night, with sentinels
posted to keep the natives at a distance. The place chosen
-for the sepulchre was one of many pits, broad and deep ; but,
with all their precautions, they soon found out that the Indi-
ans suspected not only the death of the governor, but the
place where he lay buried; for, in passing by the pit, they
would stop, look round attentively on all sides, talk with one
another, and make signs with their chins and their eyes to-
ward the spot where the body was interred. The Spaniards
perceiving this, determined to disinter the body and deposit
it in the mid-channel of the Mississippi. As there was no
stone in the neighborhood wherewith to sink it, they cut
down an evergreen oak, and made an excavation in one side,
of the size of aman. On the following night, with all the
silence possible, they disinterred the body, and placed it in
the trunk of the oak, nailing planks over the aperture. The
rustic coffin was then conveyed to the center of the river,
where, in presence of priests and cavaliers, it was committed
to the stream, and they beheld it sink to the bottom, shed-
ding many tears over this second funeral rite, and commend-
ing anew the soul of the good cavalier to heaven.â€
NEW MEXICO.
| AD De Soto lived, his little band might have crossed
the Mississippi, and so have begun the exploration
of the Great West. The Indians of the Great
West, however, lost little in losing this opportunity to enter-
tain De Soto’s band, if we may judge from the fate of those
tribes who had received them.
Meantime, however, Mendoza, inspired by the cruel tri-
umphs of Cortez in Mexico, burned to set out northward on
a like expedition. Not only did he hope to rival Cortez, but
he had heard that in that great unknown region north of
Mexico, there were gold, and silver, and great cities. More-
over, he hoped somewhere to find the end of the land, and so
have the glory of having first crossed the continent. Many
efforts had been made to do this, but all thus far had only
ended in failure.
Two great obstacles met Mendoza at the very start.
One was that the unknown country could be reached, as
far as they knew, only by crossing the mountains, or by pass-
37
38 THE GREAT WEST.
ing through the mountain defiles, which were so rugged and
high, so steep and rough, that it seemed but foolish risk of
life to attempt them.
The second obstacle was one for which the Spaniards had
only to thank themselves, and that was the fury and hatred
of the natives with whom they had dealt so cruelly in times
past. All up among these very mountains which must ‘be
crossed, these Indians were now living, nursing their anger,
and only waiting opportunities for revenge.
Mendoza did not care to set out to meet any such enemies
as these seemed likely to prove to be. He therefore planned
a method of approach different from that of Cortez or that of
De Soto.
He took a good old monk from his cell, gave him a guide,
and bade him go into the new country and explore, being
very careful everywhere to carry messages of peace and
good will to the Indians.
In this way, many natives were coaxed down from the
mountains. These were easily won over by gifts and the
kind words of the old monk, and so the way was opened.
Old Father Marco then pressed on across the mountains
into the land of the Zufii. What might have happened we
cannot know; but here Father Marco’s negro guide was
THE GREAT WEST. 39
murdered, and the old monk hurried back to the Spanish
settlements. The following year, another attempt at ex-
ploration was made, but with no better success.
Near as they were upon the much-coveted gold and silver
lands, it was more than thirty years before another attempt
of any importance was made to enter the mysterious country
beyond the rocky wall.
At the end of that time, again two monks set out from
the Spanish settlements. The Indian had not forgotten, in
all these years, the early cruelty of the Spaniards. Perhaps
it was because of this fear and dread of Indian revenge, per-
haps it was from real honesty of purpose, that the Spaniards
now decided that the best way to approach these Indians
would be to first convert them to the Christian religion.
We will hope it was the latter. Certainly it was quite time
that other means than the bloodhounds and chains should
be used to conquer them, if, indeed, they could be con-
quered.
‘Accordingly, two monks were sent out among the natives
with express commands that, under no circumstances, was
cruelty to be used toward one of the simple, heathen red men.
These monks journeyed on to the valley of the Rio Grande.
Two years later, other missionaries set forth, and these, going
40 THE GREAT WEST.
far up the river, brought back reports of people living in
cities and in houses, some of whom had even a Christian
religion, which they said had been taught their forefathers
long before. Others, however, worshipped idols, for which |
they had wonderful temples built.
There were great differences between the natives of dif-
ferent settlements. Some lived in huts of mud, or in rude |
houses of boughs and straw; others lived in high, stone-
built houses, four, five, and six stories high.
The farther north the explorers went, the more people
they found, and the better their condition. To this part of |
the country which in its trees, and soil, and climate, seemed
so much like the Mexico from which they had traveled, the
Spaniards gave the name of New Mexico.
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mop
CALIFORNIA.
N due time the exploring Spaniards reached what we now
call Lower California. Thinking this to be an island,
they gave it the name of California. This was the name
of a certain fabled island in an old Spanish romance; and
as this new point of land seemed very beautiful, and as the
Spaniards had always been fond of fanciful names, they gave
the name to this last discovery. They sailed along the coast,
farther and farther north, exploring as they went, until they
reached Cape Mendocino.
But are the Spanish to go on forever? Is no other nation
to interfere? Are they to get possession of the whole con-
tinent ?
Well, not quite such good fortune is in store for cruel
Spain as that. Already, as they say, “a cloud no bigger
than a man’s hand†is beginning to rise in Spain’s hitherto
clear sky. And that cloud, if you look at it sharply, has a
very English air about it. It, looks, indeed, very like an
English ship.
41
42 THE GREAT WEST.
Yes, England had at last produced a mariner whose name
already was coming to be a terror even to the Spaniards.
Francis Drake had already passed the Straits of Magellan
with one little vessel, on into the great South Sea.
Drake seemed not to know what fear meant. Fighting,
plundering, capturing,— on he went up the coast in spite
of Spanish threats. It was finally believed at this time that
somewhere there was a passage through from the Atlantic to
the Pacific. It was spoken of as ‘The Northwest Passage.â€
Drake, knowing that the Spaniards were lying in wait for
him if he returned by the old route, thought, since peril was
in store for him whatever course he took, that he might
as well try to find this much-talked-of and much-longed-
for passage, and return that way.
Soon he went farther and farther north, until the climate
began to grow so cold that his men rebelled against
going farther on. Drake was, therefore, obliged to turn
south again.
Finding a snug little harbor off the coast of California, he |
dropped anchor there, landed, and spent poe days in
exploring the country round about.
When Drake’s great vessel came sailing up the bay, the
natives came rushing down in troops to meet it.
SIR FRANCIS DRAKE.
43
44 THE GREAT WEST.
‘Glad enough were they to find the newcomers showing
a flag not Spanish, and speaking a language unlike any they
had before heard.
The king of the country, Drake afterwards reported, took |
off his crown and placed it upon Drake’s head in token |
of his willingness to accept him as their new king.
Drake set up a great post on this shore, upon which
he fixed a brass plate bearing the name of Elizabeth, the
English queen.
“How will the Spaniards like that!†said Drake, as
he took possession of the country in the name of England.
Then away he sailed, off across the Pacific, by way of Cape
Good Hope, home.
Spain now rose in fury. Ambassadors were sent to Eng- |
land to tell the English throne that her mariners had in- :
fringed upon Spanish rights; that the western coast be- :
longed to them.
The queen listened for a long time to their greedy story;
but Queen Elizabeth was not one to listen long with patience
to any tale of Spanish power. She finally sent the ambassa-
dors home, feeling very much as if their ears had been
soundly boxed ; for when Elizabeth raised her temper and her |
voice, it was a daring man who cared to stay and listen.
THE GREAT WEST. 45 .
And so Mendoza, the ambassador, went home to his king
with the message that the English throne would continue
still to believe that the sea and the air was not yet owned by
the Spanish. :
This sarcastic message was received by the Spanish king
with fury and with loud threats of revenge. It was not until
eight years after this that the English navy, with Drake at
its head, met the “Invincible Armada†of the Spanish in
the English channel, and proved to that haughty power that
England, not Spain, henceforth would rule the sea.
The Spanish power was broken. No longer was the
Spanish flag the terror of the world.
But to return to California. The real settlement of this
country was, like all others under the Spanish direction, a
half-military, half-religious plan. Enough was known of the
climate and soil to prove to the Spaniards that it was worth
their while to push on from the barren, sandy tracts of New
Mexico.
Missions were accordingly set up in Lower California, and
‘at the same time forts and batteries were set up along the
coasts.
Although urged on by the dreams of great harvests from
this warm, rich soil, you may be sure the Spaniards had no
46 THE GREAT WEST.
intention whatever of doing the work themselves. That
was not the Spanish way. It was the Indians who were to. |
do the work.
As one by one the stations were built, the Indians were
told to draw together about them, that the white people
might more easily teach them how to live as they lived, as
well as how to die as Christians died. °
Being innocent, submissive people, they very willingly
came, and set to work building houses, tilling the soil, and
tending the herds —doing, in short, all the work, and giving
in to the Spaniards all the wealth. The Spaniards, on the
other hand, by giving the Indians clothes and food, kept
them under their control, making them believe that they
were caring for them as no other people had ever been cared |
for. The simple-hearted Indians could not see that they |
earned for the white people, by their labor, ten times over :
the cloths and food they gave them.
And how about the commerce of these nations? You may|
be sure the ports were carefully guarded from all other than
Spanish vessels. They would hardly have cared to have the).
English or the French learn the resources of this country.
Once a year a Spanish vessel would come into port, and)
the Indian slaves would see the products of their year’s hard)
THE GREAT WEST. 4qW
work carried off to unknown lands. Whether it ever
occurred to them that this was unjust, I do not know. It
would have made very little difference, as far as helping
themselves was concerned, if they had been wise enough to
know their wrongs :
All trade was carried on by ocean, and it was long, long
after the settlements by the English on the Atlantic coast,
that a way was opened across the deserts of Colorado. After
that a little trade sprang up between the provinces, but the
road was so long and so beset with dangers, that little was
accomplished, and the Spaniards were left unmolested.
CHAMPLAIN.
FRENCH SETTLEMENTS.
FTER Columbus had discovered America, the French
were among the first to turn their attention to the new
world. They were, however, very innocent and
moderate in their desires regarding it. While the Spaniards
were spurred on by the thirst for gold and power, and were
willing to crush and kill, if need be, every soul that dared
oppose them, the French had in view only new sources of
supply for their trade.
Spain would have been glad if she could have frightened
‘from American shores every man not in Spanish employ,
» but she could not do quite so much as that. The. spirit of
discovery was wide awake in all the nations of Europe, and
it would not be lulled nor frightened into repose again.
Spain forced these other nations to keep at most respectful
distances, but she could not keep them off the ocean entirely,
much as she wished it.
At this time the French had shown themselves brave and
daring upon the sea. Indeed, it is said that “they had sailed
49
50 THE GREAT WEST.
boldly out into the great Atlantic in ships no larger than
a modern oyster boat.â€
By accident, we might almost say, Cartier pushed on
towards the north, discovered the great St. Lawrence, and
sailed on and on for three hundred miles or more into the |
continent. :
Amazed at the greatness of the stream, they believed it
that wonderful route for which
must be the way to India
all traders were searching, as had the early Spaniards
searched for the El Dorado. But whether it was the way
to India or not, of one thing they were sure: whichever
nation got control of that great waterway would guard one
gateway, at least, to the great continent.
The Frenchmen, ever eager to see the glory of their coun-
try advanced, began at once to dream dreams and see visions |
of a New France which should magnify in importance and in|
glory the dear Old France.
These French, from the beginning, easily won the confi |
dence of the Indians, and so gained their ready willingness
to help. The French respected their rights and their ideas,
and so won their loyal friendship. They went, too, in among
them, lived with them, hunted and fished with them, and
learned their language and their habits, Add to all this the
;
THE GREAT WEST. 51
passionate, eager way with which the French enter into any-
thing they undertake, and we understand why it was that the
Indians were for a long time so attached to the French.
Although Cartier ascended the St. Lawrence as early as
1534, it was not until more than half a century later that the
work of settling a French colony began in earnest. Then
Champlain, after whom Lake Champlain is named, founded
that quaint little old city of Quebec.
Did you ever hear how this city came to receive its odd
/ name? It is said that as these French explorers were sail-
| ing up the river, they came suddenly upon a sharp point of
high land. “O, gael bec!†meaning, “O, what a beak!â€
cried the commander. And so “Quel bec,†or ‘“ Que’ bec,â€
it has been called to this day.
Champlain, seeing at once how valuable and how strongly
fortified a site for a future city this would be, at once estab-
lished a “ trading-post †there. .
Here an active fur trade was set up with the Indians. The
Indians, childishly anxious to display the wonders of their
country, told the French of the copper mines farther to the
west, and the way in which this copper could be cleansed
and used. Spurred on by hope of greater gain, the French
pushed farther into the wild forests. It would have been so
52 THE GREAT WEST.
easy to have gone down into what is now our Middle Atlan-
tic States, and set up trading-posts along the Hudson! And
it would have been so grand to have got control of the Great
Lakes, with their wonderful advantages for trading and
exporting !
But, unfortunately for Champlain, the Indians north of the
St. Lawrence and the Indians south of the St. Lawrence
were deadly foes. More than that, Champlain had foolishly
taken part with these northern Indians in a struggle with
the southern. This, of course, had brought down the undy-
ing hatred of these last upon the French; and they were
determined that no French should enter their country if
continual petty warfare could keep them out.
Because of this, the French, wishing to reach Lake Huron,
were compelled to make a laborious overland journey through
the country of the friendly Indians, carrying their canoes
' from water to water, over the rough land passes.
To Jean Nicolet fell the honor of pushing on into the
west as far as Green Bay. He was, without doubt, the first
white man to tread Wisconsin soil.
During all this time, rumors of the doings of the Spanish
on-the western coast ‘were spreading abroad, and gladly
would the French have set forth on expeditions westward,
THE GREAT WEST. ; 53
had the unfriendly southern Indians not kept them busy
where they were. Indeed, the French could hardly feel
safe in their forts at Montreal; to set out into the hostile
country was certainly not to be thought of.
"The missionaries were loud in their cries against these
heathen, calling upon all the saints to rid them of this
scourge. But not only did these Indians hate the French,
not only did they declare war and vengeance forever, but
there were the Dutch in New York, who had established
rival fur-trading posts, urging them on against the French,
even providing them with fire-arms to use against them.
At last a genuine,outbreak between the two tribes ended
in the utter destruction of the northern Indians. The few
who were left fled, some east, some west, and the southern
Indians rushing in to take possession of their deserted lands,
hemmed in the French completely.
| This was a dark time for the French. Not only could
they make no progress westward, but their trade was embar-
rassed, their homes were in danger, and life itself was in con-
tinual peril.
But a brighter day dawned at last. Some Lake Superior
Indians came sailing up the river to Quebec. The traders
gladly seized upon the opportunity to make friends with their —
54 THE GREAT WEST.
visitors, and establish trading terms with them. The monks,
too, did not let pass the opportunity to teach them the white
man’s religion. When the Indians were ready to go back
into their own country, they asked that a missionary be sent |
with them to teach this new God to their people.
It would be a terrible journey, and a life of bitter hardship
must follow for the missionary that should be chosen for this
work. Still the opportunity must not be neglected ; and one
of the good fathers came forward, offering himself for the
work.
As you grow older, and read more deeply into the history
of these times, you will hear much said in defense of, and
much in condemnation of, these early Jesuit priests. One
writer will tell you that they were pure, unselfish, self-sacri-
ficing teachers of what they believed to be the true religion; |
another will tell you that they were actuated by nothing |
higher than desire to glorify France and push the fur-trade. |
You and I could hardly presume to say what might have |
been their motives. We know men will sacrifice much for |
their country, but still there is a something in the lives of |
these Jesuit priests, a something in their willingness to sac-|
rifice, in their devotion, in their endurance, that.seems to tell
us that, whatever may have been the motives of those who}
|
THE GREAT WEST. Be)
sent them, they themselves must have been filled with an
honest desire to do what to them seemed right.
This priest who set out with the Indians on their return
to their own people, was brave and faithful; but the cold and
the exposure were more than he could bear, and in only a
short time the Indians came back to say that the good man
was dead. That he had faithfully done his work, that he
had drawn the Indians to him, and had touched their hearts,
we know; for at his death we are told the Indians were
“much grieved and did earnestly desire that another father
should come among them.â€
Undismayed by the sad fate of his brother worker, Father
Allonez, the following summer, set out in company with a
band of returning Indians. For two long years he worked
among them; and at length succeeded in forming a mission
on the southern shore of Lake Superior.
During all this time, he had sent no word to his brothers
at Quebec, and they had long since given him up as dead.
But one bright morning he appeared before them, footsore
and weary, but full of hope and courage, eager to tell of his
strange adventures, ‘and to enlist the sympathies of his fel-
low priests in these far-off Indian tribes.
He had traveled’ from tribe to tribe; over the country,
MISSIONARIES AMONG THE INDIANS.
THE GREAT WEST. il
through the forests, and across the waters. Down into the
land of the dreaded southern Indians ‘he had traveled, and it
was there he had built his mission: He -had talked with
them, had learned their ways and their language ; had heard
elowing accounts of their country, which, they said, “reached
to the end of the earth.â€. From them he had heard of the
great river, the “Messipi,†of the wonderful gold and silver
countries, and of the many tribes far to the westward.
When it became known in France that the head-waters of
| a great river had been found, the fire of adventure blazed up
again. It was quick to be seen that a stream whose head-
waters were so broad and powerful as these were said to be,
must pour itself into the sea. Then, too, it must be a long
river. Perhaps it flowed into the Atlantic, perhaps into the .
Pacific, perhaps into the Gulf of Mexico. That they did not
yet know. But that it must be a great river, and that, what-
ever its course, it must prove a great waterway —as great,
and perhaps ereater, than the St.: Lawrence —this the
traders were quick enough to see. “Think!†said the
French; “we already control: one great water route into.
the heart of the continent! If we can plant our standard at
the mouth of this other mighty stream, we shall control its
whole course — perhaps the whole continent !â€
MARQUETTE AND JOLIET.
AGER to begin the exploration of this mighty stream,
b Marquette, a priest, and Joliet, a trader and an
explorer, were sent forth. -If the French could get
possession of this great waterway, they were sure the Span-
-jards could be kept from advancing farther into the conti-
nent, the English could be kept upon the Atlantic coast, |
and the French would then, indeed, become ¢ke nation of
the “New World.â€
Joliet was quite as impatient to set forth as France was to
‘have him, and Father Marquette had long been praying that
it might be granted him tq carry the gospel to the tribes
along the shores of the great river. It was with joy, then,
that in May, 1673, these two, with only five companions, set
forth upon Lake Michigan.
They coasted this lake, passed into Green Bay, entered
Fox River, crossed Lake Winnebago, reaching, at last, a little
Indian village, where, to Marquette’s great joy, they found a
cross standing unharmed among the wigwams, planted
there by the good Father Allonez.
5S
THE GREAT WEST. .- 59
This was as far as white men had ever pushed their ex-
plorations. All beyond this place was to be an unknown
land. On they went into the heart of Wisconsin, sometimes
paddling along the sunny waters, sometimes carrying their
canoes across the desert places. They found the Wisconsin
River. Following its course, they came, at last, toa place
where its waters lost themselves in a great roaring, rushing
stream.
Could’ this be the Messipi, the wonderful river of the
Indians,— the river guarded over by the great and terrible
demon? It must be! there could not be another so great,
and dark, and broad! . The long-sought Mississippi was
found at last.
Carefully and watchfully, for they knew not what tribes
might dwell along its banks, the explorers sailed rapidly on-
ward.
Such forests! such sunny prairies! such rushing waters!
And all so grand and free!
One day they saw upon. the river-side signs of habitation.
Landing, they found a well-worn path.
“This,†said Joliet, “ must be a foot-path. - And see! here
is an arrow. Here a bit of wampum! There is a village
beyond.â€
*
VOYAGE OF MARQUETTE AND JOLIET.
THE GREAT WEST. 61
Suddenly they.came out into a sunny, open place, where,
sure enough, stood a little group of wigwams, with Indians
lying about the door-ways smoking, and sunning themselves
on the fresh, warm earth. 5
Amazed, and perhaps somewhat frightened at the sudden
appearance of white men before their very doors, the Indians
hurried forward to meet their guests, offering at once the
peace-pipe. :
“Who are you?†asked Marquette.
’
“We are the Illinois,†was the honest reply.
“We are with friends!†cried Marquette and Joliet to-
gether, for they saw within the wigwams articles which they
knew must have come from the French trading-posts. “If
these people trade with our people, they must be friendly
with us, and they will tell us where we are. They will tell
us of the river, and of the people we shall find along its
shores.â€
So, entering the camp, they met the Indians cordially, ac-
cepted their generous offers of food and rest, smoked the
peace-pipe with them, eagerly drinking in every word of
information regarding the wonderland below.
When they went back to their canoes, they had made
friends with the whole village, and, in token of it, the. whole
62 THE GREAT WEST.
village escorted them to the water’s edge. As Marquette
left the village, an old chief placed in his hands the peace-
pipe, which he said would be his safeguard among all the
Indians along the river.
Grateful, indeed, were the Frenchmen for this; for among
the Indians the peace-pipe is looked upon with reverence and
honor. To attack a stranger bearing a peace-pipe would be
a breach of Indian honor not to be thought of.
Sailing along they passed the Illinois, pouring its waters
into the Mississippi, then the Missouri, then the Ohio or
the River Beautiful. No danger menaced them until they
reached the Arkansas. There, suddenly, a fleet of war canoes
shot out from the bank, and spread themselves in such a way
that to pass them or to escape them was impossible.
Now, indeed, were the explorers thankful for the peace
pipe of the Illinois. The young savages had already fitted
their arrows and were bending their bows. Holding high
the peace-pipe, Marquette made friendly signs, at which the
bows were dropped, and the little band was saved.
They were now allowed to pass, and were told that only a
few leagues down the river they would find the “ great
town,†of the tribe, and there they would learn all they.
wished to know about the river.
THE GREAT WEST. 63
Reaching the town, they were taken ashore and treated to
a great feast. But so strongly did their new friends warn
them against further progress down the river, telling them of
the tribes below who carried firearms and whose only occu-
pation was war upon all white men, that it was decided best
to return. ‘We have not seen the mouth of the river,†said
Joliet, “to be sure; but there is no doubt now of its course,
and no doubt that it flows into the Gulf of Mexico. If we
go on we may be killed, and then France will know nothing
of our discovery. If we go back and report what we have
found, we may, perhaps, come again with a larger band, and
be able to force our way to the outlet.â€
| Reasoning thus, they turned back, and in a few weeks
reached Lake Michigan.
The Mississippi had now been explored for six hundred
miles. There was little doubt that it was, indeed, the “Great
River,†and that it flowed into the Gulf of Mexico. Still the
exploration was not complete. Some applauded the wisdom
of Joliet in returning, others sneered at him and saw no
reason why he should not have forced his way to the very
end. Joliet had never proved himself a traitor or a coward,
and, whether wise or not, it certainly is probable that Joliet
was honest in his judgment that he should return with what
64 THE GREAT WEST.
_ information he had gained rather than that the whole should
be lost through rashness. There are times, even in explora-
tion, when “ discretion is the better part of valor.â€
Marquette remained to teach the gospel to an Indian tribe,
and Joliet alone conveyed the glad tidings of the discoveries
to Quebec. It is said he was received with enthusiastic de-
light. The bells were rung during a greater part of the
whole day, and all the clergy and dignitaries of the church
went in procession to the cathedral to celebrate high mass.
Notwithstanding the great excitement produced by this
event, it did not lead to further discovery for some time. The
good Father Marquette dying soon after, and Joliet -being
otherwise occupied, the great river lay unnoticed in the wil-
derness, and its discovery seemed almost forgotten.
LA SALLE.
HE exploration of the Mississippi was to be finished
by La Salle.
This man was, perhaps, the “prince of explorers.â€
He is called so by some writers; and if brains and ideas,
force and will, could make him so, the name is, perhaps, not
unfitting,
Before setting out upon his expedition, La Salle proposed
first to build a vessel in which to cross the lakes, and so do
away with the tiresome canoe journey. So it came about
that La Salle’s was the first vessel launched upon the Great
Lakes,
Delay upon delay prevented the party from setting out
until far into the autumn. Already those cold, north lake-
winds were blowing, sharp and keen. Even now, La Salle’s
man Tonty must be waited for. At last he came, — but it
was now December. Many murmured against setting out
at this time in the season, through unknown lands. La
Salle, however, was not the man to retreat. “It will be
65
66 THE GREAT WEST.
warmer farther south,†he said; “then, too, we shall find
food and shelter in the Illinois towns a little below.â€
So on they went to the town of the friendly Illinois, but,
to their great disappointment, they found the town deserted.
The people had gone to hunt the buffalo, that being their
custom at this time of the year. This was a heavy blow to
La Salle, for he had hoped here to get food and guides for
the journey. Next, they came upon a tribe of Indians who
begged them not to venture down the river. “It is filled,â€
said they, “with snakes and alligators, serpents and terrible
monsters. Then, too, there are savage herds along the
banks who wait with poisoned arrows to attack the white
man. - And the river itself is full of raging, seething whirl-
pools, hungry to swallow up the white man’s canoe.â€
These silly stories were received by La Salle with great
contempt. “There is some reason,†said he, “why these
natives do not want us to go down the river, and they take
this way to frighten us back.â€
His men were not so sure of this. Many of them grew
sullen and fearful. Six of them deserted outright and
hurried back to Quebec. .
La Salle and his little band now went into winter quarters,
built a fort, and waited the coming of the warmer days. At
THE GREAT WEST. 67
no time did he show one sign of grief, or regret, or lack of
courage. Aspparently he was of iron heart. Still, if one.
may judge from the name he gave his fort — Crevecceur,
meaning broken-hearted — there were times when he, too,
dreamed of the sunny France he had left so far behind.
Nothing, however, could shake the determination of this
brave leader. Leaving the fort in the charge of Tonty, he
himself made a journey back for the provisions which he must
have before he could set forth down the river.
When he returned to the Indian village, he found only the
charred and blackened ruins, and the burned and mangled
bodies of his friends. During his absence, hostile tribes had
fallen: upon the Illinois, had slaughtered them, and had
burned their village. \ The fort, too, he found deserted; for
as soon as he had gone away, the men had risen against
Tonty, had plundered the fort, and had gone off leaving
Tority to the mercy of the savages.
Good, faithful Tonty! La Salle’s strong, right-hand man!
Wretched, and in despair, La Salle searched for him, wan-
dering here and there until he came to the Mississippi. But
no Tonty was to be found. Then returning to Montreal, he
gathered more men about him, and set forth a third time for
the Great River, the Father of Waters.
68 THE GREAT WEST.
You know the old saying that the third time never fails.
, True or not, it proved true this time at least. Quietly
they sailed on, very little of note happening, until at last, on
the sixth of April, 1682, they had reached that point near
the mouth of the river where it branches in three directions.
“Which shall we take?â€â€™ the men asked.
“I,†said La Salle, “will take the most western branch ;
you, Tonty,—for Tonty had been found,—shall take the
middle ; and you, my brave man, shall take the eastern.â€
“The water,†said La Salle, “grows to taste more: salt.
Surely we are coming into the Gulf of Mexico;†and a little
later, the canoes did, in truth, glide out upon ‘the clear,
smooth waters of the gulf. The Mississippi was now no
longer an object of myth and speculation. It had been navi-
gated from its source to its outlet ; and so, landing not far above
the mouth of the river, La Salle set up the arms of France,
and, in the name of Louis, King of France, took formal pos-
session of all the land watered by the Mississippi, giving it
the name of Louisiana.
Z THE UPPER MISSISSIPPI.
S Joliet had had with him the priest Marquette, so La
Bi Salle had set out with Father Hennepin. It was the
intention in these French expeditions that explora-
tion and conversion should go hand in hand.
While LaSalle was delayed in his voyage down the
Mississippi, he sent two of his men and Father Hennepin up
the river, that, when he should have returned from - his
own voyage, he might be able to prepare a full account
of the wonders of the entire river from its source to its outlet.
For six weeks these explorers paddled peacefully up
the river, nothing of especial rote falling to their notice.
“Tf only we can keep clear of the Sioux!†said they. But
one day when they had stopped to mend a leaking canoe,
suddenly there burst upon them the war-cry of these very
Indians whom of all others they hoped to avoid. In a
moment they were surrounded. With scowls and howls and
flourishing of tomahawks, they fell upon the defenceless
Frenchmen.’
69
70 - THE GREAT WEST.
Hennepin offered the peace-pipe; but the peace-pipe this
time had no weight with the angry Sioux, who had long
waited for just such an opportunity as this to avenge them-
selves on the white men. ;
Hennepin fell upon his knees and began muttering prayers
aloud. This seemed only to infuriate the Indians the more.
S ee
A ENIN on LET ue
Se Sao SS
VOYAGE OF LASALLE DOWN THE MISSISSIPPI.
“He is making charms! He is making charms!†cried they.
“Scalp him! scalp him! he is calling up the demons !â€â€™
It was only by promising to call no more upon the evil
spirits that Father Hennepin saved his own and his friends’
lives. Escape, however, was impossible. For nineteen days
THE GREAT WEST. G1
the three.Frenchmen were driven like cattle before the sav-
age Sioux, who seemed to find relief to their pent up.wrath
by afflicting all sorts of petty abuses upon the defenceless
captives.
At last the village of the Sioux was reached. Here
Hennepin was put in the care of an old warrior, who, by and
by, adopted him as his own son.
A hard, weary winter followed for the captives.
But when the summer came, and the Sioux went forth to
hunt the buffalo, then was their time to plan an escape.
La Salle, when they had set forth, had promised to send
word to them at the mouth of the Wisconsin.
“Tf we can only get there,†said the Frenchmen, “we are
sure of help.†So telling the Sioux that their friends were
coming loaded with gifts, the greedy Indians agreed to let
two of the white men go down the river.
It was at this time the falls were passed to which
Hennepin gave the name of St. Anthony, naming them from
his own patron saint.
To their surprise and chagrin, a little farther on, they
were overtaken by a- party of the Sioux, who, being sus-
picious of their story, had followed them all the way. Find-
ing that they were really going to the mouth of the
b
1
LASALLE CLAIMS THE MisaiSePEL
THE GREAT WEST. 73
Wisconsin as they had said, and thinking that perhaps it was
true that white men were to be there with their loads of
gifts, they ordered the two white men to remain where they
were, while they themselves would go ahead and meet
the party and secure the gifts for themselves.
Of course no white men were there, and, what was of
much more interest to the Sioux, no loads of gifts, and back
they paddled, angry cuater at the white men wh had
deceived them.
After this, the Frenchmen were watched more closely than
cver, and were treated more cruelly. No attempts at escape
~ were made, for they knew only too well how useless it would
be.
It was months later when, at last, a company of French
traders came into the village of the Sioux, and ransomed
Father Hennepin and his two companions.
One of this rescuing party was named Duluth, ere another
Pepin. After one of these, the settlement of Duluth was
named, and after the other, Lake.Pepin. We have, therefore,
in the Falls of St. Anthony, the city of Duluth, and Lake
Pepin, a group of names which should always suggest to us
this little exploring party who attempted, in spite of all
danger, to reach the source of the Mississippi.
—
Se
t
DEATH OF LA SALLE.
LTHOUGH LaSalle knew, for the object of trans-
A portation, the Mississippi was of no value to the
French at present, he appreciated the necessity of
keeping the -way open.
Accordingly, the first thing to be done was to plant a
colony at the mouth of the great river. Having done this,
he went to France to report his discoveries to the king, and
set forth his plans for the future. One plan was that a fort
be built a little distance up the river, which should become a
trading center for all neighboring tribes. This, he knew,
could be more easily done from the fact that the Indians so
hated the Spaniards. Having built and established this
center, it would be easy, with the help of the Indians, to
push on into the silver regions, drive out the four hundred
Spaniards there, and get possession.
The plan was easily seized upon by the king. Instead of
the two vessels LaSalle asked for with which to carry out
his scheme, he was given four. LaSalle set to work with
74
THE GREAT WEST. : 75
his natural energy, and, in a short time, enough soldiers,
priests, arms, provisions, and colonists were got together
to establish a settlement at once.
So great a character as La Salle could not be without ene-
'mies. His reserve of manner, the greatness and the broad-
ness of his schemes, the grandeur of his successes, all tended
to promote jealousy in the petty minds of his companions.
Before he set sail on this expedition, which promised so
much, he and his leading naval officer had quarreled. La
‘ Salle, sarcastic and intolerant, had drawn himself into his
shell, as people say, and the naval officer, chafing under
the coldness and reserve of his superior, sulked and
threatened.
Nevertheless, the vessels set forth. One of them was
seized by a Spanish buccaneer, but the other three reached
the entrance to the gulf in safety. Here they were detained -
by illness among the crew and the passengers, La Salle him-
self lying for many days at death’s door.
La Salle, anxious to perform what had been given him by
his country to be done, set forth before he was fairly able,
steering westward into the gulf. Although La Salle knew
he was not near the mouth of the river, on New Year’s Day
they landed. The sneers of his officers drove him, perhaps,
76 THE GREAT WEST,
to this rashness, for La Salle, even while landing, held that
they must have gone too far to the west. They were, indeed,
far beyond the mouth of the river — some four hundred miles
—on the coast of Texas.
With the leaders so at variance, it is no wonder that the
colonists and the soldiers were out of spirits. And when it
became known that even La Salle himself did not know where
they had landed, they were seized with fear and misgivings,
Beaujeu, the naval officer, after openly expressing his con-
tempt for La Salle, had sailed away.
_ It was a hard position for LaSalle. He tried to put
courage into the little band, by setting them to work and
helping them to build their houses, This little village
La Salle named St Louis after the French King.
Unused to the climate and the exposed life, déath and
sickness were with them through the summer. The Span-
iards, too, were far from friendly, and the Indians were ever
on the alert to strike down any Frenchman who wandered
beyond the protection of the settlement.
When at last they were comfortably settled, La Salle set
forth with fifty men to find the river which he had so
recently navigated. For months they wandered. about, but
THE GREAT WEST. U7
came back tired and worn, Baan eyt no tidings-to bring of the
great river.:
' Meantime the one vessel they had kept*to carry fre to
the Mississippi when it should be found, had been lost ; men
were dying; disaster upon disaster followed.
La Salle would not ene way to despair —at least not be-
fore his men.
“There is but one thing to do now,†said he, “and that
is to some way get to Canada. To get to France is impossi-
ble. Let us keep up our courage. Remember, I am as badly
off as you, and I am‘as desirous of finding help and comfort.
Now, who will volunteer to set forth with me to Canada?
We can, at least, all die together.â€
Taventy men set out again upon this very dangerous and
uncertain journey. As these brave men set forth, La Salle
at their head, the hopes of the little colony rose once more.
They found their way to the country of the Anis Indians.
Here sickness and weakness from starvation overcame them,
and they were compelled to give way. Buying a few horses
from the Indians, they retraced their steps, coming at length
into their little village, more wretched and dispirited than
ever,
But what could be done! La Salle knew full well the
78 : THE GREAT WEST.
discontent among his men, their mistrust and hatred for
him. Still there was but one hope—that of reaching
Canada. Again he set forth, this time with fewer men, and
these, too, with less of courage and more of hatred for the
man whom they felt had brought them to this wretched pass,
At midnight, beneath the open sky, high mass was said.
La Salle spoke a few words of hopeful cheer to these who
were to set forth with him upon this perilous journey, and to
those weary ones who were to await their return. Then the
little band filed quietly away through the forest, out of sight.
It was a long, hard journey — sometimes across the hot
prairies, sometimes through almost impassible morasses,
through dense forests, across streams, and up and down the
rough hill-sides.
Indians they met from time to time, some of whom seemed
friendly, others suspicious and revengeful. The weather was
unfavorable, the roads were rough, dangers beset them on
every side, and, worse than all, hate lurked in the hearts of
the little band toward their leader. LaSalle, always cold
and haughty, made no attempt to gain the love of his men,
and made no pretence of hiding his contempt for certain ones
among them who, to him, seemed contemptible.
Matters were brought to a terrible climax at last. Certain
THE GREAT WEST. 4 79
hunters who had gone to find some corn which La Salle had
hidden on his previous expedition, chanced to kill a buffalo.
The sight of blood was, to the hate in the hearts of these men,
like fuel to a smouldering fire. Open quarrel burst forth.
The long-cherished longing to murder La Salle and others in
the party sprang into-action. Plots were conceived and
rapidly executed.. Three of the party were murdered in
_ their sleep, and then the infuriated assassins hid themselves
in the long grass awiting the coming of La Salle himself.
For two days La Salle waited in his camp the return of
hismen. Then unable to bear the suspense, and having a
foreboding that something of this nature may have taken
place, he set forth with the friar, Anastase Douay, to find his
men..
“All the way,†the friar afterwards wrote, “he talked of
nothing but matters of piety and grace, enlarging on the
debt he owed to God who had saved him from so many
perils. Suddenly I saw him overcome with a sadness for
which he himself could not account. So much moved was
he that I could hardly know it.was he.â€
Soon the camp where the buffalo had been killed was
reached. He fired his pistol as a summons to any of his fol-
lowers who might be near by. The shots reached the ears
-
|
mi
bs
MURDER OF LA SALLE.
80
THE GREAT WEST. 81
of the murderers who were lying in wait for him. Two of
them crouched lower in the grass, while the other stood upon
the river-bank to attract La Salle’s attention and draw his
footsteps in that direction.
Coming up to him, La Salle demanded iainaly, “Where
is my nephew?â€
“Along the river, I suppose,†answered the man insolently.
“Your salute to your commander!†called forth La Salle,
for by no token whatever had the man recognized the
approach of his leader.
The hunter muttered some insolent, half-intelligible BED:
and moved back.
At that moment a shot rang out upon the air. Another,
and another ; and La Salle dropped upon the ground dead.
The good friar stood pale with fright.
The murderers now came forth. “Fear not, good father,â€
said they. ‘We have no wish to harm thee. But thou,â€
turning to La Salle’s bleeding corpse, ‘‘there thou liest,
great Bashaw! There thou liest!†;
Then rushing upon the dead body with the fury of wild
animals, they stripped it of its clothing, beat it and cut at it,»
and dragged it away to the forests, leaving it there a prey to
the birds and the wolves.
IBERVILLE AND BIENVILLE.
OR some time after the death of La Salle, nothing was
b done about colonizing Louisiana. But at last there
arose another man, Iberville, who proposed to re-dis-
cover the Mississippi, plant a colony there, and carry out
the plans of La Salle. .
Iberville, like La Salle, had in France a reputation for
wisdom and capability. Therefore, when the colonizing
scheme was again advanced by him, all intelligent French-
men acknowledged its importance, and were eager to see
the work again carried forth.
A war between France and England was just over, and
Iberville was anxious to distinguish himself in some new
service to his country. Accordingly two vessels were gotten
ready, and Iberville set forth. Coasting about the Florida
coast, in and out among the lagoons, he came, here and
there, upon villages and towns along the coast and up the
river whose inhabitants always gave him cordial welcome.
One day a chief brought him a letter which he said had
82
THE GREAT WEST. 83.
been left there some thirteen years before, to be given to
La Salle should he ever come to their village. This letter
proved to be one which the faithful Tonty had left for his
loved leader, when, after searching in vain for him, he had
turned back for the ‘Illinois.
In this letter he said that he had found the cross that La
Salle had erected, fallen; but that he had raised it again in
a more secure place. That, while searching for his com-
mander, he had coasted the Louisiana coast for thirty
leagues, and the Florida coast for twenty-five.
Sure, now, that he was on the Mississippi, Iberville sailed
down again, found a suitable place in which to begin a settle-
ment, left a colony, and returned to France.
When, a little later, he had come back to his colony, he
learned that English traders were pushing in above him. |
Finding himself menaced both by land and sea, he speedily
erected cannon at the mouth of the river, shutting up the
entrance from that direction.
Later he erected storehouses on Dauphine Island, and be-
gan a settlement at Mobile. The colonists soon commenced
the raising of tobacco, and were in a flourishing condition.
Iberville had, indeed, gained a foothold; and had he not
died a little later, we may well suppose that French explora
84 THE GREAT WEST.
tion and colonization would have indeed made mighty
strides.
At Iberville’s death, his brother, Bienville, took up the un-
completed work and carried it on with wisdom and vigor.
Up the river was a rocky place, not unlike Quebec in its
natural fortifications. Upon this the French had for some
time looked with longing. Such a site for a future city!
Such a fortification! But this very place was the seat of a
powerful Indian tribe whose anger it was not wise to excite.
An opportunity soon offered itself, and Bienville was
quick to take advantage. These very Indians had attacked
some traders passing by, and immediately Bienville com-
menced the building of a fort there.
Next, having overawed these people, a fort was built on
the Red River, to hold in check the Spaniards, who were
already working their way toward the Mississippi with a
view to engrossing the Indian trade.
It seems a pity that France was not wise enough in these
times to see that the way to keep her hold upon her
possessions was to colonize. Had inducements to col-
onists been offered, the history of the French in
America would have been very different. Trade and
money-getting seemed, however, to be their only thought.
THE GREAT WEST. 85
Such a rich soil! Such a wealth of productions! If only
people had been encouraged to go there and settle!
But, just as had been done before on the St. Lawrence,
the monopoly of the trade was “let out†to one man.
He was to control all the people and all the trade of the
entire region. And, as he had no other object than to
accumulate wealth and return to his own country, he
turned every settlement into a trading-post, paying no
heed to the grand possibilities of the region.
Not only was there no inducement to families to build
homes for themselves, but there was equally little induce-
ment even to build up trade; for this one monopolist
was in government employ, and every barter, however
small, was made to pass through this man’s agents, at
such a price as should be fixed by them.
This plan was a failure, as one might suppose it would
be; and in five years, Crozat was glad to surrender and
return to France.
After this came the “Gigantic Mississippi Scheme of
John Law.†This was a step in advance of the last.
Under this, colonies were planted along the Mississippi
River and its branches, and agriculture was encouraged.
Slaves were brought from the West India Islands, and
86 THE GREAT WEST.
the French began to take on the air of plantation owners,
Bienville now began the building of New Orleans,
This seemed a strange site for a settlement —this bit of
a delta, built of the mud and driftwood which the river
was forever bringing down.
Only a few feet above the level of the sea, likely to
be overflowed with every rise of the river, it is no won-
der that people looked on with amazement at .Bienville’s
choice. He, however, knew what the future would do
for this spot if he could induce people to settle there
and improve and fortify it.
That he was wise in his choice has since been proved,
and New Orleans is to-day the metropolis of the South.
Only a little later it was discovered that ships could
pass the great sandbar at the mouth of the river. Now,
indeed, the great river was open to navigation, and the
value of it began to be realized. Now, from Quebec to
New Orleans, along the St. Lawrence and the Mississippi,
French trading-posts, colonies, military-posts and mission
churches were everywhere to be seen. France held the
two great water-routes of the New World.
MACKENZIE RIVER.
ET us turn now to the English. Surely that energetic
E nation has not all this time been idle. The belief
in a north-west passage was like a tradition among
the sailors of this nation. We will not stop to speak of
the many English sailors who had set forth into the cold,’
_ barren country of the north, searching for the mythical north-
west passage. It was to the English what El Dorado
had been to the Spanish. eed
During these many attempts to find this new way to 2
India, of one thing the English had grown certain, and
that was that the bleak, desolate region about Hudson
Bay was rich in fur-bearing animals. Trading-posts .were
at once set up, and England was drawing in a snug little
revenue from her Hudson Bay fur trade. Now and
then the Canadians would break in upon these English
posts, but in time all was held by the English throne.
The Indian inhabitants of these regions were nomadic
races, and, through their help, the English were taught tg
87
88 THE GREAT WEST.
‘
make distant journeys into the interior. Not so very
much was done, because the people there cared only for
fur-trading. The English government, however, were de-
sirous that the wonderful north-west passage be found,
that the glory thereof might revert to the English throne,
Then, too, there was the immense advantage of holding |
control of a “short cut†to India, the great trading mart
of the world.
A Scotch trader, Alexander Mackenzie, was, perhaps,
one of the most daring explorers. of his time. For eight
years he had dwelt at a little trading-post half way be-
tween Hudson Bay and the Rocky Mountains. He had
often asked the Indians about the country beyond the
mountain range, but they could tell him little except that
fierce tribes lived there—so fierce that none dared ap-
proach them.
But Mackenzie, who was an explorer by nature, was not to
be frightened by any unknown tribes. He was determined
to cross the continent. With one great canoe filled with
provisions, he, with a few companions, set forth. Going up
the Slave River, through the lakes, he came at last upon the
river which now bears his name. There, although he knew
it ran north into the region of ice and snow, he launched his
THE GREAT WEST. 89
canoe and floated along, coming out into the open polar sea.
On his way he met everywhere friendly Indians who gave
him food and shelter, and were ready to direct him and give
him such information as they could.
It was a fearful journey through the bitter cold and over
the rough frozen country, but success crowned his efforts,
and in due time Mackenzie and his men stood upon the
shores of the great Pacific.
THE RUSSIANS.
OU remember the Spaniards had coasted along the
western shore and had set up crosses in the name of
God and their country. Drake, too, of English fame,
had, in spite of the Spanish, skirted the same shores, had
taken possession in the name of the English throne, and had
then merrily sailed away, eluding the Spanish, who were
eagerly lying in wait to seize him on his return.
"But nearly a century had elapsed since then, and neither
Spanish nor English had thought it worth while to follow up
their claim. :
Suddenly a new claimant appeared —not from the east,
but from the west. Peter the Great, the Czar of Russia,
always awake to the interests of his country, seeing in the
new world an opportunity for his people as well as for the
English, French, or Spanish, sent out a Captain Behring of
the royal navy. He, sailing out from Kamtschatka, found
open water everywhere, and so settled the separation of the
two continents.
go
THE GREAT WEST. 5 91
On a second voyage he reached the American coast, dis-
covered Mount Saint Elias, and the Aleutian Islands.
Behring’s vessel was wrecked on one of these islands, and
he himself died from injuries and exposure. His crew, how-
ever, were able to build a vessel from the wreck which served
to carry them to the Asiatic shore.
As trophies, they brought from the New World skins of
the otter and the fox. These at once aroused in the Russians
an ambition to establish a fur trade. This was carried on at
first merely through roving traders. By and by colonists
from Siberia were carried over; but colonization was not the
Russian forte any more than it had been the Spanish.
There was no opportunity for agriculture in this cold, barren
region, even if they had wished it. These colonists being
merely vassals, and the Indian natives being merely slaves
to these, there was little progress in civilization.
In time the trade passed into the control of oné company,
and the Russian claim in America was held only as a busi-
ness speculation and was managed as such.
CAPTAIN COOK.
EXT in rank to Sir Francis Drake as an English navi-
N gator, stood Captain James Cook. In the “Seven
Year’s War,†of which you will hear in other his-
tories, England had wrenched Canada from the French,
and having gained so much, she was seized with an ambition
to gain all. For this purpose vessels were sent to the
North-west coast for the purpose of re-discovering that
which Drake had so long ago taken possession of in the
name of England.
In 1776, while the English colonists on the Atlantic were
rebelling against the tyranny and greed of England, this new
attempt to extend her territory and her power was made.
Captain James Smith, with Vancouver and Ledyard, set
forth with two vessels for the northern Pacific coast.
_ They discovered and named the Sandwich Islands, Later
he came upon Cape Flattery, and by and by upon Nootka
Sound, the broad basin about which the Nootka Indians lived.
These were of the same tribe as those Drake had so long
g2
THE GREAT WEST. — 98
before made the acquaintance of; and, indeed, Cook found
them friendly as ever and very little changed, except that
they were no longer awe-stricken at the sight of white-faced
people, neither were they at all moved by the roar of cannon
or the glitter of shining armor.
Here he lay by to refit his vessels, and make arrange-
ments for an indefinite voyage into the frozen north. As he
set out from Nootka, unfortunately for his future fame, his
ships were blown far out from shore, so that he passed the
Columbia River without the least suspicion that so great
and important a water-route lay so near at hand.
When Cook came in towards land again, he was far up the
coast within the Russian claims. On he sailed through the
Behring Straits into the Arctic Ocean, until at Icy Cape his
vessels were stopped by ice. While at Nootka, Cook had
traded knives, and beads, and buttons with the natives for
furs.. Now, finding that there seemed nothing to be learned
and nothing to be gained in this northern sea, he sailed
back, stopping at Canton to sell his furs. These were found
to be worth, in the fur mart, more than ten thousand
dollars, and this was, perhaps, the beginning of the Canton-
Nootka fur-trade.
JONATHAN CARVER.
N England lived an old war veteran who was much given
to studying the maps of the day, and who took great
interest in the discoveries and advances made by all
nations in this new world. In the war between France and
England, he had served in the army, and had become ac-
quainted with the country along the St. Lawrence and the
Great Lakes.
From studying the maps, from reading the works of
Hennepin, Lahontan and others, he felt sure there must bea
way across the continent, straight on from these Great
Lakes. Even in Hennepin’s time, the Indians had said that
far away, at the source of the Missouri, was another river
leading on to the sea.
“Tf,†said Carver, to the English government, “a way
across can be found, we can establish a port upon the Pacific
side. Not only will this prove to be the ‘North-west Pas- .
sage,’ but it will make communication between Hudson’s Bay
and the Pacific so much more direct. More than that, a
94
THE GREAT WEST. 95
settlement on that side will not only promote useful discov-
eries, but will open a way to China and the English settle-
ments in the East Indies.â€
This was the first time that the idea of crossing the con-
tinent to get to the far-off India was boldly set forth to the
English government. It was received favorably, and, in due
time, with a party of traders, Carver set forth from the Falls
of St. Anthony.
Carver’s movements were very like those of other ex-
plorers, including the sailing up one river and down another,
the usual bartering with the Indians, together with the win-
ter spent in their village. After entering far into the state
of Minnesota, he was unable to advance farther because the
cifts which were to have been sent him with which to bribe
the natives, as they journeyed, did not come. There seemed
nothing to be done but to return. He had accumulated a
vast amount of information.
JOHN LEDYARD.
ITH Cook, in this expedition, was Corporal John
Ledyard. He was a sharp-sighted, quick-witted,
restless, ambitious man, full, like so many others
in his day, of projects and theories concerning the north-
west passage. He was far-sighted enough to know that if
some way for securing the commerce of the north-west coast
could be found, it would be a means of untold wealth to the
nation that should control it.
Ledyard was an American; and although the American
colonies had had quite all they could attend to with their
war with England, he acknowledged no condition that need
interfere with America’s setting forth side by side with
other nations in the struggle to secure the prize of this
western coast.
America was now a free republic. She should take her
place with other nations in this contest. The time would
come when she must hold this western coast — her safety
would demand it—so Ledyard said.
96
THE GREAT WEST. 97
Ledyard was persistent. He had but this one idea. He
talked it to everybody. He would talk of nothing else.
“Tam dying with anxiety,†he said to a friend, “to pene-
trate to the Pacific coast. There is an immense field for
exploration there. An opportunity for an explorer to win
for himself honest fame, and to bring to the American
nation a wealth and a possession of which they do not
dream. It was well enough that a European should dis-
cover America, but now it is an American that should ex-
plore it; and an American nation that should control it.â€
In talking with Jefferson, so earnest and impassioned was
Ledyard that Jefferson’s interest was aroused. ‘Why not,â€
said he, “go to Russia, cross over to Kamtschatka, then take
some Russian vessel and come over to the Pacific coast.
‘Then explore inward back to the known part of the
- country 2?â€
It seems very strange to us that it should ever have been
supposed to be an easy route across the continent. to go by
way of Siberia; but it shows how utterly an “unknown
â€
country†the interior of this continent was even as late as
the beginning of this century.
Ledyard eagerly agreed to this; indeed, he would have
agreed to anything, no matter how difficult or how perilous,
98 | THE GREAT WEST. .
if he could thereby carry out his long-cherished scheme,
Nothing ever came of it, however, for the Russians, seized
with jealous fear, would not allow Ledyard to cross their
country. We hear little after this of this would- be explorer.
He never crossed the continent, and apparently failed wholly
in his plans. But the man who sets the thought in motion
is not to be despised.
In setting forth his theories to Thomas Jefferson, Ledyard
gave that wise man a new idea—a something to think upon.
And Jefferson, long-sighted and wise as he was, soon began
to realize that Ledyard’s plans were, indeed, of the greatest
national importance. It was the thought which so soon
began to be the one great ruling idea of American states.
men.
DISCOVERY OF THE COLUMBIA RIVER.
FTER the Revolution, the sleeping commercial am-
bition of the colonies began to awaken.
Said. the merchants of Boston, and other Atlantic
ports, ‘This war has ruined our commerce! We must wake
up! We must set forth in search of new ports! Why not
try what can be done with trade between China and our
north-west coast?â€
Accordingly two vessels, the “ Columbia†and the “ Wash-
ington,†were fitted out, and the brand-new American flag
set flying from their mast-heads.
These vessels were to go to the north-west coast, barter
for furs with the Indians, then cross to Canton and exchange
the furs for teas for the home market.
The owners of these vessels were far-sighted. Not only
had they an eye to trade, but they saw opportunities for
future establishment along this coast of a company similar
to that of the Hudson Bay Company. With this in view,
the masters of these vessels were instructed to purchase
99
|
Full Text |
THE GREAT WEST. a:
University
of
Florida
The Baldwin Library
RmB
“£3
A
YOUNG FOLKS’ LIBRARY OF AMRRICAN HISTORY. —
THE GREAT WEST. —
By MARA L. PRATT, M.D.
i BOSTON:
BDUCATIONAL PUBLISHING COMPANY,
3 x
COPYRIGHT 1890,
BY EDUCATIONAL PUBLISHING COMPANY,
BOSTON. 5
Lich ae,
M
72
Melendez \565
St, Augustine
i,
§ Columbus
San Saluador® oO Z|
o d
Cotumbus eon
EARLY DISCOVERERS
ENGLISH in Capital letters,
u"
French in Roman
Spanish in Italic Y _Gorted 1519
THE GREAT WEST.
EOPLE who never travel away from their own homes
are very apt, we are told, to think of their village,
their town, their city, as the one great and important
spot upon this earth. .
In these days of books and newspapers, one does not grow
quite so narrow-minded as that, I think, even if he does
“forever stay at home.†Still, we need to be wide awake
and generous, quick to see, and willing to hear, or we might
wake up some day, and, like old Rip Van Winkle, find a.
world grown up around us of which we had not dreamed.
It is, of course, a grand thing to be loyal to one’s own
state ; to love it a little better than any other state; and to
always “stand up†for it, and never allow it to be slandered
in one’s presence.
6 THE GREAT WEST.
Did you ever hear of the Michigan boy who, after listening
for an hour or more to the boasting of a Massachusetts boy,
said, “Now you just let up, you young Yankee. I’d just like
you to understand that we've got ponds out our way that are
big enough to float the whole state of Massachusetts, and
leave room round the edges for all the states about her.â€
The Michigan boy was not quite elegant in his language,
perhaps, but he had the right spirit; and we can excuse
language, sometimes, when the spirit is right.
I once heard a Boston boy —a little fellow in knicker-
bockers — fly up in defense of his city, much to the amuse-
ment of his New York uncle, who had been bothering him
about the narrow, crooked streets. ‘I don’t care if the
streets are narrow; and I don’t care if they are crooked.
Didn’t our men fight in ’em? an’ didn’t they lick the
British ?â€
But in being proud of our own part of the world, we need
not fancy that other parts have not just as much of beauty,
just as much of usefulness,—that there are not just as noble
men and women, just as bright, wide-awake boys and girls
as there are in our own. ©
Now, there is the “Great West,†as our geographies call
it. Let us take a journey out through that country and see
THE GREAT WEST. 7
if it is great; and, if it is, then in what respect it is.
great. We eastern people, as we delight to call ourselves,
are so apt to pride ourselves on our “ first settlements,†our
“early history,†and our “brave forefathers,†that we some-
times forget that over toward the setting sun is a great,
broad, beautiful Wonderland.
New England is a little older, to be sure; that is, it was
settled a little earlier. But what of that! If Europe
had happened to be on the Pacific instead of on the
Atlantic coast, then California would have been settled first ;
and New England,— well, who knows? There might never
have been any New England. I am afraid that if those old
Puritans, sturdy and hardy as they were, had landed upon
the beautiful, sunny shores of California, and had breathed in
the warm, fruit-laden air, they would have been quite con-
tent to settle there, caring nothing at all for our wonderful
“Plymouth Rock.†:
So let us leave our brave old state, dear as she i is, and like
broad, generous reader s; journey into this Western Wonder-
land.
MOUNDS.
THE MOUND BUILDERS.
F the people who lived in this country before white*men
came had only left some written history, there would
have been a record of the Great West as wonderful and
as grand as any records of early Europe or Asia.
That the country was settled hundreds and hundreds of
years before white men came, is proved in many ways.
Vases and ornaments, axes and knives, have been found
far down in the earth, beneath trees which’ must of them-
selves be hundreds of years old.
We do not know who these early people were, where they
came from, or what language they spoke. But we do know
that, whoever they were, they were industrious and skillful,
and that they left behind them wonderful works.
The mounds these people left are, perhaps, the most won-
derful. It is because so many of these mounds are to be
seen through the West, that the people who built them have
been called “The Mound Builders.†One of the oddest of
these mounds is to be seen in Adams County, Qhio.
9
10 ~ THE GREAT WEST.
It is built in the shape of a great snake, thousands of feet
long. You can plainly trace the head, the long body,— if, in-
deed, you can speak of a snake’s body, — and the tail, which
is coiled like a sailor’s coil of rope.
In the mouth of this snake is an egg-shaped mound, which
is, of itself, one hundred and sixty feet long.
Sometimes these mounds are in the shape of animals,
sometimes they are in the shape of men; sometimes there are
many little round mounds at equal distances apart ; some-
times there are many long, straight ones arranged in a line,
or placed side by side. There are some very high mounds,
with steps cut in the sides reaching to the top; some have
chambers within them; some seem to have been used for
great fires. Often they are made of brick, or of stone, which
proves that these mysterious people must have known some-
thing about machinery, and such things as civilized people
know about to-day.
Many of these mounds are in perfect squares, or circles, or
ellipses ; and from that we learn that they must have known
of form, and must have had ways of measuring and reck-
oning.
These mounds are found here and there up and down the
Mississippi; and in Ohio alone there are hundreds of them.
THE GREAT WEST. 11
These people knew about mining, too ; for, near Lake
Superior, in one mine there is a great mass of copper weigh-
ing nearly six tons. They must have had some kind of
powerful machinery in these mines, for this mass of copper
is raised from the bottom of the mine and is supported on
great logs.
Who could these people have been? Were they the great-
great-great-grandparents of the present American Indians?
It hardly seems likely ; for they and the present Indians are
so very different. Excepting one particular tribe living in
New Mexico, the Indians are all very wild and ignorant,
showing no such skill and industry as these early people
possessed.
It seems, now, as if it would remain forever a mystery who
these people could have been.
T. W. Higginson, who wrote the charming Young Folks’
History of the United States, says of them :—
“They may have come from Asia, or have been the de-
scendants of Asiatics accidentally cast on the American
shore. Within the last hundred years, no less than fifteen
Japanese vessels have been driven across the Pacific Ocean
by storms, and wrecked on the Pacific coast of North
America; and this may have happened as easily a thousand
12 THE GREAT WEST.
years ago as a hundred. It is certain that some men among
the Mound-Builders had reached the sea in their travels ;
for on some of their carved pipes there are representations
of the seal, and of the manati, or sea-cow, —animals which
they could only have seen by traveling very far east or west,
or else by descending the Mississippi to its mouth. We
know neither whence they came nor whither they went.
Very few human bones have been found; and those had
nearly crumbled to dust. We only know that the Mound-
Builders came, built wonderful works, and then made way
for another race, of whose origin we know almost as little
as we do of these.â€
AMERICAN INDIANS.
HILE some discoverers were searching up and down
the Atlantic coast, others were pushing on into the
Great West, as we now call it, —some for the
pleasure of discovery, others for trade. There they found,
as they had on the coasts, tribes of copper-colored people,
living in wigwams, and busying themselves with. hunting
and fishing.
The copper-colored people had high cheek-bones, small,
shining, black eyes, and coarse, straight, black hair. . They
called themselves by all sorts of odd names; indeed, their
whole language seemed odd enough to the white men. They
had no written Mgmguage except their picture writing, so that
it was very hard work to learn to talk with them. _There
being no books, the white man could only remember the
words they gave him, as well as he could by sound. Some-
times these words, because of the faulty memory of the
white 1 man, became very much perverted, —so much so that
I doubt if the Indians themselves. would have recognized
13
14 THE GREAT WEST.
them. For example, one point of land on the southern
shore of Lake Superior, which the Indians called Sha-ga-
-waum-ic-ong, has had. its.name so made over in the course
of years that it now stands as Chequamegon. Would the
Indians of those times of discovery recognize that name
now, do you think, if they heard it?
It is said that among the Algonquin Indians, there were in
their language no sounds of f, 1, q, r, v, x, or z, so that any
word claimed as an Indian word, having in it any of those
sounds, is surely not an Algonquin word, and very likely not
a true Indian word at all. For example, Minwaukie, when it
came to be used by the French, whose language is so full of
the smooth, liquid sound of 1, was very soon changed into
Milwaukie.
I hardly think you would care to learn the Indian language,
but let us take just one lesson in it. I’m sure ‘you will be
amused to learn what the names of some’@f our states, and
rivers, and lakes mean in real Indian language.
But before we do that, I want, just here, before it slips my
mind, to speak of the pretty way these Indians had in nam-
ing their babies. These Indians did not know very much,
judging their education from the things we are so proud to
know to-day; but they had many beautiful and fanciful
THE GREAT WEST. _ 15
notions in their heads after all. They loved their forests and
the beautiful flowers; they loved the warm sun and the
beautiful pale moon ; they dreamed of a heaven of rest away
off in the great, blue sky; they spoke tenderly of the bright
land of the “setting sunâ€; and they were ready always to
see the Good Spirit in the gentle breezes and in the smiling
waters. b ‘
But the baby names! No Baby Mays or Baby Beths,
perhaps; but other names quite as dear, no doubt, to the
babies’ mothers and fathers.
When the baby had reached a certain age, he was taken
from the wigwam and carried out into the open country.
The first object which seemed to attract the baby’s
“notice gave to him its name. Very carefully did the parent
watch the baby’s face, for there was a belief that the name
would some way influence the baby’s future. So we find
among these Indians, names like a Harte, Great Wolf,
and Laughing Water. : ;
The names of their towns, and the names of the rivers and~.
mountains had meanings, too. Here are a few of these
names, many of which, zi am sure, are poy familiar words
to you.
=
INDIAN NAMES.
RKANSAW, a town in Wisconsin. Named from a
tribe of Indians who made a very superior sort of
bows for shooting. Hence they were called “arc
kansas,†or, in our language, “dow [nudzans.â€
ANAMAKEE, a county in Iowa. The Indian word for
thunder. -
ANOKA, a town in Minnesota; meaning a “ busy place.â€
ANAmoSA, a town in Iowa; from the Indian word Anamosh,
meaning a dog.
CHEBANSE, a town in [Illinois; meaning Little Duck.
Named in honor of an Indian chief cS that name.
IsHPEMING, a town in Niehiean “meaning “ High-above-
Heaven.â€
Kickapoo, a town in Illinois; meaning “the ghost of
an otter.â€
Koxomo, a town in Indiana; meaning “wise like an ow|â€â€™
a: ? oD
: ee 16
|
|
THE GREAT WEST. 17
Manitrosa, a lake of the Northwest; meaning “ Spirit-
â€
voice.
Manito, a town of Illinois; the Indian name for the
“Great Spirit,†or God.
MINNEHAHA, a water-fall in Minnesota ; meaning “ Laugh-
ing water.â€
MILWAUKEE, a town of Wisconsin ; meaning “good earth.â€
MisippPi (Mississippi) means “ Father of Waters.â€
Nokomis, a town in Illinois ; meaning “grandmother.â€
Onto, meaning “how beautiful.â€
YANKTON, a town in Dakota; meaning “ People of the
spirit lakes.â€
WISCONSIN, meaning “strong current.â€
These are very few of our geographical Indian names ; but
perhaps they are all you will care to hear about at one time.
Now that you find these names do have some meaning, why
not, as you come upon new ones in your study of geography,
try to learn their meanings and why they were given? Very
often there is an odd little legend connected with the name
of a town or state that would help you to remember it for-
ever.
INDIAN LEGEND OF THE BEAR.
E are apt to think of the Indian of these times as a |
\V mere savage animal given only to eating, drinking,
hunting, fishing, fighting, and scalping.
Very true: this was, perhaps, what they seemed always to
be doing ; and it is altogether likely the white man found it |
quite all he could do to keep out of the way of their arrows |
and tomahawks, and so had little time, and less desire, to look |
very closely into their lives to see what might be there. |
The Jesuits, who went among them to live, and who
studied into their history and their legends, learned that, —
savage as they were, they were not without ideas of the
good and the beautiful, of justice and honor, — ideas that are
by no means to be scorned. ,
Their legends of animals show more than any others, |
perhaps, the Indian’s idea of character.
An Indian chief once shot a huge bear, breaking its back.
The animal fell, setting up a most plaintive cry. The chief
then approached the bear and said, “Hark ye! bear. You are
’
18
THE GREAT WEST. 16
a coward! You are not the warrior you claim to be! If you
were, you would now show it by your firmness. You would
not lie there crying and whimpering like a pappoose. You
know, O bear, that your tribe and mine are deadly enemies.
You know, too, that the Indians are too powerful for you.
You dare not come out and meet us. You go sneaking and
stealing about in the night time, stealing from us. Had you
conquered me, J would have died like a brave warrior. Ax
Indian never whimpers.
“But how could the bear understand the warrior?†asked
a Jesuit.
' “Indeed he could,†answered the Indian, ‘the bear under-
stood very well. Had you seen him, you would have noticed
how ashamed he looked.â€
fe A
A PUEBLO RESTORED.
THE ZUNIS.
N 1846, Col. A. W. Doniphan marched into the territory
of New Mexico. Imagine his surprise to find living
there a tribe of Indians wholly unlike any before seen
in this country.
Instead of wigwams, these Indians had great stone houses,
some of them six stories high.
There were about ten thousand of these people living in
settlements, or towns, of about a thousand each. They
_ claimed to have descended from those races who were living
in Mexico at the time of the “Conquest.†They certainly
did have many customs like the Indians of that time as
described by Cortez.
These ‘ pueblos,†or houses, are built of stone, and look
very much like great forts. They have no doors or stair-
cases, but are entered by means of ladders set up against
the building. These being drawn up at night, the people
within are free from all attacks.
These stories are arranged something like steps, so that
21
22 THE GREAT WEST.
the top of one story makes a sort of balcony for the people
living in the story above.
In each of these buildings is an underground place in
which the “sacred fires†are kept burning. These fires
have been kept burning for hundreds of years. “If we never
allow the sacred fire to be lost,†say these Zufiis, ‘and if we
keep it ever hidden from the sight of the white man, then some
day our great chief will come for us, and we shall all return
to our old home in the south from which we once were so
cruelly driven.â€
These Indians are Sun-worshippers ; and often they may be
seen sitting upon the roofs of their houses, watching for the
rising of the sun. “The sun,†they say, “is the golden
chariot which sometime will bring our chief to take us back
to our southern home.â€
The Zufiis, one group of these house-building Indians, are
a gentle, peace-loving people, living simply and honestly in
their homes, waiting, waiting, waiting for their old chief, hop-
ing always that with the next appearing of the fire-chariot he
may come to them.
SPANISH CONQUESTS.
HEN this great continent of North America was
discovered, and it began to be really understood
how large it was, how rich, and how varied in it
productions, thinking men began to say, “What, indeed, is
going to be the effect of this wonderful discovery upon
Europe, its trade and its people?â€
Then each of the three nations that had sent out its ships
_began to contend over the ownership of it.
“Tt shall be mine,†said Spain, “because our ships carried
Columbus.â€
“Tt shall be mine,†said Portugal.
“Tt shall be mine,†said England.
But England was not yet the proud monarch of the sea.
Spain then held that honor. Her royal standard floated
far and wide over the broad seas. Columbus had carried it
even to the shores of Mexico; but meantime Diaz, a Portu-
guese mariner, has sailed around Cape Good Hope.
Wonderful voyages were these for the times and the frail
ships then built.
23
24 THE GREAT WEST.
And now Spain and Portugal agree to divide between
themselves all the unknown lands and seas east and west of
a certain line drawn not far from the Azores, from the
North Pole to the South Pole.
By this, you see, they planned to cut off from this New
World every other nation. Spain, from the very beginning,
had the advantage. Columbus had taken possession in her
name of those islands which guarded the entrance to the
Gulf of Mexico, which is a sort of watery door-yard to
the great new house. You may be sure she was wise
enough to make these places strongly fortified, and to keep
a sharp lookout that no English or Portuguese ships should
get into this door-yard. ;
' Spain now arose suddenly to an importance in the world of ©
which she had néver dreamed. Europe looked on in amaze- |
ment to see the grand conquests Spain was making, while |
Portugal and England stood back and gazed, awe-struck. It |
was the old story of the big boy and the admiring little boys
over again. And how these little boys longed to get just a |
finger in this great, rich pie! But the big boy said, “Touch :
it if you dare!†And the little boys did n’t dare. ,
But by and by Francis I., king of France, said, “ Pray tell
me, where did you get your right, great neighbor mine,s to |
THE GREAT WEST. 25
claim this new world as yours? Did old Father Adam leave
a will in which he gave to Spain this great, new, island-
farm?â€
And Spain only growled, “ ess away ! keep away! We’ll
fight! we ‘Il fight !â€â€™
“Fight then,†said France, “and we ’ll fight, too!†Aad so
the two great armies of France and Spain met at Pavia and
fought. It was a hard, fierce battle, and in it the French
were so badly defeated that Francis I., when the battle was
over, wrote to his mother one brief sentence, which has since
come to be a familiar phrase — “Madam, all is lost except
honor.â€
Spain was now greater than ever. Other nations, inspired
by her success, began to reach out, little by little, taking
good care, however, always to keep a most respectful dis-
tance from any playground which she might care to possess.
Iam greatly tempted to stop here and tell you about the
conquest of Mexico by one of Spain’s great explorers — Cor-
tez. It is like a grand, good novel to hear of his wonderful
adventures and his wonderful discoveries. You must read
all about it sometime, — about the great king Montezuma and
his wonderful city. Cortez may have been a great explorer,
and a daring one, but he was a cruel man; and his treatment
26 THE GREAT WEST.
of the noble Montezuma and his people is one of the saddest
stories in early American history. Because he was so need-
lessly cruel, I have never cared very much that, after he re-
turned to Spain to lay his great discoveries at the royal feet,
the king scornfully asked, “ Who is this man?†We will be
just, however, and remember the daring reply Cortez made
to this insulting question of the king: “I am the man,†said
he, “‘who has gained Your Majesty more provinces than your
fathér left you towns.â€
INDIAN STORY OF THE SEASONS.
N old man was sitting in his wigwam, by the side of a
frozen stream. It was the close of winter, and his
fire was almost out. He appeared very old and lone-
some. His hair was white with age, and he trembled and
shivered as he walked. Day after day was passed in soli-
tude, and no sound heard he except the loud winds sweeping
before the light new snow.
One day, as his fire was dying out, a handsome youth ap-
proached and entered the wigwam of the old chief. His
cheeks were red, his eyes danced, and a smile played upon
his lips. His step was light and quick.
On his forehead was a garland of sweet grass, and in his
hand were fragrant flowers.
“Ah, my son,†said the lone chief, “come in. I rejoice to
see you. Come, tell me of your travels, of the strange lands
you have seen.â€
The youth entered, and the old man, after making his guest
_ comfortable, began to speak : —
24
28 THE GREAT WEST.
*‘T breathe forth, and the streams stand still; the waters.
harden as crystal stone.†|
“J breathe,†said the youth, “and the flowers, and grasses,
and ferns spring forth on hill and plain.†|
“T shake my Jong hair,†said the old man, “and snow.
covers the land; the leaves fall from the trees and my breath.
blows them away. The animals hide from me, and the|
sround itself grows cold.†|
,
“T shake my ringlets,†said the young man, “and warm|
showers fall upon the earth, and the soft dews are like the|
glistening eyes of children. At the sound of my voice, the|
birds come back; at the warmth of my breath, the streams
â€
|
leap forth; music is in the groves wherever I walk, and the.
whole earth is filled with joy. |
All night long they talked. At length the sun began to|
rise, and a gentle warmth came over the place. The old
man grew silent. The birds began to sing in the trees,
about the wigwam; the stream began to murmur, and the|
fragrance of the flowers came in at the door. |
t
And now, as the youth looked upon his host, he saw the
higher and higher, the old man grew less and less in stature,
I
streams begin to flow from his eyes. As the sun rose
i
I
and at last was melted quite away, and nothing was left
THE GREAT WEST. 29
upon the hearth but the Miskodeed, a small white flower with
a pink border, that even now always comes when the winter
goes,
-
‘River of the Holy Ghost,†noted it on their maps, and sailed :
DISCOVERY OF THE MISSISSIPPI.
aaa
N the very first maps the Spaniards drew of the Gulf
of Mexico and its surrounding country, they located :
the entrance of this great river. They had little idea,
however, that the muddy waters flowing into the gulf were
the waters of a river so long and so large that the Indians |
themselves had given it the name of Mississippi, meaning |
“Father of Waters.â€
The Spaniards gave it, for some reason, the name of “ The
on, little suspecting how great an opportunity they had lost
for going into the very heart of the new continent.
It was, therefore, to De Soto that the real discovery of |
this river is due. In 1539, with six hundred men, he set sail
‘ i
from Havana, determined to make an exploration of the in-
terior of this land bordering the gulf.
When Cortez started inland to Mexico, he burned his ships
that his men might understand that, let come what might,
there was no hope of escape for them.
jo
THE GREAT WEST. 31
De Soto, though ‘equally determined, was less rash. He
thought it just as well not to destroy them; so he sent them
back to Havana. They were fierce, war-like people,— these
Spaniards,— not looking for homes as did the peaceful col-
onists of later times, but bent only on discovery and conquest,
no matter what the cost.
De Soto, with his camps, his infantry, his cavalry, his
sparkling armor, and his loud-sounding trumpets, made a
picture very different from that of the peace-loving colonists.
“Let us find gold! gold!†Gold was their aim in all they
did. “Gold at any cost !â€â€™ was De Soto’s watchword. What
wonder, then, that he had no time for justice toward the
natives, no thought of kindness for them.
“Indians,†said he, “have no rights except to bow to us
and serve as our slaves.†:
Meaning from the very beginning to make slaves of them,
he had brought with him bloodhounds to hunt them down,
and chains to bind them with. Wherever the army marched,
these poor Indians were dragged along, loaded down with
baggage, and lashed by their cruel masters if they sank be-
neath their burdens.
At their first landing, De Soto found a Spaniard who had
for twelve years lived among the Florida Indians. ‘“ Where
CAMPING IN THE FLORIDA FORESTS.
THE GREAT WEST. 33
is the gold? Where is the gold?†asked he, eagerly.
“T do not know,†answered the Spaniard.
“Do not know?†cried De Soto. “Lived here twelve
years, and do not know? Away with him to the chains!
He shall guide us to the gold, or he shall die! on
The Indians came to his rescue. Pointing to the moun-
tains far away, they said, “ There is gold! there is gold!â€
De Soto had heard,—and was greedy enough to hope it
was true,—that semewhere in Florida was a golden city,
with golden streets, and golden- palaces, ruled over by a king
who, every day, was sprinkled over with fine golden powder,
who lay upon a golden couch, and was served always from
golden plates.
This absurd story was enough to keep up the courage of
these wealth-seeking Spaniards ; and on they went, enduring
all sorts of hardships for the sake of the hoped-for “ El
Dorado,†or “ City of the Gilded King.â€
Perhaps if these Spaniards had not been so dazzled with
their visions of shining gold, they might have seen more
clearly their way through the deep Florida forests. Good
soldiers though they were, and skillful as was their leader,
this little band of six hundred became most hopelessly lost
34 THE GREAT WEST.
in the wildernesses,— so lost that never has it been possible
to trace their line of march. |
It must have’ been a terrible journey, covering thousands
of miles, and lasting many years; and they led on always by |
nothing higher and better than the greed of gold. Wherever
this could be heard of, De Soto hurried on his weary,
wretched soldiers, until, at last, worn out by disease and
famine, De Soto himself died. ,
Then the few miserable followers who were left made.
their way to the coast, flying before the wrath of the
Indians, whom, a few short years before, they had so cruelly
trampled upon.
Where they had been all this time, they hardly knew them-
selves; but that they had, in their wanderings, reached the
banks of the Mississippi, there is no doubt. One of the sol- |
diers in.speaking of it says, “We found a river so wide that |
if a man stood upon the opposite bank, it could not be seen |
whether he was a man or not. So great was it, and so
strong was the current, that great trees were borne along
on its waters.’ This, of course, must have been the
Mississippi, since we know that there is nowhere in that
part of the country, another river of which any. such
description could have been true,
6
F
°
o
Ww
a
we
3
a
s
a
=
a
36 THE GREAT WEST.
In Irving’s ‘Conquest of Florida,†he gives this descrip-
tion of De Soto’s burial : —
“They buried him in the dead of night, with sentinels
posted to keep the natives at a distance. The place chosen
-for the sepulchre was one of many pits, broad and deep ; but,
with all their precautions, they soon found out that the Indi-
ans suspected not only the death of the governor, but the
place where he lay buried; for, in passing by the pit, they
would stop, look round attentively on all sides, talk with one
another, and make signs with their chins and their eyes to-
ward the spot where the body was interred. The Spaniards
perceiving this, determined to disinter the body and deposit
it in the mid-channel of the Mississippi. As there was no
stone in the neighborhood wherewith to sink it, they cut
down an evergreen oak, and made an excavation in one side,
of the size of aman. On the following night, with all the
silence possible, they disinterred the body, and placed it in
the trunk of the oak, nailing planks over the aperture. The
rustic coffin was then conveyed to the center of the river,
where, in presence of priests and cavaliers, it was committed
to the stream, and they beheld it sink to the bottom, shed-
ding many tears over this second funeral rite, and commend-
ing anew the soul of the good cavalier to heaven.â€
NEW MEXICO.
| AD De Soto lived, his little band might have crossed
the Mississippi, and so have begun the exploration
of the Great West. The Indians of the Great
West, however, lost little in losing this opportunity to enter-
tain De Soto’s band, if we may judge from the fate of those
tribes who had received them.
Meantime, however, Mendoza, inspired by the cruel tri-
umphs of Cortez in Mexico, burned to set out northward on
a like expedition. Not only did he hope to rival Cortez, but
he had heard that in that great unknown region north of
Mexico, there were gold, and silver, and great cities. More-
over, he hoped somewhere to find the end of the land, and so
have the glory of having first crossed the continent. Many
efforts had been made to do this, but all thus far had only
ended in failure.
Two great obstacles met Mendoza at the very start.
One was that the unknown country could be reached, as
far as they knew, only by crossing the mountains, or by pass-
37
38 THE GREAT WEST.
ing through the mountain defiles, which were so rugged and
high, so steep and rough, that it seemed but foolish risk of
life to attempt them.
The second obstacle was one for which the Spaniards had
only to thank themselves, and that was the fury and hatred
of the natives with whom they had dealt so cruelly in times
past. All up among these very mountains which must ‘be
crossed, these Indians were now living, nursing their anger,
and only waiting opportunities for revenge.
Mendoza did not care to set out to meet any such enemies
as these seemed likely to prove to be. He therefore planned
a method of approach different from that of Cortez or that of
De Soto.
He took a good old monk from his cell, gave him a guide,
and bade him go into the new country and explore, being
very careful everywhere to carry messages of peace and
good will to the Indians.
In this way, many natives were coaxed down from the
mountains. These were easily won over by gifts and the
kind words of the old monk, and so the way was opened.
Old Father Marco then pressed on across the mountains
into the land of the Zufii. What might have happened we
cannot know; but here Father Marco’s negro guide was
THE GREAT WEST. 39
murdered, and the old monk hurried back to the Spanish
settlements. The following year, another attempt at ex-
ploration was made, but with no better success.
Near as they were upon the much-coveted gold and silver
lands, it was more than thirty years before another attempt
of any importance was made to enter the mysterious country
beyond the rocky wall.
At the end of that time, again two monks set out from
the Spanish settlements. The Indian had not forgotten, in
all these years, the early cruelty of the Spaniards. Perhaps
it was because of this fear and dread of Indian revenge, per-
haps it was from real honesty of purpose, that the Spaniards
now decided that the best way to approach these Indians
would be to first convert them to the Christian religion.
We will hope it was the latter. Certainly it was quite time
that other means than the bloodhounds and chains should
be used to conquer them, if, indeed, they could be con-
quered.
‘Accordingly, two monks were sent out among the natives
with express commands that, under no circumstances, was
cruelty to be used toward one of the simple, heathen red men.
These monks journeyed on to the valley of the Rio Grande.
Two years later, other missionaries set forth, and these, going
40 THE GREAT WEST.
far up the river, brought back reports of people living in
cities and in houses, some of whom had even a Christian
religion, which they said had been taught their forefathers
long before. Others, however, worshipped idols, for which |
they had wonderful temples built.
There were great differences between the natives of dif-
ferent settlements. Some lived in huts of mud, or in rude |
houses of boughs and straw; others lived in high, stone-
built houses, four, five, and six stories high.
The farther north the explorers went, the more people
they found, and the better their condition. To this part of |
the country which in its trees, and soil, and climate, seemed
so much like the Mexico from which they had traveled, the
Spaniards gave the name of New Mexico.
k
i
f
E
fi
5
E
f
mop
CALIFORNIA.
N due time the exploring Spaniards reached what we now
call Lower California. Thinking this to be an island,
they gave it the name of California. This was the name
of a certain fabled island in an old Spanish romance; and
as this new point of land seemed very beautiful, and as the
Spaniards had always been fond of fanciful names, they gave
the name to this last discovery. They sailed along the coast,
farther and farther north, exploring as they went, until they
reached Cape Mendocino.
But are the Spanish to go on forever? Is no other nation
to interfere? Are they to get possession of the whole con-
tinent ?
Well, not quite such good fortune is in store for cruel
Spain as that. Already, as they say, “a cloud no bigger
than a man’s hand†is beginning to rise in Spain’s hitherto
clear sky. And that cloud, if you look at it sharply, has a
very English air about it. It, looks, indeed, very like an
English ship.
41
42 THE GREAT WEST.
Yes, England had at last produced a mariner whose name
already was coming to be a terror even to the Spaniards.
Francis Drake had already passed the Straits of Magellan
with one little vessel, on into the great South Sea.
Drake seemed not to know what fear meant. Fighting,
plundering, capturing,— on he went up the coast in spite
of Spanish threats. It was finally believed at this time that
somewhere there was a passage through from the Atlantic to
the Pacific. It was spoken of as ‘The Northwest Passage.â€
Drake, knowing that the Spaniards were lying in wait for
him if he returned by the old route, thought, since peril was
in store for him whatever course he took, that he might
as well try to find this much-talked-of and much-longed-
for passage, and return that way.
Soon he went farther and farther north, until the climate
began to grow so cold that his men rebelled against
going farther on. Drake was, therefore, obliged to turn
south again.
Finding a snug little harbor off the coast of California, he |
dropped anchor there, landed, and spent poe days in
exploring the country round about.
When Drake’s great vessel came sailing up the bay, the
natives came rushing down in troops to meet it.
SIR FRANCIS DRAKE.
43
44 THE GREAT WEST.
‘Glad enough were they to find the newcomers showing
a flag not Spanish, and speaking a language unlike any they
had before heard.
The king of the country, Drake afterwards reported, took |
off his crown and placed it upon Drake’s head in token |
of his willingness to accept him as their new king.
Drake set up a great post on this shore, upon which
he fixed a brass plate bearing the name of Elizabeth, the
English queen.
“How will the Spaniards like that!†said Drake, as
he took possession of the country in the name of England.
Then away he sailed, off across the Pacific, by way of Cape
Good Hope, home.
Spain now rose in fury. Ambassadors were sent to Eng- |
land to tell the English throne that her mariners had in- :
fringed upon Spanish rights; that the western coast be- :
longed to them.
The queen listened for a long time to their greedy story;
but Queen Elizabeth was not one to listen long with patience
to any tale of Spanish power. She finally sent the ambassa-
dors home, feeling very much as if their ears had been
soundly boxed ; for when Elizabeth raised her temper and her |
voice, it was a daring man who cared to stay and listen.
THE GREAT WEST. 45 .
And so Mendoza, the ambassador, went home to his king
with the message that the English throne would continue
still to believe that the sea and the air was not yet owned by
the Spanish. :
This sarcastic message was received by the Spanish king
with fury and with loud threats of revenge. It was not until
eight years after this that the English navy, with Drake at
its head, met the “Invincible Armada†of the Spanish in
the English channel, and proved to that haughty power that
England, not Spain, henceforth would rule the sea.
The Spanish power was broken. No longer was the
Spanish flag the terror of the world.
But to return to California. The real settlement of this
country was, like all others under the Spanish direction, a
half-military, half-religious plan. Enough was known of the
climate and soil to prove to the Spaniards that it was worth
their while to push on from the barren, sandy tracts of New
Mexico.
Missions were accordingly set up in Lower California, and
‘at the same time forts and batteries were set up along the
coasts.
Although urged on by the dreams of great harvests from
this warm, rich soil, you may be sure the Spaniards had no
46 THE GREAT WEST.
intention whatever of doing the work themselves. That
was not the Spanish way. It was the Indians who were to. |
do the work.
As one by one the stations were built, the Indians were
told to draw together about them, that the white people
might more easily teach them how to live as they lived, as
well as how to die as Christians died. °
Being innocent, submissive people, they very willingly
came, and set to work building houses, tilling the soil, and
tending the herds —doing, in short, all the work, and giving
in to the Spaniards all the wealth. The Spaniards, on the
other hand, by giving the Indians clothes and food, kept
them under their control, making them believe that they
were caring for them as no other people had ever been cared |
for. The simple-hearted Indians could not see that they |
earned for the white people, by their labor, ten times over :
the cloths and food they gave them.
And how about the commerce of these nations? You may|
be sure the ports were carefully guarded from all other than
Spanish vessels. They would hardly have cared to have the).
English or the French learn the resources of this country.
Once a year a Spanish vessel would come into port, and)
the Indian slaves would see the products of their year’s hard)
THE GREAT WEST. 4qW
work carried off to unknown lands. Whether it ever
occurred to them that this was unjust, I do not know. It
would have made very little difference, as far as helping
themselves was concerned, if they had been wise enough to
know their wrongs :
All trade was carried on by ocean, and it was long, long
after the settlements by the English on the Atlantic coast,
that a way was opened across the deserts of Colorado. After
that a little trade sprang up between the provinces, but the
road was so long and so beset with dangers, that little was
accomplished, and the Spaniards were left unmolested.
CHAMPLAIN.
FRENCH SETTLEMENTS.
FTER Columbus had discovered America, the French
were among the first to turn their attention to the new
world. They were, however, very innocent and
moderate in their desires regarding it. While the Spaniards
were spurred on by the thirst for gold and power, and were
willing to crush and kill, if need be, every soul that dared
oppose them, the French had in view only new sources of
supply for their trade.
Spain would have been glad if she could have frightened
‘from American shores every man not in Spanish employ,
» but she could not do quite so much as that. The. spirit of
discovery was wide awake in all the nations of Europe, and
it would not be lulled nor frightened into repose again.
Spain forced these other nations to keep at most respectful
distances, but she could not keep them off the ocean entirely,
much as she wished it.
At this time the French had shown themselves brave and
daring upon the sea. Indeed, it is said that “they had sailed
49
50 THE GREAT WEST.
boldly out into the great Atlantic in ships no larger than
a modern oyster boat.â€
By accident, we might almost say, Cartier pushed on
towards the north, discovered the great St. Lawrence, and
sailed on and on for three hundred miles or more into the |
continent. :
Amazed at the greatness of the stream, they believed it
that wonderful route for which
must be the way to India
all traders were searching, as had the early Spaniards
searched for the El Dorado. But whether it was the way
to India or not, of one thing they were sure: whichever
nation got control of that great waterway would guard one
gateway, at least, to the great continent.
The Frenchmen, ever eager to see the glory of their coun-
try advanced, began at once to dream dreams and see visions |
of a New France which should magnify in importance and in|
glory the dear Old France.
These French, from the beginning, easily won the confi |
dence of the Indians, and so gained their ready willingness
to help. The French respected their rights and their ideas,
and so won their loyal friendship. They went, too, in among
them, lived with them, hunted and fished with them, and
learned their language and their habits, Add to all this the
;
THE GREAT WEST. 51
passionate, eager way with which the French enter into any-
thing they undertake, and we understand why it was that the
Indians were for a long time so attached to the French.
Although Cartier ascended the St. Lawrence as early as
1534, it was not until more than half a century later that the
work of settling a French colony began in earnest. Then
Champlain, after whom Lake Champlain is named, founded
that quaint little old city of Quebec.
Did you ever hear how this city came to receive its odd
/ name? It is said that as these French explorers were sail-
| ing up the river, they came suddenly upon a sharp point of
high land. “O, gael bec!†meaning, “O, what a beak!â€
cried the commander. And so “Quel bec,†or ‘“ Que’ bec,â€
it has been called to this day.
Champlain, seeing at once how valuable and how strongly
fortified a site for a future city this would be, at once estab-
lished a “ trading-post †there. .
Here an active fur trade was set up with the Indians. The
Indians, childishly anxious to display the wonders of their
country, told the French of the copper mines farther to the
west, and the way in which this copper could be cleansed
and used. Spurred on by hope of greater gain, the French
pushed farther into the wild forests. It would have been so
52 THE GREAT WEST.
easy to have gone down into what is now our Middle Atlan-
tic States, and set up trading-posts along the Hudson! And
it would have been so grand to have got control of the Great
Lakes, with their wonderful advantages for trading and
exporting !
But, unfortunately for Champlain, the Indians north of the
St. Lawrence and the Indians south of the St. Lawrence
were deadly foes. More than that, Champlain had foolishly
taken part with these northern Indians in a struggle with
the southern. This, of course, had brought down the undy-
ing hatred of these last upon the French; and they were
determined that no French should enter their country if
continual petty warfare could keep them out.
Because of this, the French, wishing to reach Lake Huron,
were compelled to make a laborious overland journey through
the country of the friendly Indians, carrying their canoes
' from water to water, over the rough land passes.
To Jean Nicolet fell the honor of pushing on into the
west as far as Green Bay. He was, without doubt, the first
white man to tread Wisconsin soil.
During all this time, rumors of the doings of the Spanish
on-the western coast ‘were spreading abroad, and gladly
would the French have set forth on expeditions westward,
THE GREAT WEST. ; 53
had the unfriendly southern Indians not kept them busy
where they were. Indeed, the French could hardly feel
safe in their forts at Montreal; to set out into the hostile
country was certainly not to be thought of.
"The missionaries were loud in their cries against these
heathen, calling upon all the saints to rid them of this
scourge. But not only did these Indians hate the French,
not only did they declare war and vengeance forever, but
there were the Dutch in New York, who had established
rival fur-trading posts, urging them on against the French,
even providing them with fire-arms to use against them.
At last a genuine,outbreak between the two tribes ended
in the utter destruction of the northern Indians. The few
who were left fled, some east, some west, and the southern
Indians rushing in to take possession of their deserted lands,
hemmed in the French completely.
| This was a dark time for the French. Not only could
they make no progress westward, but their trade was embar-
rassed, their homes were in danger, and life itself was in con-
tinual peril.
But a brighter day dawned at last. Some Lake Superior
Indians came sailing up the river to Quebec. The traders
gladly seized upon the opportunity to make friends with their —
54 THE GREAT WEST.
visitors, and establish trading terms with them. The monks,
too, did not let pass the opportunity to teach them the white
man’s religion. When the Indians were ready to go back
into their own country, they asked that a missionary be sent |
with them to teach this new God to their people.
It would be a terrible journey, and a life of bitter hardship
must follow for the missionary that should be chosen for this
work. Still the opportunity must not be neglected ; and one
of the good fathers came forward, offering himself for the
work.
As you grow older, and read more deeply into the history
of these times, you will hear much said in defense of, and
much in condemnation of, these early Jesuit priests. One
writer will tell you that they were pure, unselfish, self-sacri-
ficing teachers of what they believed to be the true religion; |
another will tell you that they were actuated by nothing |
higher than desire to glorify France and push the fur-trade. |
You and I could hardly presume to say what might have |
been their motives. We know men will sacrifice much for |
their country, but still there is a something in the lives of |
these Jesuit priests, a something in their willingness to sac-|
rifice, in their devotion, in their endurance, that.seems to tell
us that, whatever may have been the motives of those who}
|
THE GREAT WEST. Be)
sent them, they themselves must have been filled with an
honest desire to do what to them seemed right.
This priest who set out with the Indians on their return
to their own people, was brave and faithful; but the cold and
the exposure were more than he could bear, and in only a
short time the Indians came back to say that the good man
was dead. That he had faithfully done his work, that he
had drawn the Indians to him, and had touched their hearts,
we know; for at his death we are told the Indians were
“much grieved and did earnestly desire that another father
should come among them.â€
Undismayed by the sad fate of his brother worker, Father
Allonez, the following summer, set out in company with a
band of returning Indians. For two long years he worked
among them; and at length succeeded in forming a mission
on the southern shore of Lake Superior.
During all this time, he had sent no word to his brothers
at Quebec, and they had long since given him up as dead.
But one bright morning he appeared before them, footsore
and weary, but full of hope and courage, eager to tell of his
strange adventures, ‘and to enlist the sympathies of his fel-
low priests in these far-off Indian tribes.
He had traveled’ from tribe to tribe; over the country,
MISSIONARIES AMONG THE INDIANS.
THE GREAT WEST. il
through the forests, and across the waters. Down into the
land of the dreaded southern Indians ‘he had traveled, and it
was there he had built his mission: He -had talked with
them, had learned their ways and their language ; had heard
elowing accounts of their country, which, they said, “reached
to the end of the earth.â€. From them he had heard of the
great river, the “Messipi,†of the wonderful gold and silver
countries, and of the many tribes far to the westward.
When it became known in France that the head-waters of
| a great river had been found, the fire of adventure blazed up
again. It was quick to be seen that a stream whose head-
waters were so broad and powerful as these were said to be,
must pour itself into the sea. Then, too, it must be a long
river. Perhaps it flowed into the Atlantic, perhaps into the .
Pacific, perhaps into the Gulf of Mexico. That they did not
yet know. But that it must be a great river, and that, what-
ever its course, it must prove a great waterway —as great,
and perhaps ereater, than the St.: Lawrence —this the
traders were quick enough to see. “Think!†said the
French; “we already control: one great water route into.
the heart of the continent! If we can plant our standard at
the mouth of this other mighty stream, we shall control its
whole course — perhaps the whole continent !â€
MARQUETTE AND JOLIET.
AGER to begin the exploration of this mighty stream,
b Marquette, a priest, and Joliet, a trader and an
explorer, were sent forth. -If the French could get
possession of this great waterway, they were sure the Span-
-jards could be kept from advancing farther into the conti-
nent, the English could be kept upon the Atlantic coast, |
and the French would then, indeed, become ¢ke nation of
the “New World.â€
Joliet was quite as impatient to set forth as France was to
‘have him, and Father Marquette had long been praying that
it might be granted him tq carry the gospel to the tribes
along the shores of the great river. It was with joy, then,
that in May, 1673, these two, with only five companions, set
forth upon Lake Michigan.
They coasted this lake, passed into Green Bay, entered
Fox River, crossed Lake Winnebago, reaching, at last, a little
Indian village, where, to Marquette’s great joy, they found a
cross standing unharmed among the wigwams, planted
there by the good Father Allonez.
5S
THE GREAT WEST. .- 59
This was as far as white men had ever pushed their ex-
plorations. All beyond this place was to be an unknown
land. On they went into the heart of Wisconsin, sometimes
paddling along the sunny waters, sometimes carrying their
canoes across the desert places. They found the Wisconsin
River. Following its course, they came, at last, toa place
where its waters lost themselves in a great roaring, rushing
stream.
Could’ this be the Messipi, the wonderful river of the
Indians,— the river guarded over by the great and terrible
demon? It must be! there could not be another so great,
and dark, and broad! . The long-sought Mississippi was
found at last.
Carefully and watchfully, for they knew not what tribes
might dwell along its banks, the explorers sailed rapidly on-
ward.
Such forests! such sunny prairies! such rushing waters!
And all so grand and free!
One day they saw upon. the river-side signs of habitation.
Landing, they found a well-worn path.
“This,†said Joliet, “ must be a foot-path. - And see! here
is an arrow. Here a bit of wampum! There is a village
beyond.â€
*
VOYAGE OF MARQUETTE AND JOLIET.
THE GREAT WEST. 61
Suddenly they.came out into a sunny, open place, where,
sure enough, stood a little group of wigwams, with Indians
lying about the door-ways smoking, and sunning themselves
on the fresh, warm earth. 5
Amazed, and perhaps somewhat frightened at the sudden
appearance of white men before their very doors, the Indians
hurried forward to meet their guests, offering at once the
peace-pipe. :
“Who are you?†asked Marquette.
’
“We are the Illinois,†was the honest reply.
“We are with friends!†cried Marquette and Joliet to-
gether, for they saw within the wigwams articles which they
knew must have come from the French trading-posts. “If
these people trade with our people, they must be friendly
with us, and they will tell us where we are. They will tell
us of the river, and of the people we shall find along its
shores.â€
So, entering the camp, they met the Indians cordially, ac-
cepted their generous offers of food and rest, smoked the
peace-pipe with them, eagerly drinking in every word of
information regarding the wonderland below.
When they went back to their canoes, they had made
friends with the whole village, and, in token of it, the. whole
62 THE GREAT WEST.
village escorted them to the water’s edge. As Marquette
left the village, an old chief placed in his hands the peace-
pipe, which he said would be his safeguard among all the
Indians along the river.
Grateful, indeed, were the Frenchmen for this; for among
the Indians the peace-pipe is looked upon with reverence and
honor. To attack a stranger bearing a peace-pipe would be
a breach of Indian honor not to be thought of.
Sailing along they passed the Illinois, pouring its waters
into the Mississippi, then the Missouri, then the Ohio or
the River Beautiful. No danger menaced them until they
reached the Arkansas. There, suddenly, a fleet of war canoes
shot out from the bank, and spread themselves in such a way
that to pass them or to escape them was impossible.
Now, indeed, were the explorers thankful for the peace
pipe of the Illinois. The young savages had already fitted
their arrows and were bending their bows. Holding high
the peace-pipe, Marquette made friendly signs, at which the
bows were dropped, and the little band was saved.
They were now allowed to pass, and were told that only a
few leagues down the river they would find the “ great
town,†of the tribe, and there they would learn all they.
wished to know about the river.
THE GREAT WEST. 63
Reaching the town, they were taken ashore and treated to
a great feast. But so strongly did their new friends warn
them against further progress down the river, telling them of
the tribes below who carried firearms and whose only occu-
pation was war upon all white men, that it was decided best
to return. ‘We have not seen the mouth of the river,†said
Joliet, “to be sure; but there is no doubt now of its course,
and no doubt that it flows into the Gulf of Mexico. If we
go on we may be killed, and then France will know nothing
of our discovery. If we go back and report what we have
found, we may, perhaps, come again with a larger band, and
be able to force our way to the outlet.â€
| Reasoning thus, they turned back, and in a few weeks
reached Lake Michigan.
The Mississippi had now been explored for six hundred
miles. There was little doubt that it was, indeed, the “Great
River,†and that it flowed into the Gulf of Mexico. Still the
exploration was not complete. Some applauded the wisdom
of Joliet in returning, others sneered at him and saw no
reason why he should not have forced his way to the very
end. Joliet had never proved himself a traitor or a coward,
and, whether wise or not, it certainly is probable that Joliet
was honest in his judgment that he should return with what
64 THE GREAT WEST.
_ information he had gained rather than that the whole should
be lost through rashness. There are times, even in explora-
tion, when “ discretion is the better part of valor.â€
Marquette remained to teach the gospel to an Indian tribe,
and Joliet alone conveyed the glad tidings of the discoveries
to Quebec. It is said he was received with enthusiastic de-
light. The bells were rung during a greater part of the
whole day, and all the clergy and dignitaries of the church
went in procession to the cathedral to celebrate high mass.
Notwithstanding the great excitement produced by this
event, it did not lead to further discovery for some time. The
good Father Marquette dying soon after, and Joliet -being
otherwise occupied, the great river lay unnoticed in the wil-
derness, and its discovery seemed almost forgotten.
LA SALLE.
HE exploration of the Mississippi was to be finished
by La Salle.
This man was, perhaps, the “prince of explorers.â€
He is called so by some writers; and if brains and ideas,
force and will, could make him so, the name is, perhaps, not
unfitting,
Before setting out upon his expedition, La Salle proposed
first to build a vessel in which to cross the lakes, and so do
away with the tiresome canoe journey. So it came about
that La Salle’s was the first vessel launched upon the Great
Lakes,
Delay upon delay prevented the party from setting out
until far into the autumn. Already those cold, north lake-
winds were blowing, sharp and keen. Even now, La Salle’s
man Tonty must be waited for. At last he came, — but it
was now December. Many murmured against setting out
at this time in the season, through unknown lands. La
Salle, however, was not the man to retreat. “It will be
65
66 THE GREAT WEST.
warmer farther south,†he said; “then, too, we shall find
food and shelter in the Illinois towns a little below.â€
So on they went to the town of the friendly Illinois, but,
to their great disappointment, they found the town deserted.
The people had gone to hunt the buffalo, that being their
custom at this time of the year. This was a heavy blow to
La Salle, for he had hoped here to get food and guides for
the journey. Next, they came upon a tribe of Indians who
begged them not to venture down the river. “It is filled,â€
said they, “with snakes and alligators, serpents and terrible
monsters. Then, too, there are savage herds along the
banks who wait with poisoned arrows to attack the white
man. - And the river itself is full of raging, seething whirl-
pools, hungry to swallow up the white man’s canoe.â€
These silly stories were received by La Salle with great
contempt. “There is some reason,†said he, “why these
natives do not want us to go down the river, and they take
this way to frighten us back.â€
His men were not so sure of this. Many of them grew
sullen and fearful. Six of them deserted outright and
hurried back to Quebec. .
La Salle and his little band now went into winter quarters,
built a fort, and waited the coming of the warmer days. At
THE GREAT WEST. 67
no time did he show one sign of grief, or regret, or lack of
courage. Aspparently he was of iron heart. Still, if one.
may judge from the name he gave his fort — Crevecceur,
meaning broken-hearted — there were times when he, too,
dreamed of the sunny France he had left so far behind.
Nothing, however, could shake the determination of this
brave leader. Leaving the fort in the charge of Tonty, he
himself made a journey back for the provisions which he must
have before he could set forth down the river.
When he returned to the Indian village, he found only the
charred and blackened ruins, and the burned and mangled
bodies of his friends. During his absence, hostile tribes had
fallen: upon the Illinois, had slaughtered them, and had
burned their village. \ The fort, too, he found deserted; for
as soon as he had gone away, the men had risen against
Tonty, had plundered the fort, and had gone off leaving
Tority to the mercy of the savages.
Good, faithful Tonty! La Salle’s strong, right-hand man!
Wretched, and in despair, La Salle searched for him, wan-
dering here and there until he came to the Mississippi. But
no Tonty was to be found. Then returning to Montreal, he
gathered more men about him, and set forth a third time for
the Great River, the Father of Waters.
68 THE GREAT WEST.
You know the old saying that the third time never fails.
, True or not, it proved true this time at least. Quietly
they sailed on, very little of note happening, until at last, on
the sixth of April, 1682, they had reached that point near
the mouth of the river where it branches in three directions.
“Which shall we take?â€â€™ the men asked.
“I,†said La Salle, “will take the most western branch ;
you, Tonty,—for Tonty had been found,—shall take the
middle ; and you, my brave man, shall take the eastern.â€
“The water,†said La Salle, “grows to taste more: salt.
Surely we are coming into the Gulf of Mexico;†and a little
later, the canoes did, in truth, glide out upon ‘the clear,
smooth waters of the gulf. The Mississippi was now no
longer an object of myth and speculation. It had been navi-
gated from its source to its outlet ; and so, landing not far above
the mouth of the river, La Salle set up the arms of France,
and, in the name of Louis, King of France, took formal pos-
session of all the land watered by the Mississippi, giving it
the name of Louisiana.
Z THE UPPER MISSISSIPPI.
S Joliet had had with him the priest Marquette, so La
Bi Salle had set out with Father Hennepin. It was the
intention in these French expeditions that explora-
tion and conversion should go hand in hand.
While LaSalle was delayed in his voyage down the
Mississippi, he sent two of his men and Father Hennepin up
the river, that, when he should have returned from - his
own voyage, he might be able to prepare a full account
of the wonders of the entire river from its source to its outlet.
For six weeks these explorers paddled peacefully up
the river, nothing of especial rote falling to their notice.
“Tf only we can keep clear of the Sioux!†said they. But
one day when they had stopped to mend a leaking canoe,
suddenly there burst upon them the war-cry of these very
Indians whom of all others they hoped to avoid. In a
moment they were surrounded. With scowls and howls and
flourishing of tomahawks, they fell upon the defenceless
Frenchmen.’
69
70 - THE GREAT WEST.
Hennepin offered the peace-pipe; but the peace-pipe this
time had no weight with the angry Sioux, who had long
waited for just such an opportunity as this to avenge them-
selves on the white men. ;
Hennepin fell upon his knees and began muttering prayers
aloud. This seemed only to infuriate the Indians the more.
S ee
A ENIN on LET ue
Se Sao SS
VOYAGE OF LASALLE DOWN THE MISSISSIPPI.
“He is making charms! He is making charms!†cried they.
“Scalp him! scalp him! he is calling up the demons !â€â€™
It was only by promising to call no more upon the evil
spirits that Father Hennepin saved his own and his friends’
lives. Escape, however, was impossible. For nineteen days
THE GREAT WEST. G1
the three.Frenchmen were driven like cattle before the sav-
age Sioux, who seemed to find relief to their pent up.wrath
by afflicting all sorts of petty abuses upon the defenceless
captives.
At last the village of the Sioux was reached. Here
Hennepin was put in the care of an old warrior, who, by and
by, adopted him as his own son.
A hard, weary winter followed for the captives.
But when the summer came, and the Sioux went forth to
hunt the buffalo, then was their time to plan an escape.
La Salle, when they had set forth, had promised to send
word to them at the mouth of the Wisconsin.
“Tf we can only get there,†said the Frenchmen, “we are
sure of help.†So telling the Sioux that their friends were
coming loaded with gifts, the greedy Indians agreed to let
two of the white men go down the river.
It was at this time the falls were passed to which
Hennepin gave the name of St. Anthony, naming them from
his own patron saint.
To their surprise and chagrin, a little farther on, they
were overtaken by a- party of the Sioux, who, being sus-
picious of their story, had followed them all the way. Find-
ing that they were really going to the mouth of the
b
1
LASALLE CLAIMS THE MisaiSePEL
THE GREAT WEST. 73
Wisconsin as they had said, and thinking that perhaps it was
true that white men were to be there with their loads of
gifts, they ordered the two white men to remain where they
were, while they themselves would go ahead and meet
the party and secure the gifts for themselves.
Of course no white men were there, and, what was of
much more interest to the Sioux, no loads of gifts, and back
they paddled, angry cuater at the white men wh had
deceived them.
After this, the Frenchmen were watched more closely than
cver, and were treated more cruelly. No attempts at escape
~ were made, for they knew only too well how useless it would
be.
It was months later when, at last, a company of French
traders came into the village of the Sioux, and ransomed
Father Hennepin and his two companions.
One of this rescuing party was named Duluth, ere another
Pepin. After one of these, the settlement of Duluth was
named, and after the other, Lake.Pepin. We have, therefore,
in the Falls of St. Anthony, the city of Duluth, and Lake
Pepin, a group of names which should always suggest to us
this little exploring party who attempted, in spite of all
danger, to reach the source of the Mississippi.
—
Se
t
DEATH OF LA SALLE.
LTHOUGH LaSalle knew, for the object of trans-
A portation, the Mississippi was of no value to the
French at present, he appreciated the necessity of
keeping the -way open.
Accordingly, the first thing to be done was to plant a
colony at the mouth of the great river. Having done this,
he went to France to report his discoveries to the king, and
set forth his plans for the future. One plan was that a fort
be built a little distance up the river, which should become a
trading center for all neighboring tribes. This, he knew,
could be more easily done from the fact that the Indians so
hated the Spaniards. Having built and established this
center, it would be easy, with the help of the Indians, to
push on into the silver regions, drive out the four hundred
Spaniards there, and get possession.
The plan was easily seized upon by the king. Instead of
the two vessels LaSalle asked for with which to carry out
his scheme, he was given four. LaSalle set to work with
74
THE GREAT WEST. : 75
his natural energy, and, in a short time, enough soldiers,
priests, arms, provisions, and colonists were got together
to establish a settlement at once.
So great a character as La Salle could not be without ene-
'mies. His reserve of manner, the greatness and the broad-
ness of his schemes, the grandeur of his successes, all tended
to promote jealousy in the petty minds of his companions.
Before he set sail on this expedition, which promised so
much, he and his leading naval officer had quarreled. La
‘ Salle, sarcastic and intolerant, had drawn himself into his
shell, as people say, and the naval officer, chafing under
the coldness and reserve of his superior, sulked and
threatened.
Nevertheless, the vessels set forth. One of them was
seized by a Spanish buccaneer, but the other three reached
the entrance to the gulf in safety. Here they were detained -
by illness among the crew and the passengers, La Salle him-
self lying for many days at death’s door.
La Salle, anxious to perform what had been given him by
his country to be done, set forth before he was fairly able,
steering westward into the gulf. Although La Salle knew
he was not near the mouth of the river, on New Year’s Day
they landed. The sneers of his officers drove him, perhaps,
76 THE GREAT WEST,
to this rashness, for La Salle, even while landing, held that
they must have gone too far to the west. They were, indeed,
far beyond the mouth of the river — some four hundred miles
—on the coast of Texas.
With the leaders so at variance, it is no wonder that the
colonists and the soldiers were out of spirits. And when it
became known that even La Salle himself did not know where
they had landed, they were seized with fear and misgivings,
Beaujeu, the naval officer, after openly expressing his con-
tempt for La Salle, had sailed away.
_ It was a hard position for LaSalle. He tried to put
courage into the little band, by setting them to work and
helping them to build their houses, This little village
La Salle named St Louis after the French King.
Unused to the climate and the exposed life, déath and
sickness were with them through the summer. The Span-
iards, too, were far from friendly, and the Indians were ever
on the alert to strike down any Frenchman who wandered
beyond the protection of the settlement.
When at last they were comfortably settled, La Salle set
forth with fifty men to find the river which he had so
recently navigated. For months they wandered. about, but
THE GREAT WEST. U7
came back tired and worn, Baan eyt no tidings-to bring of the
great river.:
' Meantime the one vessel they had kept*to carry fre to
the Mississippi when it should be found, had been lost ; men
were dying; disaster upon disaster followed.
La Salle would not ene way to despair —at least not be-
fore his men.
“There is but one thing to do now,†said he, “and that
is to some way get to Canada. To get to France is impossi-
ble. Let us keep up our courage. Remember, I am as badly
off as you, and I am‘as desirous of finding help and comfort.
Now, who will volunteer to set forth with me to Canada?
We can, at least, all die together.â€
Taventy men set out again upon this very dangerous and
uncertain journey. As these brave men set forth, La Salle
at their head, the hopes of the little colony rose once more.
They found their way to the country of the Anis Indians.
Here sickness and weakness from starvation overcame them,
and they were compelled to give way. Buying a few horses
from the Indians, they retraced their steps, coming at length
into their little village, more wretched and dispirited than
ever,
But what could be done! La Salle knew full well the
78 : THE GREAT WEST.
discontent among his men, their mistrust and hatred for
him. Still there was but one hope—that of reaching
Canada. Again he set forth, this time with fewer men, and
these, too, with less of courage and more of hatred for the
man whom they felt had brought them to this wretched pass,
At midnight, beneath the open sky, high mass was said.
La Salle spoke a few words of hopeful cheer to these who
were to set forth with him upon this perilous journey, and to
those weary ones who were to await their return. Then the
little band filed quietly away through the forest, out of sight.
It was a long, hard journey — sometimes across the hot
prairies, sometimes through almost impassible morasses,
through dense forests, across streams, and up and down the
rough hill-sides.
Indians they met from time to time, some of whom seemed
friendly, others suspicious and revengeful. The weather was
unfavorable, the roads were rough, dangers beset them on
every side, and, worse than all, hate lurked in the hearts of
the little band toward their leader. LaSalle, always cold
and haughty, made no attempt to gain the love of his men,
and made no pretence of hiding his contempt for certain ones
among them who, to him, seemed contemptible.
Matters were brought to a terrible climax at last. Certain
THE GREAT WEST. 4 79
hunters who had gone to find some corn which La Salle had
hidden on his previous expedition, chanced to kill a buffalo.
The sight of blood was, to the hate in the hearts of these men,
like fuel to a smouldering fire. Open quarrel burst forth.
The long-cherished longing to murder La Salle and others in
the party sprang into-action. Plots were conceived and
rapidly executed.. Three of the party were murdered in
_ their sleep, and then the infuriated assassins hid themselves
in the long grass awiting the coming of La Salle himself.
For two days La Salle waited in his camp the return of
hismen. Then unable to bear the suspense, and having a
foreboding that something of this nature may have taken
place, he set forth with the friar, Anastase Douay, to find his
men..
“All the way,†the friar afterwards wrote, “he talked of
nothing but matters of piety and grace, enlarging on the
debt he owed to God who had saved him from so many
perils. Suddenly I saw him overcome with a sadness for
which he himself could not account. So much moved was
he that I could hardly know it.was he.â€
Soon the camp where the buffalo had been killed was
reached. He fired his pistol as a summons to any of his fol-
lowers who might be near by. The shots reached the ears
-
|
mi
bs
MURDER OF LA SALLE.
80
THE GREAT WEST. 81
of the murderers who were lying in wait for him. Two of
them crouched lower in the grass, while the other stood upon
the river-bank to attract La Salle’s attention and draw his
footsteps in that direction.
Coming up to him, La Salle demanded iainaly, “Where
is my nephew?â€
“Along the river, I suppose,†answered the man insolently.
“Your salute to your commander!†called forth La Salle,
for by no token whatever had the man recognized the
approach of his leader.
The hunter muttered some insolent, half-intelligible BED:
and moved back.
At that moment a shot rang out upon the air. Another,
and another ; and La Salle dropped upon the ground dead.
The good friar stood pale with fright.
The murderers now came forth. “Fear not, good father,â€
said they. ‘We have no wish to harm thee. But thou,â€
turning to La Salle’s bleeding corpse, ‘‘there thou liest,
great Bashaw! There thou liest!†;
Then rushing upon the dead body with the fury of wild
animals, they stripped it of its clothing, beat it and cut at it,»
and dragged it away to the forests, leaving it there a prey to
the birds and the wolves.
IBERVILLE AND BIENVILLE.
OR some time after the death of La Salle, nothing was
b done about colonizing Louisiana. But at last there
arose another man, Iberville, who proposed to re-dis-
cover the Mississippi, plant a colony there, and carry out
the plans of La Salle. .
Iberville, like La Salle, had in France a reputation for
wisdom and capability. Therefore, when the colonizing
scheme was again advanced by him, all intelligent French-
men acknowledged its importance, and were eager to see
the work again carried forth.
A war between France and England was just over, and
Iberville was anxious to distinguish himself in some new
service to his country. Accordingly two vessels were gotten
ready, and Iberville set forth. Coasting about the Florida
coast, in and out among the lagoons, he came, here and
there, upon villages and towns along the coast and up the
river whose inhabitants always gave him cordial welcome.
One day a chief brought him a letter which he said had
82
THE GREAT WEST. 83.
been left there some thirteen years before, to be given to
La Salle should he ever come to their village. This letter
proved to be one which the faithful Tonty had left for his
loved leader, when, after searching in vain for him, he had
turned back for the ‘Illinois.
In this letter he said that he had found the cross that La
Salle had erected, fallen; but that he had raised it again in
a more secure place. That, while searching for his com-
mander, he had coasted the Louisiana coast for thirty
leagues, and the Florida coast for twenty-five.
Sure, now, that he was on the Mississippi, Iberville sailed
down again, found a suitable place in which to begin a settle-
ment, left a colony, and returned to France.
When, a little later, he had come back to his colony, he
learned that English traders were pushing in above him. |
Finding himself menaced both by land and sea, he speedily
erected cannon at the mouth of the river, shutting up the
entrance from that direction.
Later he erected storehouses on Dauphine Island, and be-
gan a settlement at Mobile. The colonists soon commenced
the raising of tobacco, and were in a flourishing condition.
Iberville had, indeed, gained a foothold; and had he not
died a little later, we may well suppose that French explora
84 THE GREAT WEST.
tion and colonization would have indeed made mighty
strides.
At Iberville’s death, his brother, Bienville, took up the un-
completed work and carried it on with wisdom and vigor.
Up the river was a rocky place, not unlike Quebec in its
natural fortifications. Upon this the French had for some
time looked with longing. Such a site for a future city!
Such a fortification! But this very place was the seat of a
powerful Indian tribe whose anger it was not wise to excite.
An opportunity soon offered itself, and Bienville was
quick to take advantage. These very Indians had attacked
some traders passing by, and immediately Bienville com-
menced the building of a fort there.
Next, having overawed these people, a fort was built on
the Red River, to hold in check the Spaniards, who were
already working their way toward the Mississippi with a
view to engrossing the Indian trade.
It seems a pity that France was not wise enough in these
times to see that the way to keep her hold upon her
possessions was to colonize. Had inducements to col-
onists been offered, the history of the French in
America would have been very different. Trade and
money-getting seemed, however, to be their only thought.
THE GREAT WEST. 85
Such a rich soil! Such a wealth of productions! If only
people had been encouraged to go there and settle!
But, just as had been done before on the St. Lawrence,
the monopoly of the trade was “let out†to one man.
He was to control all the people and all the trade of the
entire region. And, as he had no other object than to
accumulate wealth and return to his own country, he
turned every settlement into a trading-post, paying no
heed to the grand possibilities of the region.
Not only was there no inducement to families to build
homes for themselves, but there was equally little induce-
ment even to build up trade; for this one monopolist
was in government employ, and every barter, however
small, was made to pass through this man’s agents, at
such a price as should be fixed by them.
This plan was a failure, as one might suppose it would
be; and in five years, Crozat was glad to surrender and
return to France.
After this came the “Gigantic Mississippi Scheme of
John Law.†This was a step in advance of the last.
Under this, colonies were planted along the Mississippi
River and its branches, and agriculture was encouraged.
Slaves were brought from the West India Islands, and
86 THE GREAT WEST.
the French began to take on the air of plantation owners,
Bienville now began the building of New Orleans,
This seemed a strange site for a settlement —this bit of
a delta, built of the mud and driftwood which the river
was forever bringing down.
Only a few feet above the level of the sea, likely to
be overflowed with every rise of the river, it is no won-
der that people looked on with amazement at .Bienville’s
choice. He, however, knew what the future would do
for this spot if he could induce people to settle there
and improve and fortify it.
That he was wise in his choice has since been proved,
and New Orleans is to-day the metropolis of the South.
Only a little later it was discovered that ships could
pass the great sandbar at the mouth of the river. Now,
indeed, the great river was open to navigation, and the
value of it began to be realized. Now, from Quebec to
New Orleans, along the St. Lawrence and the Mississippi,
French trading-posts, colonies, military-posts and mission
churches were everywhere to be seen. France held the
two great water-routes of the New World.
MACKENZIE RIVER.
ET us turn now to the English. Surely that energetic
E nation has not all this time been idle. The belief
in a north-west passage was like a tradition among
the sailors of this nation. We will not stop to speak of
the many English sailors who had set forth into the cold,’
_ barren country of the north, searching for the mythical north-
west passage. It was to the English what El Dorado
had been to the Spanish. eed
During these many attempts to find this new way to 2
India, of one thing the English had grown certain, and
that was that the bleak, desolate region about Hudson
Bay was rich in fur-bearing animals. Trading-posts .were
at once set up, and England was drawing in a snug little
revenue from her Hudson Bay fur trade. Now and
then the Canadians would break in upon these English
posts, but in time all was held by the English throne.
The Indian inhabitants of these regions were nomadic
races, and, through their help, the English were taught tg
87
88 THE GREAT WEST.
‘
make distant journeys into the interior. Not so very
much was done, because the people there cared only for
fur-trading. The English government, however, were de-
sirous that the wonderful north-west passage be found,
that the glory thereof might revert to the English throne,
Then, too, there was the immense advantage of holding |
control of a “short cut†to India, the great trading mart
of the world.
A Scotch trader, Alexander Mackenzie, was, perhaps,
one of the most daring explorers. of his time. For eight
years he had dwelt at a little trading-post half way be-
tween Hudson Bay and the Rocky Mountains. He had
often asked the Indians about the country beyond the
mountain range, but they could tell him little except that
fierce tribes lived there—so fierce that none dared ap-
proach them.
But Mackenzie, who was an explorer by nature, was not to
be frightened by any unknown tribes. He was determined
to cross the continent. With one great canoe filled with
provisions, he, with a few companions, set forth. Going up
the Slave River, through the lakes, he came at last upon the
river which now bears his name. There, although he knew
it ran north into the region of ice and snow, he launched his
THE GREAT WEST. 89
canoe and floated along, coming out into the open polar sea.
On his way he met everywhere friendly Indians who gave
him food and shelter, and were ready to direct him and give
him such information as they could.
It was a fearful journey through the bitter cold and over
the rough frozen country, but success crowned his efforts,
and in due time Mackenzie and his men stood upon the
shores of the great Pacific.
THE RUSSIANS.
OU remember the Spaniards had coasted along the
western shore and had set up crosses in the name of
God and their country. Drake, too, of English fame,
had, in spite of the Spanish, skirted the same shores, had
taken possession in the name of the English throne, and had
then merrily sailed away, eluding the Spanish, who were
eagerly lying in wait to seize him on his return.
"But nearly a century had elapsed since then, and neither
Spanish nor English had thought it worth while to follow up
their claim. :
Suddenly a new claimant appeared —not from the east,
but from the west. Peter the Great, the Czar of Russia,
always awake to the interests of his country, seeing in the
new world an opportunity for his people as well as for the
English, French, or Spanish, sent out a Captain Behring of
the royal navy. He, sailing out from Kamtschatka, found
open water everywhere, and so settled the separation of the
two continents.
go
THE GREAT WEST. 5 91
On a second voyage he reached the American coast, dis-
covered Mount Saint Elias, and the Aleutian Islands.
Behring’s vessel was wrecked on one of these islands, and
he himself died from injuries and exposure. His crew, how-
ever, were able to build a vessel from the wreck which served
to carry them to the Asiatic shore.
As trophies, they brought from the New World skins of
the otter and the fox. These at once aroused in the Russians
an ambition to establish a fur trade. This was carried on at
first merely through roving traders. By and by colonists
from Siberia were carried over; but colonization was not the
Russian forte any more than it had been the Spanish.
There was no opportunity for agriculture in this cold, barren
region, even if they had wished it. These colonists being
merely vassals, and the Indian natives being merely slaves
to these, there was little progress in civilization.
In time the trade passed into the control of oné company,
and the Russian claim in America was held only as a busi-
ness speculation and was managed as such.
CAPTAIN COOK.
EXT in rank to Sir Francis Drake as an English navi-
N gator, stood Captain James Cook. In the “Seven
Year’s War,†of which you will hear in other his-
tories, England had wrenched Canada from the French,
and having gained so much, she was seized with an ambition
to gain all. For this purpose vessels were sent to the
North-west coast for the purpose of re-discovering that
which Drake had so long ago taken possession of in the
name of England.
In 1776, while the English colonists on the Atlantic were
rebelling against the tyranny and greed of England, this new
attempt to extend her territory and her power was made.
Captain James Smith, with Vancouver and Ledyard, set
forth with two vessels for the northern Pacific coast.
_ They discovered and named the Sandwich Islands, Later
he came upon Cape Flattery, and by and by upon Nootka
Sound, the broad basin about which the Nootka Indians lived.
These were of the same tribe as those Drake had so long
g2
THE GREAT WEST. — 98
before made the acquaintance of; and, indeed, Cook found
them friendly as ever and very little changed, except that
they were no longer awe-stricken at the sight of white-faced
people, neither were they at all moved by the roar of cannon
or the glitter of shining armor.
Here he lay by to refit his vessels, and make arrange-
ments for an indefinite voyage into the frozen north. As he
set out from Nootka, unfortunately for his future fame, his
ships were blown far out from shore, so that he passed the
Columbia River without the least suspicion that so great
and important a water-route lay so near at hand.
When Cook came in towards land again, he was far up the
coast within the Russian claims. On he sailed through the
Behring Straits into the Arctic Ocean, until at Icy Cape his
vessels were stopped by ice. While at Nootka, Cook had
traded knives, and beads, and buttons with the natives for
furs.. Now, finding that there seemed nothing to be learned
and nothing to be gained in this northern sea, he sailed
back, stopping at Canton to sell his furs. These were found
to be worth, in the fur mart, more than ten thousand
dollars, and this was, perhaps, the beginning of the Canton-
Nootka fur-trade.
JONATHAN CARVER.
N England lived an old war veteran who was much given
to studying the maps of the day, and who took great
interest in the discoveries and advances made by all
nations in this new world. In the war between France and
England, he had served in the army, and had become ac-
quainted with the country along the St. Lawrence and the
Great Lakes.
From studying the maps, from reading the works of
Hennepin, Lahontan and others, he felt sure there must bea
way across the continent, straight on from these Great
Lakes. Even in Hennepin’s time, the Indians had said that
far away, at the source of the Missouri, was another river
leading on to the sea.
“Tf,†said Carver, to the English government, “a way
across can be found, we can establish a port upon the Pacific
side. Not only will this prove to be the ‘North-west Pas- .
sage,’ but it will make communication between Hudson’s Bay
and the Pacific so much more direct. More than that, a
94
THE GREAT WEST. 95
settlement on that side will not only promote useful discov-
eries, but will open a way to China and the English settle-
ments in the East Indies.â€
This was the first time that the idea of crossing the con-
tinent to get to the far-off India was boldly set forth to the
English government. It was received favorably, and, in due
time, with a party of traders, Carver set forth from the Falls
of St. Anthony.
Carver’s movements were very like those of other ex-
plorers, including the sailing up one river and down another,
the usual bartering with the Indians, together with the win-
ter spent in their village. After entering far into the state
of Minnesota, he was unable to advance farther because the
cifts which were to have been sent him with which to bribe
the natives, as they journeyed, did not come. There seemed
nothing to be done but to return. He had accumulated a
vast amount of information.
JOHN LEDYARD.
ITH Cook, in this expedition, was Corporal John
Ledyard. He was a sharp-sighted, quick-witted,
restless, ambitious man, full, like so many others
in his day, of projects and theories concerning the north-
west passage. He was far-sighted enough to know that if
some way for securing the commerce of the north-west coast
could be found, it would be a means of untold wealth to the
nation that should control it.
Ledyard was an American; and although the American
colonies had had quite all they could attend to with their
war with England, he acknowledged no condition that need
interfere with America’s setting forth side by side with
other nations in the struggle to secure the prize of this
western coast.
America was now a free republic. She should take her
place with other nations in this contest. The time would
come when she must hold this western coast — her safety
would demand it—so Ledyard said.
96
THE GREAT WEST. 97
Ledyard was persistent. He had but this one idea. He
talked it to everybody. He would talk of nothing else.
“Tam dying with anxiety,†he said to a friend, “to pene-
trate to the Pacific coast. There is an immense field for
exploration there. An opportunity for an explorer to win
for himself honest fame, and to bring to the American
nation a wealth and a possession of which they do not
dream. It was well enough that a European should dis-
cover America, but now it is an American that should ex-
plore it; and an American nation that should control it.â€
In talking with Jefferson, so earnest and impassioned was
Ledyard that Jefferson’s interest was aroused. ‘Why not,â€
said he, “go to Russia, cross over to Kamtschatka, then take
some Russian vessel and come over to the Pacific coast.
‘Then explore inward back to the known part of the
- country 2?â€
It seems very strange to us that it should ever have been
supposed to be an easy route across the continent. to go by
way of Siberia; but it shows how utterly an “unknown
â€
country†the interior of this continent was even as late as
the beginning of this century.
Ledyard eagerly agreed to this; indeed, he would have
agreed to anything, no matter how difficult or how perilous,
98 | THE GREAT WEST. .
if he could thereby carry out his long-cherished scheme,
Nothing ever came of it, however, for the Russians, seized
with jealous fear, would not allow Ledyard to cross their
country. We hear little after this of this would- be explorer.
He never crossed the continent, and apparently failed wholly
in his plans. But the man who sets the thought in motion
is not to be despised.
In setting forth his theories to Thomas Jefferson, Ledyard
gave that wise man a new idea—a something to think upon.
And Jefferson, long-sighted and wise as he was, soon began
to realize that Ledyard’s plans were, indeed, of the greatest
national importance. It was the thought which so soon
began to be the one great ruling idea of American states.
men.
DISCOVERY OF THE COLUMBIA RIVER.
FTER the Revolution, the sleeping commercial am-
bition of the colonies began to awaken.
Said. the merchants of Boston, and other Atlantic
ports, ‘This war has ruined our commerce! We must wake
up! We must set forth in search of new ports! Why not
try what can be done with trade between China and our
north-west coast?â€
Accordingly two vessels, the “ Columbia†and the “ Wash-
ington,†were fitted out, and the brand-new American flag
set flying from their mast-heads.
These vessels were to go to the north-west coast, barter
for furs with the Indians, then cross to Canton and exchange
the furs for teas for the home market.
The owners of these vessels were far-sighted. Not only
had they an eye to trade, but they saw opportunities for
future establishment along this coast of a company similar
to that of the Hudson Bay Company. With this in view,
the masters of these vessels were instructed to purchase
99
100 THE GREAT WEST.
land of the Indians, to build store-houses and forts along the
coast, and to make any other movements which to them
seemed likely to be of advantage for future trade, and for
the holding of the land. -
These vessels reached Nootka in due time. The “Colum-
bia†traded successfully with the Indians, exchanged her furs
for teas at Canton, and reached home three years later, hav-
ing been the first to carry the new flag around the world.
As the brave “Columbia†entered the harbor at Boston,
great indeed was the excitement. As she passed the forts,
salutes were exchanged, and the people in the little city
rushed to the wharves to know what could be the occasion
of such honorable notice. Great was the excitement among
the people. Bells were rung, stores were closed, and the
city took on the air of a general holiday and thanksgiving.
This was Boston’s second tea-party.
So great had been the success of this voyage, that again
the “ Columbia†was sent forth. On this second voyage, the
captain passed the mouth of a large river which, as he said,
was so white with breakers that he dared not force his vessel
upon them. He took careful notice of its latitude, however,
intending to explore at some future time. On his return, he
THE GREAT WEST. 101
again neared the mouth of this river, and this time started
boldly for it, all sail set.
Passing safely between the breakers, they sailed into the
continent for fourteen miles, settling beyond doubt that it
was in truth a new river that had been discovered. As he
passed again out into the broad ocean, the captain said,
“We have discovered a new river, and it shall be given an
American name; it shall, from our good ship, be named
Columbia,
LOUISIANA PURCHASE.
T was at the beginning of this century that the United
States made the purchase of Louisiana, that great tract
of country which, you remember, had been taken posses-
sion of by the early explorer in the name of the French
king, Louis.
It would hardly interest you to know how, at this time,
the French, the Spanish, the English, and the United States
were mixed and intermixed in their political relations. It is
enough for you, at present, to know that the time had come
when, in order to hold control of the Mississippi, it was
necessary for the United States to possess the territory
of Louisiana. Successful arrangements were made between
the two countries, and for twenty millions of dollars this
territory was ceded to the United States.
It was not that the United States needed more land; it
was not tHat anyone foresaw how great the American nation
was to become; but it was that the great water-route of the
continent be cpen to commerce, and that, too, under the
control of the United States government,
102
THE GREAT WEST. 103
Napoleon, who was then at the head of France, and
who hated England most heartily, is reported to have
said, when Louisiana had been formally given into the hands
of the Americans, “I am sorry to lose Louisiana; but in
giving it to the United States of America, it rejoices me
that I have given England a rival that shall sometime
humble her pride.â€
CANOEING.
LEWIS AND CLARKE.
HEN Jefferson became president, he at once took
: \W steps towards exploring the Great West. This
he did that he might form some estimate of the
value of! this great country, but more especially that he
might learn whether or not the Missouri and the Columbia
Rivers were likely to prove of commercial value in affording
‘an overland route to the Pacific.
Little was known of these rivers except that they rose
somewhere in the Rocky Mountains. The French had
pushed on far up the river, discovering and naming several
of its branches, but no settlements had been made except
at the mouth of the Mississippi, and the great rich valley lay
as wild and unknown as when white men had never trod
American soil.
When you think that all this was only a few years ago,—
within the memory of living man,— you can, perhaps, form
some idea of what the sturdy valor, the determination, the
perseverance of the pioneers must have been ‘to bring
104
THE GREAT WEST. 105
about such changes in so short a time. Should you visit the
beautiful farms, the noble cities, the hundreds of flourishing
villages and towns out through the “West†to-day, you
would need to shut your eyes very tight, and give very free
reins to your imagination in order to realize that all this
was, a few years ago, a great expanse of unknown land —a
vast wilderness.
The Indians of this valley built no villages as some tribes
did. They lived in easily built huts which, at any time when
the spirit of unrest seized them, they could easily take up,.
pack upon their horses’ backs, and carry away. These In-
dians were, like the Arabs, at any time likely to “fold their
tents†and “quietly steal away;†or, what is perhaps less
poetical, they were likely at any time to suddenly burst forth
or be burst forth upon, in bale with their neighbors, after
which a “grand moving on†seemed in order.
Once a year the whole village “struck its tents†and
started forth on the annual buffalo hunt. This was, indeed,
a great occasion. The day and night before the departure,
a great festival was held, prayers were made to the god of
the chase, and a joyous setting forth, houses and all, was
the order.
After meat enough for the winter had been obtained, they
106 ' THE GREAT WEST.
again celebrated, with dancing and singing, the success of
their season. So they lived; eating, drinking, sleeping, fight-
ing, hunting,— this was all their life.
Such were the inhabitants of the country through which
Lewis and Clarke had pledged themselves to journey.
In May, 1804, they started up the Missouri. All sorts of
hindrances to their progress met them, as they slowly labored
along through the muddy waters, — here a sandbar, there a
tree wedged fast across their path, and there a sharp and
hidden rock ready to cut and break the heavy keel. But all
this was merely wearisome ; the real obstacles were yet to
come,
The winter they spent with the Indians, hunting and ex-
ploring with them, and listening to their wonderful legends
of the West, the “ Land of the Setting Sun.â€
In the spring, the party set forth into a region full of
danger and hardship.
The river grew more and more difficult to navigate ; the
Yellowstone was passed, and in May they came into full
sight of the lofty Rockies, their tops hidden among the
clouds.
On they went, Lewis and Clarke scouting ahead, with
rifle in hand. At last, from a high bluff, Lewis saw, far
THE GREAT WEST. 107
away in the distance, a cloud of mist rising high out of the’
plain.
Could this be the Great Fall of which the Indians had
told them? The fall that rose in a great, white veil to the
heavens above?
The Indians had told them truly. Here they stood at the
ereat mountain gorge where the Missouri, at headlong speed,
rushes down the precipice into the bottomless cafion, thou-
sands of feet below the plain.
Around this fall, for a distance of eighteen miles, the boats
were dragged and again launched upon the restless river.
Little could be done with them amid the rocks and whirl-
pools, and rough-hewed boats from logs were made, with
which for a few miles more the explorers were able to make
their way.
But now navigation was at an end.. Scouts were sent
east, west, north, and south in search of Indians from whom
horses and guides might be obtained. But none could be
found. Once a mountain-trail was found, but it was lost again
in the steep, rocky mountain sides. No horsemen could pass
these mountains, the scouts declared.
But horses and guides must be had. “1 myself will find
them,†said Lewis, “and I will return with them or die.â€
108 THE GREAT WEST.
So forth alone into the rocky, barren country went Lewis,
. knowing well that upon him depended the success or failure
of the whole expedition.
On went Lewis, reaching at last the highest source of the
Missouri. Here, three thousand miles from its mouth, was
the little mountain brook from which sprang the great, tem-
pestuous Missouri. Now he was upon the ridge dividing the
Columbia and the Missouri. Crossing it, full of hope, Lewis
followed the Columbia along its course, coming at last upon
a little Indian village — the village of the Shoshones.
Never did man look with more eagerness upon another
human face than did Lewis look upon this filthy little village
of Indians.
As he advanced, the Indians started forth to meet him,
drawing off their shoes as they came near. This, as Lewis
afterwards gladly learned, was the Shoshone manner of ex-
pressing their good-will and peaceful intentions.
The Indians could not at first believe Lewis when he told
them by signs and in broken language that he had come
from over the mountains. Some of them, at last, were per-
suaded to go back with him, and to bring with them horses
and guides for the white men’s use.
Provided thus with guides and horses, Lewis and Clarke
THE GREAT WEST. 109
again started forth, following a hidden trail known only to
the Indians themselves. Weeks were thus spent in crossing
the terrible mountain passes. So through the mountain
snows, over the sharp rocks, famishing with hunger and
worn out with the hard march, the little band tramped on,
at last coming out on the Pacific side.
Now, on they went, guided by the Indians, over broad .
tracts of waste land, by river after river, until at last they
reached one upon which their guides assured them they
could safely embark. This proved to be one of the branches
of the Columbia. Embarking, they came into a larger
branch to which they gave the name of Lewis River, and
reached, a few days later, the junction of another branch,
to which they gave the name of Clarke River.
On they went. Everywhere were Indians, none of whom
scemed disposed to be unfriendly. Lewis and Clarke did
not fear them. “Indeed, why should we,†they would say,
“are we not already half Indian ourselves? Have we not
Icarned to eat dog-meat, to dress, and look, and act, and
speak, even, like Indians?â€
In November the sound of breakers was heard ahead ;
tides were noticeable; the Pacific was reached at last !
The overland route was explored !
PIKE’S PEAK.
N 1806, Zebulon Pike, who had shown himself an enthu-
siastic explorer, was sent out through the county of the
Osages, who were at war with the Kansas tribe. He
was, if possible, to bring about peace between these tribes,
and then with them for guides, go on up the Arkansas to
find its direction, extent, and navigation.
From the grand Osage village they set forth accom-
panied by a long train of warriors, who in this way were
proud to do honor to these white men whom they considered
their guests.
When at last, from a high ridge, the Kansas prairies came
suddenly to view, “it seemed,†as Pike used to say in telling
of his explorings, “as if a view of Paradise had broken upon
his sight.â€
Farther on were the Pawnee Indians, a tribe of such evil
reputation that even to Pike’s brave heart there was little
hope of making peace with them. Still it was necessary to
go to them, and as Pike was riever the leader to retreat be-
110
THE GREAT WEST. 111
fore any imaginary evil, they pressed onward, meaning to
make friends with these revengeful Pawnees if in any way
so happy a condition could be brought about.
And perhaps they might have succeeded ; but before they
had reached the Pawnee village, the Spaniards, three hun-
dred strong, had come from New Mexico for the especial
purpose of stirring up the Pawnees against the coming
Americans.
When Pike, with his twenty-three followers, came into the
village, therefore, they were looked upon, indeed, with con-
tempt. Numbers, with the Indians, meant power, and the
Indians were never slow to place themselves upon the side
of numbers.
When Pike came, he found the Pawnees entertaining their
three hundred guests in the usual Indian manner of festive
celebrations. Judging at once that it would be policy to
keep in favor with the nation that seemed to present ‘the
ereatest number of warriors, as they called them, the Paw-
nees hesitated not in the least to show their contempt for
the little band. Sneers and insults were not to keep the
little band from their duty ; and their duty just then was to
demand respect from these savages — respect for the United
States government. Accordingly, Pike hoisted his flag in
112 THE GREAT WEST,
the Pawnee town to show that black looks and’ insulting
words could not frighten away even a small band of twenty-
three, when those twenty-three were sent by the United
States government.
Pike then went back to the Arkansas and set himself to
work to trace that river to its source. For weeks the party
slowly ascended the river. The great mountain peaks came
slowly to view, and the river, growing smaller and smaller,
lost itself at last among the hills. .
The Arkansas was now explored to its very source, and
the country along its banks was known to be fertile and rich,
well worthy the attention of the government that had ex-
plored it and had set its seal of possession upon it.
Now Pike set forth upon an expedition across the country,
hoping to find the source of the Red River. A terrible
journey lay before them. Winter had already set in. Every
day brought fresh difficulties. The streams were freezing,
the snow-drifts were piling higher and higher, covering the
ravines through which lay the river’s course.
Defeated! There seemed but one thing left to do: to find
_ the old Spanish trail from Santa Fé to the Platte. But even
this was lost ; and now discouraged, hungry, without shelter,
yet held together by the indomitable will and courage of
THE GREAT WEST. | 113
their leader, they struggled on until they reached a river
which was believed to be the one for which they were seeking.
Here they built a rough camp, and hoped to find shelter
and defence until spring should again open up the way for
them.
One day while Pike was out hunting, two Spaniards rode
up, saying, “ We come to give you welcome. You are but
two days’ journey from Santa Fé.â€
Trusting them, Pike took them back to his camp and enter-
tained them in honest hunter fashion until they were ready
to return. s .
It was only a few days later, however, that there rode into
the camp a squadron of Spanish horse. “I arrest you,†said
the leader, “for trespassing on Spanish ground. This is the
Rio Grande, and this territory-is under control of Spain.â€
It was evident, now, that the two Spaniards who had first
come were but spies. Notwithstanding the attempts of Pike
to explain his presence within Spanish limits, notwithstand-
ing the straightforward story he had to tell of his explora-
tions, he and his men were seized as prisoners. Nothing
could, perhaps, give you a better idea of the condition of the
brave men, a better idea of the hardships they had under-
114 THE GREAT WEST.
gone, than Pike’s own account. Ina written account of these
times, he says :—
«When we presented ourselves at Santa Fé, I was dressed
in a pair of blue trousers, moccasins, blanket-coat, and a cap
made of scarlet cloth lined with fox-skins, and my poor fel-
lows in leggings, breech-cloths, and leather coats. There
was not a hat in the whole party. Our appearance was ex-
tremely mortifying to us all, especially as soldiers; and
although some of the officers would frequently say to me,
that ‘worth made the man,’ yet the first impression made
' on the ignorant is hard to eradicate ; and greater proof can-
not be given of the ignorance of the common people here
than their asking if we lived in houses, or camps me the
Indians, or if we wore hats in our country.â€
Pike’s work would almost seem lost except that he aroused
so great an interest in the western part of the country,
especially in the southern part, which up to that time
had attracted little attention. Here is Pike’s own account
of the village of the “Warm Springs†as he saw. it during
his days of captivity: —
“The village of the Warm Springs, or Aqua Caliente,†he
tells us, ‘at a distance presents to the eye a square enclosure
of mud walls, the houses forming the wall. They*are flat on
THE GREAT WEST. 115
top, or with very little ascent on one side, where spouts carry
off the water of the melting snow and rain, when it falls,
which, we were told, had been but once in two years.
“The houses were all of one story, the doors narrow, the
windows small, and in one or two houses there were talc
lights. This village had a mill near it, situated on the little
creek of the same name, which made very good flour. The
population consisted of perhaps five hundred Indians, civil-
ized, but of much mixed blood.
“Here we had a dance which is called the “ fandango,†but
there was one other, which was copied from the Mexicans,
and is now danced in the first societies of New Spain, and
has even been introduced at the court of Madrid.
“The greatest natural curiosity is the warm springs, of
which there are two, each affording sufficient water for a mill-
seat. They appeared to be impregnated with copper, and
were more than 33° above blood-heat. From this village the
Indians drove off two thousand horses at one time when at
war with the Spaniards.
“St John’s (San Juan) was also enclosed by a mud wall,
and probably contained one thousand souls; its population
also chiefly consisted of civilized Indians, as indeed do all
116. THE GREAT WEST.
the villages of New Mexico, the whites not forming the one.
twentieth part of the inhabitants.
“The house-tops of this village, as well as the streets,
were crowded when we entered it. At the door of the public
quarters, we were met by the priest. When the officer in
charge of my escort dismounted, and embraced him, all the
poor creatures who stood around strove to kiss the ring or
hand of the holy father. My men were taken to the quarters
provided for them, and I went to the priest’s, who offered
me coffee, chocolate, or whatever else he had, and bid me
consider myself at home in his house.
“Santa Fé, the capital, is situated along the banks of a
small creek, which comes down from the mountains, and
runs west to the Rio del Norte. Although it is but three
streets in width, it is about a mile long. Seen froma dis- .
tance, I was struck with the resemblance to a fleet of flat-
boats floating down the Ohio in the spring. There are two
churches, whose fine steeples form a striking contrast to the
squalid appearance of the houses around them.
“In the center is the public square, or plaza, one side of
which forms the flank of the soldiers’ square, which is closed
and in some degree defended by round towers in the angles
which flank the four curtaims; another side of the square is
THE GREAT WEST. 117
formed by the palace of the governor, his guard-houses, etc.
The third side is occupied by the priests and their suite, and
the fourth by the Chapetones who reside in the city. The
houses are generally only one story high, with flat roofs, and
_have a very mean appearance on the outside, though some
are richly furnished, especially with plate: The supposed
population is four thousand five hundred souls: On our en-
tering the town, the crowd was very great, and followed us
to the government house. When we dismounted, we were
taken through various rooms, the floors of which were cov-
ered with buffalo-robes, bear-skins, or those of other animals,
to a chamber where we waited for some time, until his excel-
iency appeared. .
“We passed the encampment of the caravan, going out
with about fifteen thousand sheep for the other provinces,
from which they bring back merchandise. This expedition
consisted of about three hundred men, chiefly citizens, who
were escorted by an officer and forty soldiers. They come
together at Ciboletta in February, and separate there on
their return in March. A similar expedition goes out in the
autumn. At other times of the year no citizen travels over
the road, the couriers alone excepted. At the pass of the
Rio del Norte, the couriers meet and exchange packets,
118 THE GREAT WEST.
when each returns:to his own province. We met a caravan
of fifty men and probably two hundred horses, loaded with
goods for New Mexico.
“Saturday morning, March 21, we arrived at the Paso del
Norte, through a mountainous country. We put up at the
house of Don Francisco Garcia, who is a wealthy merchant
and planter. He had, in the neighborhood, twenty thousand
sheep and one thousand cows. We were received in a most
hospitable manner by Don Pedro Roderique Rey, the lieu-
tenant-governor, and Father Joseph Prado, the vicar of the
place. This was by far the most flourishing town we had so
far been in.â€
EARLY SETTLEMENTS.
1
THE FIRST SETTLERS.
UT now we are coming upon the time when the Great
West is to be looked upon as something more than a
great unknown, with only Indians and here and there
an explorer.
First, there were the trappers—rude enough men, fond
of travel and adventure. They came at first, perhaps, to
explore ; then they began to come to stay.
Their huts in the mountains began to be looked upon ~
almost as settlements; they were places, at least, where
white men had, for one reason or another, found it worth
while to make a home, such as it was.
Then came the “ backwoodsman,†as the world has seen fit
to call him. The backwoodsman was the first to actually
make a “clearing,†and build for himself a cabin which
should really be a temporary home, in which, or near which,
he should stay. The “trapper’s†home, if such it can be
called, had been merely a rude hut from which the trapper
could set out on his wild raids over the country.
119
CROSSING THE MOUNTAINS.
THE GREAT WEST. 121
The backwoodsman. was usually some eccentric creature,
who, for some real or imaginary reason, wished to escape from
the sight of his fellow-men. He would select some wild .
spot, make a clearing, build his rude house, and live by hunt-
ing. There he would live, perhaps, for some time; then his
restless nature getting the better of him, he would shoulder
his gun, call his dogs, and set forth in search of a new place.
Neither the trapper nor the backwoodsman, much as they
did towards opening up the country, revealing its secrets and
bringing to light its resources, can hardly be said to have
done very much toward making the West a home for civil-
ized people.
It was the emigrant who did this. He, starting out from
the East with his odd looking covered wagons, taking with
him ‘his family and all his worldly possessions, went west-
ward with the intention of making there a home for his
family, where his children might grow up in health and
happiness, where his broad acres might bring him food and
comfort, and perhaps, by and by, even wealth.
We should think it an odd sight, perhaps, to see these
emigrants setting forth. Such an odd looking wagon,
covered with some heavy material that should serve as pro-
tection from the cold and rain,
122 THE GREAT WEST.
In this wagon would be stored all the household goods
they had been able to bring with them, and in among them
sat the emigrant family as they traveled along. At evening
the wagon would be drawn up in some sheltered spot near a
spring or a brook if such could be found, the cattle would be
turned loose to crop the grass so sweet and fresh, while the
good wife with a bright camp-fire would prepare the family
supper.
In this manner the emigrant would travel, week after week,
until he could find a place that seemed to him a happy one
for a settlement.
Here he would, as the backwoodsman had done, make a
clearing, and build his rude cabin-home. But this man had
come to stay. He had the hope to better his condition, to
make a home for his family, and to grow up with the coun-
try should it ever come about that villages and towns should
spring up around him.
He began at once to “break up†his forty acres of land,
to fence it in, to plant it, and make for himself.a farm which
should supply him with the necessities of life.
_ Many wonderful stories had these pioneers to tell of their
life in the early times. Such wonderful bear stories, boys!
and the Indian stories, I suppose, would delight your hearts!
THE GREAT WEST. ~— 1238
But life was n’t all sunshine in those days, you may be sure;
“neither were the adventures all grandly exciting with won-
-derfully happy endings. There were seasons of cold and
starvation, there were Indian massacres, and there were
deadly encounters with the hungry wolves of the country.
In our story-books all these end with the happy deliverance
of the settlers from the very jaws of death; but in the real
life of the times, I am afraid there were suffering, and dread,
and death, of which you and I little dream.
THE PRAIRIE ON FIRE.
HE long grass, burned brown
T In the summer’s fierce heat,
Snaps brittle and dry
> Neath the traveler’s feet,
As over the prairie,
Through all the long day,
His white, tent-like wagon
Moves slow on its way.
THE GREAT WEST.
Safe and snug with the goods
Are the little ones stowed,
And the big boys trudge on
By the team in the road;
While his sweet, patient wife,
With the babe on her breast,
Sees their new home in fancy,
And longs for its rest.
But hark! in the distance ~
That dull, trampling tread;
And see how the sky
Has grown suddenly red!
What has lighted the west
At the hour of noon?
It is not the sunset,
It is not the moon!
The horses are rearing
And snorting with fear,
And over the prairie
Come flying the deer, ,
With hot, smoking haunches
And eyes rolling back,
As if the fierce hunter
Were hard on their track.
The mother clasps closer
The babe on her arm,
While the children cling to her
In wildest alarm;
And the father speaks low;
As the red light mounts higher
«We are lost! we are lost!
’ Tis the prairie on fire!â€
THE GREAT WEST. 125°
The boys, terror-stricken,
Stand still,—all but one;
He has seen in a moment
The thing to be done:
He has lighted the grass,
The quick flames leap in air;
And the pathway before them
Lies smoking and bare!
Now the fire-fiend behind
Rushes on in his power,
But nothing is left
For his wrath to devour;
On the scarred, smoking earth,:
They stand safe, every one,
While the flames in the distance
Sweep harmlessly on.
Then reverently under
The wide sky they kneel,
With spirits too thankful
To speak what they feel;
But the father, in silence,
Is blessing his boy;
While the mother and children
Are weeping for joy.
CAMPING OUT AT NIGHT.
THE PLATTE VALLEY.
N 1812, the war with England put a stop for a time to.
exploration, but when peace was declared, one of the
first things the government did was to send Maj. Long
to the Missouri to learn if there could not a better route to
cross the continent be found than the one Lewis and Clarke
had followed.
Fs 126
THE GREAT WEST. 127
Long’s party spent the winter in camp near Council Bluffs,
and from there set forth into the country of the Pawnees.
Here he received a more friendly welcome than Pike’s party
had received, but his account of their manners and customs
agreed fully with that of Pike.
In the course of their exploration, they ascended the
mountain now called Long’s Peak, passed along the Arkan-
sas and its largest branch as far as Fort. Smith, and from
there through the rapidly increasing settlements to the
Mississippi. The upper waters of the Platte and Arkansas
these explorers reported, on their return, as lying in a region
so sandy and barren that it could never be of any use.
?
“No one,†said they, “would ever be able to live there.
To get water enough even for our little party we had to dig
into the river beds. There is little wood there, no game,
indeed nothing but a great desolate waste of country.â€
There is no doubt that the country looked all this to the
explorers, but I wonder what they would think now if they
were to see that very country with its trees and waters,
its farms and villages ?
THOMAS H. BENTON.
O account of the growth of the West would, I suppose,
be complete or fair without one good word for Thomas
H. Benton. He was a Tennessee man, but after the
war with England, he went to-St. Louis. This city was little
more than.a growing village then, but Benton was far-
sighted enough to see that it was sure to become the center
of the activities of the Great West.
In St. Louis he found a company of fur-traders who had
refused to mingle with the people of the country, but who
had clung to their own language and customs, and had kept
their own form of government. Indeed, it was held almost
an act of a traitor for one to learn the English language.
Although living a frontier life, these French traders had
kept themselves aloof from the “common people,†as they
called those who had come from ‘‘the States†and had
settled about them.’ Outside of the city, the State of Mis-
souri was made up of actual settlers from the East. One
writer, in speaking of this state in 1816, says there were
128
THE GREAT WEST. 129
only thirty families left of the Missouri River; but that in
-three years only the number had increased to nearly eight
hundred families. From this you can form some idea of how
fast the West was filling up, and how. rapidly it was com-
ing to be a power in the land.
Mr. Benton found these fur traders carrying on a large
business, and carrying on, also, a feeling of jealousy of Amer-
ican colonization quite as strong as that of the English on
the Pacific coast.
Oregon was at this time a “bone of contention†between
America and England. The Columbia River and its basin
were known to be of great value, and naturally both nations
were anxious to possess it. A compromise had been made
which served to prevent actual war between the two nations ;
but the West was very dissatisfied with the terms of the
compromise, and rebelled at the advantages the English were
gaining. Every year England’s hold was growing stronger
and America’s growing weaker. ‘It looks,†said the
Western people, “as if we were afraid of England.â€
The government realized that England ought to be kept
away, and that the United States should control all, from
coast to coast, within certain limits of latitude. Still, Major
Long had ‘said the country there was so barren and desolate
130 THE GREAT WEST.
that it was of no value whatever. So it was that, when
Benton appealed to the government in behalf of this part of
the country, the government said, ‘‘ Yes, we know it would
be well to control it, but it isn’t worth the trouble and ill-
feeling that would be aroused if we should attempt to take
possession by force.â€
Mr. Benton, however, did not give up. He was disgusted
with England’s behavior in Oregon, and more disgusted with
the fear that the United States government seemed to show.
From Jefferson, Benton had learned of his pet plan regard-
ing the Great West, and he made up his mind to carry out
what Jefferson had so wisely begun.
At the close of 1841, there were only about a hundred and
fifty Americans in Oregon. Marcus Whitman, a missionary
there, was wise enough to see that the best way to get pos-
session of Oregon was to take possession by emigration.
“This,†said he, “will be the best army you can send to
occupy the country.â€
Benton not only accepted this idea, but he at once, active
man that he was, set to work to bring it about. He peti-
tioned the government to send a surveyor at once to search
out and clear the way for the very best path through the
mountains to Oregon,
THE GREAT WEST. . 131
With Kit Carson as their guide, the surveying party, with
John C. Fremont at its head, set forth up the Kansas valley.
as far as the Big Blue, crossing over to the junction of the
Platte. Here the party separated, some going up the South
Fork, others up the North Fork.
At Laramie, Fremont learned that the mountains beyond
were swarming with Indians out on the war-path, declaring
that no white men should pass.
Fremont paid little heed to these reports, but went for-
ward. It was at this time that the highest of Rocky Moun-
tain peaks was ascended and given the name of Fremont’s
Peak. Can you remember now that the three greatest land-
marks in the Rocky Mountains, Pike’s Peak, Long Peak, and
Fremont’s Peak, are named from these three explorers,—
Pike, Long, and Fremont?
Fremont made no great discoveries, but his agcurate ac- _-
counts, his fine descriptions, his delightful reports of what he
had seen, did much to break down the error that Major Long
had set afloat regarding the barreness of the country. As
he proved that emigrants need not starve in crossing this
country, he did much to encourage emigration.
So valuable was his report that he was sent on a second
JOHN C, FREMONT.
THE GREAT WEST. 133
expedition by the government, this time to explore through
a section of the country about the lower Columbia.
Emigration had already commenced in good earnest.. As
Fremont started out from the Missouri, he. was accompanied
by a large band of emigrants on their way to Sacramento.
These emigrants had with them the machinery for a saw-
mill, intending, you see, to begin work in their new home, .
build for themselves houses, and by and by, perhaps, supply
lumber for other builders and traders.
The English traders on the Pacific began to understand, as
these emigrants poured in day after day, that Oregon was
getting American in its nature altogether too fast. It made
little difference if the English did hold the reins of govern-
ment, if the community was to be all Americans, and the
English were quick enough to see this. Accordingly, Eng-
lish emigrants were summoned. A contest had indeed be-
gun. Dr. Whitman, who is never to be forgotten in the his-
tory of Oregon, set forth at once to Washington to report
these English proceedings. Now the government was
forced to send an army to protect its people on the Paci-
fic coast,
TEXAS BECOMES A STATE.
T was in 1821, that Mexico seeing the grand results of
| freedom in the United States, threw off her heavy yoke
of Spanish rule, and invited American emigration.
During all these years the Spanish missions had fallen into
disuse. It had been proved over and over that the native
Americans could not live under the restrictions, as they
seemed to them, of civilization. They grew sickly and un-
happy, and wasted away most miserably.
Now every possible inducement for settlers to come to
Texas was offered. The city of Austin was settled, and
emigration poured in from up and down the Mississippi,
even the oldest states contributing not a little to the great
tide.
Any state thus hurriedly settled must of course have
brought within its limits many objectionable people.
It was not very many years before Texas, rebelling at the
Spanish government which Mexico held over it, declared
itself free and independent. War broke out; and, as you
134
THE GREAT WEST ; 135
may easily understand, since now Texas was so largely
settled by people from the United States, a rebellion in
Texas virtually meant war between the United States and
Mexico. .
The colonists from the United States were far more
wide-awake and energetic than were the Mexicans ; and as
they began to build up their neat, pretty little houses, and to
cultivate their lands, and send their great herds of branded
cattle roaming about over the unbounded prairies, it is little
wonder the Mexicans began to be jealous of these new-
comers and to have no little fear of them.
It was for this reason that when, in 1833, Stephen Austin
(after whom the Texan city is named) went to the Mexi-
can capital to ask that Texas be taken into the Mexican
union, it was months before any satisfactory reply could be
gained. Austin was out of all patience with the delay, and
secretly sent a letter to the Texas people, telling them to
rise at once and declare themselves a “ State†in spite of all.
The Mexican government got its hand upon this letter in
some way or other, and at once put Austin into prison, and
poured down upon the Texans torrents of threats.
This was more than the fiery Texans could endure. Not
an American Texan but burned for revenge. ‘‘ We are a
136 THE GREAT WEST.
mat¢h, every one of us,†said they, “for a hundred Mexicans.â€
Then up rose “Old Sam Houston,†as he was called. “1
have lived among the Indians, I have fought under Andrew
Jackson, and I can lead a rebellion against Mexic power, if
need be. Organize, boys, and we will fight this out like sol-
diers.†i
And there was, from time to time, no little sharp fighting
with the Mexican power for several years.
The United States government was, of course, interested ;
and when at last Texas declared herself independent and
free, and had made a government of her own, with Sam
Houston at its head, the United States was forced to settle
the matter of whether Texas should be admitted to the
Union or not.
Said the North, “ We do not want to get into trouble with
Mexico; we cannot afford another war; and, above all, we
want no more slave states.â€
Said the South, “ We will have Texas if we fight for it.
Texas is a slave state, and we want as many slave states as
we can have.â€
Mexico, meantime, stood defiantly, saying, “ Annex Texas
to your Union, if you dare.â€
But just as John Tyler, the United States president, was
THE GREAT WEST. 137
going out of office, Congress voted to accept Texas as a new
state belonging to, and hereafter under the protection of,
the United States government. Fancy the delight of the
Southerners and the fury of the Northerners.
War broke out, — not a war for freedom, but a war for
conquest.
Old Zachary Taylor, a bluff old soldier in the United
States army, was sent ‘down to the Rio Grande, there to
dispute the advance of the Mexicans.
It was at Palo Alto that the first battle was fought.
There the Mexicans, six thousand strong, dressed in the
gorgeous colors of which they were always so fond, and look-
ing, as Taylor afterwards said, like so many bright-feathered
tropical birds, met for the first battle with their northern foe.
It was early in the morning that the battle began. Soon
it was raging wildly throughout the plain. The American
artillery poured out its deadly fire, mowing down lines of
Mexicans. In the midst of all this horror, cruel enough in
itself, another, all uncounted on by either side, arose. The
prairie grass took fire, and in an instant a great roaring
wave of smoke and fire came rolling over the prairie. Both
armies were driven before it ; but Taylor, always the more
clear-headed ‘the more confused the conditions, so moved
138 THE GREAT WEST.
that when the wave of fire had passed, leaving its great
blackened waste behind, the American army had gained the
advantage in position and in distance.
All day long the firing was kept up; but the Mexicans,
driven back step by step, had now retreated to the river.
Nothing but the darkness of the night restrained the fury
_of either side. But when, after the long, dark hours were
passed, through which the groans of the dying filled the air,
and the pale, cold faces of the dead showed the armies how
dearly either army would win success, both Mexicans and
Americans arose like giants refreshed with sleep, ready to
sweep down upon each other and renew the slaughter of the
day before.
The rising sun showed the Mexicans firmly intrenched in
a great ravine across the road, their cannon so placed that
at first approach seemed impossible.
For a moment Taylor coolly surveyed the scene. ‘Looks
threatening, doesn’t it?†said he, to a brother officer.
“Can't be done,†“was the reply.
““Got to be done,†was the brief reply. Then, turning to
his men, he commanded, “Charge, guns, bayonets! Charge!â€
Like a great gust of wind the Americans charged upon
the enemy. Straight up to the cannon’s mouth, over the
THE GREAT WEST. 139
batteries, down upon the gunners swept the soldiers, carry-
ing fire and death with every flash of the bayonet, with
every discharge from their guns.
The Mexicans fled in terror before such fury. All order
lost, confusion everywhere, they rushed, pell-mell, to the
river bank. Only one flatboat to carty them across! Now
here at the river’s bank followed a scene of wildest terror.
Nothing but the selfish, wild impulse to save each his own
life prevailed. Some plunged into the waters trying to
swim across; many were trampled under the feet of men
and horses ; uproar and the wildest confusion filled the air.
So ended these first battles of the war with Mexico, the
battles of Palo Alto and Resaca de la Palma.
INVASION OF MEXICO.
NCOURAGED by this success, Taylor pushed on into
b the Mexican territory. The first attack was upon
the city of Monterey. To have seen this city one
would suppose would have been enough to frighten back any
army; for it was surrounded on all sides by the rocky
heights of the mountains. On one of these heights stood
the bishop’s palace, a great white limestone building looking
in itself a defiance to any attacking force.
For three days the Americans encamped before the city,
studying the best way to make an attack. At last it was
decided that Gen. Worth should attack this palace in the
rear, while Gen. Taylor, with the main army, should begin
cannonading the center of the town.
It was a hard, brief battle; and in the end, in spite of the
strong fortifications, the Americans had taken the city.
On Taylor went, carrying all before him, until, at last, so
subdued were the Mexicans that the very approach of the
American army was the signal for their surrender. At each
140
THE GREAT WEST. 141
town, Kearny, one of Taylor’s strong generals, would march
straight to the house of the A/cazde, or mayor, and demand
that he take the “oath of allegiance.†So Kearny marched
on to the city of Santa Fé.
Although we have little time to give to the war ia Mex-
ico in this volume, we must not pass it over without refer-
ence to Gen. Scott, another of our generals in this war, and
to Santa Anna, the leader on the Mexican side. There are
always certain names so associated with historical events as
to be as inseparable from them as Santa Claus from Christ-
mas. In this Mexican war, we always think at once of Gen.
Scott and Gen. Taylor on our side, opposed to Santa Anna
on the Mexican side.
Santa Anna was no mean foe; and in the terrible battle
of Buena Vista, nothing but the almost insane fury of Tay-
lor’s forces, together with the lack of cool-headedness in
Santa Anna’s men, could have succeeded in driving back the
Mexican army.
When Taylor had carried the day at Buena Vista, he re-
turned home, leaving Scott to finish the work.
Scott came with his great “Army of Invasion,†as he
called it, to Vera Cruz, and marched across the country on
Brae is. =
abr
THE CITY OF MEXICO.
THE GREAT WEST. 143
to Chapultepec, driving Santa Anna’s army before him as
before a devouring fire.
eS
Once more Mexico was conquered; peace was made; a
treaty was signed in which Mexico gave the United States
undisputed right to Texas, and the territory of California and
of New Mexico. x
This is the only war, in the history of our people, waged
simply to extend our territory, and we will hope there will
never be another like it. It is bad enough to sacrifice
human life in a contest over some principle of right, as
was done in our Revolution and in our Civil War, but for
men to meet and kill each other by the thousands over any-
thing less than a principle, —for a mere tract of land, —is a
brutal and unnecessary thing in these days of civilization.
CONQUEST OF NEW MEXIco.
. HILE this hard fighting was going on in Old Mex-
\V ico, the United States had, with very little trouble,
taken possession of New Mexico and California. It
was necessary that New Mexico be taken, because through
that territory extended the route to California; and if Cali-
fornia was to be in the possession of the United States, it
was, of course, quite necessary that the Spaniards should not
be in control of this route.
For this object Gen. Kearny had set out with an army, one
battalion of which was made up of Mormons. They were
rather a strange company, these Mormons ; for they, intend-
ing, when they had reached California, to settle there and
build up a state for themselves, brought along with them
their wives and children, and as much as possible of their
household goods.
A well-known historian, in speaking of this oddly made up
army, says :—
“There was something very striking in the half-military,
144
THE GREAT WEST. pes
half-patriarchal appearance of these armed fanatics, thus on
their way, with their wives and children, to found, it might
be, a Morman empire in California.
“In the morning the country was covered with mist. We
were always early risers, but before we were ready, the voices
of men driving in the cattle sounded all around us. As we
passed above their camp, we saw through the obscurity that
the tents were falling, and the ranks rapidly forming; and,
mingled with the cries of women and children, the rolling of
the Mormon drums, and the clear blast of their trumpets,
sounded through the mist.
“From that time to the journey’s end, we met almost
every day long trains of government wagons, laden with
stores for the troops, crawling at a snail’s pace towards
Santa Fé.â€
Kearny marched on up the upper Arkansas, over the old
Spanish route to Santa Fé, took possession of the city, and
declared New Mexico taken in the name of the United
States.
Then he established a government, and marched on to
California. Little resistance was met, and, for most part,
the towns readily submitted and took the oath of allegiance.
As Kearny neared California, he was met by a messenger
146 THE GREAT WEST.
saying that California, too, had submitted without a struggle.
One little incident in Kearny’s march shows how bitterly,
all these years, the Indians had cherished their old hate of
the Spaniards. At this time a number of the Apaches came
into Kearny’s camp, saying, “ You have already taken New
Mexico. Go on; you will take California! For three hun-
dred years have our tribes hated the Spaniards for their
cruel treatment of our forefathers. We will fight with you
against these Mexicans! We hate them, and we thirst for
revenge! We will kill them every one!â€
A CALIFORNIA SCENE.— AMONG THE BIG TREES.
THE TAKING OF CALIFORNIA.
HE messenger who met Kearny on his way to Califor-
nia was Kit Carson, the same one of whom you have
heard before as Fremont’s guide in his jouryneying
across the country.
Fremont, sent out on a third expedition, this time into
California, had marched up the Sacramento valley to Sutter’s
Fort, where he set himself to watch proceedings.
Rumors of the war now began to come thick and fast.
The Californians were quarreling among themselves, and the
American settlers were in daily fear of an outbreak from the
threatening Mexicans.
A company was formed, with Fremont at its head, and
without any warning this little band marched upon Sonama
and Presidio of San Francisco, taking the garrison com-
pletely by surprise, driving them from their strongholds, and
so getting possession of all the country lying north of San
Francisco Bay.
In this manner California fell into Fremont’s power. It
is spoken of in history as the “ Bear Flag Revolution,†from
the fact that the flag which Fremont and his followers car-
ried had upon it the likeness of a bear.
147
THE MORMONS IN UTAH.
HE Mormons are a class of people who have a very
7 peculiar religion.
The sect originated in this way: There was living
in Vermont a man named Joseph Smith, who claimed to have
had marvelous revelations from God. When he was but
eighteen years of age, so he says, an angel came to him and
said, ‘ Joseph, you are to be the spiritual leader of the world.
Go to Manchester, New York, and there in a mountain you
will find some plates of metal on which are written some
divine messages. You will find, also, two transparent stones,
called, long ago, the Urim and the Thummim. Read the
plates through these glasses, and you will receive the revela-
tion which you are to give to the people.â€
Now, as Smith’s record in al]l the towns in which he had
lived was not even a moral one, it seems hardly probable that
he would have been chosen as the means through which any
divine revelation should be given to the world.
148
THE GREAT WEST. 149
Still there were people who believed in him, and by and
by he had quite a band of followers.
With these Smith went first to Missouri, but the Missouri
people, —let us ever remember it to their credit, — arose in
a body and drove the Mormons from the state. In Killand,
Ohio, Smith was “tarred and feathered†by the indignant
people of that city; and in Illinois, a few years later, Smith
was arrested and imprisoned for treason. When the people
knew that he was in the Carthage prison, a band of exasper-
ated men dressed themselves like scare-crows, painted and
blackened their faces, broke into Smith’s cell, and killed
him.
_ Great excitement swept over the Mormon people. Their
prophet was dead. Terrible threats were poured out upon
the wicked people who had thus dared to lay hands on this
divinely inspired man, but for some reason the threats were
never carried out,— no one was “struck dead,â€â€”and Brigham
Young, one of Smith’s close followers, declared himself
divinely directed to take Smith’s place as leader of the
people. tien
The Mormons now thought it wise to move farther west,
and into some territory not yet settled, where they would not
be subject to the persecutions of the wicked world. Accord-
150 THE GREAT WEST.
ingly they went to Utah and built Salt Lake City, which is
still their home.
Utah was at that time a great dry plain, overgrown with
sage bush, and presenting but little likelihood of ever being
a tract of any value to the country. So when we want to
think well of the Mormons, we will remember that they
were Utah’s first settlers, that they did the hard labor of
pioneers, and so helped to bring this arid country into its
present condition of usefulness.
EL DORADO.
HEN California came into the possession of the
United States, no one suspected what a valuable
tract of land we had gained. To be sure it hada
beautiful climate, the soil was fertile, and there was a fine
coast line with many excellent harbors, but of the wealth
of gold stored away in its rocky heart no one even dreamed.
In the very month in which the treaty with Mexico
was made, a man named Captain Sutter, who had a large
“ranche†in the Sacramento valley, made the discovery of
gold.
“What shining sand this is,†said one of his hired farm
men; “see it sparkle in the sun !â€
“ Perhaps it’s gold,†said his comrade, jokingly.
“Perhaps it is,†returned. the first man, more seriously.
“I’ve a mind to take some of it home and test it.â€
“TI wouldn’t load myself down too heavily with it,â€
laughed his companion. ‘You know the English colonists
found some gold-sand once.â€
151
- 152 THE GREAT WEST.
But the man who held the sand in his hand saw a differ-
ence between the golden grains and the other ordinary sand
grains. “It will do no harm to test it at any rate,†said
he.
So he carried home a pocketful, and, sure enough, gold it
proved to be! From that hour Captain Sutter’s fortune was
made ; indeed, the fortune of all California was made!
“*Such an excitement as followed! Not an adventurer in
America but rushed to California—to the land of gold-—
to the long-sought El Dorado !
From every part of the United States, from England,
from France, from Germany, ship-loads of people poured
into the port of San Francisco. The pretty little town soon
found itself a crowded city. The valleys and the hillsides,
east, west, north, and south, were torn up by these eager
searchers after gold.
Of course it all proved a sad failure and disappointment
to many of these seekers for wealth. Now and then a man
would happen upon a great nugget, and so make a speedy
fortune. But the greater part of the people found their
wealth only by long digging and slow accumulation of small
bits here and there. Many found no gold at all, and after
years of bitter hardship and hard, hard work, either settled
IN CALIFORNIA.
GOLD WASHING
154 . THE GREAT WEST.
down to honest farming, or returned to their homes sadder,
if not wiser, men.
The “gold fever,†although it enriched few people, and
made poor a great number, served to populate the state and
open up trade with the Pacific coast much earlier than it
otherwise would have been brought about.
California soon asked admission to the Union, and you
will be glad to hear that one of the first senators sent to
Congress was the John Fremont who had first declared Cal-
ifornia the property of the United States.
You must understand, now, that whenever a settlement
asked to be admitted to the Union, there was the same
struggle to be gone over in congress. If it was to bea free
state, then the Northern senators voted for its admission,
and the Southern senators fought against it. If, on the other
hand, it was to be a slave state, then the Southern senators
smiled upon the request, and the Nofthern senators scowled
at it. It was not a question of whether or not the settlers
deserved the protection of the United States government,
and were entitled to their part in the law-making, but
simply “Will the new state senators, when they come into
congress, vote in the interests of slavery or against them?â€
THE GREAT WEST. 155
With the admission of each new state, the quarrel was
brought up and fought over again. —
Only a few years more and Arizona was bought from the
Mexicans. This was then spoken of as the “ Gadsden pur-
chase†because it was General James Gadsden who went to
the Mexican government on behalf of our government.
At that time, Arizona was little known. It looked like a
great hot, sandy tract of land; and although the Indians per-
sisted in calling it the “Land of Silver,†it looked so little
like anything but sand that Congress was censured quite
severely for paying such a price for it. That Congress was
wise beyond her own knowledge, perhaps, we have since °
learned.
KANSAS-NEBRASKA STRUGGLE.
VER since the war in Mexico, the anti-slavery senti-
ment at the North had been growing stronger and
stronger, and the South saw that if it was to control
the nation in the future, as in the past, there must be as
many slave states as free states in the Republic, and when
Kansas and Nebraska, two territories made from the Louisi-
ana purchase, asked for admission to the Union, the feeling
between the two sections was very bitter,
Of course the usual quarrel went on in congress, ending
this time in a bill that allowed the people of these two states
to decide for themselves whether they should be slave
states or free states.
.Now this may sound generous. and fair; but when, a few
years before, Missouri had asked admission as a-state, and
demanded that she be admitted as a slave state, she had
been admitted as such under a bill.called the “ Missouri
Compromise,†which said, “You may come in as a slave
state ; but hereafter it shall be understood there shall never
156
THE GREAT WEST. 157
again be admitted a slave state north of the line of latitude
36° 30', or west of Missouri.
Now since Kansas and Nebraska were west of Missouri
and north of the given line, this Kansas-Nebraska bill was of
course in direct contradiction to the Missouri Compromise.
Of course the North was frantic when it saw what this
Kansas-Nebraska bill actually meant. But there was noth-
ing to be done. The bill had passed.
“We must fill the states up with emigrants who will make
1»
the states free states!’ said the Northerners. ‘That is our,
only hope, now.â€
“We must fill the states up with emigrants who will make
the states slave states,†said the Southerners.
And such a scrambling as there was from North and
South into the new states! Meetings were held in all large
cities, * emigrant societies†were formed, and the emigrants
not only offered free land, but were actually paid for going to
take possession of the new lands. It was the same old story
over again of the two dogs fighting over the same bone, only
that in this struggle principle and human life were at stake.
Is it any wonder, then, that here was the first blood shed in
our conflict for freedom for the black men?
The emigrants from the North called the Missouri people
158 THE GREAT WEST.
border ruffians ; and the border ruffians called the Northern.
ers Yankees and abolitionists. The Yankees aimed their
rifles and the border ruffians flourished their bowie-knives.
It was here that John Brown first took his stand and fought ~
for freedom.
It was at this time, when the whole country was wild over
the question of slavery, while John Brown was defying
â€
“state law,†as he said, “in order that the laws of God
might be carried out,†that Harriet Beecher Stowe wrote
her story of “Uncle Tom’s Cabin,’’—the book which, per-
haps, did more to arouse honest sentiment in behalf of the
slaves than all the arguing and quarreling in state and
nation could ever have done. ;
It was at about this time that Oregon and Minnesota came
in as states... These, of course, were both free states, and
there was the usual quarreling over them. They came in,
however, for there could be found no fair reason why they
. should not, and the North rejoiced that there would be four
more “free votes†in the senate,
ANOTHER GOLD FEVER.
HILE emigrants to California had been swarming
W over the Rocky Mountains in their wild rush for
gold, it seemed never to have occurred to them that
there might be gold nearer. Well, at our best we are apt
to be sadly of one idea only, and so it is no wonder that
these eager searchers passed blindly over gold regions, their
longing eyes fixed upon nothing short of the Pacific coast.
At last some one said, “There is gold to be found in
Pike’s Peak.â€
It was like a spark toa mow of hay. There was always,
in those days, a large class of people ready to start for any-
where and everywhere at the mere mention of gold. Again
emigration started up. Off men started for Pike’s Peak.
Some traveled seven hundred miles on foot ; others started
out with all their worldly goods heaped into handcarts into
which they themselves were harnessed; one man, it was
said, rolled a wheelbarrow all the way from Kansas City to
159
{60 THE GREAT WEST.
Cherry Creek. The covered emigrant wagons again crawled
out like flies in the spring time.
Many of these emigrants, rough, jolly-hearted men, painted
upon their carts all sorts of comic pictures and sayings illus-
trative of their journey. One man’s motto, “ Pike’s Peak or
Bust,†became a national phrase; and even now one occa-
sionally hears it from a man whose determination is aroused,
and who means to succeed in his undertaking let come what
will. ,
The same story of the California gold fever was repeated
here again. There were those who found gold, and those
who failed to find gold; those who came home triumphant,
and those who came home crest-fallen. Colorado was in
this way settled. Denver, Golden City, and Colorado rapidly
grew up; and now, thirty years later, we think of Colorado
as one of the old states of the West.
THE PACIFIC RAILROAD.
UT West, by this time, had grown to a place of im-
QO portance indeed. It was no longer-a mysterious
land of possibilities. It was no longer doubtful
whether or not it would “pay†to go there, or whether or
not it would “be safe.†People began to realize that the
continent had but just been discovered.
Of course, the thing to be considered was a way to get
there. Emigrant trains could no longer accommodate the-
demands. ‘We must have a railroad,— we must havea rail-
road!†said the people. “Of course, there must bea railroad
from the Atlantic to the Pacific!â€
And so the Pacific Railway was built, and a great event,
indeed, it was for our people. When the day came for laying
the last tie, there was a grand celebration. This tie was
made of the California laurel tree, finished with silver bands.
Into this tie were driven a gold nail from California, a silver
nail from Nevada, and one of gold, and silver, and iron
from Arizona. Then two engines, one of which had come
161
zgr
THE CENTRAL PACIFIC RAILROAD.
THE GREAT WEST. 163
from California, over the Sierra Nevada mountain range, and
another which had come from the great plains of the North-
west, on through the Rocky Mountains, steamed slowly up
together, and, ’mid the shouts of the people, the two
engineers grasped hands in token of the union of feeling
that should hereafter exist between the people of the East
and those of the West. : :
The Indians were the only people who did not rejoice.
To them all this advance of civilization meant death.
And when you recall how, year after year, ever since the
arrival of the Spaniards in the South and the English in the
North, they had been steadily pushed farther and farther
back, their hunting grounds made into cities, and their
fishing waters disturbed by the grinding of mills and
factories, you cannot wonder that, jealous and angry, and
moreover driven often by hunger and cold, they fell upon
the early settlements, destroyed their homes and killed the
people. 2
It is no wonder, then, that the Indians did all they could
during the laying of this railway to disturb the workmen and
retard the work; it is no wonder that from time to time,
both before and after the building of this road, the Indian
_ was ready to attack the white man at every opportunity.
164 THE GREAT WEST.
Our government did, to be sure, appoint Indian agents to
protect the Indian, and to feed him when he was hungry;
but he was often cheated by men who put into their own
pockets the money which the country had paid to buy the
good-will of the Indians. When the gold mines were
discovered in. California, twenty-five years ago, the Indians
were paid a large sum for the privilege of crossing their
lands ; and ten years later when the Colorado mines were
opened up, another treaty was made of alike kind. But it
is said by those who have studied the matter closely,
that the Indians seldom got their money fairly, that
they were cheated with poor goods, bad food, and miserable
blankets ; so that when we accuse them of breaking faith
with us we must remember that they, perhaps, could tell
a story of our lack of honesty with them. And although
the attacks of the Indians in war were cowardly, their
manner of war blood-thirsty and horrible, they were some-
times met by the white soldiery ina spirit which almost
equalled the savage spirit, as in a massacre, known as the
“Sand Creek Massacre,†where a large party of Indians,
who had sued for peace, were gathered together awaiting an
answer and unprepared for war, they were set upon by a
party of United States soldiers, and all of them slaughtered,
THE GREAT WEST. 165
men, women, and children alike. This was a disgrace to our
nation that can never be blotted out.
When the building of the Pacific Railway was begun there
- were eleven thousand painted warriors, of different tribes,
who had formed a union against the common enemy. . The
building of the railway was kept back, the building stock
stolen, the mail-stages robbed, the passengers murdered, and
the settlers in these regions suffered constantly all the hor-
rors of a savage war.
One of the causes of complaint on the part of the Indians
was that the railroad cut through their best hunting grounds,
and would scare away their game. But in spite of such com-
plaints the great work must go on. It could not be expected
that a few savages should stop the march of civilization, the
opening up of the mines of Colorado or Montana, the build-
ing of cities on the plains of the Great West. As well
might a group of these same savages expect, by standing in
its track, to stop the course of the locomotive. The iron
monster would simply crush them under its wheels, leaving
their mangled bodies for the crows to peck at.
And so the poor Indian had struggled for his life ever since
those days so long ago when he so generously received the
white men as the children of the sky. And if they are cruel
166 THE GREAT WEST.
and treacherous now, we must remember that it is only
because they have suffered long years of cruel, treacherous
treatment from the white men.
Of the states that have come into the Union in the last
few years there is little to be said. They have come in
peacefully and orderly, one by one, as fast as they grew to fill
the conditions required of a state. The wars, the upheavals,
the uprisings of a country may make the interesting part
of its history——that part that has wide-awake stories
which we all like to read; but we must remember that after
all it is in the times of peace that the people of a country are
most happy, and that it is then that the country does its real
growing and is the most prosperous.
OLD POST STATION ON THE PRAIRIE.
INDIAN LEGENDS.
THE MOSQUITO.
: NCE upon a time a great insect came into Fort Onon-
0 daga. It was a terrible insect, with a long stinger.
It lighted upon the people and sucked their blood.
The warriors made war upon the insect, but could not kill
it. No chief, no youth, was able to overcome it.
At last, when all were in despair, the ‘“ Holder of the
Heavens,†was pleased to visit the people. While dwelling
in the home of the chief, the “Holder of the Heavens†saw
the troublesome insect.
Hearing from the chief that none had yet been able to
overcome this ungracious visitor, the ‘“ Holder of the
Heavens†said, “Behold, I myself will follow him, and he
shall fall before me!â€
Accordingly he set forth, following hard upon the fast
flying insect. So rapidly did it flee, that even the “ Holder
of the Heavens†could scarce keep pace with it.
167
168 THE GREAT WEST.
Day after day the chase went on. By and by the insect’s
strength began to fail. On, on, the hunter went, chasing it
on to the borders of the great lakes toward the setting sun.
At last the insect was overtaken. Upon the shores of the
salt Lake Onondaga it fell pierced with the arrow of the
hunter. But woe to the tribes upon the lake! from its
blood sprang swarms of mosquitos which ever after infested
the country round about. |
THE LYNX AND THE HARE.
A lynx, almost starved, met a hare one day in the woods.
The hare stood high upon a rock out of the reach of the
lynx.
“Wabose! Wabose!†said the lynx, “Come here, my
pretty little white Wabose, and let us have a pleasant talk.â€
“No, no,†said the hare; ‘“‘my mother does not like me to
talk with strangers.â€
“You are very pretty,†replied the lynx; and I like so
much your obedience to your mother; but I am a cousin
of yours, my dear, arid I wish to send a message to your
mother. So come down, my pretty hare, and let me whisper
it to you.†a
THE GREAT WEST. 169
The silly hare, losing her wisdom by the flattery of the
lynx, sprang down from the safe place upon which she-
stood.
Alas! alas! her kinsman proved to be her enemy. Imme-
diately she pounced upon the hare, killed and devoured her.
THE EAGLE.
Indians are very fond of decorating themselves with eagle
feathers. The origin of this custom is as follows :—
The birds of the forest met together one day to see which
could fly the highest. Some flew very high, but soon were
tired out ; others flew steadily and for a long time, but could
only fly along the hill-tops.
Now it came the eagle’s turn to fly. A little linnet, un-
perceived, hid among the feathers of the eagle, and was
carried high in air. When the eagle had risen high above
170 THE GREAT WEST.
the clouds and was about to descend, the linnet sprang forth,
and, fresh and unwearied, shot up into the air high above
the eagle.
When the birds had all come down, and had met in
council to award the prize, the wicked little linnet claimed
it, “Because,†said she, “I flew the highest ; I sang above
the clouds.â€
“Weceit deceit! deceit 1: cried all the birds. Eine
eagle shall have it! the eagle shall have it! He went
higher than any other large bird, and he carried, too, the
weight of the linnet.â€
Hence, the feathers of the eagle are esteemed the most
honorable marks for the warrior, because it is not only con-
sidered the bravest bird, but it ‘is also endowed with
strength to soar the highest.
IAGOO, THE INDIAN STORY-TELLER.
Iagoo was the wonderful story-teller of the Indians. No
one of the Indian manitos was so welcome and so inter:
esting as Iagoo.
In Longfellow’s “ Hiawathaâ€â€™ he tells us that —
THE GREAT WEST. 171
Very boastful was Iagoo;
Never heard he an adventure
But himself had met a greater;
Never any cleed of daring,
But himself had done a bolder;
Never any marvelous story,
But himself could tell a stranger.
Would you listen to his boasting,
Would you only give. him credence,
No one ever shot an arrow
Half so far and high as he had;
Ever caught so many fishes,
Ever killed so many reindeer,
Ever trapped so many beaver !
None could run so fast as he could,
None could dive so deep as he could,
None could swim so far as he could;
None had made so many journeys,
None had seen so many wonders,
As this wonderful Jagoo,
As this marvellous story-teller.
THE GREAT NORTH-WEST.—ITS DISCOVERY
AND FOUNDING.
BY M. LIZZIE STANLEY.
(Let five groups of scholars advance, one at the head of each group bearing a
standard or wearing a badge with the words respectively Ohio, Michigan, Indi-
ana, Iilinois, Wisconsin upon them.)
Voice. Beyond Ohio’s river-bank
There stands a group,of sister States,
Which high in wealth and greatness rank,
And blessed by all the kindly Fates.
Stand forth ye States, your story tell,
And proudly let your voices swell,
For ye are grand, your story grand,
And large your place in our broad land!
Groups recite together.
God uncovered the land
That he hid of old time in the West,
As the sculpture uncovers the statue
When he has wrought his best.
Leaders. We represent the great North-west,
And bide with thee a willing guest.
Arabian tales in interest pall y
Beside our story, know ye all.
Scholars from groups recite.
,
First,
(Pointing out the location on the map of the United States as
he speaks.) We are what was once called the Northwest Ter-
ritory. Our home lies between the Ohio and the Mississippi
Rivers, and by the side of the waters of the Great Lakes. Any
description of our country with its beautiful and varied scenery
must fallfar short of the reality. Its resources are great, and
its population largé. Waving fields and forests cover the earth,
while beneath it lie exhaustless stores of coal, iron, salt, and
copper.
172
THE. GREAT WEST. 17°
Second, Over the lakes, the great, broad lakes,
Where now the din of commerce wakes,
Once sped the Indian’s birch canoe,
Upon the waters deep and blue.
The red man roamed along the shore,
Where now his hut is seen no more.
Third. Unto St. Lawrence River came
A brave man, Cartier by name,
In fifteen hundred thirty-four,
And thus to New France ope’d the door.
Fourth, ; One century later now behold,
And settled there see Champlain, bold,
With his French Colony so small,
A hundred almost counted all.
Fifth. i
The interior of the continent was yet to be explored, and
Champlain was resolved to know more of the regions beyond.
The custom of Champlain was to select a number of young
men, and put them in the care of his Indian friends, to have
them trained to the life of the woods. The object was for
them to learn the language, habits, and customs of the savages,
that they might at some future time serve as interpreters, and
bring into, friendship the Indian nations not yet in alliance with
the French. In 1618, John Nicolet (Nick-o-lay) arrived from
France, and was despatched to the life of the woods.
Sixth.
John Nicolet was born in Cherboug, in Normandy. His
father was Thomas Nicolet, a mail-carrier from that city to
Paris. He was a young man of good character, and gave
‘promise of great usefulness.
. Seventh.
. For nine or ten years Nicolet remained among the savage
tribes, and returned to Quebec, having gained a remarkable
adaptation to Indian life. Sale
174 THE GREAT WEST.
Bighth.
Lake Superior and Lake Michigan had not at that time peen
discovered, but reports came of a great sea to the west, and the
French settlers upon the St. Lawrence thought this “ great
water†must be a western sea leading to Asia. “In 1634, Cham-
plain sent Nicolet to solve this problem of a near route to
China, with the double purpose of exploring the unknown
West, and establishing friendly relations with the various tribes.
Ninth. And would ye follow Nicolet,
As down the lakes he takes his way ? —
As in his birchen bark canoe,
He sails the Straits of Mary through?
Skirts Lake Huron’s far northward shore
Glides Michigan’s blue waters o’er,
Until at length his footsteps rest
Upon the soil of the North-west?
Tenth.
Nicolet was the first white man to set foot upon any portion
of what was, more than a century and a half after, called “The
’ Territory northwest of the: River Ohio, now called the States of
Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, and Wisconsin.â€
Eleventh. Now tribes of Indians there he found,
Whose names to our.ears strangely sound,
And for his France he makes them friends,
Ere on his homeward way he wends.
Twelfth. How Champlain’s heart doth in him burn
To hear on Nicolet’s return,
Of wide-spread lakes, of rivers new,
And many tribes-of Indians, too!
Thirteenth.
The zeal and humanity of Nicolet cost him his life, for he was
on his way to release an Indian prisoner, whom his captors were
slowly torturing, when in a terrible tempest on the St. Law-
rence the boat was capsized, and he was drowned in October of
1642.
THE GREAT WEST. 175
Fourteenth. ne
Nicolet’s discoveries, although not immediately followed up, -
caused: finally great results. He had unlocked the door to .the
Far West Were afterwar ds were seen traders in fur, voyagers,
and the Jesuit missionary. New France was eerended to the
Mississippi and beyond, yet Nicolet did not live to see the prog-
ress of French trade and conquest in the land of his discovery.
Voice. The year swept on with ceaseless rush,
And broken is the old time hush
That hung o’er forest, lake and plain, -
By busy sounds and glad refrain.
Retire, and bring a later day,
For which discovery paved the way.
(Groups retire with the exception of the leaders, and a new line of six advance
and join them.)
Together. We, too, would speak of the North-west,
i And of its history tell the rest,
And how in seventeen eighty-eight
’Twas founded by the good and great.
Scholar recites or reads.
Just pause a moment while I picture tle years between. For
long, long years, England and France contended for the North-
west, Territor ye Picture to yourself the lines of little forts stretch-
ing along the Ohio, and down the Mississippi, by which the
French held the interior of the continent. The English then
owned the. strip along the Atlantic coast from Nova Scotia to
Florida. About the middle of the eighteenth century, the Eng-
lish prepared to extend their commerce and’ trade inland. The
French told them to stop at the Alleghany Mountains; beyond
was theirs. The proud English spirit, however, overleaped all
barriers, and the result was the French and Indian War. FEng-
land was victorious and the French retired. Afterward the
’ Americans took it from the English, and then the pioneers first
came to this territory.
176 THE GREAT WEST.
‘Question.— Where and when was the first settlement made in
the North-west?
First.—The first permanent settlement was at Marietta, Ohio,
and the company was led by Rufus Putnam, April 7, 1788.
Question.—Who was Rufus Putnam?
Second.— He was born in Sutton, Massachusetts, April 95
1730. He was a relative of Israel Putnam, and the originator,
fender, and guide of the Ohio settlement. He had great genius
as an engineer, which was displayed in the War of the Revolu-
tion.
Question.—W here were the settlers from?
Third.—Massachusetts, Virginia, Connecticut, New Hamp-
shire, and -Rhode Island were represented by the pioneers, and
brave and noble men and women were among them.
Question.—Was it a good time to lay the foundation of the
North-west?
Fourth.—No better time could have been. The Ordinance
of 1787 had recently been passed, excluding slavery from the
territory, and this Ordinance has been called the glory of the
North-west.
Fifth.
Behold now the North-west hath grown,
As one by one the years hath flown!
Thus founded by a noble band,
Ee-ay *tis mighty in the land.
Sixth
It was remarked by Hon. George F. Hoar in his oration at the celebration of the
Centennial of the founding of the Northwest at Marietta, Ohio, in April 7, 1888:
“ Here was the first human “government under which absolute civil and relgious liberty
has always prevailed, Here no witch was ever hanged or burned. Here no slave
was ever born or dwelt.†When older states and nations, where the chains of human
bondage have been broken, shall utter the proud boast “ With a great sum obtained I
this freedom,†each sister of this imperial group — Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, Illinois,
Wisconsin — may lift her queenly head with the prouder answer, “But I was free
orn
Young Folks’ Library vf Choice
Literatu re.
ene
LESNY
NIG
ed
48s “ABsop’s Fables, (Illus. bds. 90-pp..) : 5 : 30
Grimm’s Tales. (lus, bds. 144 pp.) . : : «gO
“American History Stories; Vol. 1, (Illus. bds. 198 pp.).36
H ss “Vol, TI,’ (illus. bds. 158 pp.) .36
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