Book: Count Frontenac and New France under Louis XIV

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There was one ray of light through the clouds. The unwonted news of a
victory came to Montreal. It was small, but decisive, and might be an
earnest of greater things to come. Before Frontenac's arrival,
Denonville had sent a reconnoitring party up the Ottawa. They had gone
no farther than the Lake of Two Mountains, when they met twenty-two
Iroquois in two large canoes, who immediately bore down upon them,
yelling furiously. The French party consisted of twenty-eight
_coureurs de bois_ under Du Lhut and Mantet, excellent partisan
chiefs, who manoeuvred so well that the rising sun blazed full in the
eyes of the advancing enemy, and spoiled their aim. The French
received their fire, which wounded one man; then, closing with them
while their guns were empty, gave them a volley, which killed and
wounded eighteen of their number. One swam ashore. The remaining three
were captured, and given to the Indian allies to be burned. [Footnote:
_Frontenac au Ministre_, 15 _Nov._, 1689; _Champigny au Ministre_, 16
_Nov._, 1689. Compare Belmont, whose account is a little different;
also _N.Y. Col. Docs._, IX. 435.]

This gleam of sunshine passed, and all grew black again. On a snowy
November day, a troop of Iroquois fell on the settlement of La
Chesnaye, burned the houses, and vanished with a troop of prisoners,
leaving twenty mangled corpses on the snow. [Footnote: Belmont,
_Histoire du Canada_; _Frontenac à--_, 17 _Nov._, 1689; _Champigny au
Ministre_, 16 _Nov._, 1689. This letter is not the one just cited.
Champigny wrote twice on the same day.] "The terror," wrote the
bishop, "is indescribable." The appearance of a few savages would put
a whole neighborhood to flight. [Footnote: _N. Y. Col. Docs._, IX.
435.] So desperate, wrote Frontenac, were the needs of the colony, and
so great the contempt with which the Iroquois regarded it, that it
almost needed a miracle either to carry on war or make peace. What he
most earnestly wished was to keep the Iroquois quiet, and so leave his
hands free to deal with the English. This was not easy, to such a
pitch of audacity had late events raised them. Neither his temper nor
his convictions would allow him to beg peace of them, like his
predecessor; but he had inordinate trust in the influence of his name,
and he now took a course which he hoped might answer his purpose
without increasing their insolence. The perfidious folly of Denonville
in seizing their countrymen at Fort Frontenac had been a prime cause
of their hostility; and, at the request of the late governor, the
surviving captives, thirteen in all, had been taken from the galleys,
gorgeously clad in French attire, and sent back to Canada in the ship
which carried Frontenac. Among them was a famous Cayuga war-chief
called Ourehaoué, whose loss had infuriated the Iroquois. [Footnote:
Ourehaoué was not one of the neutrals entrapped at Fort Frontenac, but
was seized about the same time by the troops on their way up the St.
Lawrence.] Frontenac gained his good-will on the voyage; and, when
they reached Quebec, he lodged him in the château, and treated him
with such kindness that the chief became his devoted admirer and
friend. As his influence was great among his people, Frontenac hoped
that he might use him with success to bring about an accommodation. He
placed three of the captives at the disposal of the Cayuga, who
forthwith sent them to Onondaga with a message which the governor had
dictated, and which was to the following effect: "The great Onontio,
whom you all know, has come back again. He does not blame you for what
you have done; for he looks upon you as foolish children, and blames
only the English, who are the cause of your folly, and have made you
forget your obedience to a father who has always loved and never
deceived you. He will permit me, Ourehaoué, to return to you as soon
as you will come to ask for me, not as you have spoken of late, but
like children speaking to a father." [Footnote: _Frontenac au
Ministre_, 30 _Avril_, 1690.] Frontenac hoped that they would send an
embassy to reclaim their chief, and thus give him an opportunity to
use his personal influence over them. With the three released
captives, he sent an Iroquois convert named Cut Nose with a wampum
belt to announce his return.

When the deputation arrived at Onondaga and made known their errand,
the Iroquois magnates, with their usual deliberation, deferred
answering till a general council of the confederacy should have time
to assemble; and, meanwhile, they sent messengers to ask the mayor of
Albany, and others of their Dutch and English friends, to come to the
meeting. They did not comply, merely sending the government
interpreter, with a few Mohawk Indians, to represent their interests.
On the other hand, the Jesuit Milet, who had been captured a few
months before, adopted, and made an Oneida chief, used every effort to
second the designs of Frontenac. The authorities of Albany tried in
vain to induce the Iroquois to place him in their hands. They
understood their interests too well, and held fast to the Jesuit.
[Footnote: Milet was taken in 1689, not, as has been supposed, in
1690. _Lettre du Père Milet_, 1691, printed by Shea.]

The grand council took place at Onondaga on the twenty-second of
January. Eighty chiefs and sachems, seated gravely on mats around the
council fire, smoked their pipes in silence for a while; till at
length an Onondaga orator rose, and announced that Frontenac, the old
Onontio, had returned with Ourehaoué and twelve more of their captive
friends, that he meant to rekindle the council fire at Fort Frontenac,
and that he invited them to meet him there. [Footnote: Frontenac
declares that he sent no such message, and intimates that Cut Nose had
been tampered with by persons over-anxious to conciliate the
Iroquois, and who had even gone so far as to send them messages on
their own account. These persons were Lamberville, François Hertel,
and one of the Le Moynes. Frontenac was very angry at this
interference, to which he ascribes the most mischievous consequences.
Cut Nose, or Nez Coupé, is called Adarahta by Colden, and Gagniegaton,
or Red Bird, by some French writers.]

"Ho, ho, ho," returned the eighty senators, from the bottom of their
throats. It was the unfailing Iroquois response to a speech. Then Cut
Nose, the governor's messenger, addressed the council: "I advise you
to meet Onontio as he desires. Do so, if you wish to live." He
presented a wampum belt to confirm his words, and the conclave again
returned the same guttural ejaculation.

"Ourehaoué sends you this," continued Cut Nose, presenting another
belt of wampum: "by it he advises you to listen to Onontio, if you
wish to live."

When the messenger from Canada had ceased, the messenger from Albany,
a Mohawk Indian, rose and repeated word for word a speech confided to
him by the mayor of that town, urging the Iroquois to close their ears
against the invitations of Onontio.

Next rose one Cannehoot, a sachem of the Senecas, charged with matters
of grave import; for they involved no less than the revival of that
scheme, so perilous to the French, of the union of the tribes of the
Great Lakes in a triple alliance with the Iroquois and the English.
These lake tribes, disgusted with the French, who, under Denonville,
had left them to the mercy of the Iroquois, had been impelled, both by
their fears and their interests to make new advances to the
confederacy, and had first addressed themselves to the Senecas, whom
they had most cause to dread. They had given up some of the Iroquois
prisoners in their hands, and promised soon to give up the rest. A
treaty had been made; and it was this event which the Seneca sachem
now announced to the council. Having told the story to his assembled
colleagues, he exhibited and explained the wampum belts and other
tokens brought by the envoys from the lakes, who represented nine
distinct tribes or bands from the region of Michillimackinac. By these
tokens, the nine tribes declared that they came to learn wisdom of the
Iroquois and the English; to wash off the war-paint, throw down the
tomahawk, smoke the pipe of peace, and unite with them as one body.
"Onontio is drunk," such was the interpretation of the fourth wampum
belt; "but we, the tribes of Michillimackinac, wash our hands of all
his actions. Neither we nor you must defile ourselves by listening to
him." When the Seneca sachem had ended, and when the ejaculations that
echoed his words had ceased, the belts were hung up before all the
assembly, then taken down again, and distributed among the sachems of
the five Iroquois tribes, excepting one, which was given to the
messengers from Albany. Thus was concluded the triple alliance, which
to Canada meant no less than ruin.

"Brethren," said an Onondaga sachem, "we must hold fast to our brother
Quider (_Peter Schuyler, mayor of Albany_) and look on Onontio as our
enemy, for he is a cheat."

Then they invited the interpreter from Albany to address the council,
which he did, advising them not to listen to the envoys from Canada.
When he had ended, they spent some time in consultation among
themselves, and at length agreed on the following message, addressed
to Corlaer, or New York, and to Kinshon, the Fish, by which they meant
New England, the authorities of which had sent them the image of a
fish as a token of alliance: [Footnote: The wooden image of a codfish
still hangs in the State House at Boston, the emblem of a colony which
lived chiefly by the fisheries.]--

"Brethren, our council fire burns at Albany. We will not go to meet
Onontio at Fort Frontenac. We will hold fast to the old chain of peace
with Corlaer, and we will fight with Onontio. Brethren, we are glad to
hear from you that you are preparing to make war on Canada, but tell
us no lies.

"Brother Kinshon, we hear that you mean to send soldiers against the
Indians to the eastward; but we advise you, now that we are all united
against the French, to fall upon them at once. Strike at the root:
when the trunk is cut down, all the branches fall with it.

"Courage, Corlaer! courage, Kinshon! Go to Quebec in the spring; take
it, and you will have your feet on the necks of the French and all
their friends."

Then they consulted together again, and agreed on the following answer
to Ourehaoue and Frontenac:--

"Ourehaoué, the whole council is glad to hear that you have come back.

"Onontio, you have told us that you have come back again, and brought
with you thirteen of our people who were carried prisoners to France.
We are glad of it. You wish to speak with us at Cataraqui (_Fort
Frontenac_). Don't you know that your council fire there is put out?
It is quenched in blood. You must first send home the prisoners. When
our brother Ourehaoué is returned to us, then we will talk with you of
peace. You must send him and the others home this very winter. We now
let you know that we have made peace with the tribes of
Michillimackinac. You are not to think, because we return you an
answer, that we have laid down the tomahawk. Our warriors will
continue the war till you send our countrymen back to us." [3]

The messengers from Canada returned with this reply. Unsatisfactory as
it was, such a quantity of wampum was sent with it as showed plainly
the importance attached by the Iroquois to the matters in question.
Encouraged by a recent success against the English, and still
possessed with an overweening confidence in his own influence over the
confederates, Frontenac resolved that Ourehaoué should send them
another message. The chief, whose devotion to the count never wavered,
accordingly despatched four envoys, with a load of wampum belts,
expressing his astonishment that his countrymen had not seen fit to
send a deputation of chiefs to receive him from the hands of Onontio,
and calling upon them to do so without delay, lest he should think
that they had forgotten him. Along with the messengers, Frontenac
ventured to send the Chevalier d'Aux, a half-pay officer, with orders
to observe the disposition of the Iroquois, and impress them in
private talk with a sense of the count's power, of his good-will to
them, and of the wisdom of coming to terms with him, lest, like an
angry father, he should be forced at last to use the rod. The
chevalier's reception was a warm one. They burned two of his
attendants, forced him to run the gauntlet, and, after a vigorous
thrashing, sent him prisoner to Albany. The last failure was worse
than the first. The count's name was great among the Iroquois, but he
had trusted its power too far. [Footnote: _Message of Ourehaoué_, in
_N. Y. Col. Docs._, III. 735; _Instructions to Chevalier d'Eau, Ibid.,
_733; _Chevalier d'Aux au Ministre_, 15 _Mai_, 1693. The chevalier's
name is also written _d'O_, He himself wrote it as in the text.]

The worst of news had come from Michillimackinac. La Durantaye, the
commander of the post, and Carheil, the Jesuit, had sent a messenger
to Montreal in the depth of winter to say that the tribes around them
were on the point of revolt. Carheil wrote that they threatened openly
to throw themselves into the arms of the Iroquois and the English;
that they declared that the protection of Onontio was an illusion and
a snare; that they once mistook the French for warriors, but saw now
that they were no match for the Iroquois, whom they had tamely allowed
to butcher them at Montreal, without even daring to defend themselves;
that when the French invaded the Senecas they did nothing but cut down
corn and break canoes, and since that time they had done nothing but
beg peace for themselves, forgetful of their allies, whom they
expected to bear the brunt of the war, and then left to their fate;
that they had surrendered through cowardice the prisoners they had
caught by treachery, and this, too, at a time when the Iroquois were
burning French captives in all their towns; and, finally, that, as the
French would not or could not make peace for them, they would make
peace for themselves. "These," pursued Carheil, "are the reasons they
give us to prove the necessity of their late embassy to the Senecas;
and by this one can see that our Indians are a great deal more
clear-sighted than they are thought to be, and that it is hard to
conceal from their penetration any thing that can help or harm their
interests. What is certain is that, if the Iroquois are not stopped,
they will not fail to come and make themselves masters here."
[Footnote: _Carheil à Frontenac_, 1690. Frontenac did not receive this
letter till September, and acted on the information previously sent
him. Charlevoix's version of the letter does not conform with the
original.]

Charlevoix thinks that Frontenac was not displeased at this bitter
arraignment of his predecessor's administration. At the same time, his
position was very embarrassing. He had no men to spare; but such was
the necessity of saving Michillimackinac, and breaking off the treaty
with the Senecas, that when spring opened he sent Captain Louvigny
with a hundred and forty-three Canadians and six Indians to reinforce
the post and replace its commander, La Durantaye. Two other officers
with an additional force were ordered to accompany him through the
most dangerous part of the journey. With them went Nicolas Perrot,
bearing a message from the count to his rebellious children of
Michillimackinac. The following was the pith of this characteristic
document:--

"I am astonished to learn that you have forgotten the protection that
I always gave you. Do you think that I am no longer alive; or that I
have a mind to stand idle, like those who have been here in my place?
Or do you think that, if eight or ten hairs have been torn from my
children's heads when I was absent, I cannot put ten handfuls of hair
in the place of every one that was pulled out? You know that before I
protected you the ravenous Iroquois dog was biting everybody. I tamed
him and tied him up; but, when he no longer saw me, he behaved worse
than ever. If he persists, he shall feel my power. The English have
tried to win him by flatteries, but I will kill all who encourage him.
The English have deceived and devoured their children, but I am a good
father who loves you. I loved the Iroquois once, because they obeyed
me. When I knew that they had been treacherously captured and carried
to France, I set them free; and, when I restore them to their country,
it will not be through fear, but through pity, for I hate treachery. I
am strong enough to kill the English, destroy the Iroquois, and whip
you, if you fail in your duty to me. The Iroquois have killed and
captured you in time of peace. Do to them as they have done to you, do
to the English as they would like to do to you, but hold fast to your
true father, who will never abandon you. Will you let the English
brandy that has killed you in your wigwams lure you into the kettles
of the Iroquois? Is not mine better, which has never killed you, but
always made you strong?" [Footnote: _Parole (de M. de Frontenac) qui
doit être dite à l'Outaouais pour le dissuader de l'Alliance qu'il
vent faire avec l'Iroquois et l'Anglois_. The message is long. Only
the principal points are given above.]

Charged with this haughty missive, Perrot set out for Michillimackinac
along with Louvigny and his men. On their way up the Ottawa, they met
a large band of Iroquois hunters, whom they routed with heavy loss.
Nothing could have been more auspicious for Perrot's errand. When
towards midsummer they reached their destination, they ranged their
canoes in a triumphal procession, placed in the foremost an Iroquois
captured in the fight, forced him to dance and sing, hung out the
_fleur-de-lis_, shouted _Vive le Roi_, whooped, yelled, and fired
their guns. As they neared the village of the Ottawas, all the naked
population ran down to the shore, leaping, yelping, and firing, in
return. Louvigny and his men passed on, and landed at the neighboring
village of the French settlers, who, drawn up in battle array on the
shore, added more yells and firing to the general uproar; though, amid
this joyous fusillade of harmless gunpowder, they all kept their
bullets ready for instant use, for they distrusted the savage
multitude. The story of the late victory, however, confirmed as it was
by an imposing display of scalps, produced an effect which averted the
danger of an immediate outbreak.

The fate of the Iroquois prisoner now became the point at issue. The
French hoped that the Indians in their excitement could be induced to
put him to death, and thus break their late treaty with his
countrymen. Besides the Ottawas, there was at Michillimackinac a
village of Hurons under their crafty chief, the Rat. They had
pretended to stand fast for the French, who nevertheless believed them
to be at the bottom of all the mischief. They now begged for the
prisoner, promising to burn him. On the faith of this pledge, he was
given to them; but they broke their word, and kept him alive, in order
to curry favor with the Iroquois. The Ottawas, intensely jealous of
the preference shown to the Hurons, declared in their anger that the
prisoner ought to be killed and eaten. This was precisely what the
interests of the French demanded; but the Hurons still persisted in
protecting him. Their Jesuit missionary now interposed, and told them
that, unless they "put the Iroquois into the kettle," the French would
take him from them. After much discussion, this argument prevailed.
They planted a stake, tied him to it, and began to torture him; but,
as he did not show the usual fortitude of his country men, they
declared him unworthy to die the death of a warrior, and accordingly
shot him. [4]

Here was a point gained for the French, but the danger was not passed.
The Ottawas could disavow the killing of the Iroquois; and, in fact,
though there was a great division of opinion among them, they were
preparing at this very time to send a secret embassy to the Seneca
country to ratify the fatal treaty. The French commanders called a
council of all the tribes. It met at the house of the Jesuits.
Presents in abundance were distributed. The message of Frontenac was
reinforced by persuasion and threats; and the assembly was told that
the five tribes of the Iroquois were like five nests of muskrats in a
marsh, which the French would drain dry, and then burn with all its
inhabitants. Perrot took the disaffected chiefs aside, and with his
usual bold adroitness diverted them for the moment from their purpose.
The projected embassy was stopped, but any day might revive it. There
was no safety for the French, and the ground of Michillimackinac was
hollow under their feet. Every thing depended on the success of their
arms. A few victories would confirm their wavering allies; but the
breath of another defeat would blow the fickle crew over to the enemy
like a drift of dry leaves.

[1] _Projet du Chevalier de Callières de former une Expédition pour
aller attaquer Orange, Manatte, etc.; Résumé du Ministre sur la
Proposition de M. de Callières; Autre Mémoire de M. de Callières sur
son Projet d'attaquer la Nouvelle York; Mémoire des Armes, Munitions,
et Ustensiles nécessaires pour l'Entreprise proposée par M. de
Callières; Observations du Ministre sur le Projet et le Mémoire
ci-dessus; Observations du Ministre sur le Projet d'Attaque de la
Nouvelle York; Autre Mémoire de M. de Callières au Sujet de
l'Entreprise proposée; Autre Mémoire de M. de Callières sur le même
Sujet_.

[2] _Mémoire pour servir d'Instruction à Monsieur le Comte de
Frontenac sur l'Entreprise de la Nouvelle York_, 7 _Juin_,
1689. "Si parmy les habitans de la Nouvelle York il se trouve des
Catholiques de la fidelité desquels il croye se pouvoir asseurer, il
pourra les laisser dans leurs habitations après leur avoir fait
prester serment de fidelité à sa Majesté.... Il pourra aussi garder,
s'il le juge à propos, des artisans et autres gens de service
nécessaires pour la culture des terres ou pour travailler aux
fortifications en qualité de prisonniers.... II faut retenir en prison
les officiers et les principaux habitans desquels on pourra retirer
des rançons. A l'esgard de tous les autres estrangers (_ceux qui ne
sont pas Français_) hommes, femmes, et enfans, sa Majesté trouve à
propos qu'ils soient mis hors de la Colonie et envoyez à la Nouvelle
Angleterre, à la Pennsylvanie, ou en d'autres endroits qu'il jugera à
propos, par mer ou par terre, ensemble ou séparement, le tout suivant
qu'il trouvera plus seur pour les dissiper et empescher qu'en se
réunissant ils ne puissent donner occasion à des entreprises de la
part des ennemis contre cette Colonie. Il envoyera en France les
Francais fugitifs qu'il y pourra trouver, et particulièrement ceux de
la Religion Prétendue-Réformée (_Huguenots_)." A translation of
the entire document will be found in _N. Y. Col. Docs._, IX. 422.

[3] The account of this council is given, with condensation and the
omission of parts not essential, from Colden (105-112, ed. 1747). It
will serve as an example of the Iroquois method of conducting
political business, the habitual regularity and decorum of which has
drawn from several contemporary French writers the remark that in such
matters the five tribes were savages only in name. The reply to
Frontenac is also given by Monseignat (_N. Y. Col. Docs_., IX.
465), and, after him, by La Potherie. Compare Le Clercq,
_Établissement de la Foy_, II. 403. Ourehaoué is the Tawerahet of
Colden.

[4] "Le Père Missionnaire des Hurons, prévoyant que cette affaire
auroit peut-être une suite qui pourrait être préjudiciable aux soins
qu'il prenoit de leur instruction, demanda qu'il lui fut permis
d'aller à leur village pour les obliger de trouver quelque moyen qui
fut capable d'appaiser le ressentiment des François. Il leur dit que
ceux ci vouloient absolument que l'on mit _l'Iroquois à la
chaudière_, et que si on ne le faisoit, on devoit venir le leur
enlever." La Potherie, II. 237 (1722). By the "result prejudicial to
his cares for their instruction" he seems to mean their possible
transfer from French to English influences. The expression _mettre à
la chaudière_, though derived from cannibal practices, is often
used figuratively for torturing and killing. The missionary in
question was either Carheil or another Jesuit, who must have acted
with his sanction.




CHAPTER XI.

1690.

THE THREE WAR-PARTIES.

MEASURES OF FRONTENAC.--EXPEDITION AGAINST SCHENECTADY.--THE
MARCH.--THE DUTCH VILLAGE.--THE SURPRISE.--THE MASSACRE.--PRISONERS
SPARED.--RETREAT.--THE ENGLISH AND THEIR IROQUOIS FRIENDS.--THE
ABENAKI WAR.--REVOLUTION AT BOSTON.--CAPTURE OF PEMAQUID.--CAPTURE OF
SALMON FALLS.--CAPTURE OF FORT LOYAL.--FRONTENAC AND HIS
PRISONER.--THE CANADIANS ENCOURAGED.


While striving to reclaim his allies, Frontenac had not forgotten his
enemies. It was of the last necessity to revive the dashed spirits of
the Canadians and the troops; and action, prompt and bold, was the
only means of doing so. He resolved, therefore, to take the offensive,
not against the Iroquois, who seemed invulnerable as ghosts, but
against the English; and by striking a few sharp and rapid blows to
teach both friends and foes that Onontio was still alive. The effect
of his return had already begun to appear, and the energy and fire of
the undaunted veteran had shot new life into the dejected population.
He formed three war-parties of picked men, one at Montreal, one at
Three Rivers, and one at Quebec; the first to strike at Albany, the
second at the border settlements of New Hampshire, and the third at
those of Maine. That of Montreal was ready first. It consisted of two
hundred and ten men, of whom ninety-six were Indian converts, chiefly
from the two mission villages of Saut St. Louis and the Mountain of
Montreal. They were Christian Iroquois whom the priests had persuaded
to leave their homes and settle in Canada, to the great indignation of
their heathen countrymen, and the great annoyance of the English
colonists, to whom they were a constant menace. When Denonville
attacked the Senecas, they had joined him; but of late they had shown
reluctance to fight their heathen kinsmen, with whom the French even
suspected them of collusion. Against the English, however, they
willingly took up the hatchet. The French of the party were for the
most part _coureurs de bois_. As the sea is the sailor's element, so
the forest was theirs. Their merits were hardihood and skill in
woodcraft; their chief faults were insubordination and lawlessness.
They had shared the general demoralization that followed the inroad of
the Iroquois, and under Denonville had proved mutinous and
unmanageable. In the best times, it was a hard task to command them,
and one that needed, not bravery alone, but tact, address, and
experience. Under a chief of such a stamp, they were admirable
bushfighters, and such were those now chosen to lead them. D'Aillebout
de Mantet and Le Moyne de Sainte-Hélène, the brave son of Charles Le
Moyne, had the chief command, supported by the brothers Le Moyne
d'Iberville and Le Moyne de Bienville, with Repentigny de Montesson,
Le Ber du Chesne, and others of the sturdy Canadian _noblesse_, nerved
by adventure and trained in Indian warfare. [Footnote: _Relation de
Monseignat_, 1689-90. There is a translation of this valuable paper in
_N. Y. Col. Docs._, IX. 462. The party, according to three of their
number, consisted at first of 160 French and 140 Christian Indians,
but was reduced by sickness and desertion to 250 in all. _Examination
of three French prisoners taken by the Maquas (Mohawks), and brought
to Skinnectady, who were examined by Peter Schuyler, Mayor of Albany,
Domine Godevridus Dellius, and some of the Gentlemen that went from
Albany a purpose._]

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