xt766t0gtq0j https://exploreuk.uky.edu/dips/xt766t0gtq0j/data/mets.xml Howe, Henry, 1816-1893. 1859  books b92f351h69018592009 English G.F. Tuttle : New York Contact the Special Collections Research Center for information regarding rights and use of this collection. Mississippi River Valley --History. West (U.S.) --History. The Great West : containing narratives of the most important and interesting events in western history--remarkable individual adventures--sketches of frontier life--descriptions of natural curiosities: to which is appended historical and descriptive sketches of Oregon, New Mexico, Texas, Minnesota, Utah, California, Washington, Nebraska, Kansas, etc. text The Great West : containing narratives of the most important and interesting events in western history--remarkable individual adventures--sketches of frontier life--descriptions of natural curiosities: to which is appended historical and descriptive sketches of Oregon, New Mexico, Texas, Minnesota, Utah, California, Washington, Nebraska, Kansas, etc. 1859 2009 true xt766t0gtq0j section xt766t0gtq0j 
     

 
      i <     *       3*                     $i       _-   ;' ijp ;   *jp . *         5?    ^   1  *    Jf*

^^   ^v-:^:t^:^::      :*.:   .;*: ;*.   :   ;*. :*/      ;*;       * Bil^^^^^^H:*::.;*. :*;;K*:;* ;**    ;*:

|?ft} 3v^  &;.'. #y      vX Ml*..- ;     '.S^:' v ^Sft; v \ fftr ^   8   H:    .   ft";    !    &[   ;';:    .   b?4^C^K:!^^-^2^  i^, j*j v     &) ,-^*j t    ,!*j; ^*^:!**.';:;!*; I

*lto the public.

Being established permanently in I In' business of cirrn- ' luting Hooka by TriiTcling Agents nolrl; , I hare adopted ,,**v"-y-i.    v2   these um 111 y rules:    , - > .  *\    -          1st.   To dispose   of my   Book* only  through  my own

AgcnlM,  nntl  uot   through   Boo I.-   11i i     or  l*rddlers, ns> f SSs  XiArA    *A3    thereby I secure uniformity of price*.

   '.***,. v '.id. To obligate my Agents by u written commit uot !    f

sell :i ii > of in %   publications Tor less t bun their rr^n lur Xj'X'-^    prices. '

3d. Xo furnish to Subscribers, Books in erery respect 7 fully equnl to the sample copies.     'ili. Not to reduce the price of my Books niter their first

Rfe.*;%*:?lt

#X;::X:\

I;* ! '* ' 'r *'|5$

^f  ftijM

  *, :

bmi

It Ib my desire that whoniBoorcr may rend this, or any of my publications, should recollect the nnuic of the publ'iNher, as it is iut  intention that ft -hull  mi-tit It

^jS    attached to nuy work that will uot br generally vain 1, far beyond its mere money - < -i. by Hiieh fuinilicsns mi    

.    possess it.   That I hare thus far succeeded in my efforts i    Is- CTinced by the greatly increased sale* of my ISooli* '     iu those communities -where 111 6 rep a ta t iou of the publisher has been eNtabliMhed by former purchases. It shall be mv endeavor to continue the publication of -        .--r\    none  but Books of decided merit, nud  to conduct my business  iu   a.   systcmntic,   honorable   niiiniirr;   nil of which, uside from the pleasure it is certain to confer, will result in the generous patronage of an appreciating pubic.

IIKivrcV' HOWE, Author and PuMisbcr. Cincinnati, O., Ill Main St. (upstairs).

Is      vgt          lift-

x^x

i?4^*sr*;14^^ ^jlt*l?5  *

lb"" \ ' ' as.' -

h;'*>^*/;-:** v>^S  :::*:;   ,'*;w :* * :*'

P'^;'^^:^^^^^^^     * * '* * *

    '  ;! ''*'^r* - w         = "*:'-"*"   ^*"'      ;*'       -       ;*i    = 
    
    
    
    
    
   THE   AGED   PIONEER   RELATING   BIB   F A P. I. T ADYBNTUR18.

*' Some fine summer's evening, he may he seen seated in the porch of his dwell iig, his frank, open countenance beaming with delight as he relates the tale of his 'early adventures to his little grandchildren, who, clustering about his knees, drink an every word with intense iuterast" 
    
    
   THE

G K I A T W I' S T:

NARRATIVES OF THE MOST IMPORTANT AND INTEREST ING EVENTS IN WESTERN HISTORY    REMARKABLE INDIVIDUAL ADVENTURES    SKETCHES OF FRONTIER LIFE   DESCRIPTIONS OF NATURAL CURIOSITIES:

HISTORICAL AND DESCRIPTIVE SKETCHES OF OREGON, NrW MEXICO, TEXAS, MINNESOTA, UTAH, CALIFORNIA, WASHINGTON*. NEBRASKA, KANSAS, ETC., ETC., ETC.

AUTHOR Of " HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS OT TLUOISIA;" "HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS 01 OHIO.*

ENLARGED EDITION.

NEW YORK: PUBLISHED BY GEO. F. TUTTLE,

102 nassau street (up stairs).

CINCINNATI: PUBLISHED  BY HENRY HOWE,

CONTAINING

TO WHICH IS ArrENDIK

BY  HENRY HOWE,

111 main street (up stairs).

1859. 
    
   PREFACE.

Written History is generally too scholastic to interest the multitude-Dignified and formal, it deals mainly in great events, and of those imper fectly, because not pausing to present clear impressions by the association* of individual life. It is these that lend to written fiction its greatest charm, and attract the multitude by appearing more like truth. Although untrue in the particular combinations, scenes and plots delineated, yet well written iction is drawn from Nature, from experience; and these facts in life, as with chessmen, are only arranged in new, but natural positions.

History includes everything in Nature, Character, Customs, and Incidents, both general and individual, that contributes to originate what is peculiar in a People, or what causes either their advancement or decline. So broad its scope that scarcely anything is too remote for its grasp; so searching, scarcely anything too minute. Were written History a clear transcript of all that properly comes within the province of History, it would be more enticing than the most fascinating fiction. But it being otherwise, the multitude prefer well written fiction, which touches the heart and arouses all the sympathies of man by its vivid pictures of actual life.

Herein are given, in the language of a great variety of writers, not only the great events in the History and condition of the West, but in illustration the minute matters of individual experience and observation, without which the other is, in a measure, untruthful, because it fails by its incompleteness to impart correct impressions. The materials are arranged in chronological order, and the sources from whence they are derived are presented on another leaf (vii) 
   PREFACE TO THE ENLARGED EDITION.

"The Gbeat West" was first published in the year 1851, and at enoe gained a wide-spread and unexpected popularity. It appears to have met a great public want, as has been shown by the extraordinary sale of nioro than eighty thousand copies     a number which has been rarely reached by any American historical work. As in the interval many important changes have taken place in the West, the book has been remodeled and the current of events brought down to the present time, so that the reader now has it in an enlarged and improved form.

"The Great West" has become a standard work, and will probably in future editions instruct and interest multitudes long after the present generation shall have passed away, (viii; 
   CONTENTS.

1. Historical Sketch of the West........................................... 15

2. Discovery of the Mississippi..........,............/..................... 35

3  "xploratious of Marquette and Lu Salle................................... 38

4. Sufferings of tho Early French Missionaries of the West...................... 43

5. Curiosities at Michilimackinac.......................................... 46

6. Life among the Prairie Dogs...............................<............ 47

7. The French and Indian War in the West.................................. 49

8. The Cherokee War of 17G0.............................................. 59

9. The Poutiac War...................................................... M

10. Tyranny of O'Eielly, the first Spanish Governor of Louisiana.............. VJ

11. Dunmore's War......................................................

12. Customs and Mnnncrs of the Early French Settlers of the West................ 83

13. The Western Wilderness................................................ 89

14. Incidents in the West of the War of the Revolution......................... 95

15. The Hard Winter of 1780.............................................. 124

16. Daniel Boone, the Pioneer of Kentucky.................................. 125

17. Hunting among the Early Pioneers...................................... 131

Id. Adventures of Kenton................................................. 133

19. Incidents of tho Fur Trade............................................ 142

20. Lewis Whetzel, tho Indian Hunter....................................... 150

21. Heroism of the Pioneer Women.......................................... 154

22. The Indian Summer...................................................

23. A Desperate Boat Fight................................................ 158

24. Rebellion in Tennessee................................................. !66

25. Border Warfare from 1783 to 1795....................................... 168

26. FVench and Spanish Intrigues in the West................................. 188

27. The Whisky IusuiTection............................................... 19"

28. Frontier Desperadoes.................................................. 192

29. Purchase of Louisiana................................................ 200

30. Interesting Narrative..................................................203

31. Strange Mental and Physical Phenomena.................................205

32. Life among the Early Settlers of the West................................207

33. Origin of Camp Meetings..............................................236

34. Lewis and Clarke's, and Pike's Exploring Expeditions....................... 23s

35. Adventure of Colter................................................... 243

36. Conspiracy of Aaron Bun-............................................. 246

37. The Great Prairie Wilderness........................................... 254

38. The Great Earthquake of 1811........................................... 257

39. Voyage of the First Western Steamboat........................ ........... 261

40. Sketch of Tecuinseh and the Indian War of 1811............................ 264

41. Kentucky Sports......................................................273

42. The Western Boatmeu................................................ 275

43.- Indian Warfare...................................................... 280 
   CONTENTS.

44. Incidents of tlie War or 1812 in the West................................ 282

45. Experience of a Kentuckian at the Battle of New Orleans.................... 297

46. Visit to the Mammoth Cave............................................ 303

47. Adventures of Oliver..................................................307

48. Incidents of Emigration............................................... 312

49. The Public Domain................................................... 315

50. The Ranger's Adventure.............................................. 321

51. Wild Bill, or the Mississippi Orson.......... ........................... 324

52. The Fanatical Pilgrims................................................ 326

53. Adventure of Audubon................................................ 329

54. Exploring Expeditions of Long, Cass, and Schoolcraft....................... 332

55. Life among the Trappers............................................... 333

56. Ogilvie's Adventure................................................... 337

57. Character of the Western People......................................... 339

58. Fascinating Life of the Mountain Hunter................................. 344

59. Adventure of a Trapper............................................... 345

60. The Commerce of the Prairies........................................... 348

flgjl. The BlackhawkWar.................................................. 355

Hp. The Pestilence, a Frontier Sketch........................................ 361

*63. The Educated Indian Trapper.......................................... 363

64. Life in the Mountains of Virginia....................................... 365

65. Fremont's Expeditions................................................. 373

66. The Hunter's Escape.................................................. 385

67. The Indians of the Great Prairie Wilderness............................... 387

68. Effect of Settlement on the Climate of the West............................ 391

69. Historical and Descriptive Sketch of Texas................................ 395

70. " " "        New Mexico............................ 4 7

71. " " "        Oregon................................ 416

72. " " "        California.............................. 433

73. Terrible Sufferings of a Party of California Emigrants..................... 453

74. Historical and Descriptive Sketch of Utah.....................'............ 460

75. The Great Salt Desert of Utah......................................... 488

76. Historical and Descriptive Sketch of Minnesota............................ 490

77. Washington Territory................................................. 497

78. Nebraska............................................................ 501

79. Kansas.............................................................. 512

80. The Lake Superior Country............................................ 552

fcl. Pacific Railroad....................................................... 567

1 
   AUTHORITIES.

The number of each subject, in the Table of Contents, corresponds with the nnmbct set below against tho authority or authorities from whence it is obtained. Where an article is derived from a number of sources, the authorities are given in the relative order of their respective amount of contribution.

Monette's Miss. Valley; Perkins' An- 86. nals; Collins' Ky.: Sparks' Washington ; Bancroft's U. S.; Flint's Indian 87. Wars ; Howe's Ohio ; Bonner's Lou- 38. isiana; Laphnm's Wisconsin; Day's l'enn.; Hoffman's Winter in the 3'). West, etc.. etc. 40.

Bancroft. 41.

Bancroft; Perkins ; Bonner. 42.

Bancroft.

S-choolcraft. 48.

I.uxton's Mexico and tho Rocky Moun- 44.

tains; Gregg's Commerce of the

Prairies.

Bonner;  Sparks ;  Stuart's   Memoir; 45.

Smith's Narrative; Flint;  Mon- 46.

ette, etc. 47-

Drake's Indian Biog.; Simms' Marion. 48.

Lanman's Michigan ; Henry's Captivity; 49.

Drake's Biography ; Day's Peun ; 50.

Perkins. 51.

Bonner. 52.

Whittlesey's Discourse on Dunmore's 58.

Ex.; Monette ; Howe's Va.; do. Ohio. 54. . Lanman; Monette.

Doddridge's Notes. 55.

Monette;   Perkins;   Doddridge;  M'- 56.

Clung's Sketches; American Pioneer; 57.

Howe's Ohio, etc., etc. 58.

Marshall's Ky. 59.

Sparks'Biog.; Marshall's Ky.; Howe's 60.

Ohio. 61.

Doddridge. 62.

M'Donald's Sketches ; Mouetto. 63.

Seymour's Minnesota ; Long's Expedi- 64.

tion; Silliman's Journal; Perkins. 65.

WesternChristianAdvocate; Doddridge. 66.

Cist's Miscellany, etc. 67.

Doddridge. 68.

Collins' Ky. 69.

Flint's Geog. and   Hist. Miss. Val.; i

Monette. | 70. Monette;   Burnet's Notes; Howe's

Ohio ; Flint, etc. t'erkins; Collins; Flint.

Day's Penn.; Monette; Holmes'Annals. | 72. . Hall's Sketches, etc.; Collins ; Monette.

Bonner's La. . Cist's Miscellany.

Howe's Ohio. 78.

Joddridge ; tho Compiler. 74. . Bang's History of Methodism. . Groenhow'sOregon ; Gregg's Commerce

of Prairies ; Seymour's Minnesota, f

American Anecdotes; FaiuilyMagazine. 75.

.-'afford's Blannerhasset; Pickett's Alabama; Collins ; American Pioneer.

Farnham's Travels.

Flint's Ten Years ; American Pioneer ; Missouri Gazetteer.

Latrobo's Rambler.

Drake's Teeumseh.

Audubon.

Flint; F'lint's Review ;   Cist's Ml

Monette Doddridge. Perkins'Late War; Brown's Illinois ;

Perkins' Annals; Wilson's  V. S.;

Cist. Cist's Miscellany, ditto, ditto. Drake's Teeumseh; the Compiler. Family Magazine. Hall's Notes. Brown's Illinois. Knickerbocker Magazine. Flint. A udubon.

Seymour's    Minnesota; Greenhow'a

Oregon. Ruxton's Travels. American Anecdotes. Flint. Ruxton.

Do.

Gregg's Com. Prairies.

Perkins'Annals, 2d ed.; Brown's Illinois.

Prairie Land.

Farnham's Travels.

The Compiler.

Fremont.

Ruxton.

Fnrnham; Gregg. Doddridge.

Wilson's U. S.; Willard's do.; Smith's Gaz.

Gregg; Wislizenus' Tour; Willard: Ruxton.

Greenhow; Wilkos' Ex.; Leo and Frost's Ten Years in Oregon, etc., etc.

King's Report; Taylor's El Dorado: .Johnson's "Sights," etc.; Bryant's "What I saw," etc.; Frement; Willard, etc.

Bryant; Thornton's Travels.

Kane's Discourse; Fremont; Green-how ; Speech in the V. S Senate, of Hon. Truman Smith, on the California Bill, etc.

Bryant.

(xi) 
    
   HISTORICAL

SKETCH

OF THE

WES

T .

Twenty years after the great event occurred, which has immortalized the name of Christopher Columbus, Florida was discovered by Juan Ponce de Leon, ex-governor of Porto Rico. Sailing from that island in March, 1512, he discovered an unknown country, which he named Florida, from the abundauce of its flowers, the trees being covered with blossoms, and its first being seen on Easter Sunday, a day called by the Spaniards Pascua Florida; the name imports the country of flowers. Other explorers soon visited the same coast. In May, 1539, Ferdinand de Soto, the Governor of Cuba, landed at Tampa Bay, with six hundred followers. He marched into the interior; and on the 1st of May, 1511, discovered the Mississippi; being the first European who had ever beheld that mighty river.

Spain for many years claimed the whole of the country   bounded by the Atlantic to the Gulf of St. Lawrence on the north, all of which bore the name of Florida. About twenty years after the discovery of the Mississippi, some Catholic missionaries attempted to form settlements at St. Augustine, and its vicinity; j.nd a few years later a colony of French Calvinists had been established on the St. Mary's, near the coast. In 1565, this settlement was annihilated by an expedition from Spain, under Pedro Melendez de Aviles; and about nine hundred French, men, women and children, cruelly massacred. The bodies of many of the slain were hung from trees, with the inscription, "Not as Frenchmen, hut as heretics." Having accomplished his bloody errand, Melendez founded St. Augustine, the oldest town by half a century of any now in the Union. Four years after, Dominic de Gourges, burning to avenge his countrymen, fitted out an expedition at his own expense, and surprised the Spanish colonists on the St. Mary's; destroying the ports, burning the houses, and ravaging the settlements with fire and sword; finishing the work by also suspending some of the corpses of his enemies from trees, with the inscription,

(15) 
   16

OUTLINE HISTCIY.

"Not as Spaniards, but as murderers.''' Unable to hold possession of the country, de Gourges retired to his fleet. Florida, excepting for a few years, remained under the Spanish crown, suffering much in its early history, from the vicissitudes of war and piratical incursions, until 1819, when, vastly diminished from its original boundaries, it was ceded to the United States, and in 1845 became a State.

In 1535, James Cartier, a distinguished French mariner, sailed with an exploring expedition up the St. Lawrence, and taking possession of the country in the name of his king, called it "New France." In 160S, the energetic Champlain created a nucleus for the settlement of Canada, by founding Quebec. This was the same year with the settlement of Jamestown, Virginia, and twelve years previous to that on which the Puritans first stepped upon the rocks of Plymouth.

To strengthen the establishment of French dominion, the genius of Champlain saw that it was essential to establish missions among the Indians. Up to this period "the far west" had been untrod by the foot of the white man. In 1616, a French Franciscan, named Le Caron, passed through the Iroquois and "Wyandot nations   to streams running into Lake Huron; and in 1634, two Jesuits founded the first mission in that region. But just a century elapsed from the discovery of the Mississippi, ere the first Canadian envoys met the savage nations of the northwest at the falls of St. Mary's, below the outlet of Lake Superior. It was not until 1659 that any of the adventurous fur-traders wintered on the shores of this vast lake, nor until 1660 that Rene Mesnard founded the first missionary station upon its rocky and inhospitable coast. Perishing soon after in the forest, it was left to Father Claude Allouez, five years subsequent, to build the first permanent habitation of white men among the Northwestern Indians. In 1668, the mission was founded at the falls of St. Mary's, by Dablon and Marquette; in 1670, Nicholas Perrot, agent for the intendant of Canada, explored Lake Michigan to near its southern termination. Formal possession was taken of the northwest by the French in 1671, and Marquette established a missionary station at Point St. Ignace, on the mainland north of Mackinac, which was the first settlement in Michigan.

Until late in this century, owing' to the enmity of the Indians bordering the Lakes Ontario and Erie, the adventurous missionaries, on their route west, on pain of death, were compelled to pass far to the north, through "a region horrible with forests," by the Ottawa and French Rivers of Canada.

As yet no Frenchman had advanced beyond Fox River, of Winnebago Lake, in Wisconsin     but in May, 1673, the missionary Marquette, with a few companions, left Mackinac in canoes; passed up Green Bay, entered Fox River, crossed the country to the Wisconsin, and, following its current, passed into and discovered the Mississippi; down which they sailed several hundred 
   OUTLINE HISTORY.

17

miles, and returned in the Av.tnmn. The discovery of this great river gave great joy to New France, it being "a pet idea" of that age that some of its western tributaries would afford a direct route to the South Sea, and thence to China. Monsieur La Salle, a man of indefatigable enterprise, having been several years engaged in the preparation, in 1682, explored the Mississippi to the sea, and took formal possession of the country in the name of the King of France, in honor of whom he called it Louisiana. In 1685, he also took formal possession of Texas, and founded a colony on the Colorado; but La Salle was assassinated, and the colony dispersed.

The descriptions of the beauty and magnificence of the Valley of the Mississippi, given by these explorers, led manj" adventurers from the cold climate of Canada to follow the same route, and commence settlements. About the year 1680, Kaskaskia and Cahokia, the oldest towns in the Mississippi Valley, were founded. Kaskaskia became the capital of the Illinois country, and in 1721, a Jesuit college and monastery were founded there.

A peace with the Iroquois, ^Hurons and Ottawas, in 17o0, gave the French facilities for settling the western part of Canada. In June, 1701, De la Motte Cadillac, with a Jesuit missionary and a hundred men, laid the foundation of Detroit. All of the extensive region south of the lakes was now claimed by the French, under the name of Canada, or New France. This excited the jealousy of the English, and the New York legislature passed a law for hanging every Popish priest that should come voluntarily into the province. The French, chiefly through the mild and conciliating course of their missionaries, had gained so much influence over the western Indians, that, when a war broke out with England, in 1711, the most powerful of the tribes became their alliesTand the latter unsuccessfully attempted to restrict their claims to the country south of the lakes. The Fox nation, allies of the English, in 1713, made an attack upon Detroit; but were defeated by the French and their Indian allies. The treaty of Utrecht, this year, ended this war.

By the year 1720, a profitable trade had arisen in furs and agricultural products     between the French of Louisiana and those of Illinois; and settlements had been made on the Mississippi, below the junction of the Illinois. To confine the English to the Atlantic coast, the French adopted the plan of forming a line of military posts, to extend from the great northern lakes to the Mexican Gulf, and as one of the links of the chain, Fort Chartres was built on the Mississippi, near Kaskaskia; and in its vicinity soon flourished the villages of Cahokia and Prairie du Rocher.

The Ohio at this time was but little known to the French, and on their early maps was but an insignificant stream. Early in this century their missionaries had penetrated to the sources of the Alleghany. In 1721, Joncaire, a French agent and trader, established himself among the Senecas at Lewistown, and Fort Niagara was erected, near the falls, five years subsequent.   In 1735, accord- 
   18

OUTLINE MSTORV.

ing to somo autbo ities, Post St. Vincent was erected on the Wabash. Almost coeval with this, was the military post of Presque Isle, on the site of Erie, Pennsylvania, and from thence a cordon of posts extended on the Alleghany to Pittsburgh; and from thence down the Ohio to the Wabash.

A map, published at London in 1755, gives the following list of French posts, as then existing in the west: Two on French Creek, ' in the vicinity of Erie, Pennsylvania; Duquesne, on the site of Pittsburgh; Miainis, on the Ma'umee, near the site of Toledo; Sandusky, on Sandusky Bay; St. Joseph's, on St. Joseph's River, Michigan; Poncliartrain, site of Detroit; Massillimacinac; one on Fox River, Green Bay; Crevecceur, on the Illinois; Rockfort, or Fort St. Louis, on the Illinois; Vincennes; Cahokia; Kaskaskia, and one at each of the mouths of the Wabash, Ohio, and Missouri. Other posts, not named, were built about that time. On the Ohio, just below Portsmouth, are ruins, supposed to be those of a French fo.t; as they had a post there during Braddock's war.

In 1719, the French regularly explored the Ohio, and formed alliances with the Indians in Western New York, Pennsylvania, and Virginia. The English, who claimed the whole west to the Pacific, but whose settlements were confined to the comparatively narrow strip east of the mountains, were jealous of the rapidly increasing power of the French in the west. Not content with exciting the savages to hostilities against them, they stimulated private enterprise by granting six hundred thousand acres of choice land on the Ohio, to the "Ohio Company."

By the year 1751, there were in the Illinois country, the settlements of Cahokia, five miles below the site of St. Louis; St. Philip's, forty-five miles farther down the river; St. Genevieve, a little lower still, and on the east side of the Mississippi, Fort Chartres, Kaskaskia , and Prairie du Rocher. The largest of these was Kaskaskia, which at one time contained nearly three thousand souls.

In 1748, the Ohio Company, composed mainly of wealthy Virginians, dispatched Christopher Gist to explore the country, gain the good-will of the Indians, and ascertain the plans of the French. Crossing overland to the Ohio, he proceeded down it to the Great Miami, up which he passed to the towns of the Miamies, about fifty miles north of the site of Dayton. The next year the company established a trading post in that vicinity, on Loramies Creek, tho first point of English settlement in the western country; it was soon after broken up by the French.

In the year 1753, Dinwiddie, Governor of Virginia, sent George Washington, then twenty-one years of age, as commissioner, to remonstrate with the French commandant who was at F'ort le Bceafj near the site of Erie, Pennsylvania, against encroachments of the French. The English claimed the country by virtue of her first royal charters; the French by the stronger title of discovery and possession. Ttie result of the mission proving unsatisfactory, the English, although it was a time of peace, raised a force to 
   OUTLINE HISTORY.

21

right of commerce for sixteen years. But in 1717, the speculation having resulted in his ruin, and to the injury of the colonists, he surrendered his privileges. Soon after, a number of other adventurers, under the name of the Mississippi Company, obtained from the French government a charter, which gave them all the rights of sovereignty, except the bare title, including a complete monopoly of the trade, and the mines. Their expectations were chiefly from the mines; and on the strength of a former traveler, Nicholas Perrot, having discovered a copper mine in the valley of St. Peters, the directors of the company assigned to the soil of Louisiana, silver and gold; and to the mud of the Mississippi, diamonds and pearls. The notorious Law, who then resided at Paris, was the secret agent of the company. To form its capital, its shares were sold at five hundred livres each; and such was the speculating mania of the times, that in a short time more than a hundred millions were realized. Although this proved ruinous to individuals, yet the colony was greatly benefited by the consequent emigration, and agriculture and commerce flourished.

In 1719, Renault, an agent of the Mississippi Company, left France with about two hundred miners and emigrants, to carry out the mining schemes of the company. He bought Ave hundred slaves at St. Domingo, to work the mines, which he conveyed to Illinois in 1720. He established himself a few miles above Kas-kasia, and founded there the village of St. Philips. Extravagant expectations existed in France, of his probable success in obtaining gold and silver. He sent out exploring parties in various sections of Illinois and Missouri. His explorations extended to the banks of the Ohio and Kentucky rivers, and even to the Cumberland valley in Tennessee, where at " French Lick," on the site of Nashville, the French established a trading post. Although Renault was woefully disappointed in not discovering extensive mines of gold or silver, yet he made various discoveries of lead; among which were the mines north of Potosi, and those on the St. Francois. He eventually turned his whole attention to the smelting of lead, of which he made considerable quantities, and shipped to France. He remained in the country until 1744. Nothing of consequence ;vas again done in mining, until after the American Revolution. 1 In 1718, Bienville laid out the town of New Orleans, on the Ian of Rochefort, France. Some four years after, the bankruptcy fo Law threw the colony into the greatest confusion, and occasioned unie-spread ruin in France, where speculation had been carried to vicBxtreme unknown before.

tiinihe expenditures for Louisiana, were consequently stopped, but nnsuolony had now gained strength to struggle for herself. Louisi-In Tas then divided into nine cantonB, of which Arkansas and cope \s formed each one.

the tout this time, the colony had considerable difficulty with the erected tribes, and were involved in wars with the Chickasaws and intondeflhez.   This latter named tribe were finally completely con- 
   22

OUTLINE HISTORY.

quered The remnant of them dispersed among other Indians, so that, that once powerful people, as a distinct race, was entirely lost. Their name alone survives, as that of a flourishing city. Tradition related singular stories of the Natchez. It was believed that they emigrated from Mexico, and were kindred to the Incas of Peru. The Natchez alone, of all the Indian tribes, had a consecrated temple, where a perpetual fire was maintained by ap pointed guardians. Near the temple, on an artificial mound, stood the dwelling of their chief   called the Great Sun ; who was supposed to be descended from that luminary, and all around were grouped the dwellings of the tribe. His power was absolute; the dignity was hereditary, and transmitted exclusively through the female line; and the race of nobles was so distinct, that usage had moulded language into the forms of reverence.

In 1732, the Mississippi Company relinquished their charter to the king, after holding possession fourteen years. At this period, Louisiana had five thousand whites, and twenty-five hundred blacks. Agriculture was improving in all the nine cantons, particularly in Illinois, which was considered the granary of the colony. Louisiana continued to advance until the war broke out with England in 1775, which resulted in the overthrow of French dominion.

Immediately after the peace of 1763, all the old French forts in the west, as far as Green Bay, were repaired and garrisoned with British troops. Agents and surveyors too, were making examinations of the finest lands east and northeast of the Ohio. Judging from the past, the Indians were satisfied that the British intended to possess the whole count