Chapter 3

Chapter 3
(pages 7 - 11)

THE SUBJECT CONTINUED. LASALLE, HENNEPIN, AND TONTI.

     The next visit made to Peoria by civilized men was seven years after Marquette and Joliet had passed, when Mr. La Salle, accompanied by Hennepin, a Franciscan monk, and Tonti, an Italian military character, visited the place. Upon the veracity of Hennepin alone we rely for an account of that hazardous adventure, for I know of no account of that voyage but that kept by Hennepin. He says: "This day [Jan. 1, 1680] we went through a lake, formed by the river, about seven leagues long and one broad. The savages call that place Pimiteoui; that is, in their language, a place where there is abundance of fat beasts. When the river of the Illinois freezes, which is but seldom, it freezes only to this lake, and never from thence to the Meschasipi, into which this river falls. We found ourselves, on a sudden, in their camp, which took up the two sides of the river. M. de La Salle ordered his men immediately to make their arms ready, and brought his canoes on a line, placing himself to the right, and M. Tonti to the left; so that we took almost the whole breadth of the river. The Illinois, who had not discovered our fleet [of eight canoes] were very much surprised to see us coming so swiftly upon them; for the stream is very rapid at that place. Some ran for their arms, but the most of them took to flight, with horrid cries and howlings.
     "The current brought us, in the mean time, to their camp, and M. La Salle went the very first ashore, followed by his men, which increased the consternation of the savages, whom we might have easily defeated; but, as it was not our design, we made a halt to give them time to recover themselves, and see that we were no enemies. M. La Salle might have prevented their confusion by showing his calumet, or pipe of peace; but he was afraid the savages would inpute it to our weakness."
     La Salle had much trouble, while at this place, both with the savages and with his men. Both seem to have been treacherous; and, to cap the climax of his woes, he ascertained that a vessel called the Griffin, freighted with furs, in which he had invested nearly every thing he was worth and perhaps more, had been lost on its way down the lakes to Montreal. Under these circumstances, he built a fort to protect what he had with him, while he would return to Canada for more men and supplies. As a memento of his trouble, he called the Fort Creve Coeur, which in French means broken heart.
     La Salle went back to Canada for men and supplies to carry out his enterprises. But, the Indians becoming hostile, Tonti left that part of the country, and fled to Green Bay, and took shelter under the Indians in that region; so that when La Salle returned, in the next spring, he found Fort Creve Coeur entirely abandoned. Nor do I find that it was ever after occupied; and Charlevoix, who traveled through the country about forty years afterward, says it was then entirely abandoned. It is true that when La Salle found that Tonti had abandoned that part of the country he went to Green Bay, and brought him back to the Illinois, where he assisted to build a vessel, in which they sailed down the Illinois and Mississippi rivers. He seems to have done much hard service for La Salle in his lifetime, and to have risked much to recover his remains after his death. He also seems to have held possession of the country for France for several years after La Salle's death; but I no where find evidence that he occupied Creve Coeur or Peoria.
     The histories some times speak of his occupying Rock Fort, and some times Fort St. Louis. In his recital to the French crown of his arduous services, he makes no mention of either but of Fort St. Louis. He says: "These discoveries being finished, he remained in 1683 commandant of Fort St. Louis, of the Illinois, and in 1684 he was there attacked by 200 Iroquois, whom he repulsed with great loss on their side."— Brown's History of Illinois, page 128.
     Where Rock Fort or Fort St. Louis was situated will, I presume, be for ever unknown. Some have located it on the Starved Rock, and some on the Buffalo Rock. As long ago as May, 1833, I was on the Starved Rock, and examined it with some care, but saw no evidence of any fortification ever having been there. And so effectually was every thing done by that set of Frenchmen obliterated, before the country fell into the hands of the Americans, that not a vestige could be found: nothing to show they had ever been at that place.
     Since the above was written, I have perused Mr. Parkman's new work, The Discovery of the Great West, and I think he has pretty well established the fact that Rock Fort and Fort St. Louis were one and the same, and that the locality was on what is now known as the Starved Rock. See his book, pages 156, 177, 205, 287, 288, 221, 289, and 290. It is true, however, that thirty-six years ago I saw no vestige of any buildings or fortifications at that place. All had gone to decay, and trees had grown over the site.
     But where Mr. Parkman gets his description of Fort Creve Coeur I can not imagine. (See page 167.) His description is not justified by any thing Hennepin says about it, nor is there any ground at that place that fits his description. There is no hill or knoll there, but the land is all under water occasionally, for more than a mile back from the river. Where does he get the authority for saying this fort was defended by chevaux-de-frise and palisades twenty-five feet high?

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