| Show A r 4 11 1 1 ire r ot 2 1 za lit a 49 air pt I 1 I 1 is ON alfa NA fa 5 atz vil 2 ell 7 r rt arev 1679 Z A mukta 4 L L jk 1700 1898 rog J BY ELMO MO SCOTT WATSON LIE time Is february in the year I 1 32 1 the place is the illinois river riter in what is now the state ot of that name the actors in the epic drama which is now about to begin are some IS 19 indians and 23 french soldiers and voyageurs voya geurs not a very impressive company it Is true but the leader of it Is 13 4 what makes akes it great for this io leader is rene robert nobert cavelier bleur de la salle magnificent adventurer advent and one of the worlds greatest explorers la salle announced that they would take to their canoes they lifted the light white birch barks from the sledges and slipped them into the ley ky water the baggage and rifles went aboard piece by piece then man after man soldier and voyage ur and red hunter stepped gingerly to his place sank to a kneeling position and took up his ions iong handled paddle first one light canoe then another pushed oft off from shore arid and the black current bore them away to right and left they saw drab banks frost flecked and hard that rang under a blow and leafless forests iron in their rigid desolation that rose despal despairingly despairing ring 1 l y toward an opaque gray sky on the sixth of february they emerged from the illinois and their fleet slipped out upon the swelling current of the mississippi la salles dreams came nearer the mirage at last promised realization thus began the historic voyage down the length of the father of waters which was to give to france control of the interior of north america which was to open up the vista of the richness of a new empire before the greedy eyes of the white race which was to endroll england and france in an almost unending war for the next three quarters of a century and which was to result finally in the founding of a new nation dation greater than either it Is this voyage which has been characterized as one of the greatest epics of all history to most americans the name of la salle Is just jost another in a dimly remembered list from their schoolbook school book histories but now years after the beginning and the end of his great achievement his name Is brought to their attention again through the publication of two biographies of him one of them is la salle written by 1 L 1 V jacks and published by charles scribners sons son from which the fore foregoing go ing quotation is taken and the other la is tile the french adventurer the life and exploits of la salle written by 11 maurice constant a weyer and published by the macaulay Mae aulay company mr jacks Is an american and if constantin weyer Is a frenchman so it Is interesting to read their two books together and get the two points of view on this great frenchman whose name ts Is written high in the annals of america of the voyage down the river mr air constantin weyer writes a vivid account how spring was breaking on every side A sky of clouds rent by the wind was reflected in blue and white the forest was powdered with tender green fewers Fi iwers vi nere ere unfolding timid petals the cries of migratory birds filled the immense valley mosquitoes swarmed at night coyotes barked on tile the hillsides hill sides it in the mornings bison descended ended in f lendy friendly pairs to the giant drinking trough they passed tile the mouths of great rivers the muddy missouri the quiet ohio la belle elviere Rl ItI viere and the arkansas there were adventures with indians indian both pleasant an and d grim galm and hostile red men tor for they mot met both friendly wonders of scenery there were innumerable new which unfolded before their eyes and a varle variety ty such stich as few explorers had ever of experiences the time they had had bad ju just st two months from broad bosom of the lie mississippi floated out 0 ut upon the faces struck their all at once spray found it already brackish the wafer they tasting A great joy painfully rain ral nf fully welled UP la it their ant spines spine s down their breasts a thrill ran the shock of a thou under suddenly BUd denly sonorous sail there without a and and sand waves I immense mense was the seat seal april the seventh arid and now DOW to turn turf thus al weyer for the ne next at scene mr air jacks to must have ilen ben b en as glad to frenchmen tile the xenophon a ld haray soldier a once the gulf as see bee when blue of tile the were glad to see the sun hinged rubs rd fire at last red as a great bolY marshes in the melane rest bad sis dropped to westward stward and the night wind me and savandus to phosphorescent brought S over hashed tile glitter voices of of the breathing waters tea the faint down beside their canoes the voyagers lay probability the en in till had SL th at they aware lives greatest bad day TeK been of a their long trail tumultuous Shad he hit d folit ro LASAL 1 9 fr rc I 1 OC es IT 17 1714 jle fr 1 4 0 1 0 0 I 1 t E fad W 4 LE A us 0 VZ V Z X Z I 1 lia galle at ilie of X T e 1 1 U 00 count ant fro on mac lowed since that far off ofle day when then as a schoolboy in rouen bouen france he had read of other explorers and adventurers and had bad thrilled to the tales of their exploits in the places which had previously been marked on the rude maps of the time terra incognita in those 39 years hla his life had been one of many hardships of many high hopes of many disappointments but in his makeup make up was the tough fiber of soul which had bad carried him through all of this the fiber that justified the title given him by an early american biographer the norman educated for priesthood in the jesuit order la salle soon found that the restlessness in his blood would never allow mal him to be happy in that role the result was a journey in hla his early twenties to canada where his brother was a prist la in the seminary of st sulpice through the influence of this brother be received a grant of land near montreal a which he named la chine the name was significant already he was dreaming of finding the undiscovered northwest passage to china the goal of many an explorer before him so when the indians indian told him of a great southwestern river which flowed into the verall lion sea his quick mind grasped this as tile the route of the long sought passage to the orient and he determined to follow the river so he sold his to obtain funds for an expedition and in july the first of his long ions wanderings through the interior of the north american continent began that trip carried him up the st lawrence along the south shore of lake ontario among the villages of the iroquois on to niagara along tile the south shore of lake erie and then south through what la Is now dow the state of ohio until he be in all probability reached the ohio river but desertions among his followers forced ln la salle to go back to cana canada da so his first expedition was something of u failure ills resources were now exhausted but he be found an unexpected friend in count frontenac tile the iron governor ot of canada who gave him the exclusive trading privileges at fort frontenac the modern kingston on the condition that he would rebuild the defenses und and garrison the post in the mealtime father marquette q uette and louis joliet bud reached the mississippi alp pi the great southwest river and gone down it for a considerable distance although they did not follow it to its mouth so that honor still a waited awaited la sane belle however wever he needed more capital so in be made a trip to france with letters from 0 Os in ad ZV A 1 0 0 17 of frontenac to the aln king and his ministers lv 11 paris la salle found attentive listeners to his plans and when he returned to canada in 1679 1671 lie he brought with him a royal decree authorizing him to make discoveries and build forts in the tha interior of north america lie ile also brought back with him the roan man who was destined io to be his chief lieutenant and greatest friend henr hedri de tonti an italian the man ilan with the iron fiand that winter la salle and were busy bus completing a fort at niagara and building a ship before spring had come a vessel of about 45 tons the largest yet built for service on the great lakes was completed on its prow was a carved griffon from the armorial bearings of la salles patron count frontenac and this ship won enduring fame facie under the name of the griffin incidentally it was more enduring than la salle could possibly have realized for within the last year the timbers from a wrecked ship were found in lake huron and there Is strong evidence to support the belief that these timbers were once a part of the griffin found after more than years la salle sailed his vessel to III chill ma ekinad where he acquired a rich store of furs then sailed on into lake michigan and finally dropped anchor in green pay where some more furs were obtained sending the griffin back to montreal la salle started south along the wisconsin shore and reaching the mouth of the st joseph be built fort miami then he struck across country to the upper kankakee from there he be made his way down the illinois to the present site of peoria where he built fort crevecoeur leaving in charge lit la salle started back to canada when he reached niagara at easter time in icso it was to find news of disaster the griffin with nil all of her rich cargo of furs had bad been lost la salle hurried on to montreal and once more sought the aid of frontenac again he was provided with the necessary equipment for carrying out his projects and within a few months he was again at fort Fron frontenac tenne and ready to join at crevecoeur just as he was ready to leave however there came the news that the garrison at the fort on the illinois had mutinied mutinies muti nied and destroyed the post la salles one hope now was that the faithful had held on and had saved something from the wreckage of his plans cut but when he readier reached crevecoeur be found gone cone to green bay and the place deserted undaunted by this climax to his misfortunes tile the norman pushed on down the illinois until ile he readied reached the mississippi bilut his party was too small to attempt an expedition down this great river so la salle once more retraced his weary steps northward ile he spent tile the winter at fort miami and in tile the spring he learned that was waa at and there he hastened to hear bear from his trusted lieutenant the long iong tale of disaster of this interview ao an eyewitness eye witness writes anyone else would have thrown up his hands and abandoned the enterprise but far from thi ehte with a firmness and constancy that never had its equal I 1 saw him film more resolved than ever to continue his work and push forward his discovery la salle was now determined to continue with his plan for exploring the mississippi returning once more to fort Fron frontenac tenae he replenished his supplies lles and in the autumn of 1681 he be set out once more with for the Illi country then followed his bis journey down uie the illnois illinois river to the mississippi and the beginning of the great journey malch took place just 2 50 years tears ago aco Q by weerd union unia |
