Show gamt foila 9 0 item man mara 99 audom 7 fir UN vi L nicoleta Nico letS Meet the at green bau aaa w CAT S alfbert berthe the painting by EX E deming n the wis konsin ft tr 1 I I 1 tf S A SYU f 46 old fort mackinac on by ELMO SCOTT WATSON the last presidential campaign we heard a great deal about the forgotten man even though no one seems to have known exactly who he was and why he was forgotten this summer tardy honors hollors are to be paid to a real forgotten man one whose name and whose right to fame have been allowed to remain in obscurity for a matter of years lie ile was jean nicolet a french courier de bols indian interpreter and explorer the discoverer of 0 lake michigan and the first white man to visit the present states of michigan and wisconsin in view of the latter fact it would seem appropriate it if either or both of these states had chosen to perpetuate his name in at least one ot or its towns counties or rivers but you will search the gazetteer in vain for such a name it Is true that a nicolet tablet was dedicated on mackinac island in michigan by the mackinac island state park commission and tile the michigan historical commission on july 13 1915 1015 and that in the wisconsin state historical society at madison hangs a painting by edwin willard deming depicting Nico nicoleta lets meeting with the poes goes on the shores ot of green hay bay but aside from these memorials he has been neglected by two commonwealths who had the best beet reason for remembering him however july 1 ot of this bear ear marks the beginning of 0 the tercentennial celebration of the state of I 1 michigan and the week of july I 1 to 8 will be observed as nicolet week on mackinac island where here a pageant sponsored by tile the michigan daughters of the american revolution daughters of 1812 and the michigan historical commission will help bring his name out of the obscurity into which it lias has been lost for three centuries and make it better known not only to citizens of that state but to all americans as well nicolet was born in cherbourg Cher bourg france about 1598 and as a young man he be Is described as being full of religious zeal and enthusiasm and possessed of a consuming desire for adventure this naturally led him to seek hla big fortune la in frances dominions across the atlantic and in 1618 he cast his bis lot with champlain Champl aln the founder of new deiv france champlain Champl aln already had instituted a policy ot of sending promising young followers to the indians indiana so BO that they could gain a knowledge of the languages customs country and woodmore wood lore of the red man nicolet was sent to the Algon quins on the isle des cs Allu in the ottawa river here he 1 lived I ed among the indians as one ot of them and for two years did not see a fellow countryman lle be coming a trusted friend he be was made one of an embassy embassy of some Algon quins who journeyed to the iroquois and negotiated a temporary peace with that traditional enemy after his two years with the Algon quIns nicolet next took up residence with the sings dear the lake which bears their name ile he re there for eight or nine years tie ile was recalled by champlain Champl aln in 1033 1633 and instructed to prepare for the trip into the western estera wilderness to learn of those distant western people who biad neither calr nor beards and who journeyed lot in great el canoes lOes lt it was belied these people might be the orl ori ti CO dentals marco polo had bad written about several centuries before and that to in finding them the ions iong sought new route to china might be discovered that was why nicolet carried with liim him a superb robe of chinese damask embroidered all over with flowers and birds lie ile was prepared to make a proper appearance on meeting the chinese mandarins nicolet left three rivers hirers que july 1 in company with three jesuits fathers Bre beut beuf daniel and cavost who were accompanying a band of hirons on their way home from their annual trading visit to quebec lie ile traveled with them to the isles des Allu where he lingered tor for a time with his friends the algon quins quills later he joined the jesuits at where he assembled a party of seven and embarked in a frail canoe for his journey into the west crossing lake huron the party journeyed up st marys river to what Is now sault ste marle returned south then proceeded west through the straits of mackinac and paddled out oat into lake michigan which was known then and tor for many years afterward as tile the lake of the illinois continuing southward nicolet and his indian friends entered green bay and near the head of that body of water lie he found the people he had been to find the Winnebago es who had come to blows with the Ilu rons allies of the french and with whom lie he had been charged to negotiate a peace when he neared the winnebago town he sent a messenger ahead to announce his coming and having put on oil ills his gorgeous robe followed him on the scene writes william henry johnson in french pathfinders Path finders in north america wever never did a circus making its grand entry into a village age in all the glory of gilded chariots and brass band inspire deeper awe than tills this primitive prim itlie ambassador bas with his laming flaming robe and a pair of pistols which lie he fired continually ills pale face the first the Winnebago es had ever seen gave them a sense of something unearthly the squaws squads and children led fled into tile the woods shrieking that it was a manitou spirit armed with thunder and lightning the warriors however blood their ground bravely and later entertained him with a feast of one hundred and twenty beaver but if nicolet did not dot succeed in opening relations with cathay and china and japan lie he did something else that entitles entities him to be commemorated among the pathfinders Path finders tic ile ascended fox river to its headwaters crossed the little div ide that separates the waters flowing into the lakes from those that empty into the gulf of mexico Id exIco and launched his canoe on the wisconsin first white man so tar far as we know who floated on one of the upper tributaries tributa ries of 0 the mighty alier nicolet made such a favorable impression on tile the that he was able to negotiate a treaty with them by which they agreed to take their tura furs to the french posts on the st lawrence lie ile niso also won the friendship of the mas ilas coutlis cou tins spent the winter with them and R nd returned to quebec in to report to of his adventures in the west eight years after this historic journey nicolet net met a tragic death in ID the st SL lawrence river py by this time lime lie he was the chief official of the trading company at quebec and ills his influence among the indians indiana was perhaps greater man that of any other mari man of his time in igia word reached quebec that a thea all helped make history at mackinac indian 11 was as about to be put to death by the tile the were allies of the iroquois and nicolet knew that it if the Algon quIns killed the captive that it meant a renewal ot of the bloody strife between the Algon quIns and the iroquois it was then late in october and ice was forming lo in the river nicolet hastened aboard a shallop making for sillery A squall struck the boat overturning it and throwing nicolet Nl colet a friend and the crew into the icy water one by one they went doun don n only nicolet and one other it nere ere left then chilled by the bitter cold and exhausted in his vain attempt to reach shore nicolet called to ills his friend make for the shore de chavigny 1 you can swim did goodby good by to my wife and children 1 I 1 am going to god A moment later he disappeared forever nicolet Nl colet was not dot a great explorer like acnam champlain declared father campbell eH who spoke at the dedication of the nicolet tablet on the island in 1915 not a picturesque governor like frontenac or even a successful discoverer like marquette nor a martyr like the devoted jesuit missionaries who followed the nicolet train into the northa est breleur Bre Leuf bogues daniel and garreau since canonized by the C hurch church of rome ile he was as simply an indian interpreter and explorer unspoiled hy by selfish ambition or surroundings calculated to destroy every noble ambition who proved beneath so plain an exterior to bo be a man whose virtues may be proposed to the youth of our country as an example and an inspiration in his tribute to nicolet another great churchman right night rev bishop frank A obrien len has said under the banner of the cross he be went forward ile he led his chosen bands through wilds unknown nicolet was intrepid unafraid majestic and courageous certainly such a person deserves a better fate than to be a forgotten man in american history and one of the purposes of the pageant that Is being given la in northern michigan an Is I 1 to pay him a richly deserved though belated tribute but he Is not the only historic figure who la is to be memorialized during the week tor for the whole thrilling story of the straits settlements mackinac Mackl nac sault ste marle marie and st agn ignace ce ls to be depleted depicted by costumed performers included in the episodes of tile the pageant besides the arrival of nicolet Nl colet are the coming of the jesuit missionaries the era of the explorers jollet la salle and the rule of cadel lac at the original name of the place the british regime and the famous massacre there during pontiacs lont Ponti lacs acs war the contest between the british and the americans for possession of this strategic spot during the revolution and again during the war of and the beginning of the american fur trade I 1 under john jacob astor for all of these are links in the chain of history which began on a july d day ay years ago with tile the coming of that forgotten man who Is now BOW being honored jean nicolet Nl colet the frenchman intrepid majestic unafraid 0 by western val |