to untried circumstances; for a sublime magnanimity, that resigned itself to the will of Heaven,
and yet triumphed over affliction by energy of purpose and unfaltering hope — he had no superior among his countrymen. He had won the affections of the governor of Canada, the esteem of
Colbert, the confidence of Seignelay, the favor of
Louis XIV. After the beginning of the colonization of Upper Canada, he perfected the discovery
of the Mississippi from the Falls of St. Anthony
to its mouth; and he will be remembered through
all time as the father of colonization in the great
central valley of the West."*
Avarice, passion and jealousy were not calmed by the blood of La Salle. All of his conspirators perished by ignoble deaths, while only seven of the six- teen succeeded in continuing the journey until they reached Canada, and thence found their way to France.
Tonti, who had been left at Fort St. Louis, on "Starved Rock" on the Illinois, went down in search of his beloved commander. Failing to find him, he returned and remained here until 1700, thousands of miles away from friends. Then he went down the Mississippi to join D" Iberville, who had made the discovery of the mouth of the Mississippi by an ocean voyage. Two years later, he went on a mission to the Chickasaws, but of his subsequent history nothing is known.
The West was now in possession of the French. La Salle's plans were yet feasible. The period of exploration was now over. The great river and its outlet was known, and it only remained for that nation to enter in and occupy what to many a Frenchman was the "Promised Land." Only eighteen years had elapsed since Marquette and Joliet had descended the river and shown the course of its outlet. A spirit, less bold than La Salle's would never in so short a time have penetrated for more than a thousand miles an unknown wilderness, and solved the mystery of the world.
When Joutel and his companions reached France in 1688, all Europe was on the eve of war. Other nations than the French wanted part of the New World, and when they saw that nation greedily and rapidly accumulating territory there, they endeavored to stay its progress. The league of Augsburg was formed in 1687 by the princes of the Empire to restrain the ambition of Louis XIV, and in 1688, he began hostilities by the capture of Philipsburg. The next year, England, under the
lead of William III, joined the alliance, and Louis found himself compelled, with only the aid of the Turks, to contend against the united forces of the Empires of England, Spain, Holland, Denmark, Sweden and Norway. Yet the tide of battle wavered. In 1689, the French were defeated at Walcourt, and the Turks at Widin; but in 1690, the French were victorious at Charleroy, and the Turks at Belgrade. The next year, and also the next, victory inclined to the French, but in 1693, Louvois and Luxemberg were dead and Namur surrendered to the allies. The war extended to the New World, where it was maintained with more than equal success by the French, though the English population exceeded it more than twenty to one. in 1688, the French were estimated at about twelve thousand souls in North America, while the English were more than two hundred thousand. At first the war was prosecuted vigorously. In 1689, De. Ste. Helene and D'lberville, two of the sons of Charles le Morne, crossed the wilderness and reduced the English forts on Hudson's Bay. But in August of the same year, the Iroquois, the hereditary foes of the French, captured and burned Montreal. Frontenac, who had gone on an expedition against New York by sea, was recalled. Fort Frontenac was abandoned, and no French posts left in the West between Trois Rivieres and Mackinaw, and were it not for the Jesuits the entire West would now have been abandoned. To recover their influence, the French planned three expeditions. One resulted in the destruction of Schenectady, another, Salmon Falls, and the third, Casco Bay. On the other hand, Nova Scotia was reduced by the colonies, and an expedition against Montreal went as far as to Lake Champlain, where it failed, owing to the dissensions of the leaders. Another expedition, consisting of twenty-four vessels, arrived before Quebec, which also failed through the incompetency of Sir William Phipps. During the succeeding years, various border conflicts occurred, in all of which border scenes of savage cruelty and savage ferocity were enacted. The peace of Ryswick, in 1697, closed the war. France retained Hudson's Bay, and all the places of which she was in possession in 1688; but the boundaries of the English and French claims in the New World were still unsettled.
The conclusion of the conflict left the French at liberty to pursue their scheme of colonization in the Mississippi Valley. In 1698, D'lberville was sent to the lower province, which, erelong, was made a separate independency, called Louisiana.
- Bancroft.
