XIV, 'more than was contributed by all the English monarchs together, for the twelve united colonies on the Atlantic."

The summer of 1685 was spent in the construction of this second fort, which was named Fort St. Louis, and La Salle, having finished its erection, set out with a selected party in canoes, in search of the Mississippi. After an absence of about four months, he returned in rags, having lost twelve or thirteen of his men, and completely failed in his object. His presence, however, as usual, inspired hope; and in April, 1686, another expedition was attempted, which was lured into the interior by brilliant fictions of exhaustless mines on the borders of Mexico. This expedition returned without effecting any other discovery than that of the great exuberance and fertility of the soil in the immediate neighborhood of the fort. La Salle had succeeded in obtaining a supply of maize and beans, and five horses from the Indians, but had suffered greatly; and of the twenty men he had taken with him only eight returned, the remainder having either fallen sick, died, or deserted. Affairs had been equally unprosperous at Fort St. Louis, during his absence. The only remaining ship was a wreck, and the colony had been rapidly thinned by privation, misery and exposure, until there remained nothing but a mere handful of desperate, disappointed men.

Amid the ruin of all his prospects, once so proud and flourishing, La Salle alone remained undaunted; and, as a last resource, determined to visit the French settlements in Illinois, or, if necessary, his feudal domain in Frontenac, in order to bring aid to his perishing colony. On the 12th of January, 1687, La Salle set out on his last expedition, accompanied by Joutel, across the prairies and forests of Louisiana. In his company were two men, Duhaut and L'Archevêque, who had both embarked capital in this enterprise. Each regarded the other for immediate purposes as his friend; and both were actuated by a spirit of bitterness and animosity against La Salle, whom they regarded as the author of all the calamities that had befallen them. Moranget, a nephew of La Salle, was also one of the party following the tracks of buffaloes, who chose by instinct the best routes. La Salle marched through groves and plains of astonishing fertility and beauty;

now fording the rapid torrents, and now building a bridge by throwing some monarch of the forest across the stream, until he had passed the Colorado, and came to a branch of the Trinity River.

On the 17th of March, 1687, the whole party engaged in a buffalo hunt. Duhaut and L'Archevêque, having been successful, sent their commander word, who immediately despatched his nephew Moranget to the camp. When Moranget came to the spot where Duhaut and the rest were stopping, he found they had reserved for themselves the very best parts of the buffaloes; and hasty and passionate, not considering where he was, nor with whom he was dealing, he "took from them their choice pieces, threatened them, and spoke harsh words." This enraged the mutinous spirits of Duhaut and his companions, who secretly took counsel together how to effect the destruction of Moranget and his associates. Night came on apace, and Moranget and his party having supped, wearied with their day's travel, laid themselves down to sleep on the prairie. Liotot, the surgeon, now took an axe, and with a few strokes killed Moranget and his comrades. Having good reason to fear the resentment of La Salle, the murderers next resolved to kill him also. Surprised at his nephew's delay, La Salle went forth on the 20th to seek him. Perceiving at a distance birds of prey, hovering as if over carrion, and suspecting himself to be in the immediate neighborhood of his men, La Salle fired a gun, which was heard by the conspirators, who were thus made aware of his approach. Duhaut and his associate hastened secretly to meet their victim-the former skulking in the grass, the latter showing himself. Where," said La Salle to L'Archevêque, “is my nephew." Before an answer could be returned, Duhaut fired and La Salle fell dead on the prairie. The murderers then approached, and, with cruel taunts, stripped the corpse, leaving it naked and unburied, to be devoured by the wild beasts of the wilderness.

Thus perished La Salle, and with him that colonial settlement which he had attempted to form. His fortitude and bravery must ever command admiration, while his cruel and undeserved death awakens feelings of pity and indignation. Although he was not

the discoverer, yet he was certainly the first settler of the Mississippi valley, and the father of colonization in the "far West." As such his memory is imperishable, and will ever be honored. The Illinois settlements of Peoria, Kaskaskias, and Cahokia, are the fruit of La Salle's labors. It is true he did not found these places, yet he gave them their inhabitants, for it was by those whom he led into the West that they were peopled. Perseverance and courage, combined with a noble ambition to promote the interests of his country, led him into a gallant but unsuccessful career of enterprise. He did what he could to benefit his country; and if he had lived he might have achieved much more splendid results.

i

CHAPTER VII.

THE SAULT STE. MARIE-FORT ST. JOSEPH-DETROIT FOUNDED — ITS EARLY CONDITION — ATTACKED BY THE OTTAWAS BY THE FOXESEARLY FRENCH TRAVELERS THROUGH THE LAKE REGION.

NO SETTLEMENT had at this time been made at Detroit, because the traders and Jesuit missionaries had a more direct and safer route to the upper lakes, from Montreal to Michilimackinac, by the way of the Ottawa River. But this point had long been regarded an eligible position for a settlement, as it commanded a broad tract of country, and stood, as it were, at the gate of the upper lakes, in a direct route from these lakes to the English colonies of New York, by the way of Lake Erie.

The French and English both desired to obtain possession of this post. But while the English were looking to its acquisition, they were anticipated by their rivals. Taking counsel from the movements of their opponents, the French called a grand meeting of the Iroquois, or Five Nations, at Montreal. The chiefs of the different tribes from the St. Lawrence to the Mississippi, attended this meeting; also the principal men and the Governor-General of Canada. Here the establishment of a post at that place was discussed, and the grounds on which the two nations based their claims to it weighed. The Iroquois, however, said that, understanding the French were about to make a settlement at that point, they were opposed to the measure, as they had already prohibited the English from doing the same. The Governor-General of Canada replied that the land belonged neither to the Iroquois nor to to the English, but to the King of France, and that there was already an expedition on the march for the purpose of erecting a colonial establishment at that place. In accordance with this plan, Antoine de la Motte Cadillac, lord of Bouaget, Mont Desert, having been granted a tract of fifteen acres square, by

Louis XIV, left Montreal, accompanied by a Jesuit missionary and one hundred men, and arrived at the point of the wilderness which is now the site of Detroit, in the month of July, 1701, where they commenced the foundation of the first permanent settlement

GEN. JOSEPH O. HUDNUT.

JOSEPH OPDYKE HUDNUT, son of Edward and Susan (Opdyke) Hudnut, was born at West Sparta, Livingston county, New York, June 30, 1824. He prepared for college at Genesee Academy, New York, under Prof. Robinson, author of Robinson's series of mathematics. Since graduation he has been engaged mostly in civil engineering, with the exception of two years and a half in the army during the war of secession. In the fall of 1849 he entered on his engineering profession, being engaged on the State canals of New York. He remained on the canals during 1849,