Page:History of Goodhue County, Minnesota.djvu/98

 66 HISTORY OF GOODHUE COUNTY be assured that I shall not fail to act promptly. As to the sum- mons you sent me to retire, I do not think I am obliged to obey. Whatever may be your instructions, I am here by order of my general, and I beg you not to doubt for a moment but that I am determined to conform with the exactness and resolution that becomes a good officer. I do not know that in the progress of this campaign anything has passed which can be regarded as an act of hostility or contrary to the treaties between the two crowns, the continuation of which pleases us as much as it does the English. If you had been pleased to enter into particulars as to the facts which caused your complaint, I should have been honored to give you as full and satisfactory reply as possible. I have made it a duty to receive M. Washington with distinction on account of your dignity and his personal worth. I have the honor to be, Monsieur, your very humble and very obedient servant. "L. DE ST. PIERRE. "At the Fort. December 15, 1753." How little did these two men, who so thoroughly appreciated the personal qualities of the other, realize that the far-away wilderness, in which St. Pierre had built a fort among the Sioux, was one day to be a rich and populous part of a great nation, whose sons would be proud to honor the other as their greatest hero. In the French and Indian war, after the defeat of Brad- dock, who was sent against Fort Duquesne, this same St. Pierre, a most gallant soldier and accomplished gentleman, was fatally wounded in a battle near Lake George, while leading the Indian allies of the French army. His last words were: "Fight on, boys; this is Johnson, not Braddock." From this circumstance, it is believed that St. Pierre had the distinction of meeting Wash- ington on the field of battle, when the latter was serving under General Braddock in his unsuccessful expedition against Fort Duquesne. In 1750 the Sioux begged to have the post on Lake Pepin re-established, and the governor of Canada sent Marin, the Indian fighter whom St. Pierre succeeded in the valley of the Ohio, to take command. Later, Marin was ordered east, leaving his son, the chevalier, in command. The war between the Eng- lish and the French made a concentration of forces advisable, and the fort at Lake Pepin was abandoned. This time it was not destroyed, and was used by traders for a year or so after- ward. The last occupancy of which anything is known was in 1754. The above narrative of the early days of Frontenac has been written after a study of authorities, ancient and modern, and the consultation of various manuscripts, taken together with a con- sideration of probabilities. It is doubtless as correct an account