Page:History of Richland County, Ohio.djvu/32



Religious zeal as much as commercial prosperity had influenced France to obtain and retain the de- pendency of Canada. The commercial monopoly of a privileged company could not foster a colony; the climate was too vigorous for agriculture, and, at first there was little else except religious enthusiasm to give vitality to the province. Champlain had been touched by the simplicity of the Order of St. Francis, and had selected its priests to aid him in his work. But another order, more in favor at the Court, was interested, and succeed- ed in excluding the mendicant order from the New World, established themselves in the new domain and, by thus enlarging the borders of the French King, it became entrusted to the Jesuits.

This "Society of Jesus," founded by Loyola when Calvin's Institutes first saw the light, saw an unequaled opportunity in the conversion of the heathen in the Western wilds; and, as its members, pledged to obtain power only by influence of mind over mind, sought the honors of opening the way, there was no lack of men ready for the work. Through them, the motive power in opening the wilds of the Northwest was religion. "Religious enthusiasm," says Bancroft, "colonized New Eng- land,* and religious enthusiasm founded Montreal, made a conquest of the wilderness about the upper lakes, and explored the Mississippi."

Through these priests — increased in a few years to fifteen — a way was made across the West from Quebec, above the regions of the lakes, below which they dared not go for the relentless Mohawks. To the northwest of Toronto, near the Lake Iroquois, a bay of Lake Huron, in September, 1634, they raised the first humble house of the Society of Jesus among the Hurons. Through them, they learned of the great lakes beyond, and resolved one day to explore them and carry the Gospel of peace to the heathen on their shores. Before this could be done, many of them were called upon to give up their lives at the martyr's stake and received a martyr's crown. But one by one they went on in their good work. If one fell by hunger, cold, cruelty, or a terrible death, others stood ready, and carrying their lives in their hands, established other missions about the eastern shores of Lake Huron and its adjacent waters. The Five Nations were for many years hostile toward the French and murdered them and their red allies whenever opportunity presented. For a quarter of century, they retarded the advance of the missionaries, and then only after wearied after a long struggle, in which they began to see their power declining, did they relinquish their warlike propensities, and allow the Jesuits entrance to their country. While this was going on, the traders and Jesuits had penetrated farther and farther westward, until, when peace was declared, they had seen the southwestern shores of Lake Superior and the northern shores of Lake Michigan, called by them Lake Illinois.* In August, l654, two young adventurers penetrated the wilds bordering on these western lakes in company with a band of Ottawas. Returning, they tell of the wonderful the country they have seen, of its vast forests, its the abundance of game, its mines of copper, and excite in their comrades a desire to see and explore such a country. They tell of a vast expanse of the land before them, of the powerful Indian tribes dwelling there, and of their anxiety to become annexed to the Frenchman, of whom they have heard. The request is at once granted. Two missionaries, Gabriel Dreuillettes and Leonard Gareau, were selected as envoys, but on their way the fleet, propelled by tawny rowers, is met by a wandering band of Mohawks and by them is dispersed. Not daunted, others stood ready to go. The lot fell to Rene Mesnard. He is charged to visit the wilderness, select a suitable place for a dwelling, and found a mission. With only a short warning he is ready, "trusting," he says, "in the Providence which feeds the little birds of the desert and clothes the wild flowers of the forest." In October, 1660, he reached a bay, which he called St. Theresa, on the south shore of Lake Superior. After a residence of eight months, he yielded to the invitation of the Hurons who had taken refuge on the Island of St. Michael, and bidding adieu to his neophytes and the French, he departed. While on the way to the Bay of Che-goi-me-gon, probably at a portage, he became separated from his companion and was never after- ward heard of Long after, his cassock and his breviary were kept as amulets among the Sioux. Difficulties now arose in the management of the colony, and for awhile it was on the verge of dissolution. The King sent a regiment under command of the aged Tracy, as a safeguard against the Iroquois, now proving themselves enemies to


 * Mr. C. W. Butterfleld, author of Crawford's Campaign, and good authority, says: "John Nicholet, a Frenchman, left Quebec and Three Rivers in the summer of 1634, and visited the Hurons on Georgian Bay, the Chippewas at the Sault Ste. Marie, and the Winnebagoes in Wisconsin, returning to Quebec in the summer of 1635. This was the first white man to see any part of the Northwest Territory. In 1641, two Jesuit priests were at the Sault Ste. Marie for a brief time. Then two French traders reached Lake Superior, and after them came that tide of emigration on which the French based their claim to the country."