The Independent-News, Volume 102, Number 32, Walkerton, St. Joseph County, 13 January 1977 — Page 8

JANUARY 13. 1977 - THE INDEPENDENT-NEWS

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LaSalle Expedition II consists of 23 men following in LaSalle's footsteps from Montreal. Canada to the Gulf of Mexico via the route described in the accompaning story. Ihe weather is much worse than when the actual expedition took place in 1678. Here are some of the men carrying and dragging their canoes through the Kankakee portage to find open water along the banks of the river. In all they are struggling with 5.000 pounds of gear LaSalk 1643 March 19, 1687 Rene Robert Cavelier. Sieur de LaSalle was a member of the wellknown family of Caveliers of Rouen. France, the son of a wealthy burgher merchant. He was educated by the Jesuits, w ho then controlled the best schools in the world. A brother of his was a Sulpician priest in Canada. With what little pocketmoney he could get. LaSalle sailed for Canada, reaching Quebec in 1666. whence he went on immediately to Montreal. then little more than a mis- * sion of the Sulpicians. He acquired a large tract of land at what is now Lachine. at the head of the rapids. 9 miles above Montreal. I his place was well situated for the fur trade. LaSalle learned from the Seneca Indians that far to the west was a beautiful river flowing through the forest to join another great river I which flowed far to the south and

- When night has fallen, the kettles arc swung and the fires are burning.

emptied into the Vermilion Sea. It did not take him long to make up his mind that here was a chance to serve his nation and also himself. This, he thought, was the rivet that would lead him to the South Sea and thus open a route to India. The governor and the priests of Canada were easily won over to the enterprise, especially since LaSalle undertook to pay all expenses himself. For this purpose he sold his grant at Lachine. By July b. 1669. LaSalle with 24 men in seven canoes was ready to start from Lachine. His men paddled the canoes up the St. Lawrence and into Lake Ontario. In 35 days from the time they left camp they had reached a small bay on the south side of Lake Ontario near the mouth of the Seneca river. Here they left their boats, and went with some Seneca Indians to their village. The Senecas did not take kindly to LaSalles's plan of going to the Ohio, and refused to show him the way. The latter w^nt back to his canoes and continued westward on the lake to Niagra River. At an Indian village in this neighborhood he met a party of warriors returning with a Pottawattomie prisoner LaSalle ransomed the prisoner with the agreement that this Frenchman lead him to the Ohio. Tradition has it that the party then come on southward from Lake Erie until they reached a branch of the Ohio. This stream they descended to its month; thence down

photos by Michael Pearish the Ohio as far as the Falls at Louisville. Here LaSalle's men deserted him and turned back to the east, leaving their captain alone to find his way back to Canada as best he could. Having returned to the Great Lakes. LaSalle is said by Margry to have sailed westward across Lake Erie, through the Detroit River and Lake Huron, around to the southern point of Lake Michigan, to have crossed over to the Illinois river, followed it down to the Mississippi and to have floated far enough down the Mississippi to assure himself that it emptied into the Gulf of Mexico. That he discovered the Ohio, there is little doubt, but of his early discovery of the Mississippi we cannot be sure. During the following six or seven years he does not seem to be active. However, he never forgot the rivers he had seen or heard of and the opportunities they held for fur trade and colonization. Compared with the frozen wastes of Canada, the prairies and river bottoms of Illinois and Indiana seemed fairyland. The road from Quebec, though, was too long and dangerous. so he planned to reach the new field byway of the Mississippi. By the year 1678 everything being in readiness he started west to open up the fur trade of upper Canada. While spending the following winter at Frontenac on Lake Ontario, he built a small ship called

the Griffin. With this he sailed through Lake Eric and up the Detroit River, across Lake St. Clair into Lake Huron, through the Straits of Mackinac into Lake Michigan. landing in September at Green Bay. The ship started back to Niagara. The explorers came on down the southern shore of Lake Michigan and paddled around to the mouth of the St. Joseph River, which they called Miamis. reaching this place by November I. Here near the mouth of the river, they built a fort — the little Fort Miamis — while they were waiting for Lciutenant Henri de Tonty and his companions. who were coming overland. December 3 the party, numbering 28. started in eight canoes for the Illinois country, going byway of the Kankakee portage. They ascended the St. Joseph of the Lakes until they reached the south bend, near where the city of South Bend now stands. They watched carefully for the portage path which they had been told was in that neighborhood and by which they hoped to reach the Illinois. Unfortunately while the Mohegan hunter was absent they passed the path without noticing it. While LaSalle was on shore searching for it he became seperated from his men. Night came on bringing with it a snowstorm. Wrapped in their blankets the weary explorers laydown to sleep. Meanwhile their leader, hopelessly lost, found a grass bed. prepared by an Indian, and in that he passed the night. So fared these early white visitors to Indiana, the first of whom we have any clear and reliable account. At four o'clock the next day LaSalle regained the river and soon found his men. The Indian guide who had meantime been hunting for the trail (which he finally found) had returned also and together they started on the portage path for the Kankakee, five miles distant. It did not take them long to reach the Kankakee, a narrow ribbon of water, flowing drowsily through the tufts of swamp grass, obstructed here and there with clusters of alder bushes and pools of still water. In this stream they launch cd their canoes and floated slowly westward toward the Illinois country. Game was scarce and provisions ran low. Finally, when almost exhausted they found a buffalo bull mired in the swamp. They killed him. dragged him out. and feasted. They then floated on down the river into the Illinois, and down that river until they came to a high cliff overlooking the left bank of the stream. Nearby was a large Indian town, but no Indians. Here LaSalle determined to build a fort and gather around him the Indian tribes of the region which now embraces the greater part of Ohio. Indiana, Illinois and Kentucky. To this place he determined to transport his goods and establish a central trading station for all this western country. The site chosen was the favorite dwelling place of the Illinois Indians. In the vicinity were encamped the Peoria Indians, Miamis. Piankeshaws. Mascoutins. Weas and others from far and near. He built the fort and named it St. Louis in rememberance of his king Louis XIV. In the autumn of 1680 the fort was raided by a war party of Iroquois and was destroyed. LaSalle returned to Indiana during 1682-83 trying again to rebuild the fort for the fur traders trying to persuade the Indians to settle once more around the fort. Indiana was almost deserted of her native popu lation. But the failure of the plan was assured even before LaSalle s death. Had it prospered, what later became the Northwest Territory would have become an immense fur-trading field with the Indians as the fur gatherers. After the downfall of LaSalle, there was a general migration of the tribes, due to a weakening of French influence. History of Indiana Eaarey

January 4 and 5, 1977, LaSalle Expedition II stopped on the Kan kakee river and camped at the bank where State Road 104 crosses the river. LaPorte County. Many area residents went out to see and talk to the men. 23 in all, who art having a rough time of completing the expedition due to the hard winter in the region. R.E.A.L. SERVICES NUTRITION PROGRAM JANUARY 13 - 21 THURSDAY Juice Beef Stroganoff Noodles Pears Harvard beets Rye bread and margarine Milk. tea. coffee FRIDAY (Birthday Day) Juice Breaded pork pattie Sweet potatoes Broccoli Cornbread and margarine Birthday cake Milk, tea, coffee MONDAY Juice Breaded veal Creamed corn Perfection salad Applesauce cake Whole wheat bread and margar ine Milk. tea. coffee TUESDAY Juice Ham and bean stew Cole slaw Cornbread and margarine Cookie Milk. tea. coffee WEDNESDAY Double barbecued chicken Potato salad Buttered spinach Bread and margarine Peaches Milk. tea. coffee THURSDAY (Florida Citrus Day) Grapefruit juice Florida orange-glazed double chicken Tropical rice Honda citrus cup Bread and margarine Milk. tea. coffee FRIDAY Juice Chicken sloppy joe over rice Tossed salad Apricots Bread and margarine Milk. tea. coffee ON PRESIDENT’S UST FOR FALL QUARTER Students named to the President's List for the fall quarter at Tri-State University, having achieved a 3.75 grade point average or better, include Bruce E. Davhuff. son of Mr. and Mrs. Roy Dayhuff. 106 Clark. Walkerton. A graduate of John Glenn High School, he is majoring in accounting. iheb® WAwim, ImOhub - Ruao If OT Friday, Saturday, Sunday, January 14, IS, 16 Doors Open At 6:45 p.m. Shows At 7:00 A 900 p.m. From the devious mind of Alfred Hitchcock, a diabolically enter taining motion picture. Family Plot Rated • PG” Coming Next THE GNOME-MOBILE A Walt Disney Picture Lucky Show Goora RONALD BELLINGER Walkerton