CHAPTER XIX. FRONTENAC'S SUCCESSORS, M. DE LA BARRE AND M. DE DENONVILLE 140. DURING the seven years subsequent to the departure of Frontenac in 1682, the position of Governor was occupied in succession by M. de la Barre and M. de Denonville. M. de la Barre had previously served his country against the Dutch at Cayenne, and against the English in the West Indies, and entered upon the governorship of New France with an honourable reputation. De Denonville also was a military officer of distinction. He had served in the armies of France as a colonel of dragoons, and was considered a soldier of proved courage and ability, and highly esteemed at the court of France. It will be seen that during the administration of these two rulers Canada was subjected to many disasters, so that, by the year 1689, the condition of the colony became deplorable, when Frontenac was re-appointed Governor, in order to rescue it from ruin. 141. At the time when M. de la Barre entered upon his office, the Iroquois felt emboldened by the withdrawal of the French chief, his predecessor, whom they had respected and feared, and whose tact and vigour had alone kept them within bounds. Instigated by Colonel Dongan, Governor of New York, they proclaimed themselves the allies of England, and repudiated the claims of the French to any territory south or west of the great lakes. Many acts of pillage were committed by them against the French traders, and they continued their hostile attacks upon the Illinois and other tribes under French protection. 142. M. de La Barre, after spending many months in vainly endeavouring to conciliate those barbarians, made preparations for war. Orders were sent to the commandants stationed at posts on the great lakes to furnish as many Frenchmen and friendly savages as possible. The missionaries serving among the people of the cantons were instructed to detach the Oneidas, Onondagas, and Cayugas, from the cause of the Senecas, against whom chiefly the Governor intended to direct his attacks. Men were sent to reinforce the garrison at Fort Frontenac, and the Governor in person went with a number of barges full of soldiers to Montreal. At this place, about twelve hundred troops, militia and savages, were assembled. 143. Proceeding to Lake Ontario, the army crossed over to the south shore, to a station called Famine, where deputies from the cantons presented themselves as negotiators for peace. Although they were scarcely courteous, and refused to accede to the Governor's demands relative to the Illinois, yet, as some of his other stipulations were agreed to, he somewhat hastily came to terms with them, and concluded a peace which was regarded as inglorious and disadvantageous throughout the colony. In the meantime, two hundred Canadians, with five hundred warriors belonging to the Hurons, Ottawas, and Outagamis, arrived from the west, only to find that their services were not needed. The result tended materially to alienate the feelings of those savages who had been hitherto friendly to the French. This abortive expedition occurred in September 1684. 144. The Governor, on his return to Quebec, had the mortification to find that not only did his own officers disapprove of his conduct, but also that the King, in letters from Paris, expressed hopes of soon hearing that the Iroquois were effectually chastised. As soon, however, as M. de la Barre's proceedings became known in France, through the reports brought by the latest vessels from Canada, he was superseded by the appointment of M. de Denonville, on the 1st of January 1685. 145. About this time, M. de St Vallier, the proposed successor of Bishop Laval, was in Canada, having come out for the purpose of making a tour through the colony, and through Acadia, preparatory to assuming the position of chief ecclesiastic of New France. He first went back to Paris, and subsequently, in 1688, returned to Canada, and was installed as Bishop of Quebec. Laval, at the time of his retirement, had been in the colony thirty years.* * M. Laval, after his resignation, continued to reside at Quebec, where he died in the year 1708, at the advanced age of eighty-six. He belonged to the noble French Montmorency family. Although, as has been mentioned in the text, he was of a haughty disposition, he was a hard-working and exemplary prelate. In two remarkable instances he gave proof of possessing a generous and forgiving disposition towards those who were willing to afford the occasion for its exercise, as in the case of De Mesy, and also M. de Queylus, who had both been extremely hostile to him. De Queylus, after having opposed Laval bitterly during several years, was forgiven and treated as a friend. The seminary founded by Laval in 1663 was transformed, in 1852, into the university which now bears his name. 146. De Denonville brought out instructions similar to those given to his predecessors relative to the Canadian Indians. He was to see that they were led to abandon savage life and adopt French manners and customs. He was to support and defend the French allies in the west, and to carry the war into the territory of the Iroquois, if, by so doing, he could humiliate them and secure the Illinois, Miamis, and Ottawas. 147. Denonville, after being a short time in the colony, saw that it was impossible to convert the Hurons and Algonquins into civilised beings, and he reported that “the savages who approach us do not become French; but the French who associate with the Indians become savages." He found that the English colonists intrigued with the Iroquois, sustaining and encouraging them in acts of hostility towards the French. French refugees also were encouraged to come to New York, and were employed as guides to lead English merchants into the Indian settlements on the borders of the great lakes. The Iroquois also behaved with great insolence towards the French, slaughtering their allies and pillaging their traders. Colonel Dongan advised the Iroquois not to visit the French stations for the purposes of traffic, and directed that efforts. be made to conciliate the Canadian Indians by restoring to them their prisoners, and also that the Iroquois at St Louis should be solicited to return to the cantons. Under these circumstances, the Governor saw that war was inevitable, and made his preparations accordingly during the years 1685 and 1686. The arrival of eight hundred recruits from France, in addition to about six hundred furnished to the colony during the time of M. de la Barre, at length enabled Denonville to mature his plans. 148. In the spring of 1687, the Governor assembled at Montreal a force consisting of one thousand militia, eight hundred regulars, and about three hundred Indians, Hurons, Algonquins, Abenaquis, and Iroquois of Sault St Louis. He caused a large number of Iroquois chiefs and warriors to be enticed to Fort Frontenac, and there seized and placed in confinement. Thence they were sent to France to work in the King's galleys. To accomplish this act of treachery, he employed the services of two Jesuit priests, who unwittingly co-operated in the design.* Moving up the St Lawrence with his army, Denonville crossed Lake Ontario to the south shore, where he constructed a small stone fort near the mouth of the river Genessee, to serve as a protection for the boats and batteaux of the expedition, and a place of refuge in case of disaster. Four hundred men were left to guard the post. Thence he marched towards the settlements of the Senecas. About the middle of July, a conflict took place between the French and about eight hundred Senecas advantageously posted, by whom the western allies were speedily put to flight and some disorder occasioned in the ranks of the regulars. Eventually the victory was gained by the French with a loss of six killed and twenty wounded. The Senecas retired into the forest, and Denonville with his army moved upon their nearest bourgade. After a slight skirmish the people of the village set fire to their own habitations, and then betook themselves to the woods. No less than four hundred thousand bushels of Indian corn were found and destroyed, besides a large number of hogs. The destruction of the provisions and growing crops of the Senecas occupied about ten days. At the end of this time, Denonville judged it expedient to retire, as there was no enemy to fight, and as the troops were attacked by *The Governor had received instructions from the court of France to select robust men from amongst his Iroquois prisoners to be sent home to man the King's galleys. |