the winter was a long one in the valley of the illinois. food was scarce and the little band at fort crèvec?ur had many hungry days. once there passed the peoria village a canoe headed downstream, and in it the indians recognized two of the men who had set out with la salle. the canoe was loaded to the gunwale with provisions. where could the white chief have found such a store? the answer came later from the lips of chassagoac himself when he returned from his winter hunt.
trailing through the woods one day chassagoac had seen the smoke of a camp-fire. drawing near with two of his men he met a strange white man who presented him with a red blanket, a kettle, and some hatchets and knives. chassagoac soon learned that the stranger was la salle, the chief of the company of white men who had settled near the peoria village. the white man knew the fame of chassagoac, and the two chiefs sat down for a long conference, during which la salle told of all the things that had happened at the village and explained to the red chief that his men at the fort were in sad need of food. if the red brother would furnish them with provisions he would repay him on his return from the east.
then, as the kindly chassagoac promised his help, the white chief went on to tell of his plans. he told of the fort and the great ship that was being built on the riverside. even now he was on his way to the east to make peace with the iroquois for the illinois, and he would come back with arms for their defense and with merchandise to distribute among them; and many more frenchmen would return with him to establish themselves at the illinois villages. he told of his plans for a great expedition down the river to its mouth, whence he could set up more easy trade and bring from across the sea goods of all kinds for the tribes of the illinois.
chassagoac was deeply interested, and with generous hand he filled a canoe with stores from the caches of the deserted kaskaskia village near at hand. he urged the white man to return soon, and assured him that what had been said about the beauty and the easy passage of the mississippi was all true. then after courteous leave-taking the two chiefs separated. la salle continued his way up the river, while two of his men paddled the canoe full of supplies down the stream to fort crèvec?ur. after parting from la salle, chassagoac went on with his hunting until the day when he came once more to the village of his people. here his arrival was welcomed by the indians, whose fears were perhaps somewhat quieted by his stanch belief in the white men. he spent much time with the gray-robed friars and talked with them of how he had met the black-gowned marquette on the distant shores of the lake of the illinois and had given him part of the deer he had killed. indeed, chassagoac thought so well of the teachings of the friars that he agreed to follow their strange manitou, and so was baptized after the manner of the frenchmen.
meanwhile two more frenchmen slipped down the river past the village to the fort, which they reached about the middle of april. at once there was much stirring among the whites, and soon tonty with a few of his men passed up the river toward the village of the kaskaskias. the indians were curious at this new move. some time before the veteran ako, together with the picard and the friar hennepin, had set off down the stream, and la salle with more men had gone up the river the day after. now even tonty was departing.
the indians watched closely the handful of men who remained in the stockaded walls. n?el le blanc and nicolas laurent, the two men who had lately arrived at the fort, had come with orders from la salle to tonty to build another fort at the upper village. in tonty’s absence, le blanc seemed to be moving about like a restless spirit, talking earnestly among the men. with the blacksmith and the ship carpenters in particular he appeared to be plotting some deep-laid scheme.
into the village of the peorias, likewise, crept strange whisperings and rumors. men from other villages came to tell them that their distrusted neighbors, the miamis, had been seeking an alliance with the hated iroquois. was the fort to be abandoned, and were the frenchmen to creep off by twos and threes leaving the peorias to be eaten by the iroquois?
presently those who watched the fort saw another party start out. this time there were five men in the canoe—father ribourde, boisrondet, l’espérance, and two others, petit-bled and boisdardenne. after their departure a strange commotion arose within the walls of the fort. ship carpenters ran here and there plundering the cabins: they tore down the doors, and pillaged and robbed on every hand. they even overturned the effects in the lodgings of the priests. hillaret and the brawny blacksmith forced open the storehouse and brought out powder and balls and arms, and furs and merchandise. from every corner of the fortress la roze and le blanc and their fellow-conspirators gathered things of value. then, loaded down with guns and beaver skins and fine linen and moccasins, they made for the riverside. one man with a sharp instrument scratched on the gleaming white timbers of the half-built ship the words, “nous sommes tous sauvages”—“we are all savages”—and the date: “ce 15 a—1680.” then off into the woods they vanished, leaving the fort wrecked and plundered.
meantime night had come upon the aged friar and his four companions on their way to tonty at the upper village. petit-bled and boisdardenne, in league with the conspirators at the fort, rose up and spiked the guns of l’espérance and boisrondet, and made off with the canoe after their fellows, leaving the recollet and the two young men to find their way on foot and without means of defense to the village of the kaskaskias.
tonty heard the news of the mutiny with consternation and anger, and hastened back to the ruined fort. everything of value seemed to have been taken, except the forge and some tools and arms too heavy for the deserters to carry on their flight. with this freight the heavy-hearted tonty made his way back to the kaskaskia village, where the lodges were once more filled by the returning warriors and hunters. after sending, by two routes, messengers to tell la salle of the catastrophe, tonty prepared for a new order of life. the fort and its garrison no longer gave him protection; but the man with the iron hand was no coward. with his fragment of a band he entered the village and asked the kaskaskias if he might live in their midst. they welcomed him to their kettles and their cabins, and shared with him and his men their food and their buffalo robes. the band of thirty or more that had come into the valley a few months before was now reduced to six—tonty and his friend boisrondet, the two young men, l’espérance and renault the parisian, and the two friars—father membré having come up from the lower village.
