the camp-fires of five hundred iroquois glowed in the frosty night air, the smoke hovering above like a drifting cloud under the moon. some of the five hundred lay sleeping, their weapons close to their hands, while others were standing guard against possible danger. many weeks had passed since they had hounded the illinois out of the valley of the river that bore their name, and now all up and down its length was quiet. no illinois village along the shores sent the smoke of its lodge-fires upwards. no winter hunting party camped by the frozen stream. at the same time, though deserted by its ancient dwellers, the valley was not wanting signs of the thing which had caused their departure. the moon which that night hung over the returning iroquois shone upon all the length of the river, revealing scenes for a hundred leagues that spoke as plainly of the iroquois passing as does the track in fresh snow tell of the passing of a wolf.
the trail began at the great village of the kaskaskias. here the pale light fell upon the half-burned ruins of lodges, the scattered contents of the caches, the desecrated graveyard, and the wolves that with savage howls still hung about the town their human cousins had ravaged. down the river went the trail marked by ashes of deserted camps, past the lodges of the peorias, the ruined fort crèvec?ur, and the ribs of the unfinished ship gleaming white in the moonlight. then came the ashes of more camps, always facing each other as they followed the river down to the open meadow near the mouth where stood the grim figures of the tortured tamaroas.
no, the trail of the iroquois was not hard to trace in the illinois valley. nor was it a difficult task for an indian to find the route they had taken when, after massacring the tamaroas, they had moved across country to the valley of the ohio river many leagues to the southeast. the iroquois warriors, proud of their victories and glorying in their cruel deeds, traveled with little fear. laden with furs and plunder, with scores of illinois slaves in their camp, they did not know that they were being followed. but they were. the kaskaskia chief, paessa, who had set out with a war band against the sioux before the iroquois raid, had now come back to the valley of his nation only to find ruins and the well-marked trail of the iroquois.
there were only a hundred in the band, but in their desire for revenge they knew no such thing as numbers. with fury adding to their speed they started upon the track of the enemy and now night by night through the ohio valley their camp-fires were coming nearer to those of the iroquois. the iroquois were moving on toward home. far to the east lay their villages of long houses in the land where the ohio river had its northern source. they had scattered the illinois and devastated their country. the weaker miamis they had not harmed, perhaps because they had not yet found it to their advantage. but now they were entering the hunting-grounds of the miamis who ranged from the lake of the illinois south as far as the ohio.
they happened one day upon a party of miami hunters and without hesitation the iroquois fell upon them, killing some and adding others to the illinois prisoners whom they were carrying home. the winter descended upon them with such vigor that they halted and built three forts at the corners of a triangle, each fort at two leagues distance from the others. here the miamis sent a delegation asking for the release of their captives. but they were mocked at by the vainglorious iroquois. then they offered a present of three thousand beaver skins as a ransom for their men. the overbearing conquerors, having attacked their own allies, now committed an unpardonable sin against indian custom. they accepted the gift of the miamis, but refused to release their captives. the miamis sadly realized that they had deserted their neighbors, the illinois, only to ally themselves to a band of traitors.
the winter did not halt the avenging party under paessa. and one night the daring band slipped between two of the forts and pitched camp in the middle of the iroquois triangle. at daybreak some in those forts should taste death for the outraged graveyard and for the trampled meadow where tamaroas had died.
but that same night two iroquois hunters saw their camp-fire and approached to see who they were. one of the two had entered the camp when a young and rash illinois brave, unable to contain himself, leaped upon him and struck him dead. quick as a flash the other was gone. their secret was out. surprise was now impossible and the band prepared for a terrific encounter. it came with the daylight. on every side the iroquois bore down upon them. outnumbered five to one, the brave illinois held their ground all through the winter day. at evening both sides withdrew. a third of the dauntless hundred were dead, among them the gallant paessa. yet with the morning the unconquerable band again took up the fight. three times they hurled themselves upon the enemy. at last, seeing the hopelessness of their battle, they drew away and cleared themselves from the hated triangle.
the news of these battles in the ohio valley passed quickly throughout the miami tribes. the chiefs at the great village on the headwaters of the kankakee, near the foot of the lake of the illinois, pondered over the situation in council with much concern. they had allied themselves with the iroquois against the illinois, and now their iroquois allies had treacherously attacked them. in view of the indomitable courage which the illinois had just displayed in the battle of the triangle, what would happen to the miamis when the iroquois were gone and the illinois tribes came back to avenge themselves upon their neighbors?
they had other important things to think about as well. a few leagues north of their village, where the st. joseph river emptied into the lake, there had lain for many months the ruins of fort miami, built a year before by la salle and demolished in april by the deserters from fort crèvec?ur. but now fort miami was rebuilt; for out of the east la salle had come again. away back in july on distant lake ontario he had found some of the fort crèvec?ur deserters, shot two who showed fight, and captured the rest. then he had set out to the illinois country to rescue tonty; but it was november before he landed at the mouth of the st. joseph river. on the day that his canoes touched shore, tonty, sick and more than half-starved, was struggling northward along the west shore of the lake, trying to reach the french settlements with the news of the iroquois raid.
la salle left some of his men to rebuild the fort and pushed on down the kankakee, his anxiety for tonty steadily increasing. at the kaskaskia village he struck the trail the iroquois had left behind them, and followed it down the river to the meadow of massacre near the mouth. nowhere did he find trace of tonty, and with heavy heart he came back to his men at fort miami. in his absence a band of new england indians, mostly abenakis and mohegans, had pitched their lodges about the fort, and when la salle appeared they joined themselves to his party and swore to follow him as their chief.
one important fact now stood out clearly in the mind of la salle. if he was to accomplish anything in the exploration and settlement of the mississippi valley, he must bring the miamis, the illinois, the shawnees, and other inhabitants of the great valley into such firm alliance with each other and with himself that they need have no fear from iroquois or any other invaders. if he could get such an alliance started, he would feel free to make his long-delayed trip to the mouth of the mississippi and open up trade by that means with france across the seas. with this in mind he took fifteen men and set out on the 1st of march to open communication with the illinois, occasional bands of whom were beginning to wander back into their valley.
the men traveled easily over the snow with their snowshoes, but the glare of the sun was so intense that la salle was stricken for several days with snow-blindness. while he lay suffering, unable to see or to sleep, some of his men came upon tracks which led them to the lodges of a hunting party of fox indians, from whom they learned to their great joy that tonty was alive and had reached a village of pottawattomies on green bay. they also learned that ako and hennepin and the picard had returned safely to the settlements on the lake.
pressing on down the valley, not long afterwards, he met with a band of illinois. they told him the story of the iroquois raid and showed him letters from black-robed priests, which had been given them by the iroquois. these letters seemed to be in the nature of passports safeguarding the iroquois in case of their capture by the illinois. the illinois added that their enemies had other letters addressed to father allouez, and they interpreted the whole affair as meaning that the black gowns wished them to be attacked.
now la salle had for many years disliked the jesuits, and he had accused them of trying to block his plans and wreck his enterprises. especially did he hate the black-robed father allouez. the priest knew this, and it was the news of la salle’s coming that had caused him to slip out of the village of the kaskaskias on that christmas eve of 1679. but now la salle wished to quiet the fears of the illinois, and so he assured them that their distrust of the black-robed priests was groundless. he told them of his plans to start a colony in the illinois valley and settle many french soldiers there to protect the tribes that made their homes along the river; and he urged them to make friends again with the miamis and join forces with them against their common foe from the outside.
the illinois were well pleased with the plans of la salle, and they went off promising to carry his message to their people. la salle sent a messenger to tell tonty to wait for him at mackinac, and then returned to his fort on the st. joseph. he had made a beginning with the illinois; his next step was to bring the miamis into an alliance.
in the miami village south of his fort, during this time, there was much uncertainty. the indians watched the white men’s movements with anxiety and dreaded the wrath of the illinois when they should return. yet the iroquois still seemed to hold them under a spell. into the miami village that spring came three iroquois warriors, swaggering and boastful. but in spite of their treachery the miamis dared not harm them. the visitors told of their feats of battle, derided the french, and urged the miamis to continue the war against the illinois.
but one fine spring day la salle himself, with ten of the despised frenchmen and a handful of new england indians, entered the village. with curious eyes the miamis watched the boastful iroquois. would they defy the french now? upon the moment of la salle’s arrival, the three warriors made haste to visit him and pay him devout respect. but the white chief received them coldly, threatened them, and dared them to say in his presence what they had said before his coming. abashed and silent they slunk away and fled from the village that night.
the miamis had had their lesson—a lesson which they had been slow to learn. the discomfiture of the boasting iroquois had broken the last tie that held them to their false friends of the five nations. they came together now in a grand council with la salle in the lodge of the principal chief, and in order that all might hear they stripped the bark sides from the lodge and opened it up to the throng outside.
