THE OHIO VALLEY-GREAT LAKES ETHNOHISTORY
ARCHIVES: THE MIAMI COLLECTION
It is noted that the following work from the Miami Archives should be read and
considered within the historical context in which it was composed and printed.
The opinions expressed and the language used do not reflect the opinions or
standards of the Glenn A. Black Laboratory of Archaeology, but are, rather,
indicative of thought in that historical moment during which the document was
published.
Bigot to the Minister
(October 26, 1752)
Bigot, Francois in: Stevens and Kent,
eds., Wilderness Chronicles of
Northwestern Pennsylvania,
pp. 39-43.
I beg of you, Monseigneur, that you will not refuse the reward I ask for those who deserve it.
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I am with profound respect, |
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Monseigneur, |
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Your very humble and very obedient servant, |
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DUQUESNE |
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Quebec, Oct. 21, 1752.
BIGOT6 TO
THE MINISTER
[Arch. Nat., C11 A 98, f. 269]
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Oct. 26, 1752 |
Monseigneur,
I am replying to the letter which you did me the honor to write on July tenth by the vessel St. Maudet, which we had dispatched to you, and which returned the eighth of this month.
By it we received 600 quarts of flour and 100 kettles which I had the honor to ask you for. I immediately sent them to Montreal. The flour served to supply our forts; without this help, their garrisons would have suffered during the winter. What I had transported by the consignment of S. Gradis was not sufficient; the mills still having no water at all prevented me from sending any of the new harvest from there.
I see, Monseigneur, that you did not approve of the decision made by M. de Longueuil, to send a detachment of 400 men to the Miamis during the summer, to winter there while waiting for a reinforcement of five or six hundred men, who would have gone to join them by way of the Belle Riviere in the springtime. Lack of provisions for this detachment's journey prevented it from setting out in July; but I had everything that was necessary for it taken to Detroit in May and June, which cost a great deal, both for provisions bought at an excessive price and for transportation.
The plan of M. de Longueuil was, in fact, to subdue the rebel Miamis and to leave the Belle Riviere at peace, having a special respect and consideration for the Iroquois who dwell there. When these gentlemen, however, had read in the government papers, after the Marquis de La Jonquiere's death, a somewhat sharp letter which you wrote to that General in which it appeared that you wished very strongly for the English to be chased away, they said that could be done in the future, but for the present it was necessary to pacify the upper country. I had pointed out to them very often and always without avail, before they had read this letter, that the Belle Riviere was the source of all the troubles which prevailed among the savages; that the English ruled and traded in a land which belonged to France, and whose possession was necessary to us for our communication with the Mississippi. The Governor answered very sharply that the English were trading there before us; that it was not just to chase them out; that at most the river belonged to the Iroquois; and that we had only to supply all their needs, as the English were doing, for these last to withdraw of their own accord, when they saw they could not earn a living there. I was, I must say, Monseigneur, surprised and startled by this reply, and I assured him firmly that I understood that the Belle Riviere belonged to France, and that the King had renewed his claim for it three years ago.
You have fortunately sent out a general, for if the government had been in the hands of these gentlemen for another year, Canadian politics would have prevailed and no one would have been forgotten. Wars with the savages would have occurred as often as possible. For this reason there would have been immense expense in the upper country, as each war would have produced bills beyond what these forays would have legitimately incurred.
The Outa8as have themselves subdued the rebel Miamis before they became concerned about it. Thus, no further action is needed, except to maintain them in their loyalty by kindness and threats, and to win back, likewise, the other tribes which seemed attached to them.
The Marquis Duquesne has this opinion, and on his arrival he seemed to be well informed in all respects about the colony's affairs. For my part, I told him everything I knew about it. He is very zealous for the service and the King's interests, for which reason he should do a good job.
When we received your last letters on the 8th of this month, the general was already informed concerning matters relating to the Belle Riviere, and his plans were already made to chase away the English.
To accomplish this, it is necessary to send 2000 Frenchmen with 200 or our domiciliated savages to this river by way of the Chatakoui[n] portage in the spring; to build a store house at the lower end of this portage on the shore of Lake Erie, and another at the end of this same portage on Lake Chatakoin; likewise, to make a fort at La Paille Coupe7 where M. de Joncaire is located, another at the Written Rock8 or at Chiningu,9 and a third at Sonhioto. The garrisons of these forts will be taken from the 2000 men; the remainder will go to spend the winter with the Illinois, if they see they will be unable to reach Montreal in the fall, which seemingly will not be possible, since the 200 men who made this same journey 3 years ago, and who had no fort to build, had great difficulty reaching Montreal in the first days of November.
To transport successfully this number of men with provisions and ammunition for the campaign, and a year's supplies for these forts, I am having nearly a hundred batteaux built at Quebec, which, together with the 128 bark canoes, will carry them as far as Fort Frontenac. A part will embark in the 3 barks of this post to go to Niagara and the others will go there in the bark canoes and batteaux.10
From Niagara, this detachment will pass to Chatakouin in 15 or 20 batteaux which I am having made at the end of the Niagara portage. They will also use the bark canoes which brought them from Fort Frontenac and which they will carry over this portage.
When they reach Chatakouin, they will find two storehouses already finished,
or nearly so, in which to deposit the provisions and munitions which they have
brought with them. Two or three hundred pirogues will also be there for
descending the Belle Riviere. This all will be
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6 Franois Bigot, the fourteenth and last intendant of New France, was appointed in 1748. According to Parkman, he was "the most accomplished knave in Canada, yet indispensable for his vigor and executive skill."
7 La Paille Coupe (Cut Straw) or Buckaloons was an Indian village on the right bank of the Allegheny river at the mouth of Brokenstraw creek, at Irvine, six miles below the present town of Warren, Pa.
8 The name applied by Celoron to the Indian village where McKees Rocks, Allegheny County, now stands.
9 Chiningu of Shenango is a name applied to several Indian settlements: (1) Logstown (near Ambridge, Pa.); (2) Kanaouagon (at Warren, Pa.); (3) on the Big Beaver near Kuskuski; (4) an Iroquois town on the Chenango river in New York state. The first is probably the one referred to.
10 In original: "Note that I have sent some carpenters to Fort Frontenac to build a third bark there, as there are only two of them at the present time."
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