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.
Reports From the Upper Country
(November 6, 1712)
Vaudreuil, Marquis de in: Michigan Historical
Collections, XXXIII, pp. 559-567.
(page 561) these savages have been asking me for the said Sieur Desliettes as the only Frenchman who is capable of setting these tribes in the right path again.
The Sieur Dubuisson, My Lord, deserves that you should be pleased to have regard to the manner in which he has conducted himself throughout that affair which was none the easiest, and in which he had need of great firmness and disinterestedness to complete it satisfactorily; moreover he stripped himself entirely of everything he possessed in order to succeed in it. He has the honor of sending you herewith a memorandum of the expenses he was obliged to incur, which it seems to me right that His Majesty should deign to consider. He might, My Lord, be indemnified for a part of these expenses by making him a captain; that would reduce to some extent what His Majesty might be good enough to grant him for the remainder, and would serve as a recompense to this officer for his services.
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I also sent off the Sr. Desliettes to the Illinois, and the Sieur de Vincennes to the Miamis, as the Sieur de la Forest wrote to me in one of his letters dated the 10th of July, that it was a matter of the utmost importance to send the said Sieur de Vincennes there, both in order to make peace between these savages and the Ilinois, and to prevent them from approaching the English as they have long wished to do. I also sent the convoy for Detroit by way of the great river, upon the Sonontouans informing me that the band of Le Tonnerre, an Outagami chief who has not joined them, might wait for the convoy at the portage at Niagara, or on Lake Erie. I did so, My Lord, both to avoid their meeting these savages and that this convoy might not be exposed to being pillaged by the Iroquois who under the pretext that they were conveying stores to their enemies, might by an act of this sort begin war against us. I flatter myself that His Majesty will approve of the precautions I am taking. I also flatter myself that- knowing how necessary it is to get together all the Outaouais tribes at Michilimakinac, so as to put them in a position to resist the Iroquois, if they should declare war on them- I flatter myself, I say, that you will approve of my sending the Sieur de Louvigny there in the early spring, for whom these tribes are waiting with the utmost impatience.
I now reply, My Lord, to all the letters which you have done me the honor of writing me.
It was with great pleasure that I saw from the one of the 28th of June that you approve of the reply I made last year to the Sr. de Nicholson as to the letter he had written to me from Port Royal in conjunction with the Council of the Queen of England. I am so much pleased, My Lord, that you approved of my sending the Sieurs Rouville and Dupuis as far as Boston to take it to him.
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the honor of writing to you, and I, that of forwarding his letter. If his health does not permit of his remaining there, or this post does not suit him on the conditions His Majesty has granted him, I will send the Sieur de Sabrevois there. |
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The letter is not annexed. |
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It is quite certain, My Lord, that there are a number of copper mines among the heights of the Ouabache River. I have again obtained several samples from them this year, through the savages; but I do not think it would be easy to obtain the output from them through this place at least in the present condition of affairs at Detroit; perhaps hereafter we shall find it easier. I shall have the honor of informing you of it in due course. As regards sending the Sieur de Vincennes, it was a matter of the utmost necessity to do so, not only to conduct the Miamis to their homes and prevent them from being attacked by the Missisaguez on the road but also to prevent them themselves from going to the English and taking their furs there, which would have served as an example for many others. The orders I gave him about the mines were only given in case it might be possible for him to go to the spot where they are, to get information about them. |
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good- provided no expense falls on the King for making these discoveries. |
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I have nothing to add, My Lord, to the reasons I had the honor of stating to you last year as to the re-establishment of the licenses. The two letters from Father Marest, copies of which I have the honor of sending you, will show you better than anything I could say how necessary it is that they should be re-established as soon as possible. I will comply with your orders regarding the Sieurs de Louvigny and Lignery, and will only incur the smallest expense I possibly can in re-establishing Michillimakinac; but it is absolutely necessary to give them some soldiers, as well as the Sieur de la Forest, otherwise it will be impossible to keep these two posts in order, or to prevent voyageurs from turning aside from them and going there without license, as some have done this year both at Detroit and Michillimakinac, despite the precaution I have taken. |
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I had the honor of giving you an account last year, of the proceedings of the inhabitants of Acadia, and of the causes which had prevented me from giving them the help they had asked me for. This year I have given them all the assistance in my power. They send me word in a letter which Father Felix, the missionary at Les Mines writes me, dated the 29th of August, that the English are ill-treating them greatly and are always threatening to rob them of all they possess. If I had received your orders sooner I could have made some attack on the fort of Port Royal, but I only received the letters you did me the honor to write me by the King's ship and one through Plaisance seven days after. |
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The Sieur Westche has had a garrison of five hundred men ever since the autumn, and has always been well on his guard. Nevertheless, I captured fourteen of his soldiers at the gate of his fort, and, but one day
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