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12 - Starved Rock- A Historical Sketch by Eaton G. Osman · Starved Rock- A Historical Sketch

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  Speaker 1: Section twelve of Starved Rock, a historical sketch by Eton
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  Speaker 1: g Osman. This LibriVox recording is in the public domain
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  Speaker 1: recording by Veronica Jenkins. Section twelve relics some rusted swords
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  Speaker 1: appear in dust. One bending forward says the arms belong
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  Speaker 1: to heroes gone. We never hear their praise in song
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  Speaker 1: Duan of Kolodin the silent witnesses on the bluff about
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  Speaker 1: twenty four hundred feet south of Starved Rock, at the
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  Speaker 1: junction of two ravines, as shown by the map on
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  Speaker 1: the following page, The faint and disappearing remains may be
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  Speaker 1: said to be still visible of an old earthwork of
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  Speaker 1: irregular shape. The map made, I believe, from a survey
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  Speaker 1: by Colonel D. F. Hitt for many years, the owner
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  Speaker 1: of Starved Rock, having had his deed directly from the
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  Speaker 1: United States government, indicates its form in size. Much learned conjecture,
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  Speaker 1: not omitting, of course, suitable reference to the Aztecs and
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  Speaker 1: dates not long subsequent to the Nowekian period, has been
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  Speaker 1: put on paper, touching the origin of this so called fort,
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  Speaker 1: which even the French are credited with having built, though
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  Speaker 1: its usefulness to them can hardly be conjectured, but the
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  Speaker 1: truth seems to be that it is the remains of
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  Speaker 1: a stockade, perhaps erected by the Challino Indians when they
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  Speaker 1: resided there as part of LaSalle's famous settlement of sixteen
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  Speaker 1: eighty two to three. A reference to the Franquelin map,
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  Speaker 1: page thirty shows the location of two hundred cabins of
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  Speaker 1: the Chouanon at the point where these remains are found. LaSalle,
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  Speaker 1: says Parkman, undoubtedly supplied Franquelin with materials for this map,
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  Speaker 1: and Parkman also says the Chauenau camp or village is
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  Speaker 1: placed on the south side of the river, behind the
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  Speaker 1: fort starved rock. The country here is hilly broken and now,
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  Speaker 1: as in LaSalle's time, covered with wood, which however, soon
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  Speaker 1: ends in the open prairie. The village of the Chamannos
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  Speaker 1: on Franquelin's map corresponds with the position of this earthwork.
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  Speaker 1: An ancient deed translation the year sixteen ninety three, the
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  Speaker 1: nineteenth of April I Francis de Laforest, captain on the
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  Speaker 1: retired list in the Marine Service, signor of part of
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  Speaker 1: all the country of Louisiana, otherwise Illinois granted to Monsieur Destonti,
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  Speaker 1: and to me by the King, to enjoy in perpetuity.
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  Speaker 1: We are heirs, successors and assigns, the same as it
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  Speaker 1: was recognized by the Act of the Sovereign Council in
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  Speaker 1: Quebec in the month of August of the year sixteen
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  Speaker 1: ninety one. The said Council assembled declare, in the presence
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  Speaker 1: of the undersigned witness, that I have ceded, sold, and
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  Speaker 1: transferred to mister Mae Michael a Cow, the half of
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  Speaker 1: my part of the above described concession, to enjoy the
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  Speaker 1: same like myself from the present time, to him his heirs,
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  Speaker 1: successors and assigns, with the same rights, privileges, prerogatives and
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  Speaker 1: benefits which have been heretofore accorded to the late Monsieur
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  Speaker 1: de la Salle, as it appears, particularly in the decree
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  Speaker 1: of the Council of the King, and in consideration of
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  Speaker 1: the sum of six thousand livres in current beaver, which
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  Speaker 1: the said mister a Cow shall pay me at Chicago,
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  Speaker 1: where I stay, and upon the making of the payment down,
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  Speaker 1: I cannot demand from him any advantage, neither for the
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  Speaker 1: carriage of the said beaver to Montreal, nor for the risk.
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  Speaker 1: And as there is no notary here for him to
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  Speaker 1: pass an instrument of sale. I bind myself, at the
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  Speaker 1: first occasion to send him one, as also a copy
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  Speaker 1: compared before a notary of the above mentioned decree of
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  Speaker 1: the Council of the King, touch the present concession on
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  Speaker 1: faith of which we have both signed the said contract
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  Speaker 1: of sale, the one and the other, the day and
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  Speaker 1: the year as above, And in case that one of
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  Speaker 1: us two would dispose of his part, the remaining one
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  Speaker 1: shall be the first preferred. And this is mutual between
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  Speaker 1: Monsieur de Tonti and me, made in duplicate the day
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  Speaker 1: and year aforesaid de la forest de la dis Covertes,
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  Speaker 1: witness m Acco, Nicholas Lorens de la Chappelle witness. The
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  Speaker 1: deed is endorsed on the back to the following effect
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  Speaker 1: bill of sale between mister Acco and Me conveying the
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  Speaker 1: land of the Illinois. This deed was purchased in Paris
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  Speaker 1: late in year eighteen ninety three by Honorable Edward G.
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  Speaker 1: Mason and deposited by him on the archives of the
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  Speaker 1: Historical Society of Chicago January sixteenth, eighteen ninety four. It
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  Speaker 1: is believed to be the first conveyance of Illinois real estate,
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  Speaker 1: though how much or where it lay is not very clear,
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  Speaker 1: except that it was the Illinois country, made by deed
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  Speaker 1: executed within the borders of this state. The document covers
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  Speaker 1: one page of large foolscap paper and is apparently all
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  Speaker 1: in the handwriting of La Forest. The paper bears an
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  Speaker 1: ancient water mark and is of the same texture and
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  Speaker 1: quality as that used in Canada at the time of
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  Speaker 1: its date. In presenting the document to the Society, mister
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  Speaker 1: Mason epitomized the facts given in this little book, concluding
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  Speaker 1: as follows. The grantee in the deed, whose name is
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  Speaker 1: usually written Michael Lecow, was the real leader of the
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  Speaker 1: party which, by Lesu's direction, explored the Upper Mississippi and
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  Speaker 1: discovered the Falls of Saint Anthony in sixteen eighty two.
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  Speaker 1: Father Hennepin accompanied this expedition as a volunteer, and, having
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  Speaker 1: written an account of his travels on that occasion, is
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  Speaker 1: usually given the credits of its discoveries. A Cow subsequently
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  Speaker 1: resided in Kaskaskia, starved rock, and married a daughter of
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  Speaker 1: the chief of the Kaskaskia tribe. A record of their
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  Speaker 1: marriage still exists in the ancient Register of the new
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  Speaker 1: parish of the Immaculate Conception at Kaskaskia on the Mississippi.
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  Speaker 1: Of the witnesses. De la des Caverte was a Canadian
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  Speaker 1: voyager from Lachine who accompanied Lassalle to the mouth of
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  Speaker 1: the Mississippi in sixteen eighty two, and LaChapelle, who also
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  Speaker 1: was one of Losal's men, who was with him in
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  Speaker 1: the year sixteen eighty and was sent by him from
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  Speaker 1: the Saint Joseph River and the Millimackinaw in search of
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  Speaker 1: Lossalle's lost vessel, the Griffin, and afterwards joined Tonty at
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  Speaker 1: Fort Creefcrps, near the present site of Peoria. It is
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  Speaker 1: quite certain that this document was executed either at Fort
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  Speaker 1: Saint Louis of the Illinois or at Chicago, with the
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  Speaker 1: probability in favor of the latter place. In sixteen ninety
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  Speaker 1: three there had been already certainly for eight years a
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  Speaker 1: fort here, and there was near it at that time
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  Speaker 1: a Jesuit mission, and doubtless here occurred the first conveyance
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  Speaker 1: of real estate in what is now Illinois executed within
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  Speaker 1: its boundaries, which this ancient document evidences. It is fitting
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  Speaker 1: and fortunate that it should two hundred years after its
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  Speaker 1: execution come into the possession of the Historical Society of Chicago,
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  Speaker 1: to be preserved sacredly by it. With the latter paragraph,
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  Speaker 1: the present writer takes issue, and those who have followed
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  Speaker 1: this narrative thus far will understand that, however mister Mason's
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  Speaker 1: civic pride might claim the deed is executed on Chicago soil,
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  Speaker 1: all the facts are against such a conclusion. Fort Saint
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  Speaker 1: Louis was a cow's or echo's home, as well as
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  Speaker 1: La Forest. At that time it was the capital of
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  Speaker 1: the Illinois country and the center of La Forests and
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  Speaker 1: Tonti's operations. And though a fort was doubtless there on
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  Speaker 1: the lake shore, it was a mere station without importance
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  Speaker 1: or regular garrison or settlers, either Whites or Indians, a
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  Speaker 1: depot for the deposit of furs for shipment by lake
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  Speaker 1: to Canada. The deed was in all probability signed at
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  Speaker 1: the fort at Starved Rock. Marquette's Cross. The most interesting
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  Speaker 1: of the relics of Starved Rock's ancient days is the
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  Speaker 1: remarkable cross of which the above is a picture made
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  Speaker 1: from a recent photograph full size of the original. It
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  Speaker 1: was found near the rock and is the property of
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  Speaker 1: Colonel D. F. Hit. It is said to be one
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  Speaker 1: of the insignia of an archbishop. By some it has
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  Speaker 1: been called Marquette's cross, but it is hardly probable that
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  Speaker 1: that modest hero ever owned it. He never held any
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  Speaker 1: rank as a churchman above that of priest, and notwithstanding
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  Speaker 1: the fact that the early missionaries frequently exercised the powers
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  Speaker 1: of the church's officials of much higher rank, and may
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  Speaker 1: even have worn their insignia. Nevertheless, the location in which
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  Speaker 1: it was found is against the probability of Marquette's connection
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  Speaker 1: with this particular cross. Marquette, at most was at the
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  Speaker 1: Kashkaskia village near Starved Rock, not to exceed fifteen days.
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  Speaker 1: During those days he was busy trying to save souls,
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  Speaker 1: and seeing that the Indian village was on the north
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  Speaker 1: bank of the river and a mile west of the rock,
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  Speaker 1: which was at that time wholly unoccupied, it is not
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  Speaker 1: likely that Marquette ever put his foot on that side
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  Speaker 1: of the river. The cross may have belonged to one
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  Speaker 1: of the priests named in the chapter on the Missions.
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  Speaker 1: In explaining or in endeavoring to explain the presence of
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  Speaker 1: this cross, which is not as he says, pure gold,
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  Speaker 1: but rather brass covered originonally with black enamel. Matson says,
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  Speaker 1: the Archbishop of Rowen sent to Canada one satin robe
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  Speaker 1: and a large gold cross with other emblems, to be
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  Speaker 1: given to the most devoted priest in America. The fathers
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  Speaker 1: awarded these gifts to Father Trisp, chaplain of Fort Saint Louis,
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  Speaker 1: but he died before their arrival, and in the fall
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  Speaker 1: of sixteen eighty eight these things were presented to Father
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  Speaker 1: a Bee Cavier, brother of LaSalle. It is possible, concludes
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  Speaker 1: our author, that the cross herewith may be the one
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  Speaker 1: referred to, and was lost by the owner during his
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  Speaker 1: rambles around the rock. This is all very interesting, but
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  Speaker 1: I am quite of the opinion that there is even
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  Speaker 1: less of pure gold in the story than in the cross,
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  Speaker 1: and it certainly is a surprise to know that the
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  Speaker 1: abe Cavier had ever been awarded a prize for his piety.
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  Speaker 1: No one nowadays would have suspected it. However, this cross
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  Speaker 1: is not gold, as before we marked other curios. Many
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  Speaker 1: minor relics have been found near the rock, mostly articles
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  Speaker 1: of jewelry, coins of small value metals et cetera, and
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  Speaker 1: kernel hit has unearthed. Also remains of French underground furnaces
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  Speaker 1: or bake ovens near the rock, and now wears a
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  Speaker 1: heavy gold ring. Found there. Near Ottawa some years ago,
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  Speaker 1: a small cannon was found, which consists of a welded
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  Speaker 1: tube of iron about an inch and a half in caliber,
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  Speaker 1: strengthened by a series of thick iron rings cooled on
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  Speaker 1: after the most ancient as well as the most modern
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  Speaker 1: methods of making cannon. It was fourteen inches long, the
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  Speaker 1: part near the muzzle having been burst off. Its construction
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  Speaker 1: was very rude, and it may have been made by
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  Speaker 1: a French blacksmith. As the work of a European cannon maker,
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  Speaker 1: it would have been antiquated even at the time of
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  Speaker 1: De Soto or Coronado. The apparent pits in the soil
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  Speaker 1: on the top of the rock may be the remains
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  Speaker 1: of holes dug by credulous traders early in the last century,
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  Speaker 1: who believed they might find gold buried there by Tonti.
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  Speaker 1: But as the coin of the Illinois in those days
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  Speaker 1: was current beaver rather than Louis d' 'or, it is
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  Speaker 1: not recorded that any of the goldseekers found reward for
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  Speaker 1: their labor, but the noblest of all the relics of
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  Speaker 1: Starved Rock is its history, and it stands as a
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  Speaker 1: monument to those weak ones of Earth whose mortal sufferings
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  Speaker 1: here were in God's mysterious wisdom, not the least of
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  Speaker 1: the many contributions of human sacrifice which have preserved to
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  Speaker 1: the people of the Illinois Valley, and of the United
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  Speaker 1: States and of the world, the priceless heritage of English liberty.
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  Speaker 1: End of section twelve and of Starved Rock, A historical
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  Speaker 1: sketch read by Veronica Jenkins in Ottawa, Illinois,