TFPFMFIQ (IF TF LMMJJo ur Lfi MARIE CAROLINE WATSON HAMLIN. ILLUSTRATED BY MISS ISABELLA STEWART, SEEN BY PRESERVATION SERVICES DATE IETR >IT: NOURSE 1884. Copyright, 1883, By THORNDIKE NOTJBSE. DEDICATION. To THE LOVED ONES AT "TONNANCOUR," ON THE BANKS OP LAKE SAINTE CLAIRE, WHERE UNDER THE GRATEFUL SHADE OP A MAJESTIC WILLOW I HAVE LISTENED TO MANY A TALE OP THE MYSTIC PAST, THESE LEGENDS ARE MOST AFFECTIONATELY DEDICATED. M. C. W. HAMLIN. Detroit, December, 1883. INTRODUCTION. " " The word Legend explains itself. Historical and romantic souvenirs hang like tattered drapery around the fair City of the Straits. Interest and curiosity have only to shake its venerable folds to scatter fragmentary history and legendary lore. These weird tales, quaint customs and beautiful traditions have been handed down from generation to generation as sacred trusts. Originally brought from their cradle in Normandy, they are still tenderly cherished in the homes of the old families of Norman descent settled along "le Detroit." It has been my good fortune to hear many of them from loving, though aged lips of ancestors whose memories extend back into the last century. ' It seems a befitting tribute to these noble and hardy pioneers that a descendant of theirs should gather and preserve in an imperishable form these mementoes they valued so highly. For my interest in the subject, and for the historical facts, in the writing of which I have tried to be strictly accurate, I am indebted to Charlevoix, La Hontan, Lambert, Margry's Collec- tions, Parkman, Rameau, Lemoyne, Campbell, Sheldon, Lanman, and others. The Pontiac Manuscript, Morris' Diary, the Cass, Trowbridge and Roberts' Memoirs have also furnished material. For the data made use of in the articles on the "French Fami- lies" I am under much obligation to the records of Old Ste. Anne's Church, to the researches of my friend L' Abbe Tanguay, and to the brilliant essayist, poet and historian, Benjamin Suite, of Ottawa. LEGENDS OF LE DETROIT. CHRONOLOGICAL SEQUENCE. DATE PAGE 1. The Cross and the Manitou 1669 1 2. The Baptism of Lake Ste. Claire 1679 8 3. The Nun of Ste. Claire 1690 17 4. The "Nain Rouge" 1701 22 5. The May Pole 1704 30 6. The Phantom Priest 1705 40 7. Francois and Barbe 1710 49 8. The Devil's Grist 1712 57 9. Jean Chiquot 1721 64 10. The Widow's Curse 1735 71 11. Le Lulin 1746 77 12. The Warrior's Love 1747 85 13. The Miami Seer's Prophecy 1758 91 14. The Bones of the Prophet 1761 97 15. The Bloody Run 1763 10a 16. Le Loup Garou 1770 113 17. The Old Red Mill 1775 122" 18. La Chasse Galerie 1780 126 19. Le Feu Follet 1785 134 20. The Feast of St. Jean 1790 143 21. Hamtramck's Love 1793 151 22. The Haunted Spinning Wheel 1795 161 23. The Cursed Village 1800 169- 24. San Souci and Okemos 1805 180 25. The Sibyl's Prophecy 1806 189 26. Captain Jean 1807 197 27. Kennette's Vision 1808 205 28. The Fisherman of Grosse Pointe 1810 213 29. The Ghost of Mongaugon 1812 220 30. The Eve of Epiphany 1813 228 31. Kishkaukou. , . 1815 237 INDEX TO EARLY FRENCH FAMILIES. 1. INTRODUCTION TO THE FAMILIES 263 2. STE. ANNE'S CHURCH 264 3. OFFICERS OF THE FORT 369 4. ADHEMAR DE ST. MARTIN 5691 5. ASKIN see Barthe 272 6. BABY 271 7. BARNARD see Desnoyers 294 8. BARTHE 272 9. BEAUFAIT 275 10. BRUSH see Barthe 272 11. CAMPEAU 275 12. CHABERT 281 13. CHAPOTON 281 14. CHESNE 283 15. CICOTTE 284 16. CUILLERIER DE BEAUBIEN 289 17. COLE see Desnoyers 294 18. DEMERSAC 290 19. DE QUINDRE 290 20. DESCOMPTES LABADIE ... 291 21. DESNOYERS 294 22. DOUAIRE DE BONDY 296 23. DUBOIS 297 24. GAMELIN 297 25. GODE DE MARANTAY 298 26. GODFROY 299 27. Goum 304 28. GRANTS see Barthe 272 29. HALL see Oodfroy 299 30. HAMLIN see Godfrey 299 31. LOTHMAN DE BARROIS 305 32. MORAND 305 33. NAVARRE '. 307 34. PALMS see Campeau 275 35. PELLETIER 311 36. PIQUETTE see Campeau 275 37. REAUME 313 38. RIOPELLE 314 39. RIVARD 314 40. ST. AUBIN 315 41. VAN DYKE see Desnoyers 294 42. VILLIER DIT ST. Louis 316 43. VISSIER DIT LAFERTE 317 44. WATSON see Godfroy 299- EKKATA. PAGE 23 For 1674, read 1694. " " 44 Grandmensil, read Grandmesnil. " " 50 Rancee, read Renee. " " 213 Diploraate, read diplomat. " 226 (Note Arpent), for 19 read 192. " " 231 Onto (in seventh line) read into. PONTIAC TREE. THE CROSS AND THE MANITOU. A Legend of Belle Isle. OW frequently, as we sail on the beautiful Detroit River, or tread the busy streets of the prosper- ous city, does the mind go back to the remote past, wondering what kind of men were those brave explorers who first visited the wilds of these regions and gazed upon them in all their virgin loveliness. History has preserved to us the names of two of these. Francois D oilier de Casson had served as a cav- alry officer of renown under Turenne, and laid aside, in his ancestral halls in Brittany, his sword, sheathed in laurels, to take up the cross which was to lead him through the trackless forests of the new world. i 2 Legends of Le Detroit. Abbe Brehant de Galinee was a student whose knowledge of surveying and geography made him a valuable acquisition to the explorers of a new country, and to his graphic pen are we indebted for a detailed account of the visit of the missionary explorers to Detroit. They arrived in Montreal from France at the time when LaSalle's great project for the explo- ration of the far West was the theme of every tongue. So thoroughly were all imbued with the spirit of adventure, the desire of gain and the glory of extending the arms and name of France, that even enlisted soldiers were allowed to apply for a discharge if they wished to accompany him. LaSalle had just received the necessary per- mission and orders from De Courcelles, then Gov- ernor of Canada, to fit up his expedition for the exploration of that great river called by the Iro- quois, Ohio, by the French, Belle Riviere, really an arm of the Mississippi, of which such marvel- lous things were told by the Indians, who came each season to trade at Quebec and Montreal. Numerous tribes who had never been visited by " " the black gown were said to people its shores. So Dollier and Galinee determined to carry to these nations the knowledge of the true God. On the 6th of July, 1669, the little fleet of seven birch bark canoes, each manned by three men, and Legends of Le Detroit. 3 laden with the necessary merchandise to exchange with the Indians along their route for provisions, beaver skins and other furs, bade adieu to Mon- treal amid the joyous notes of the Te Deum and the sound of the arquebus. They reached Lake Frontenac (Ontario) August 2, and the 24th of September an Indian village called Timaouataoua, where they remained some time waiting for guides. There they overtook Louis Joliet, who was on his way to Lake Superior in search of a copper mine, wonderful specimens from which had been sent to Montreal by the Jesuit Allouez. The latter was then at Sault Ste. Marie, whither he had gone through the Ottawa River, Lake Simcoe, and with numerous portages into Georgian Bay. It was also Joliet' s object to discover a shorter route, and one which could obviate the necessity of so many tedious portages. Accident had revealed this route to La Salle. Being out hunting one day he found an Iroquois exhausted by sickness and travel worn. He tenderly cared for him, and the Indian repaid his kindness by sketching on a clean sheet of bark, with a piece of charcoal, the position of the lakes and the route to the Ohio and Missis- sippi. This crude chart proved a precious legacy to the energetic and intrepid La Salle. Unfortu- nately he was taken ill, and his malady was of so severe a nature that he was forced for the time 4: JLegends of Le Detroit. to give up his cherished project. But Dollier and De G-alinee, urged by Joliet, determined to aban- don the expedition to the Ohio and Mississippi, and go in search of the tribes along the lakes. They bade adieu to Joliet and La Salle and started on their perilous journey, accompanied by seven men. They wintered at Long Point on the north- ern shore of Lake Erie. From the mildness of the climate when compared with that of Lower Canada, the quantity of its game, the purity of its waters, the abundance of its fruit, especially the grape from which they made sufficient wine to use for the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, they called it "The Terrestrial Paradise of Canada." It was in the early spring of 1670 that their canoes landed at Detroit. It was an enchanting scene, which unfolded like a coy maiden, its rare loveliness to the admiring eye of the European. He saw the fresh virgin forests clad in the vest- ments of spring, the broad sweeping river, with its graceful curves in whose limpid waters thous- ands of fish could be seen, along the banks teem- ing herds of bison, and droves of deer gazing with wondering eyes on the stranger. The air was per- fumed by woodland flowers which scattered their sweet incense to the music of the birds, whose gorgeous plumage almost rivaled the flowers in hue.