December 1679

On December 3th, 1679 they left with thirty men in eight canoes up the river in a southeasterly direction for about 69 miles. One day, M. de La Salle and two of his men followed along the shore and became interested in going after a deer that he had wounded. He went into the forest for about 13.8 to 17.3 miles. He thought that the two men who were with him would follow his tracks in the snow, however, they went back to the canoes. 

When M. de La Salle did not see his men who went with him, he headed back to the canoes. On his journey, he encountered marshes and was delayed by falling snow. He arrived at the river bank at two o’clock at night. He fired two gunshots to notify his men but did not receive a reply. He continued up the river for more than three hours. He saw fire upon a slight rise of ground, which he went up after calling two or three times. He expected to see his men, but only saw a little fire among the bushes, and under an oak some dry grass where a man had been lying. An Indian was nearby, so M. de La Salle called to him in three or four languages. The Indian was not afraid of him and he called out that he was going to lie down in his place. He built up the fire to warm himself up. Afterward, he cut down several bushes and laid them crosswise among the standing bushes, so no one could approach without making noise enough to wake him. He put out the fire and went to sleep with it snowing all night. 

On the next day, he found that three or four times someone had come up to the bushes, but had not crossed it for fear of being discovered. He returned to the river bank and found no indication of the passage of the canoes. Father Louis was coming to look for him in his canoe. Father Louis did not find M. de La Salle. M. de La Salle arrived at his crew at four o'clock in the afternoon with his face and hands black from the fire. He had two animals as big as Musked Rats and Ermins on the main branch of a tree that he killed with a stick. On the edge of a large prairie, on the western side, there was a village of Miamis, Mascoutins, and Ouiatenons.

Their Indian notified them that they missed the portage. Their Indian was sent back with their canoes, except for one, to the portage. Father Louis Hennepin and M. de La Salle stayed in a little cabin with mats of marsh rushes. When they fell asleep, the little cabin caught on fire and burned down. They were able to get out of the little cabin in time.

At modern-day South Bend, Indiana, they walked their canoes from the St. Joseph River to about 7 miles to the Southwest near modern-day North Liberty, Indiana, the start of the Kankakee River. Father Gabriel drew several crosses on the trees the day before, so they do not miss the portage another time. At the portage, they saw a lot of Horns and Bones of wild bulls. They left letters hanging down from the trees containing instructions to the pilot and five and twenty men. The Kankakee River winded so much, that they went 5 to 7 miles in a straight line for a whole day. The area was covered in marshes with reeds, alder trees, and rushes. They would rest on the frozen ground mounds and light their fire. When they got off the marsh and into the plains, no animals were found in the burnt grass that the Miamis would ignite to chase wild cattle at the end of autumn. The area is also abundant in fish. The prairies had interspersed with forests of high trees. There were also forests of several kinds of fruit trees and wild grapevines. Open fields are covered with fibrous plants that grow six or seven feet high.

M. de La Salle found out that the soil in the region is capable of producing all sorts of fruits, grasses, and grain, in much greater abundance than the best lands of Europe. They were only able to kill one bull and some turkeys. There are little to no mosquitoes or other pests. There are coal, slate, and iron mines in the area.

For the rest of December, they traveled about 414.3 to 448.8 miles, until they reached the Illinois village near the forty degrees of latitude, near modern-day Beardstown, Illinois on January 1st, 1680.