January 1680

The Illinois village was on a somewhat marshy plain on the right bank of the river with beautiful islands. There were four hundred and sixty lodges, built like long arbors and thatched with double mats of flat reeds. Every cabin had four or five fires in length, and every fire had one or two families, living together. When M. de La Salle arrived at the village, the village was deserted.

Louis Hennepin mentions that bulls traveled together in about four or five hundred while grazing in green meadows. Illinois hunted above 120 bulls a day. They would divide the bulls according to the number of each family. The Illinois wives were sent to kill the bulls and bring back the meat to their cabins. The bulls have a very fine coat that is more like wool than hair, horns that are almost black and thicker than the ones in Europe, their head was big, their neck was short and very thick, they have a bump between their two shoulders, their legs are big and short and covered with long wool, and between their two horns is a bush of hair that falls across their eyes. The grounds where the bulls lie were covered with wild purslane. He mentions that the women could carry about two to three hundred pounds of weight on their backs with their children. He also mentions that the women run as swiftly as any of the Frenchmen soldiers with their guns.

Women spin the wool of the bulls to make sacks to carry meat, which they dry in the Sun, or broil upon Gridirons. The skin of one bull weighs about 120 pounds. The Illinois only uses the belly skin to make clothes. They would dress the belly skin with the brains of all sorts of animals, paint several colors, attach pieces of porcupine skins (red and white), and cover it with curled wool. When the Illinois killed a cow, they would keep the hoofs and tie them to some wand when they dry to make a musical instrument for people who sang and danced.

M. de La Salle and his crew decided to take forty bushels of Indian corn from the Illinois because of the lack of food in the area. The Illinois put Indian corn into holes in the ground that they dug because their meat does not last long in hot weather. La Salle was going to compensate them later. Later on in the day, they continued down the Illinois River. At the end of the fourth day (January 1st, 1680), while traversing a small lake formed by the river, they noticed wreaths of smoke, which told them that the Savages were encamped nearby. On the fifth day around 9 am, several long and narrow canoes were seen on both sides of the river. There were about eighty lodges with Illinois, who did not see them until they had doubled a point behind the encampment at a distance of half a gunshot.

For the custom, M. de La Salle caused the first cry to be raised. The old men, women, and children ran to the woods bordering the stream, which had fruit-bearing trees, wild vines of grapes, and oak trees that are ideal for building. While the warriors armed themselves. During the confusion, M. de La Salle’s canoes went on the bank, and La Salle was the first to go ashore. M. de La Salle halted his men to restore confidence to the Illinois. M. de La Salle was afraid to show his Calumet, or Pipe of Peace because he was afraid the Illinois would see it as their weakness. One of the Illinois chiefs, who was on the other side of the river, had noticed that M. de La Salle had refrained from firing upon seven or eight Illinois and began aggressively talking to the Illinois, who was about to shoot arrows across the river. Those encamped on the side on which the French had disembarked, sent two of their chiefs to display the calumet of peace from the top of a hill. The Illinois did the same thing on the other side. M. de La Salle accepted the peace and showed the Illinois their calumet of peace.

The Illinois came out of their hiding places and rejoiced, danced, and feasted with M. de La Salle’s men. M. de La Salle called the chiefs of the villages from both sides of the river together. La Salle made them a present of tobacco and some hatchets. It took some of the Illinois three or four days from the terror of M. de La Salle and his men arriving at the Illinois village. Once the Illinois discovered that M. de La Salle and his men smoked the Illinois calumet of Peace, they were not as terrified. The Illinois shouted with joy by saying “Tepatoui-Nika” which means “Well, my brother, my friend; thou hast done very well.” The Illinois rubbed the Frenchmen legs and feet by the fire with oil of bears and wild bull fat and fed them meat and morsels.

La Salle mentioned that they took their Indian corn because there were no other food around. M. de La Salle told them that he would give them hatchets and other things, like having their blacksmith repair the Illinois’ hatchets and other tools, for the exchange of the Indian corn. However, if they wanted their Indian corn back, he would give it back. The Illinois accepted the payment offered for the Indian corn, and they gave them more.

The Illinois wanted M. de La Salle to join them, but the Iroquois were subjects of the King, so he could not wage war against the Iroquois. Therefore, he encouraged the Illinois to make peace with the Iroquois. M. de La Salle did promise that if the Iroquois were to attack the Illinois, he would defend the Illinois, if they permit him to build a fort where he could stand against the Iroquois with the few Frenchmen he had and he would provide the Illinois with arms and munitions, provided that they would not use these against the nations living under the protection of the King. He also proposed to build a great canoe to sail down to the sea, so as to bring them all sorts of goods by this shorter and easier route.

The Illinois accepted his proposals. Then, they told La Salle about the Colbert or Mississipi River and that no Europeans were settled near the mouth of the river, however, that there were ship which fired volleys resembling thunder. They mentioned that there was four nations (Tul, Casquia, Chickasaw, and Aminoia) along the Colbert River.