History of the Ojibway Nation/Chapter 25
CHAPTER XXV.
JOHN BAPTISTE CADOTTE.
John Baptiste Cadotte returned to Montreal from his northwestern expedition, and soon expended in dissipation the profits on the large return of furs he had made. He became, moreover, so deeply indebted to Alexander Henry, who continued to supply his wants, that at last his credit with this gentleman became impaired, and he was obliged once more to exert himself towards gaining a livelihood. His expedition to the sources of the Mississippi had rendered him known as a man of great fearlessness and hardihood, and his abilities as a clerk and Indian trader were such that it was no difficult matter for him, when so disposed, to find employment. The Northwest Fur Company secured his services at once, and he applied himself with so much vigor and energy towards advancing their interests, that he soon obtained the esteem and fullest confidence of all the principal partners of this rich and prosperous firm.
At a dinner given by Mr. Alex. Henry, at Montreal, to the several partners of the Northwest Company, among whom was Sir Alexander McKenzie, Cadotte's name being mentioned in the course of conversation, this gentleman, who was then the principal northern agent of the firm, took occasion to speak of him in the highest terms, praising the courage and fearlessness with which he had pierced amongst the more wild and unruly tribes of the northwestern Indians, and the great tact which he used in obtaining the love and confidence of the Ojibways.
Mr. Henry, perceiving that Cadotte possessed the confidence of his employers, and that his services were held by them in great value, took occasion to make the proposition to Sir Alex. McKenzie, of selling him Mons. Cadotte's indebtedness at a liberal discount. McKenzie informed him that he had discovered Cadotte to be a man extremely careless in his expenditures, and who made it a point to live up fully to his means, whatever amount those means might be, and that it would be extremely difficult to collect from him such an amount of debt as Mr. Henry proposed to transfer against him, and also that he could not assume or buy it, without a consultation with the other partners of the company. Further urging on the part of Mr. Henry at last induced Mr. McKenzie to buy up Mons. Cadotte's debt on his own private account. He paid but three hundred pounds, being less than half of its actual amount. This arrangement was kept secret from Mons. Cadotte, as the partner concerned knew him to be a man of impulsive feelings, and it was uncertain in what light he would consider such a discount being made on his credit, which reflected so strongly on his honor, on which he was known to pride himself. In order to give him an opportunity of retrieving his fortunes, and paying his debts, the Northwest Fur Company proposed to give him the entire Fond du Lac department on shares. They agreed to give him such an equipment as he wanted, and this important division of their trade was to be entirely under his management and control.
Mons. Cadotte accepted this fair offer, as it gave him a broad field for the full development of his capacities, and an excellent opportunity to replenish his empty purse. The Fond du Lac department comprised all the country about the sources of the Mississippi, the St. Croix, and Chippeway rivers. The depot was located at Fond du Lac, about two miles within the entry of the St. Louis River, in what is now the State of Wisconsin. A stockaded post had been built the previous year at Sandy Lake, and smaller posts were located at Leech Lake, on the St. Croix and at Lac Coutereille.
Mons. Cadotte procured his outfit of goods for all these posts, at the grand northern depot of the Northwest Company located at Grand Portage, near the mouth of Pigeon River, and within the limits of what is now known as Minnesota Territory. He had busily employed himself all one morning, in loading his canoes, with his outfit of goods, and starting them on ahead towards Fond du Lac, intending to catch up with them in his lighter canoe at the evening encampment, when the following incident occurred, which, to the day of his death the old trader ever spoke of with the deepest emotion.
His canoes had all been sent ahead, and now appeared like mere specks on the bosom of the calm lake towards their destination, and he was preparing to embark himself, in his canoe a liege fully manned, when the book-keeper of the post, coming down to his canoe for a parting shake of the hand, informed him that while he had been engaged in sending off his men and outfit, Sir Alexander McKenzie and other gentlemen of the company had been holding a council with the Indians, and attempting to explain to them the reasons and necessity for evacuating their depot at Grand Portage, which was located within the United States lines, and building a new establishment within the British boundaries, at a spot now known as Fort William.[1] The Indians could not, or would not, understand the necessity of this movement, as they claimed the country as their own, and felt as though they had a right to locate their traders wherever they pleased. They could not be made to understand or acknowledge the right which Great Britain and the United States assumed, in dividing between them the lands which had been left to them by their ancestors, and of which they held actual possession. The book-keeper further informed Mons. Cadotte that the gentlemen of the company were in considerable trouble for want of an efficient interpreter, to explain these matters to the satisfaction of the Indians, and they would have called on him for his services, but were fearful of retarding his movements, and as he was his own master, they could not command him. On hearing this, Mons. Cadotte (who already bore the name of being the best Ojibway interpreter in the northwest), immediately stepped out of his canoe, and walking up to the council room, he offered to act as interpreter between McKenzie and the Indians. His timely and voluntary offer was gladly accepted, and he soon explained the difficult and intricate question of right, which so troubled the minds of the Ojibways, to the entire satisfaction of all parties; and as he once more proceeded to embark in his canoe, which lay at the water-side, waiting for him, the gentlemen of the fur company escorted him to the beach, and as Sir Alex. McKenzie shook his hand at parting, he presented him with a sealed paper, with the remark that it was in payment of the service which he had just now voluntarily rendered them.
When arrived at some distance out on the lake, Mons. Cadotte opened the paper, and was surprised to discover it to be a clear quittance of all his indebtedness to Alexander Henry, which had always been a trouble on his mind, and which he had not been made aware had been bought up by his employers. On the impulse of the moment he ordered his canoe turned about, in order that he might go and express his gratitude to the generous McKenzie, but on second thought he proceeded on his journey, imbued with a firm determination to repay this mark of kindness by attending closely to his business, and endeavoring to make such returns of furs in the spring, as would cause the company not to regret the generosity with which they had treated him. He succeeded to his fullest satisfaction, and the Northwest Company, together with himself, reaped this year immense profits from the Fond du Lac department.
It was while Mons. Cadotte had charge of this department, that an occurrence happened, which may be considered as an item in the history of the Ojibways, and which fully demonstrates the strong influence which the traders of the northwest had already obtained over their minds and conduct, and also the fearlessness with which the pioneer, whom we have made the subject of this chapter, executed justice in the very midst of thousands of the wild and warlike Ojibway hunters.
A Canadian "coureur du bois," employed at the Lac Coutereille post, which was under the immediate charge of a clerk named Mons. Coutouse, was murdered by an Indian on Lac Shatac during the winter. This was a crime which the Ojibways had seldom committed, and Mons. Cadotte, knowing fully the character of the Indians with whom he was dealing, at once became satisfied that a prompt and severe example was necessary, in order that such a deed might not again be committed, and that the Ojibways might learn to have a proper respect for the lives of white men. He took the matter especially in hand, and immediately sent a messenger to Lac Coutereille to inform the Indians that the murderer must be brought to Fond du Lac and delivered into his hands, and should they refuse to comply with his demand, he notified them that no more traders should go amongst them, and their supplies of tobacco, guns, ammunition, and clothing should be entirely stopped.
The war-chief of Lac Coutereille, named Ke-dug-a-be-shew, or "Speckled Lynx," a man of great influence amongst his people, and a firm friend to the white man, seized the offender, and in the spring of the year, when the inland traders returned to the depot at Fond du Lac, with their collection of furs, he went with them, and delivered the murderer into the hands of Mons. Cadotte. The rumor of this event had spread to the different villages of the Ojibways, and an unusual large number of the tribe collected with the return of their different traders, around the post at Fond du Lac, induced mostly from curiosity to witness the punishment which the whites would inflict on one who had spilt their blood.
When all his clerks and men had arrived from their different wintering posts, Mons. Cadotte formed his principal clerks into a council, or jury, to try the Indian murderer. His guilt was fully proved, and the sentence which was passed on him was, that he should suffer death in the same manner as he had inflicted death on his victim—with the stab of a knife. Mons. Coutouse, whose "coureur du bois" had been killed, requested to be the executioner of this sentence.
The relatives of the Indian assembled in council, after having been informed of the fate which their brother was condemned to suffer. They sent for Mons. Cadotte and his principal clerks, and solemnly offered, according to their custom, to buy the life of the culprit with packs of beaver skins. Cadotte himself, who is said to have naturally possessed a kind and charitable heart, became softened by their touching appeals, and expressed a disposition to accept their proposition, but the clerks and especially the "coureur du bois," whose comrade had been killed, were so excited and determined on vengeance, that the offer of the Indians was rejected.
On the morrow after the trial, the execution took place. Mons. Cadotte led the condemned man from the room where he had been confined, and leading him out into the open air, he pointed to the sun, and gave him the first intimation of his approaching death, by bidding him to look well at that bright luminary, for it was the last time he should behold it, for the man whom he had murdered was calling him to the land of spirits. He then delivered him into the hands of his clerks; the gate was thrown open, and the prisoner was led outside of the post, into the presence of a vast concourse of his people who had assembled to witness his punishment. The fetters were knocked from his wrists, and at a given signal, Coutouse, the executioner, who stood by with his right arm bared to the elbow, and holding an Indian scalping knife, suddenly stabbed him in the back. As he quickly withdrew the knife, a stream of blood spirted up and bespattered the gateway, and the Indian, yelling a last war-whoop, leaped forward, but as he started to run, a clerk named Landré again buried a dirk in his side. The Indian, though fearfully and mortally wounded, ran with surprising swiftness to the water-side, and for a few rods he continued his course along the sandy beach, when he suddenly leaped up, staggered and fell. Two women, holding each a child in her arms—the Indian wives of John Baptiste and Michel Cadotte, who had often plead in vain to their husbands for his life, were the first who approached the body of the dying Indian, and amidst the deep silence of the stricken spectators, these compassionate women bent over him, and with weeping eyes, watched his last feeble death struggle. The wife of Michel, who is still living[2] at an advanced age, often speaks of this occurrence in her early life, and never without a voice trembling with the deepest emotion.
The traders, being uncertain how the Indians would regard this summary mode of punishment, and possessing at the time the double advantage of concentrated numbers and security within the walls of the stockaded post, determined to try their temper to the utmost, before they again scattered throughout their country in small parties, where, if disposed to retaliate, the Indians could easily cut them off in detail.
Mons. Cadotte was himself so closely related to the tribe, and knew the strength of his influence so well, that he felt no apprehension of these general consequences; but, to satisfy his men, as well as to discover if the near relatives of the executed Indian indulged revengeful feelings, he presented a quantity of "eau de vie" to the Indians, knowing that in their intoxication they would reveal any hard feelings or vengeful purposes for the late act, should they actually indulge them.
The Indian camp was that night drowned in a drunken revel, but not a word of displeasure or hatred did they utter against the traders, and their future conduct proved that it was a salutary and good example, for it caused the life of a white man to be ever after held sacred.
- ↑ Alexander Henry, a nephew of the Henry, who traded in 1775 on the shores of Lake Superior, on the 3d of July, 1802, found brick kilns burning at Kamanistiquia, in charge of R. McKenzie, for the erection of the new post Fort William, in compliment to William McGillivary.—Neill's History of Minnesota, fifth edition, 1883, p. 882.
- ↑ A.D. 1852.