EARLY NOTICES OF THE MISSOURI RIVER AND INDIANS 657 



interior they seem to have been early known to the French. The fact that they 

 possessed horses was frequently alluded to by early French annalists. In the 

 account quoted it will be seen that Tontz does not mention that the party 

 camped near the Missouri, but does corroborate M. de la Salle in all other 

 particulars. In the year 1693, nine years after, he addressed a memoir to the 

 King of France, setting forth his services in the valley of the Mississippi, 

 and especially reciting his undertakings in connection with La Salle. In giving 

 an account of the first voyage down the Mississippi, he says, " We descended the 

 river (Illinois) and found six leagues below on the right, a great river which 

 comes from the west, on which there are numerous nations. We slept at its 

 mouth. The next day we went on to the village of the Tamaroas six leagues off 

 on the left." Here it will be seen that Tontz agrees with the young La Salle as 

 10 the place of camping on the night of December 13th, though from his language 

 ihe inference could be drawn that the party spent the night in their canoes, were 

 it not for the positive language of his companion, who says they camped. 



La Salle's antipathy to the Jesuits was so great that he would allow none of 

 them to accompany him on his expeditions, but chose his spiritual advisers from 

 the medicant order of Recollects. Two of these friars accompanied him to the 

 Illinois country, Louis Hennepin and Zenobius Membre. The former was sent 

 in February of the preceding year to explore the Mississippi north from the mouth 

 of the Illinois and was taken a prisoner by the Sioux, while the latter accompan- 

 ied the expedition south from the same place, and has left two aifcounts of the 

 voyage. In one, which is in the form of a letter dated June 3, 1682, no mention 

 is made of any stop in the vicinity of the Missouri. In the other, which is by 

 far the best account of the voyage in existence, he says, "The floating ice on the 

 river Colbert kept us at this place (the mouth of the Illinois) till the 13th of the 

 same month, when we set out and six leagues lower down found the Osage (Mis- 

 souri) coming from the west." He rriakes no mention of stopping, in direct 

 terms, but continues his narrative as follows : " On the 14th, six leagues further 

 we found on the east the village of the Tamaroas who had gone to the chase." 

 The inference to be drawn from this language, is that expressed by Tontz who 

 says of the Missouri, "We slept at its mouth." As the reverend father says 

 ihey found the river on the 13th and the Tamaroas on the 14th though they were 

 but six leagues apart, he does not intend to convey the idea that the night of the 

 13th was spent in traveling. 



The remaining account of the voyage is found in the proces verbal of the 

 taking possession of Louisiana, made by James de la Metairie, at the mouth of 

 the Mississippi, April 9, 1682. Metairie was a notary from Fort Frontenac ac- 

 companying the expedition, and while it seems to have been the intention of La 

 Salle to claim possession of the whole territory watered by the Mississippi and 

 its branches, the notary is very obscure in his enumeration of rivers and Indian 

 nations. This defect probably arose from an ignorance of the geography of the 

 country. He does not mention the Missouri River at all, but contents himself 

 with saying that they left the Illinois river on the 13th of December, 1681, and 



