La Salle and the discovery of the great West - North Central ...

146 THE LAUNCH OF THE "GRIFFIN." [1679.Trees were felled, the place cleared, and themaster-carpenter set his ship-builders at work.Meanwhile,two Mohegan hunters, attached tothe party,made bark wigwams to lodge the men. Hennepinhad his chapel, apparently of the same material,where he placed his altar, and on Sundays and saints'days said mass, preached, and exhorted ; while someof the men, who knew the Gregorian chant, lenttheir aid at the service. When the carpenters wereready to lay the keel of the vessel, La Salle askedthe friar to drive the first bolt ;" but the modesty ofmy religious profession," he says, "compelled me todecline this honor."Fortunately, it was the hunting-season of theIroquois, and most of the Seneca warriors were inthe forests south of Lake Erie ;yet enough remainedto cause serious uneasiness. They loitered sullenlyabout the place, expressing their displeasure at theproceedings of the French. One of them, pretendingtances on the Niagara are usually correct. On the east side thereis a stream which perfectly answers the conditions. This is CayugaCreek, two leagues above the Falls. Immediately in front of it isan island about a mile long, separated from the shore by a narrowand deep arm of the Niagara, into which Cayuga Creek dischargesitself. The place is so obviously suited to building and launchinga vessel, that, in the early part of this century, the government ofthe United States chose it for the construction of a schooner tocarry supplies to the garrisons of the Upper Lakes. The neighboringvillage now bears the name of La Salle.In examining this and other localities on the Niagara, I havebeen greatly aided by my friend O. H. Marshall, Esq., of Buffalo,who is unrivalled in his knowledge of the history and traditions ofthe Niagara frontier.