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

170 LA SALLE ON THE ILLINOIS. [1679.arched top of a baggage-wagon. They were built ofa frame-work of poles, covered with mats of rushesclosely interwoven ; and each contained three or fourfires, of which the greater part served for twofamilies.Here, then, was the town; but where were theinhabitants? All was silent as the desert. Thelodges were empty, the fires dead, and the ashescold. La Salle had expected this ; for he knew thatin the autumn the Illinois always left their towns fortheir winter hunting, and that the time of theirreturn had not yet come. Yet he was not the lessdred warriors, or about six thousand souls. This was after thedestructive inroad of the Iroquois. Some years later, Rasle reportedupwards of twenty-four hundred families. (Lettre a son Frere, inLettres Edijiantes.)At times, nearly the whole Illinois population was gatheredhere. At other times, the several tribes that composed it separated,some dwelling apart from the rest ; so that at one period the Illinoisformed eleven villages, while at others they were gathered into two,of which this was much the larger. The meadows around it wereextensively cultivated, yielding large crops, chiefly of Indian corn.The lodges were built along the river-bank for a distance of a mile,and sometimes far more. In their shape, though not in their material,they resembled those of the Hurons. There were no palisadesor embankments.This neighborhood abounds in Indian relics. The village graveyardappears to have been on a rising ground, near the river immediatelyin front of the town of Utica. This is the only part of theriver bottom, from this point to the Mississippi, not liable to inundationin the spring floods. It now forms part of a farm occupiedby a tenant of Mr. James Clark. Both Mr. Clark and his tenantinformed me that every year great quantities of human bones andteeth were turned up here by the plough. Many implements ofstone are also found, together with beads and other ornaments ofIndian and European fabric.