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

394 ST. LOUIS OF TEXAS. [1685.followers. The results of the enterprise had beenfar different from his hopes ; and, after a season offlattering promise, he had entered again on thosedark and obstructed paths which seemed his destinedway of life. The present was beset with trouble;the future, thick with storms. The consciousnessquickened his energies ;and often unjust to those beneath him.but it made him stern, harsh,Joutel was returning to camp one afternoon withthe master-carpenter, when they saw game; and thecarpenter went after it. He was never seen again.Perhaps he was lost on the prairie,perhaps killed byIndians. He knew little of his trade, but theynevertheless had need of him. Le Gros, a man ofcharacter and intelligence, suffered more and morefrom the bite of the snake received in the marsh onEaster Day. The injured limb was amputated, andhe died. La Salle's brother, the priest, lay ill; andseveral others among the chief persons of the colonywere in the same condition.Meanwhile, the work was urged on. A largebuilding was finished,constructed of timber, roofedwith boards and raw hides, and divided into apartmentsfor lodging and other uses.La Salle gave thenew establishment his favorite name of Fort St.Louis, and the neighboring bay was also christenedafter the royal saint. 1 The scene was not without1The Bay of St. Louis, St. Bernard's Bay, or Matagorda Bay, —for it has borne all these names, — was also called Espiritu SantoBay by the Spaniards, in common with several other bays in theGulf of Mexico. An adjoining bay still retains the name.