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

;1689.] TONTY MISREPRESENTED. 467thirty-first. Here Tonty was detained by an attackof fever. He resumed his journey when it beganto abate, and reached his fort of the Illinois inSeptember. 1i Two causes have contributed to detract, most unjustly, fromTonty's reputation, — the publication, under his name, but withouthis authority, of a perverted account of the enterprises in which hetook part; and the confounding him with his brother, Alphonse deTonty, who long commanded at Detroit, where charges of peculationwere brought against him. There are very few names inFrench-American history mentioned with such unanimity of praiseas that of Henri de Tonty. Hennepin finds some fault with himbut his censure is commendation. The despatches of the governor,Denonville, speak in strong terms of his services in the Iroquoiswar, praise his character, and declare that he is fit for any boldenterprise, adding that he deserves reward from the King. Themissionary, St. Cosme, who travelled under his escort in 1699, saysof him :" He is beloved by all the voyageurs. ... It was with deepregret that we parted from him : ... he is the man who best knowsthe country; ... he is loved and feared everywhere. . . . Yourgrace will, I doubt not, take pleasure in acknowledging the obligationswe owe him."Tonty held the commission of captain ; but, by a memoir whichhe addressed to Ponchartrain in 1690, it appears that he had neverreceived any pay. Count Frontenac certifies the truth of the statement,and adds a recommendation of the writer.In consequence,probably, of this, the proprietorship of Fort St. Louis of the Illinoiswas granted in the same year to Tonty, jointly with La Forest,formerly La Salle's lieutenant. Here they carried on a trade infurs. In 1699, a royal declaration was launched against the coureur*de bois ; but an express provision was added in favor of Tonty andLa Forest, who were empowered to send up the country yearly twocanoes, with twelve men, for the maintenance of this fort. Withsuch a limitation, this fort and the trade carried on at it muat havebeen very small. In 1702, we find a royal order, to the effect thatLa Forest is henceforth to reside in Canada, and Tonty on theMississippi; and that the establishment at the Illinois is to bediscontinued. In the same year, Tonty joined D'lberville in LowerLouisiana, and was sent by that officer from Mobile to tecure the