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

;1670-72.] THE GREEN BAY MISSION. 43near the borders of the bay ;the Sacs, on Fox Riverthe Mascoutins, Miamis, and Kickapoos, on the sameriver,above Lake Winnebago; and the Outagamies,or Foxes, on a tributary ofit flowing from the north.Green Bay was manifestly suited for a mission ;and,as early as the autumn of 1669, Father ClaudeAllouez was sent thither to found one.After nearlyperishing by the way, he set out to explore thedestined field of his labors, and went as far as thetown of the Mascoutins. Early in the autumn of1670, having been joined by Dablon, Superior of themissions on the Upper Lakes, he made another journey,but not until the two fathers had held a councilwith the congregated tribes at St. Francois Xavier;for so they named their mission of Green Bay.Here,as they harangued their naked audience, their gravitywas put to the proof; for a band of warriors, anxiousto do them honor, walked incessantly up and down,aping the movements ofthe soldiers on guard beforethe governor's tent at Montreal. " We could hardlykeep from laughing," writes Dablon, "though wewere discoursing on very important subjects ;namely,the mysteries of our religion, and the things necessaryto escaping from eternal fire." 1The fathers were delighted with the country,which Dablon calls an earthly paradise ;but he addsthat the way to it is as hard as the path to heaven.He alludes especially to the rapids of Fox River,which gave the two travellers great trouble.Havingi Relation, 1671, 43.