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A half-century of conflict. France and England in North America. Part ...

A half-century of conflict. France and England in North America. Part ...

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;40 SEARCH FOR THE PACIFIC. [1751.an order which he had received from his comm<strong>and</strong>er.When the Indians guided the two brothers LaVdrendrye to the Rocky Mounta<strong>in</strong>s, the course theytook tended so far southward that the Chevaliergreatly feared it might lead to Spanish settlements<strong>and</strong> he gave it as his op<strong>in</strong>ion that the next attempt t<strong>of</strong><strong>in</strong>d the Pacific should be made farther towards thenorth.Sa<strong>in</strong>t-Pierre had agreed with him, <strong>and</strong> haddirected Niverville to build a fort on the Saskatchewan,three hundred leagues above its mouth. Therefore,at the end <strong>of</strong> Ma}^ 1751, Niverville sent ten men <strong>in</strong>two canoes on this err<strong>and</strong>, <strong>and</strong> they ascended theSaskatchewan to what Sa<strong>in</strong>t-Pierre calls the " RockMounta<strong>in</strong>." Here they built a small stockade fort<strong>and</strong> called it Fort La Jonquiere. Niverville was tohave followed them ; but he fell ill, <strong>and</strong> la}^ helplessat the mouth <strong>of</strong>the river <strong>in</strong> such a condition that hecould not even write to his comm<strong>and</strong>er.Sa<strong>in</strong>t-Pierre set out <strong>in</strong> person from Fort La Re<strong>in</strong>efor Fort La Jonquiere, over ice <strong>and</strong> snow, for it waslate <strong>in</strong> November. Two Frenchmen from Nivervillemet him on the way, <strong>and</strong> reported that the Ass<strong>in</strong>ibo<strong>in</strong>shad slaughtered an entire b<strong>and</strong> <strong>of</strong> friendly Indianson whom Sa<strong>in</strong>t-Pierre had relied to guide him.Onhear<strong>in</strong>g this he gave up the enterprise, <strong>and</strong> returnedto Fort La Re<strong>in</strong>e. Here the Indians told him idlestories about white men <strong>and</strong> a fort <strong>in</strong> some remoteplace towards the west; but, he observes, "nobodycould reach it without encounter<strong>in</strong>g an <strong>in</strong>f<strong>in</strong>ity <strong>of</strong>tribes more savage than it is possible to imag<strong>in</strong>e."

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