Original - North Central Michigan College Library

J^cnrpat six shillings each; marten, at one shillingand six pence, and others in proportion.To carry the goods to my wintering groundin Lake Superior, I engaged twelve men attwo hundred and fifty livres, of the same currency,each; that is, a hundred pounds weightof beaver. For provisions, I purchased fiftybushels of maize at ten pounds of beaver perbushel. At this place specie was so wholly outof the question that in going to a cantine, 1youtook with you a marten's skin,to pay yourreckoning. 2On the fourteenth of July, 1765 I embarkedfor the Sault de Ste. Marie, where, on my arrival,I took into partnership M. Cadotte, whom Ihave already had frequent occasion to name;and on the 26th I proceeded for my winteringground, which was to be fixed at Chagouemig. 31 The post canteen. Editor.2See Part One, chapter v. Author.3Modern Chequamegon Bay, near whose head standsthe city of Ashland, Wisconsin. In this vicinity is oneof the oldest centers of French activity in the interior ofthe continent. Here two daring traders, Groseilliers andRadisson, established headquarters two decades beforeWilliam Penn founded the City of Brotherly Love.Here for four years, beginning in October, 1665, FatherAllouez labored unavailingly to soften the hearts of thecontumacious red men. From here Father Marquettefollowed the Ottawa and Huron bands, fleeing eastwardbefore the avenging Sioux, to establish at the Straitsof Mackinac the mission of St. Ignace. FollowingRadisson and Groseilliers came a long succession oftraders whose names have now become commonplaces184