Erie County, Pennsylvania

Chapter VII - The French and English

The French were the first white men who made explorations in the lake region. As early as 1611-12, Sieur de Champlain ascended the chain of lakes as far as Lake Huron. At a period extending from 1620 to 1640, the Indians were visited by numerous French Catholic priests, among whom were the celebrated Joliet and Marquette, on the double mission of spreading the Gospel and promoting the interests of their king and nation. In 1679, La Salle launched the schooner Griffin in Niagara River, and sailed with a picked body of men to Green Bay, in Lake Michigan, as will be found more fully detailed in the chapter on lake navigation. A french post was established at Machinaw in 1684, and a fort and navy on Lake Erie were proposed by M. de Denonville in 1685, but the idea was not carried into effect. The dominion of the country was not wholly given over to the French until 1753. They did a large trade with the Indians by exchanging beads, goods, provisions, guns and ammunition for furs, which were shipped across the ocean and sold at an immense profit. Although their possession was undisturbed, it must not be inferred that it was quietly acquiesced in by the English. The French claimed that their discovery of the St. Lawrence and the Mississippi entitled them to the ownership of the territory bordering upon those streams and their tributaries. The English claim was based upon a grant by King James I, in 1606, to "divers of his subjects, of all the countries between north latitude 48° and 34°, and westward from the Atlantic Ocean to the South Sea," and also upon purchases of Western lands made from the Six Nations by Commissioners from Pennsylvania, Maryland and Virginia, representing the mother country. A long and sometimes acrimonious controversy was waged between the foreign departments of the two nations over the question, and the leading officers in America, on both sides, looked upon it as certain to eventually result in war.

The First Soldiers
Previous to 1749, the French had done nothing of an official nature looking to the occupation of the country between Lake Erie and the Ohio. Their discoverers had taken possession of it long before in the name of the King, and from that time it had been a sort of common tramping ground for adventurous traders of both nations, without being directly subject to the control of either. In the year named, Capt. Celeron, with a detachment of 300 men, was sent by the Captain General of Canada to "renew the French possession" of the Ohio and its tributaries. He came up Lake Erie to the mouth of Chautauqua Creek, from which point he crossed over to the Allegheny, by way of Chautauqua Lake and the Conewango. Descending the Allegheny and the Ohio as far as the mouth of the Muskingum, he deposited leaden plates at the mouths of some of the most important streams, as a "monument of renewal of possession," and as a mark for the guidance of those who might follow him. One of these plates, buried at the confluence of French Creek with the Allegheny, was found afterward. The expedition caused much alarm among the Indians, who regarded it as the beginning of a scheme to "steal their country," and also created much commotion throughout the English colonies, whose officials saw in it a purpose to maintain by force what the French had before contented themselves with claiming in argument. An extensive correspondence ensued between the Governors of the several colonies, stirring letters were forwarded to the home Government, and the movement was universally regarded as the precursor of a long and sanguinary war. Among other plans proposed on the English side, Gov. Shirley of Massachusetts suggested the building of one or two war vessels each on Lakes Erie and Ontario, for the purpose of keeping the French in check.

In 1751, an expedition of French and Indians was organized in Canada to proceed to the "Beautiful" or Ohio River, and in May of that year a part of the force was reported to have passed Oswego in thirty canoes. For some reason the venture was abandoned, but warlike threats and preparations continued for two years.

Army of Occupation
Finally, in the spring of 1753, the long threatened occupation began. Quite a full account of the expedition is given in a letter preserved among the Pennsylvania Archives, from M. DuQuesne, General-in-chief at Montreal, to the French minister at Paris. It was in charge of three young officers -- Sieur Marin, commander, and Maj. Pean and the Chevalier Mercier, assistants -- and consisted of 250 men. The little army marched up Lake Erie by land and ice to Presque Isle, where it was decided to build a fort and establish a base of supplies. The reasons which prompted the selection of Presque Isle were the short portage to Lake Le Boeuf and the facility with which canoes could be floated down French Creek from the latter to the Allegheny. M. DuQuesne's letter describes the bay of Presque Isle as "a harbor which the largest vessels can enter loaded, and be in perfect safety. It is," says he, "the finest spot in nature, a bark could safely enter -- it would be as it were in a box." On the 3d of August the fort at Presque Isle was finished, the portage road, six leagues long, was "ready for carriages," the storehouse, half way across, was in a condition to receive stock, and the fort at LeBoeuf was nearly completed. No serious trouble was apprehended from the Indians, who were willingly assisting in the transportation of the stores.

From the same and other authorities we learn that it was the original purpose to establish the base of supplies at the mouth of Chautauqua Creek, but that when Marin reached there he did not like the position. He accordingly ordered Mercier, who was the engineer of the expedition, to proceed to Presque Isle and report upon its merits. The latter was gone three days, and gave such a glowing account of the advantages of the location that the army was immediately ordered forward. Among the members of the expedition was one Stephen Coffin, an Englishman, who had been taken prisoner by the French and Indians in 1747, and carried to Canada. When the expedition left Quebec he enlisted in it, and accompanied his command to Presque Isle. After a military experience of less than a year he deserted to the English, and on the 10th of January, 1754, made a deposition in which he alleges that the army reached Presque Isle over 800 strong, a statement that does not correspond with the report of DuQuesne. The following is an abstract of his story:

Coffin's Statement
When they arrived at Presque Isle, work was almost immediately commenced on the fort. It was of chestnut logs, squared, and lapped over each other to the height of fifteen feet, about 120 feet on the sides, with a log house in each corner, and had gates in the north and south sides. When the fort was finished, they began cutting a wagon road to LeBoeuf, where they commenced getting out boards and timber for another fort. Presque Isle was left in command of Capt. Deponteney, while Marin, with the rest of the troops, encamped at LeBoeuf. From the latter point a detachment of fifty men was sent to the mouth of French Creek, but finding the Indians hostile to the erection of a fort, it returned, capturing two English traders on the way, who were sent to Canada in irons. A few days later, 100 Indians "called by the French Loos," visited LeBoeuf and arranged to carry some stores to the Allegheny, which they never delivered, greatly to the disappointment of the French. This and other causes, including the failure to build the third fort at the mouth of French Creek, disheartened Marin, who feared that he might forfeit the favor of the Governor General in consequence. He had been sick for some time, and had to be moved about in a carriage. Rather than return to Canada in disgrace, he begged his officers to seat him in the center of the fort, set it on fire, and let him perish in the flames, which they of course, refused to do. Marin, according to the deponent, was of a peevish and disagreeable disposition, and extremely unpopular among his brother officers. Lake in the fall, Chevalier Le Crake arrived at Presque Isle in a birch canoe worked by ten men, bearing, among other things, a cross of St. Louis for Marin, which the other officer would not allow him to take until the Governor General had been acquainted with his conduct. Near the close of October, all but 300 men to garrison the fort, were ordered back to Canada. The first detachment went down the lake in twenty-two batteaux, each containing twenty men, and were followed in a few days by the balance -- 700 in number. A halt was made at the mouth of Chautauqua Creek, where, with 200 men, a road was cut in four days to Lake Chautauqua, in the expectation that it might be a more feasible route to the Allegheny than the one by LeBoeuf. Reaching Niagara, fifty men were left there to build batteaux for the army in the spring, and to erect a building for storing provisions. Coffin places the total number of men who reach Presque Isle during the year at 1,500.

Washington's Visit
Marin died at Le Boeuf soon after the main body of the troops departed, leaving the forts at Presque Isle and Le Boeuf respectively in charge of Capt. Riparti and Commander St. Pierre. The latter was visited during the winter by a gentleman who afterward rose to the first place in American love and history. This was no less a personage than George Washington, then in his twenty-first year, who was accompanied by Christopher Gist, an experienced white frontiersman, and one Indian interpreter. They reached Le Boeuf on the 11th of December and remained till the 16th, during which time Capt. Riparti was called over from Presque Isle to confer with Washington and St. Pierre. Washington's treatment, though formal, was courteous and kind, and he has left on record in his journal a warm compliment to the gentlemanly character of the French officers. The object and result of Washington's mission are given in the following letters, the first being the one he was charged with delivering to the Commander-in-chief of the French forces by Gov. Dinwiddie, of Virginia, and the second the reply of St. Pierre: