Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1910-01-16

9 !. =. !. !. !.
N " az ardOr some
M other soldiers If
N I'M the cross. but he
NJ mi was noble figure
III nevertheless az he
N packed his port
able altar on lis
back through the trdckless wilds Of New
France, finding a bed al times III the
SHOWS or in the tangled woods or on the
houndless prairie. He had the wander
lust and had 10 keep moving. Bold.
hardy. brave. lie ventured much ana en-
dured much No task was too hard for
him, no peril appalled, him. Worldly
profits had no glamour for him, unless
the praises OF men be counted as such.
rs Franciscan monk he had taken the
vows of poverty and he was content
with his possessions-a pair of sandals
coarse gray gown held hy the cord
Of St. Francis. a crlicifN and a rosary.
Strange that such man should be an
egotist. Hennepin was excessively vain
and hoastful. He wrote much Of his tray
els. and the more he wrote the more lie
gave play to his imagination. The facts
We're big enough TO make him world
figure. Yet he exaggerated.
He simply could not help it, His self
love was so strong and his conceit 50
pronounced that his vision and his judc-
ment were warped. He mnimized the
doings of others and magnfied those Of
himself He got. too to believe mis- own
eNaggerations. 1T was not menda CITY IT
SIMPLY was eSotism in a most distorted
form Too bad that his good name is
furnished by the excuses of statement
his love of applause led him to indulge
in. for he was a great man and a good
man.
He was a Belgian and was born in 1910
Soon after he was admitted to the priest
hood he was sent to Dunkirk and Calais
TO solicit aims. As he wandered about
those seaport towns his Imagination was
fired by the stories he heard the sailors
tell of their adventures in the wonderful
new world. The more stories he heard
the more his passion for travel grew. lie
wanted to cross the seas, but he could
not get permission. so he wandered over
France and Germany and Italy For d
time he was chaplain of regiment and
took part in the battle of Seneffe when
the armies of Condo and the Prince of
Orange came together.
IL was not until he was thirty-fivc years
old that his plcadIngs TO be sent to
America were answered The ship that
brought him across the Atlantic had one
other passenger destined to win fame in
the new world-Rene Robert Caveier,
better known as La Sale. The names of
the two were destined TO be linked i'll the
great work of exploring the American
continent, but they We're as opposite in
temperament as men could be. La Sale
who was thirtytwo, was grave. reserve d
and unbending. Hennepin was vain. vol
uble and vivacious There was no love
lost between the two. La Sale, who was
stole, had something approaching con-
tempt for the monk, while Hennepin bit
terly resented the calm air of superior
xx-ttt
cred him.
In Quebec the two separated, Hennepin
TO roam about Canada and La Sale to
establish his seigniory at La Chine, where
he soon was 10 plan for his expedition
in search of western passage IL the
Indies. Up and down the St Lawrence
went IIennepin. At times he wandered
FAR to the north and at other times far
IL the south. One winter he crossed Lake
Ontario on the ice and visited the settle
nents of the Oneidas and the Mo-
hawks. He was linguist OF rare ability
and much given to study. Eager to mas
ter the various Indian dialects, he gave
deep attention to their speech. Among
other things he did while with the Mo-
hawks was TO copy and add to Mohaw k
dictionary prepared by a Jesuit father.
This winter trip had amazed the In
dians. who marveled at the hardhood of
sleeping in the snow at a time when men
were loath to leave the comforts of cab
ms or wigwams. But IIennepin did it
with "A purpose. The idle days of win
ter, when the Indians gave little thought
10 war the chase, was the best time
to study them and their language, and,
besides. he wanted to harden himself for
the winters in the west, for he already
had ideas of pushing farther into the
wilderness.
The monk had been in Canada three
years when his imagination was stirred
again by the report of an expedition La
Sale had In view. The lord of La Chine
had made one voyage of exploration. He
had gone down the beautiful river (the
Ohio) to the falls houisville). and knew
from the Indians that it emptied into the
Mississippi. He was eager to explore
the Mississippi. Whether il emptied into
the Pacific the Gulf of Mexico he was
not sure, but he inclined to the Pacific
idea. He knew from report that the ILL
nois. too, emptied into the Mississippi.
lie determined to follow the Mississippi
to its mouth. claim the whole territory
for Louis XIV. and not only plant the
banner of France at its mouth, but es-
tablish settlements and forts at the stra-
tegic points along the route. La Sale
was not idle dreamer. He planned
his work on generous scale.
1t would not be sufficient to travel by
canoe. He. should have something per
nlaneUt anu tIIlflES- re SHOULD
verse the great lakes by ship and he
should traverse the Mississippi by ship
of course. the falls of Niagara made il
impossible for a ship from the st. Law
renee to enter Lake Erie. He determined
therefore, TO build a ship beyond the
falls for use in the great lakes. This
ship would carry the men and materia
for the building of a ship at some point
the Illinois 10 sail down the Mis-
SsSippi.
To transport the material from LAX,
Michigan to suitable point the Hi
nois would be herculean job. but La
Sale man of indomitable will
Greater. however, than the natural OBJ
stacles he would have 10 overcome were
those his enemies We're To create for him
His patron. Count Frontenac. Governor o
Canada, had earned the enmity of the
.Jesuits. la Sale. too although a gooo
thurchman. was opposed to the JeSuits
The Jesuts saw i'll La Sales scheme
something threatening their supremacy