Cadillac's description of Detroit.

[canuck]

This is from combined archives that french and canadian collections put online. There is a deficient english version of the database search. Of course the documents are all french, and there are many pertaining to Detroit and Cadillac. A lot of legal battles between Cadillac and the company chartered by the king to exploit fur trading in that part of New France. Some of the links do not work. You can check by clicking the head icon below the text icon at left of a description. You can also enter Cadillac or other Michigan sites in the search box at top of page.
There are legal documents, certificates that serve in payment for services rendered. There is a
9-page document describing all of Cadillac's belongings at Detroit. There are minutes of proceedings [[council) between Ottawa, huron and miami chiefs and Cadillac.

This one is a description of Detroit by Cadillac himself in 1701. His introduction goes like this:

The job of a warrior not being equal to that of a writer, it is not without temerity I must attempt describe a country much more deserving of a better pen than mine. But since you ordered a description, I shall endeavour to do so by saying...

my translation.

here is the link to the archives;

http://bd.archivescanadafrance.org/s...x=0&y=0#resume

[canuck]

Sorry but I forgot to add the picture of abovementioned letter, so here it is:

He says that the first savage [[sauvage) he met told him there were so many animals they had to move aside in order to let the canoes pass. He describes all the trees, plants and animals in the area in poetic detail. A good job of marketing in order to get more people and equipment to colonize.

[gazhekwe]

That's interesting. His writing is nice and neat, but not quite clear enough for me to piece it together. I have lost most of the fluency I ever had in French.

[canuck]

Yes, Gazhekwe, I will try to spend some time translating some letters when I can. Its old and very florid language as you can see. But nevertheless it is precise. There are many documents on that site unavailable online. I guess a lot of scholars still have to travel to consult the various collections. I found one interesting one here entitled Mémoire pour le Canada. It is about the future establishment of crafts and schooling the people of the fort at Detroit. He asks the king for financial help in order that the population becomes more self sufficient. The beaver trade has left the colony [[Canada) in a deplorable condition and he proposes the establishment of a new fort at Detroit where cloth, shoes and hats would be made by women and children in winter when they otherwise have very little to do, etc... He says hemp and flax grow well in Canada, that the wild ox [[buffalo) and other animal hides provide good leather for shoes. Millineries and tanneries are successful in other parts of the colony. So in other words he is trying to get as much help in setting up a post at Detroit as early as 1699.

[gazhekwe]

We have a set of the Jesuit Relations here in the Burton Historical Collection that has similar descriptions. We also have the Pioneer Collections, I believe it is called, a multi-volume set of compiled writings from the earliest days of settlement here.

I see within the collections you cite, there are accounts of the day to day activities in the new settlement. It is a wonderful resource for someone who can read the French. I wonder if there are English translations available. Off to look at the Library....

[gazhekwe]

Hey! How about this one? I think I have a copy of it somewhere....

Cadillac, Antoine de la Mothe. The western country in the 17th century; the memoirs of Lamothe Cadillac and Pierre Liette. 1947.

[canuck]

Cool! I'll be looking for this and other stuff at my town library. Its fun to sort through these pieces but it could be a little easier on my eyes...

I found this letter from Caddy to the count of Toulouse asking humbly to be given the title of count or marquess in view of his services rendered to the king for 40 years. He asks for a pension for himself of a thousand pounds and same for his family, and some unspecified benefit to his son Joseph, ecclesiast, 21 years, born and residing at Detroit.

He says in a roudabout way that he has spent a lot of his own money in building the colony, that soldiers and company agents dined on produce from his lands, demolished parts of good houses and a church made of good sound oak in order to fortify buildings he had initially built.

The letter is undated, it is probably from the late 1720's since he died in 1730 and had served since 1675 but that is not confirmed in part beacause he escaped France and forged a new identity in New France. page 2 of 3 pages