]
that is, of the west. A letter I find was sent to Colbert under the same
or proximate date [Footnote: Winsor dates letter November 14, 1674.
Margry, November 11.] acquainting Colbert with the discovery made by
Joliet. La Salle must therefore have known of the Mississippi and its
course, even if he himself had not beheld it with his own eyes or felt the
impulse of its current.
He goes back to Canada possessed of a new and valuable seigniory (having
spent the proceeds of the first in his unsuccessful venture) under charge
to garrison Fort Frontenac (on the north shore of Ontario) and to gather
about it a French colony. For two years he labors there, bringing a
hundred acres of sunlight into the forests, building ships for the
navigation of the lake, and establishing a school under the direction of
the friars. He might have stayed there and become rich "if he had
preferred gain to glory"--there where he had both solitude and power.
"Feudal lord of the forest around him, commander of a garrison raised and
paid by himself, founder of the mission and patron of the church, he
reigned the autocrat of his lonely little empire.
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