lished route used by the Indians. By it one could
pass by water, with only the short carry between Lake George and the
Hudson, all the way from the Great Lakes to the ocean.

[4] The thrifty Hollanders at once saw the importance of securing the
fur-trade of the region thus opened to them. To protect it, they first
established at the mouth of the river, on Manhattan Island, the post out
of which the city of New York has grown. Next they reared a fort on an
island a little below Albany; and, in 1623, they built Fort Orange, on
the site of Albany. It soon became a most important point, because,
until Fort Stanwix, on the Mohawk, was built, it was the nearest white
man's post to which the Indians of the great Iroquois confederacy might
bring their peltries. We hear much of it in the early history.

The great trading-stations were always on big rivers, because these
drained a wide territory, and the supply of furs lasted long. As the
French pushed further westward, as we shall see, important stations were
opened on the Great Lakes.

[5] We may wonder at so small a list of casualties. The fact is that,
until the introduction of fire-arms, Indian open fighting was not very
deadly. They might yell and screech and shoot arrows at each other for
hours, with very little loss. Surprises and ambuscades were their most
effective methods.

[6] This word came into general use among French _voyageurs_ and, later,
among white men generally, as the equivalent of an Indian word denoting
mysterious power.

{147}

Chapter X

JESUIT MISSIONARY PIONEERS

Unselfishness of the Better Class of Jesuits.--Their Achievements in
Exploration.--The Great Political Scheme of which they were the
Instruments.--Indian Superstitions.--Danger!--The Touching Story of Isaac
Jogues.--Ferocity of the Five Nations.--Ruin of the Hurons and of the
Jesuit Missions among them.

A class of men whose aims were singularly unselfish were the missionaries
of the Roman Catholic Church, mostly Jesuits, that is, members of the
Society of Jesus. The first object of the best of them was to convert
the Indians and establish a great branch of the Catholic Church in the
wilds of America. There were others, however, whose first aim was to
increase the power of France. These politician-priests were well
represented by the famous Father Allouez who, while he preached the
gospel to the Indians, took still greater pains to preach the glory of
the French