299
La Salle's Colony in Texas, 1684-1689
forgotten the instructions given him at court, according to which he should have gone back [ to the Mississippi] ."u Fate of tlee survivors. Father Douay rushed back to the camp and was the first to break the news to Father Cavelier of his brother's death. Dahaut and his companions followed close behind but their thirst for blood was quenched. There were l)O more assassinations. In addition to the murderers there were only six survivors now left: J outel, Douay, Father Cavelier, Cavelier, the young nephew of La Salle, two other boys, the orphan child of Talon, and a lad called Barthelemy. 35 Dissension soon broke out among the murderers, who killed each other at various times for various reasons. For a while the broken band of survivors stayed among the Asinais. Joutel, who was a natural leader, soon gathered a group about himself, and with the aid of a guide furnished him by the faithful Tejas Indians, finally succeeded in reaching the country of the Illinois. The party seems to have left the villages of the Asinais in June, 1687. They arrived in Fort St. Louis, on the Illinois, in October of that year, where they spent the winter. Early t}:le following spring they set out for Montreal, where they arrived July 17, 1688. Towards the end of August of that year, they embarked for France, arriving in La Rochelle in October. With Joutel went the two Caveliers, Father Douay, Marie, Teissier, and the lad, Barthelemy. Marle was drowned in a stream before they reached the Arkansas. Destmction of Fort St. Louis. It was from L'Archeveque and Grollet that the Spaniards learned the fate of the colonists left in Fort St. Louis by La Salle. When on April 22, 1689, Alonso de Leon at last discovered the French ~ettlement, a desolate sight met his eyes. Not a living creature remained. The doors were torn from their hinges; broken boxes were strewn over the ground ; and a large number of gunstocks lay scattered about. Parts of books, with costly bindings, and pieces of broken bottles gave mute testimony of the Indians' savage revenge upon the helpless defenders. Three corpses were discovered; one of which had a part of a woman's dress still clinging to it. From L'.Archeveque and Grollet, who came to the Spanish camp a few days later, the fate of Barbier, Father Zenobe Membre, and their com- panions was learned. Three months before, a large band of Indians had come to the fort to trade. The weakened survivors of the recent smallpox
34 / bid., I 33. 15 Parkman, op. cit., 435-436.
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