George Bancroft, History of the United States from the Discovery of the American Continent, Vol. 3, 15th edition.

[346]

Thus did England permit the French to establish

Chap. XXIII.}

their influence along the banks of the Alleghany to the Ohio. They had already quietly possessed themselves of the three other great avenues from the St. Lawrence to the Mississippi; for the safe possession of the route by way of the Fox and Wisconsin, they had no opponents but in the Sacs and Foxes; that by way of Chicago had been safely pursued since the days of Marquette; and a report on Indian affairs, written by Logan, in 1718, proves that they very early made use of the

Keith's Ms. Memorial.

Miami of the Lakes, where, after crossing the carryingplace of about three leagues, they passed the summit level, and floated down a shallow branch into the Wabash and the Ohio. Upon this line of communication the French established a post; and of the population of Vincennes, a large part trace their lineage to early emigrants from Canada. Yet, as of Kaskaskia, so of Vincennes, it has not been possible to fix the date of its foundation with precision. The hero, whose name it bears, came to his end in 1736. This route may have been adopted at a very early period, after La Salle's return from Illinois; it was certainly in use early in the last century. Tradition preserves the memory of a release, in 1742, of lands, which, being ceded for the use of settlers, could not have been granted till after the military post had grown into a little village of Canadian French. It would seem that, in 1716, the route was established, and, in conformity to instructions from France, was secured by a military post. The year 1735, assumed by Volney as the probable date of its origin, is not too early. Thus began the commonwealth of Indiana. Travellers, as they passed from Quebec to Mobile or New Orleans, pitched their tents on the banks of the Wabash; till, at last,