Background
Daniel Greysolon Duluth was born in 1636 in St. Germain-en-Laye, France. He was born of noble parents at St. Germain-en-Laye near Paris, and because of his rank was early enroled in the company of the King’s guard.
Daniel Greysolon Duluth was born in 1636 in St. Germain-en-Laye, France. He was born of noble parents at St. Germain-en-Laye near Paris, and because of his rank was early enroled in the company of the King’s guard.
In 1674 Duluth was summoned to France to resume military service, and in the battle of Scneffe was squire for the Marquis de Lassay who was thrice wounded. Duluth escaped unhurt and was soon in Montreal once more, where he bought a house in which he and his brother dwelt.
Duluth had long desired to explore the West and in 1678 set out, probably with secret instructions from the Count de Frontenac, governor of Canada, to explore Lake Superior and the routes from there westward. First it was necessary to make peace between two warring tribes of Indians, who had for several years closed Lake Superior to white men’s enterprise. Having made friends with the more eastern tribe of the Chippewa, Duluth and his intrepid band of followers set out in the spring of 1679 on the hazardous mission to reconcile these tribesmen with their hereditary enemies, the Sioux. Nothing more dangerous could be conceived. Duluth, however, wrote to Frontenac that he “feared not death, only cowardice or dishonor. ” He was successful in his undertaking, meeting the Sioux chiefs somewhere near the site of the city that now bears his name, and forming a peace between them and the Chippewa. Then the Sioux bore him in triumph through the maze of portages and waterways that led to their great village on Lake Mille Lac in northern Minnesota. There Duluth made an alliance between the Siouan Confederacy and France and took possession of their territory for Louis XIV. In token of this ceremony he fastened the arms of France to a great oak tree. While among the Sioux, the explorer heard of salt water to the westward, probably an Indian account of Great Salt Lake; this he thought was the western ocean, and he planned to explore in that direction. First, however, he had to return to Lake Superior, where on its northwest shore he counseled with the Assini- boin, and where he passed the winter, probably- building a fort in their territory. Early in the spring of 1680 he advanced by the Brule-St. Croix route to the Mississippi, where he learned that the Sioux had broken the treaty he had made with them and were holding three Frenchmen prisoners. Hastening to his compatriots’ aid, he rescued them from the Sioux, bitterly reproaching the latter for their faithlessness. One of the rescued captives proved to be Father Louis Hennepin, also a veteran of the battle-field of Seneffe. Together the Frenchmen went eastward, Duluth abandoning his plans for further exploration.
At Mackinac he learned that his enemies were charging him with illegal trading, a charge he indignantly repudiated. He was never a coureur de bois, or one who traded without a license, although he has been frequently accused of so being. Frontenac, however, defended Duluth and sent him to France where he obtained a royal commission.
The next decade Duluth spent in futile efforts to explore westward from Lake Superior, being called into service twice (1684 and 1687) to lead contingents in the armies that invaded the Iroquois territory.
In 1686 he was in command of a fort on St. Clair River, and at one time brought to justice the Indian murderers of some Frenchmen in Lake Superior and made exploration safe for years thereafter.
Wherever he went he was popular with his colleagues, and the loyalty of the Indians to his wishes was exceptional. He settled disputes in Wisconsin and in the Sioux country; no one did more to establish the empire of France in the Northwest.
In 1690 he was promoted to a captaincy and while in command at Fort Frontenac had the pleasure of receiving his brother La Tourette, laden with furs from a post on Lake Nipigon, where he had diverted trade from the English at Hudson Bay.
About 1695 Duluth was forced to retire because of lameness brought on by exposure. His last years were spent quietly at Montreal, where (as his will shows) he lived the life of a gentleman of quality, with good books, fine clothing, faithful service, and, it may be believed, many friends.
Since Duluth was singularly modest and silent concerning his exploits, his fame has been somewhat obscured.
Duluth's contemporaries considered him of great worth, reporting that he was a “highly honorable man, a brave and experienced officer, active in business matters, of high repute and devoted to the service. ” He gave his time for his king and country not from sordid motives of gain, but from a scientific desire to expand the boundaries of geographical knowledge, and from a patriotic hope to cross the continent for France.
