NY-WARWASHSAR-L Archives

From: "Susan L. Willig" <>
Subject: [NY-WWS] Father Isaac Jogues
Date: Sat, 29 Dec 2001 07:45:34 -0500

The following anecdote about Father Jogues and his experiences in the
Champlain and Lake George Valley region is excerpted from *The Story of Old
Saratoga* by John H. Brandow. Published by the Brandow Printing Co.,
Albany, NY, 1919.

Enjoy!

Susan
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Father Isaac Jogues,
Missionary to and Captive of the Iroquois Nation

Among their captives on that foray [the Iroquois, who had attacked
the Canadian settlements north of what is now NYS] was a noble Jesuit
priest, Father Isaac Jogues, who in company with several helpers and
converts were returning, with their canoes loaded with supplies, to a
mission already established among the Hurons in the distant west. He, with
two assistants, Couture and Goupil, and a number of Hurons, were horribly
tortured; then they were bound and headed south for the Mohawk country. It
was about the 1st of September when they arrived at that bold promontory
jutting out into Lake Champlain, which has since become famous as
Ticonderoga. Rounding this they turned west where soon they were stopped by
the churning rapids and chiming falls of a goodly stream, the outlet of
another lake. Here the Indians landed, shouldered their canoes, followed
up the stream and soon with their captives launched forth upon the crystal
waters of Andiatarocte (Lake George). Here, for the first time since the
dawn of creation, eyes, that could appreciate, looked upon the rare beauty
of that ‘fair Naiad of the ancient wilderness’, Lac St. Sacrament, as it
was christened four years later by Father Jogues.

These savage warriors, with their hapless victims, duly landed
where now stands that handsome hostelry the Fort William Henry Hotel, and
straightway plunged into the dusky woods and followed the ancient war
trail. This trail led from Lake George to the bend in the Hudson a few
miles west of Glens Falls, thence southwestward till it struck the Mohawk
in the vicinity of Amsterdam. Arrived at their castles, the captives were
again ferociously tortured for the entertainment of savage women and
children. Finally GOUPIL was murdered. COUTURE, having struck the fancy of
the Indians by some act of skill or bravery, was adopted into the tribe.
Father Jogues lived for months in daily expectation of being murdered. The
latter was given to an old Indian as a slave and performed for him the most
menial tasks. In the following March he accompanied his master on his
spring fishing trip. They repaired to a lake four days distant. On
reasonable grounds this is supposed to have been Lake Saratoga. If so,
Father Jogues was the first white man who ever gazed upon the placid
surface of that beautiful sheet of water.

About the 1st of August, 1643, he accompanied a party of Indians
on a fishing trip down the Hudson about twenty miles below Albany. Before
the main body was ready to leave he secured permission to return with a few
Indians who were going up the river in a canoe. At Albany he was very
kindly treated by the Dutch who urged him to escape, they having previously
made a fruitless attempt to ransom him. Finally he concluded to make the
attempt, slipped away from this custodians, and secreted himself. But the
Indians made such an ado about it, that to pacify them MEGAPOLENSIS, the
good Dutch Domini, or clergyman, and Arendt VAN CURLER, the subsequent
founder of Schenectady, collected enough goods to ransom him. The Albany
Dutchmen then gave him free passage to France. At New York Gov. KIEFT
exchanged his squalid and savage dress for a good suit of Dutch cloth and
placed him aboard a small vessel bound for his home. One his arrival there
he was received as one risen from the dead, for they had heard of his
capture. He at once became an object of curiousity and reverence. He was
summoned to court and Queen ANNE of Austria kissed his mutilated hands.

Soon he returned to Canada. In 1646 he was ordered by his superior
to go to the Mohawk country on an embassage of peace for the government. He
with Sieur BOURDON, an engineer, and two Algonquin Indians started about
the middle of May, laden with rich gifts for the Mohawks to confirm the
peace. They reached Lake George on the eve of the feast of Corpus Christi.
From this fact he named it Lac St. Sacrament, a name which was retained
for more than a hundred years. From Lake George they took the trail to the
Hudson, where, being greatly fatigued by their loads of gifts, they
borrowed some canoes from an Iroquois fishing party and descended the
Hudson, passing Old Saratoga to Fort Orange. Here the Dutchmen, to whose
sacrifices he owed his life, heartily welcomed and entertained him. After a
few days he left them for the Mohawk council where was received with
grudging courtesy.

His mission having ended successfully, he started for home, but
with the determination to return and found a mission among the
Mohawks. With this purpose in mind he left behind a small chest containing
a few trinkets and necessaries. But the Indians were persuaded that it
harbored some malignant spirits that would work mischief among them. And
indeed there was sickness in the village that summer, and the caterpillars
ate their corn. All this was of course laid to the evil spirits left in
that box. Hence, when Father Jogues returned, there was a case against him.
He was foully murdered on the 18th of October, 1646. ….(The shrine at
Auriesville is erected on the traditional site of his martyrdom.)"

[In addition, there is a statue to Father Jogues, in Fort George
Park in Lake George, Warren County, NY.]

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• [NY-WWS] Father Isaac Jogues by "Susan L. Willig" <>