Spanish Hill

The village of Carantouan was placed in our history books by Samuel Champlain. Etienne Brule never wrote about his travels, but Champlain wrote 6 volumes in a collection called "Voyages." All of the excerpts below have been taken from this collection in order that you may read the text as it has been translated concerning Carantouan.

In 1615 - Samuel Champlain had asked his interpreter Etienne Brule to go to "Carantouannais" to secure 500 warriors for a battle with the Hurons against the Onondagas. Champlain wrote about this incident in "Voyages", the following is the translation of his account:

"On the 17th of August I arrived at Cahiague, where I was received with great joy and gladness by all the savages of the country, who had abandoned their undertaking, in the belief that they would see me no more, and that the Iroquois had captured me, as I have before stated. This was the cause of the great delay experienced in this expedition, they even having postponed it to the following year. Meanwhile they received intelligence that a certain nation of their allies, [134] dwelling three good days' journeys beyond the Entouhonorons, [135] on whom the Iroquois also make war, desired to assist them in this expedition with five hundred good men; also to form an alliance and establish a friendship with us, that we might all engage in the war together; moreover that they greatly desired to see us and give expression to the pleasure they would have in making our acquaintance."

"I was glad to find this opportunity for gratifying my desire of obtaining a knowledge of their country. It is situated only seven days from where the Dutch [136] go to traffic on the fortieth degree. The savages there, assisted by the Dutch, make war upon them, take them prisoners, and cruelly put them to death; and indeed they told us that the preceding year, while making war, they captured three of the Dutch, who were assisting their enemies, [137] as we do the Attigouautans, and while in action one of their own men was killed. Nevertheless they did not fail to send back the three Dutch prisoners, without doing them any harm, supposing that they belonged to our party, since they had no knowledge of us except by hearsay, never having seen a Christian; otherwise, they said, these three prisoners would not have got off so easily, and would not escape again should they surprise and take them. This nation is very warlike, as those of the nation of the Attigouautans maintain. They have only three villages, which are in the midst of more than twenty others, on which they make war without assistance from their friends; for they are obliged to pass through the thickly settled country of the Chouontouaroueon,[138] or else they would have to make a very long circuit."

First thing he had heard of Brule after he and the 500 warriors did not show up for the battle:

"On the 22d of the month of April we received news from our interpreter, who had gone to Caranto�an, through those who had come from there. They told us that they had left him on the road, he having returned to the village for certain reasons."

Lastly, in 1618 Champlain finally meets back up with Brule who was still with the Andastes...

"Now there was with them a man named Etienne Brule, one of our interpreters, who had been living with them for eight years, as well to pass his time as to see the country and learn their language and way of life. He is the one I had dispatched with orders to go in the direction of the Entouhonorons, to Carantouan, in order to bring with him 500 warriors ...he gave me an account of the matter, a narrative of which it will not be out of place to give, as he is more to be pitied than blamed on account of the misfortunes which he experienced on this commission."

Note - Carantouannais is located straight above the "300 marker" on the bottom of this map.

However - - on this map - the word "Carantouannais" does seem to lie below the division of the Susquehanna - (that possibly being to the Chemung River?)

Interestingly, after the separation above Carantouannais, there is point - (Tioga Point?) where the river divides, and to the west - there is an illustration of large palisades, as well as a couple other villages of to the eastward direction of the river.

section from Samuel Champlain's Map from 1632:

http://www.mapsofpa.com/17thcentury/1632champlain.jpg

showing Carranouannais.

I searched some more and found that on a later map, where a map maker (Boisseau) recreated Champlain's map had placed "Carantouannais" farther up the river - above the point at which it divides.

From this, I wonder if Champlain was not referring to a "region" and not a specific location when he referred to Carantouannais. In other words, by only looking for evidence of a village that would support 800 warriors on Spanish Hill and just below it, did we miss the point that these maps seem to show? And might this be the reason why it took the Carantouannais and Brule a few days to get there warriors together to join Champlain?

As for his map, it seems clear to that Samuel Champlain was comfortable navigating from the north - not from the south, and if there is to be any misunderstanding on his illustrations - it should be from the south moving north and not from the north moving south. That is - I believe he would have been able to show relative location to the areas he himself spent so many years exploring. The misunderstandings would be more likely to occur when he drew areas from second hand accounts from people such as his interpreter, Etienne Brule.

What if Carantouannais stood for a whole region not unlike the Iroquois Nation?

Excerpt from "Voyages" concerning the decision and need to "collect" and prepare them:

"When the council was ended and it was decided to send the men, orders were given to collect, prepare, and arm them, so as to go and join us where we were encamped before the fort and the village of our enemies. This was only three short days journey from Carantouan, which was provided with more than 800 warriors, and strongly fortified, after the manner of those before described, which have high and strong palisades well bound and joined together, the quarters being constructed in a similar fashion."

Full text of first three volumes of Champlain's "Voyages (total of 6) available online from the Project Gutenberg: Click here!