Henri Joutel, the writer of this narrative, was a native of Rouen, in France. His father had formerly been head-gardener to Henri Cavelier, the uncle of René Robert Cavelier, Sieur de la Salle, the explorer, whose presence and projects for a new voyage to the Mississippi were the engrossing subjects of interest to his fellow townsmen of Rouen just at the time of Joutel’s return from a seventeen years’ service in the army.[24]

Being then in the prime of his young manhood, of an adventurous spirit, unhampered by family responsibilities, and free for any new employment, he very naturally became a volunteer in the enterprise of his distinguished fellow-townsman. He evidently possessed a fair education for that day, and a character for reliability and experience, which, together with his personal and business qualifications, rendered him most acceptable to La Salle’s projected undertaking. His social position in his native town, if we may infer from the title of “Mr.” usually prefixed to his name, was that of a bourgeois—that class in the community which for centuries has been the mainstay and source of France’s stability and prosperity. In the mixed military and naval expedition which sailed under La Salle’s orders, his position seems not to have been that of a commissioned officer, though he styles himself in his Journal, “a Commander,” but rather that of a personal lieutenant and confidant[25] of the Commander-in-Chief—in other words, a superintendent of such matters as pertained to the provisioning, sheltering, and general care and regulation of the interests and comfort of the settlers, both male and female, who formed a part of the expedition.

His services to the enterprise of which he, fortunately, became the historian, as they are simply and circumstantially narrated in this Journal, and corroborated by contemporary evidence, prove that La Salle’s choice of him, as “the man of affairs” of the expedition was well-founded and fortunate. Practical, methodical, resourceful in every emergency, tactful in his dealings with all the members of the heterogeneous company with whom he was associated, and inflexibly loyal to his Chief, Joutel fully proved his worth.

Twice, at least, his life was in danger, from the machinations of mutineers. The first time, the plot was discovered in time, and, having received an order to join La Salle with all his force, he delivered the criminals to the latter. And again, being left in charge of the Fort St. Louis, with 34 men, Joutel was disturbed by a plot to kill him or deprive him of his office—from which once more his life, which ultimately proved so valuable to the party, was preserved.

His Journal, here printed, is valuable from its exactness of detail, and the fact that, in many places, it corrects the careless or misleading statements of others, and it is remarkably free from the egotism which disfigures or weakens the narratives of some early travelers in America. Parkman, comparing it with other accounts written by survivors of the expedition, says emphatically, “It gives the impression of sense, intelligence and candor, throughout.”

No shadow of complicity in the murder of La Salle attaches to Joutel. That he did not more strongly assert himself in the critical emergencies which succeeded that tragical event, was due, probably, to a combination of circumstances. The mutineers who had accomplished the deed were overwhelmingly dominant, and the lives of the whole party trembled in the balance. Joutel was no coward; but the situation in which they found themselves called for the exercise of that prudence which is ofttimes the better part of valor. Neither was he ambitious, so that, when the little band of seven who sought to separate themselves from the assassins, finally started upon their long and perilous journey toward the North, we find, as if by common consent, that the Abbe Cavelier figures as the nominal leader. Undoubtedly, this was due partly to the respect felt by Joutel for the aged ecclesiastic by virtue of his sacred office, as well as by his own life-long association, at Rouen, with the family of Cavelier; and also by motives of policy in thus securing for the party the prestige of being headed by a La Salle—a “name to conjure with” amid the savage tribes through whom they must pass.

Yet, undoubtedly, it was mainly to Joutel’s prudence, courage, and practical knowledge that the little band of survivors—after their marvelous journey of over 800 miles through trackless wilds, and amid innumerable dangers from flood, disease, and savages—finally reached Quebec, and ultimately their beloved France, in October, 1688.

The motives previously alluded to as influencing Joutel in waiving his right to the leadership of the party, on its return to civilization, may, probably, sufficiently account for (even if they do not fully condone) his connivance (as also that of Father Douay) in the concealment, for over two years, of the fact of La Salle’s death—a deception undoubtedly originating with the Abbe Cavalier, who desired thereby to get possession of property which might otherwise have been seized by creditors of his deceased brother the Sieur Robert La Salle, the explorer. Parkman says (note to p. 207, vol. ii, La Salle’s Voyages, Champlain edition) that “the prudent Abbe died rich and very old, at the home of a relative, having inherited a large estate after his return from America.”

Joutel appears to have spent the rest of his life at Rouen, where Charlevoix says he saw him in 1723; and speaks of him as a very upright man, and evidently the only trustworthy member of La Salle’s party. Of Joutel’s Journal he also speaks in the same strain.[26]