"
[Footnote: _Dongan to Denonville_, 1 _Dec_., 1686, in _N. Y. Col.
Docs_., III. 462.]
Each tried incessantly to out-general the other. Denonville, steadfast
in his plan of controlling the passes of the western country, had
projected forts, not only at Niagara, but also at Toronto, on Lake
Erie, and on the Strait of Detroit. He thought that a time had come
when he could, without rashness, secure this last important passage;
and he sent an order to Du Lhut, who was then at Michillimackinac, to
occupy it with fifty _coureurs de bois_. [Footnote: _Denonville a Du
Lhut_, 6 _Juin_, 1686.] That enterprising chief accordingly repaired
to Detroit, and built a stockade at the outlet of Lake Huron on the
western side of the strait. It was not a moment too soon. The year
before, Dongan had sent a party of armed traders in eleven canoes,
commanded by Johannes Rooseboom, a Dutchman of Albany, to carry
English goods to the upper lakes. They traded successfully, winning
golden opinions from the Indians, who begged them to come every year;
and, though Denonville sent an officer to stop them at Niagara, they
returned in triumph, after an absence of three months. [Footnote:
Brodhead, _Hist. of New York_, II. 429; _Denonville au Ministre_, 8
_Mai_, 1686.
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