The Frenchmen, led by Saint Lusson, assembled in the village, and crowds of curious Indians gathered about the small group of white men. The French soldiers had brought out their gayest uniforms and had polished their swords and muskets till they shone in the sunlight. Coureurs de bois--runners of the woods--and other Indian traders stood about in their rough picturesque costumes. At the head of the line walked four Jesuits arrayed in the impressive vestments of the priesthood. The names of these four men stand to-day as they signed them at the foot of the instrument which records this act of taking possession. They were a group of priests noteworthy in the history of the lakes. At one end stood Father Claude Dablon, the Superior of the Missions of the Lakes; next him came Gabriel Druilletes, a veteran missionary, whose experience with the Indians exceeded probably that of any Frenchman in Canada, and who had been sent by the government years before on a mission to the English colonists on the Atlantic to invite their coöperation against the Iroquois. Father Claude Allouez had followed Father Ménard in the Lake Superior country and founded the La Pointe Mission, and Father Louis André was establishing a station among the Ottawas at Manitoulin Island. Father Allouez had been obliged to leave the young Jesuit missionary Marquette in charge at La Pointe. Had he been with his brother priests, the circle of famous names would have been complete. Led by these four men, the line of Frenchmen--a motley company of soldiers, priests, explorers, and traders--marched up the hill to a height which had been selected because it overlooked the surrounding country. On either side of the column and behind it hovered the vast throng of dusky Indians. As the Frenchmen halted and grouped themselves about a huge cross of wood that lay on the ground, the Indians fell into position behind them and stood silent, waiting to see what the “white faces” would do. When all was quiet, Father Dablon, as Superior of the Lake Missions, stepped forward and blessed the cross with all the ceremonies of the Church. At a sign from Saint Lusson the holy wood was lifted, and as the foot of the standard fell into the opening prepared for it, the Frenchmen sang with all their hearts the ancient hymn of their church:-- “The royal banners forward go, The Cross shines forth in mystic glow: * * * * Fulfilled is all that David told, In true prophetic song of old; How God the heathen’s King should be, For God is reigning from the tree.”