Four missionary priests from the Seminary of Quebec were the first white men to visit the Yazoo River. Led by Rev. Francis De Montigny of Paris, Vicar General of the Bishop of Quebec, the party also included Rev. Anthony Davion, Rev. Thaumer De La Source, and Rev. John Francis Buisson De St. Cosme. Their purpose was to civilize the Indians and teach that there was an Almighty God who loved all mankind and would reward those who loved and served Him and kept His commandments. They arrived at this site on January 11, 1698, and Tunica Indians conducted them inland from the Mississippi River to the chief's village, whose population they estimated at 2000, including the Yazoo and Ofo tribes. During an eight-day visit, with sickness among the people, they baptized several dying children and a distinguished chief. After visiting other tribes, they returned to Canada for necessities to establish permanent missions and came back in January 1699. Their extensive and thorough study of Indian languages was later praised by John R. Swanton of the U.S. Bureau of Ethnology in 1911, who wrote that De Montigny and St. Cosme, especially the latter, were best fitted to judge the relationship of Natchez to neighboring languages and that, regarding the languages of ten other tribes, not a single mistake was made by them. Large grants of land were made to M. Le Blanc, French minister of State, and his associates. In 1719 Fort St. Peter was constructed, and additions were made annually to the settlements until by 1721 there were two farms on Walnut Hills and fourteen on the Yazoo around the fort, which became the envy of the British and pride of the French. On December 31, 1729, Yazoo Indians massacred Rev. John Souel, S.J., Chevalier Des Roches, the commandant, and all the population except four women and five children.