The writings of the early explorers and priests abound in descriptive details of a climatic, physical, or personal nature; and this information, wherever illuminative, has been drawn upon to reproduce as vividly and as truly as possible the conditions surrounding the events described.

There is one secondary writer who will always deserve the gratitude of the student of subjects connected with the French and Indians in Canada and the Mississippi Valley, and acknowledgments are here made to Francis Parkman, not as a source of information—although his conclusions, drawn from an exhaustive study of original documents, are invaluable—but as a pioneer and unrivaled master in the field and a source of unfailing inspiration.

There are many persons who have aided the work in various ways, and their assistance has been duly appreciated; but space will permit the mention of only two of them. The helpful criticism and suggestions of my wife throughout the entire preparation of the volume have materially benefited the text; and the constant advice and encouragement of the editor of the series, Dr. Benjamin F. Shambaugh, and his careful editorial revision of the manuscript have added much to the value of the book.

John Carl Parish.

Denver, Colorado

CONTENTS

I[THE CAPTIVE]
II[THE COMING OF THE STRANGERS]
III[DOWN THE GREAT RIVER]
IV[THE CAPTIVE RELEASED]
V[THE BLACK GOWN]
VI[“THE IROQUOIS ARE COMING”]
VII[THE SECRET COUNCIL]
VIII[THE FORT CALLED CRÈVECŒUR]
IX[THE WHITE INVASION]
X[THE MYSTERIOUS HAND]
XI[“WE ARE ALL SAVAGES”]
XII[THE DEATH OF CHASSAGOAC]
XIII[THE IROQUOIS COME]
XIV[THE SCATTERING OF THE TRIBES]
XV[A SIOUX WAR PARTY]
XVI[THE LAND OF THE SIOUX]
XVII[A BUFFALO HUNT]
XVIII[THE MIAMIS REPENT]
XIX[A CHIEF COME TO LIFE]
XX[STRANGE RITES]
XXI[THE LOWER MISSISSIPPI]
XXII[THE GATHERING OF THE TRIBES]
XXIII[FORT ST. LOUIS]
XXIV[THE LOST CHIEF]
XXV[NEWS FROM LA SALLE]
XXVI[AN ILL-STARRED VOYAGE]
XXVII[HUNTING THE MISSISSIPPI]
XXVIII[FROM THE GULF TO THE ILLINOIS]
XXIX[WHEN HE LEFT THEM]
XXX[WHITE AND RED SAVAGES]
XXXI[TONTY’S HEROIC VENTURE]
XXXII[THE PITIFUL REMNANT]

The frontispiece is from a painting by Frank T. Merrill