His adventures were
more wild and wondrous than almost any recorded in the tales of
chivalry. As time is rapidly obliterating from our land the footprints
of the savage, it is important that these records of his strange
existence should be perpetuated.

Fortunately we have full and accurate accounts of these explorations,
in the journals of Messrs. Marquette, Hennepin, and Joliet. We have
still more minute narratives, in _Etablissement de la Foix_, par le P.
Chretien Le Clercq, Paris 1691; _Dernieres Decouvertes_, par le
Chevalier de Tonti, Paris 1697; _Journal Historique_, par M. Joutel,
Paris 1713.

For the incidents in the last fatal expedition, to establish a colony
at the mouth of the Mississippi, and the wonderful land tour of more
than two thousand miles from the sea-coast of Texas to Quebec, through
the territories of hundreds of tribes, we have the narratives of Father
Christian Le Clercq, the narrative of Father Anastasias Douay, and the
minute and admirably written almost daily journal of Monsieur Joutel,
in his _Dernier Voyage_. Both Douay and Joutel accompanied this
expedition from its commencement to its close.

In these adventures the reader will find a more vivid description of
the condition of this continent, and the character of its inhabitants
two hundred years ago, than can be found anywhere else. Sir Walter
Scott once remarked, that no one could take more pleasure in reading
his romances, than he had taken in writing them. In this volume we have
the romance of truth.

If the writer can judge of the pleasure of the reader, from the intense
interest he has experienced in following these adventurers through
their perilous achievements, this narrative will prove to be one of
extraordinary interest.

JOHN S. C. ABBOTT.

Fair Haven, Connecticut.

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER I.

_The Enterprise of James Marquette._

Page

The Discovery of America. Explorations of the French in Canada.
Ancestry of James Marquette. His noble Character. Mission to Canada.
Adventures with the Indians. Wild Character of the Region and the
Tribes. Voyage to Lake Superior with the Nez-Perces. Mission at
Green Bay. Search for the Mississippi. The Outfit. The Voyage
through Green Bay. Fox River and the Illinois. Enters the
Mississippi. Scenes Sublime and Beautiful. Adventures in an Indian
Village.