PART II. 



HISTORY. 



The History of this country, though modern, brief, and 

 scanty in incident, is yet mixed with fable. It was early 

 visited by the French voyageurs and missionaries from 

 Canada ; but the object of the voyageurs was trade and 

 gain ; and while their talent lay not in writing, their interest 

 probably prompted them to withhold, rather than blazon, the 

 discoveries which they made. Gabriel Sagard, a Franciscan 

 missionary, if he is to be believed, was in the country of tlie 

 Hurons, about the Lake of that name, as early as 1624, and 

 went as far as Mackina. French missionaries were settled in 

 Michigan in 1634. In 1634, w^e learn from Charlevoix, Bre- 

 boeuf and Daniel, missionaries were with the Hurons ; and 

 about eight years after, it is stated by the same good authority 

 that others went to the Sault St. Marie. 



About the same time (1642) some Jesuits received a depu- 

 tation of the Saulteurs, who invited them to go into their 

 country. These savages then occupied the country about a 

 rapid which is in a strait by which Lake Superior is discharg- 

 ed into Huron. It has since been named Sault St. Marie. 

 The missionaries were pleased with the opportunity of know- 

 ing the country, which none of them had ever traversed. 

 Father Isaac Jogues and Charles Raimbaut were sent to 



