The Whississippi Valley, 
< HE country we now occupy on this western 
a bank of the Mississippi, and of which, as Amer- 
‘@ ican citizens, we are justly proud, has not de- 
scended to us as a rich inheritance from a vener- 
able and time-honored ancestry. By an historic movement 
grander than that of the Jewish Exodus, and an irruption 
that throws into the shade the Norman conquest, we are 
the present possessors of a land unknown to our fathers. 
Even during the present century, and within the memory 
of living men, this Trans-Mississippi region has borne the 
name of a French, monarch and acknowledged the sover- 
eignty of a Spanish king. Through what series of changes 
the present state of things, as now passing before our eyes, 
has been brought about, would seem not altogether devoid 
of interest to us, the now living actors, and will be of not less 
interest to ides who shall come after us. Desirous to con- 
tribute something, however meagre, to this historic fund, 
I have endeavored to bring together, in chronological order, 
some of the principal events in the early exploration and 
settlement of the Mississippi Valley, and to weave into my 
narrative such incidents as I have been able to gather up 
from the limited sources at my command, having any direct 
reference to our local history. 
It is a matter of regret —though perhaps in the nature of 
things unavoidable —that, in the bustle and excitement of 
frontier life, the most favorable conditions are not afforded 
for a calm and dispassionate view of the true character and 
