*6 
VIEWS OP LOUISIANA. 
many years: being at this time chiefly occupied with her settle- 
ments in Canada, which had begun to flourish. St. Augustin 
and all Florida were about the same time abandoned by the Spa¬ 
niards. 
About the year 1671, it was known in Canada, from the in¬ 
formation of Indians, that there was a great river to the west of 
New France, which neither flowed to the east nor to the north.* 
It was thought, it must either discharge itself into the gulph of 
Mexico or into the south sea; and it therefore became a matter 
of importance that this should be ascertained. 
Frontenac the governor of Canada, accordingly sent the 
priest Marquette, with a trader named Joliet, accompanied by 
three or four men to explore this river. These persons ascend- 
ed the river of the Foxes, crossed to the Ouisconsing, which 
they descended to the Mississippi. They sailed down this river 
discovering some considerable tributary streams, the chief of 
which, the celebrated Missouri, was named by the Indians Pe - 
kitanoni. A few leagues below it, they found three large Indian 
villages of Illinois.! 
Little was done towards the further discovery of this region, 
until it was undertaken by the enterprising La Salle. This gen¬ 
tleman having descended the Mississippi in company with the 
Chevalier Tonti, discovered the mouth of the river, returned 
with a fixed resolution of attempting further discoveries, and of 
establishing a colony. He succeeded in obtaining a considerable 
force from the king of France and about the year 1684, set sail 
from la Rochelle. Rut according to Charlevoix, from an unfortu¬ 
nate severity of temper which often produced acts very ill-timed* 
and from an over-weening confidence in his own abilities and 
.resources, which led him to treat the opinions of others witl* 
* Charlevoix. 
f The decrease of these people is astonishingly great. The Illinois in 
the recollection of the whites could bring eight or ten thousand warriors 
into the field. Shortly after the discovery of the Mississippi, a missiona¬ 
ry who went to establish himself amongst the Miamies, found three 
thousand warriors preparing for a war party. The Onlogamies were 
reckoned at a thousand families* 
