La Salle and the discovery of the great West - North Central ...

LA SALLEDISCOVERY OF THE GEEAT WEST,INTRODUCTION.The Spaniards discovered the Mississippi. DeSoto was buried beneath its waters ; and it was downits muddy current that his followers fled from theEldorado of their dreams, transformed to a wildernessof misery and death.The discovery was never used,and was well-nigh forgotten. On early Spanishmaps, the Mississippi is often indistinguishable fromother affluents of the Gulf. A century passed afterDe Soto's journeying*s in the South, before a Frenchexplorer reached a northern tributary of the greatriver.This was Jean Nicollet, interpreter at Three Riverson the St. Lawrence. He had been some twentyyears in Canada, had lived among the savageAlgonquins of Allumette Island, and spent eight ornine years among the Nipissings, on the lake whichbears their name. Here he became an Indian in all