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Francis Parkman's Works.

NEW LIBRARY EDITION.

Vol. III.




  FRANCIS PARKMAN'S WORKS.

  New Library Edition.

  Pioneers of France in the New World                  1 vol.

  The Jesuits in North America                         1 vol.

  La Salle and the Discovery of the Great West         1 vol.

  The Old Regime in Canada                             1 vol.

  Count Frontenac and New France under Louis XIV.      1 vol.

  A Half Century of Conflict                           2 vols.

  Montcalm and Wolfe                                   2 vols.

  The Conspiracy of Pontiac and the Indian War after
  the Conquest of Canada                               2 vols.

  The Oregon Trail                                     1 vol.




[Illustration]

_La Salle Presenting a Petition to Louis XIV._

Drawn by Adrien Moreau.

La Salle and the Discovery of the Great West, _Frontispiece_




  LA SALLE
  AND THE
  DISCOVERY OF THE GREAT WEST.

  FRANCE AND ENGLAND IN
  NORTH AMERICA.

  Part Third.

  BY
  FRANCIS PARKMAN.

  BOSTON:
  LITTLE, BROWN, AND COMPANY.
  1908.


  Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1869, by
  Francis Parkman,
  In the Clerk's Office
  of the
  District Court of the District of Massachusetts.

  Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1879, by
  Francis Parkman,
  In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington.

  _Copyright, 1897,_
  By Little, Brown, and Company.

  _Copyright, 1897,_
  By Grace P. Coffin and Katharine S. Coolidge.

  _Copyright, 1907,_
  By Grace P. Coffin.

  Printers
  S. J. Parkhill & Co., Boston, U. S. A.


TO

THE CLASS OF 1844,

Harvard College,

THIS BOOK IS CORDIALLY DEDICATED

BY ONE OF THEIR NUMBER.




PREFACE OF THE ELEVENTH EDITION.


When the earlier editions of this book were
published, I was aware of the existence of a collection
of documents relating to La Salle, and
containing important material to which I had
not succeeded in gaining access. This collection
was in possession of M. Pierre Margry, director
of the Archives of the Marine and Colonies at
Paris, and was the result of more than thirty
years of research. With rare assiduity and zeal,
M. Margry had explored not only the vast depository
with which he has been officially connected
from youth, and of which he is now the
chief, but also the other public archives of
France, and many private collections in Paris
and the provinces. The object of his search
was to throw light on the career and achievements
of French explorers, and, above all, of La
Salle. A collection of extraordinary richness
grew gradually upon his hands. In the course
of my own inquiries, I owed much to his friendly
aid; but his collections, as a whole, remained
inaccessible, since he naturally wished to be the
first to make known the results of his labors.
An attempt to induce Congress to furnish him
with the means of printing documents so interesting
to American history was made in 1870
and 1871, by Henry Harrisse, Esq., aided by the
American minister at Paris; but it unfortunately
failed.

In the summer and autumn of 1872, I had
numerous interviews with M. Margry, and at his
desire undertook to try to induce some American
bookseller to publish the collection. On returning
to the United States, I accordingly made
an arrangement with Messrs. Little, Brown &
Co., of Boston, by which they agreed to print
the papers if a certain number of subscriptions
should first be obtained. The condition proved
very difficult; and it became clear that the best
hope of success lay in another appeal to Congress.
This was made in the following winter,
in conjunction with Hon. E. B. Washburne;
Colonel Charles Whittlesey, of Cleveland; O. H.
Marshall, Esq., of Buffalo; and other gentlemen
interested