Another Englishman, Henry Hudson, sent out in 1609 by the Dutch East India Company, explored the coast from Nova Scotia to Chesa peake Bay, and then ascended the Hudson River to Albany. It was during the following year that, in the search for a northwest passage, he discovered the strait and bay that bear his name.
France first gained a foothold in North America through the efforts of Samuel de Champlain. The years 1603-07 he spent in ex ploring the Saint Lawrence and the shores of New England, making the first accurate map of that coast After he founded Quebec in 1608, he became interested in inland exploration, which twice led him into the United States. In 1609 he set out with 11 men to aid the Hurons against the Iroquois, descended the Richelieu in canoes,portaging part of the way, and pushed on through Lake Champlain to about Crown Point; and again in 1615 he accompanied a great war party of Indians by way of the New York lakes into the heart of the Iroquois coun try, south of Lake Oneida.
From this time fur-traders and missionaries spread over the country bordering the Saint Lawrence and its tributaries, gradually approach ing the Mississippi. The Spaniards had not fol lowed up their discovery, failing to understand its importance. Nearly a century after De Soto's journey the French at the north began to have an interest in the Indian traditions re garding the River.° About 1635 a trader, Jean Nicollet, was sent to a tribe near the head of Green Bay, Wisconsin. From there he went with Indian guides up the Fox River, portaged to the Wisconsin and descended that until he came °near the sea,' as he reported; probably mistaking the °Great Water' described by the Indians for the sea. By 1658 two other French traders, Radisson and Groseilliers, reached the head of Lake Superior and ex plored the surrounding country.
When these rumors of a great river to the west reached Frontenac, the governor of Canada, he sent Louis Joliet to explore it in company with Jacques Marquette, a Tesuit Meeting at Saint Ignace, they set out with five men and two canoes, skirted the north shore of Lake Michigan and Green Bay, and ascending the Fox River, were guided by Indians across the portage to the Wisconsin, down which they passed, reaching the Mississippi 17 June. For one month they floated down the great stream, noting the mouths of its tributaries as they passed, until they came to an Indian village opposite the mouth of the Arkansas. By this time they knew that the river emptied into the Gulf of Mexico, and supposing themselves nearer the mouth than they actually were, they turned back through fear of Spaniards, return ing by way of the Illinois and the western shore of Lake Michigan, which they reached by portage. Two years later Marquette met his
death while attempting to establish a mission on the Illinois. His work among the Indians was taken up by Father Claude Allouez, also a Jesuit, who established several missions and traversed much of the country around lakes Superior and Michigan between 1665 and 1680.
Already explorer was searching for the Mississippi. Robert Cavalier de La Salle was one of those who had come to Canada in pursuit of the passage to China, and guessed that it lay by way of the Mississippi, which he supposed emptied into the Gulf of California. In 1669 he crossed from Lake Ontario to a branch of the Ohio, and followed that river as far as Louisville. The next year be reached the Illinois from the end of Lake Michigan and explored it for some distance. For years he went back and forth through the region and established trade with the western Indians. In 1680 he sent Louis Hennepin, another Jesuit, with two men down the Illinois to ascend the Mississippi. On the way they were taken prison ers by the Sioux and carried up the great river to the Falls of Saint Anthony, which Hennepin named. There they were joined by the famous trader Daniel Greysolon Du Lhut, who for two years had fearlessly explored the region around the end of Lake Superior and the head of the Mississippi. He had just come by way of the Saint Croix River from his fort on the site of Duluth and now joined Hennepin on his return journey by the Wisconsin.
At last, in 1682, La Salle attained his goal. With Henri de Tonty and a large party he reached the Mississippi from the foot of L.ake Michigan by way of the Chicago and the Illi nois, and descended to its mouth. On 9 April La Salle took possession in the name of King Louis of France and gave the name Louisiana to all territory drained by the Mississippi. After his return he sailed for France and obtained permission to transport colonists to the new province. He reached the Gulf of Mexico, but was unable to find the mouth of the river, and put in at Matagorda Bay. There he built Fort Saint Louis, and then started overland to find the Mississippi and reach Canada to obtain supplies for the colonists, but was murdered by one of his men near a fork of Trinity River, Texas.