For classification of selections, see the index at the end of Volume X. HOW THEY TOOK THE GOLD-TRAIN (Halftone). George Werveke 110 THE LADY WITH THE LAMP "DO NOT SHOOT TILL I Do." George Werveke 118 Title-page and halftone decorations by Mrs. Thomas Wood Stevens. Wood Stevens, Frederick Grant and Miss Edith Virden. PÈRE MARQUETTE JARED SPARKS1 T is generally believed that the Mississippi River was first discovered by Ferdinand de Soto, as early as 1541. The accounts of his expedition in Florida are so highly exaggerated, so indefinite, and in many parts so obviously false, that little more can be inferred from them, than that he passed far into the country, had many combats with the natives, and finally died in the interior. The probability is so strong, however, that he and his party actually crossed the Mississippi, that it has usually been assumed as a historical fact. The first Europeans, however, who are certainly known to have discovered and explored this river, were two Frenchmen, Father Marquette2 and M. Joliet, in the year 1673. Marquette was a native of Picardy, and Charlevoix calls him "one of the most: illustrious mission 1. Jared Sparks was born in 1789, and was one of the most industrious of our early historians, for he collected documents, edited them, and wrote untiringly on American biography. Some of his work is not considered very reliable, but he contributed a great deal of valuable information in rather a pleasing way. This sketch of Marquette's expedition is particularly interesting, as he followed so closely the report of the great missionary. 2. Father Marquette, the famous Jesuit explorer and missionary, was born in France in 1637. He was sent as a missionary to Canada, and in 1668 founded the mission of Sault Sainte Marie. In 1673, when he was ordered by Count Frontenac to join Joliet and find and explore the Mississippi, he was in charge of a new mission at Mackinaw. |