Pathfinders of the West | Page 3

The path followed by the explorer west
of the Great Lakes--as given by Radisson himself--is here written. Full
corroboration of all that Radisson relates is to be found--as already
stated--in chronicles written at the period of his life and in the State
Papers. Copies of these I have in my possession. Samples of the papers
bearing on Radisson's times, copied from the Marine Archives, will be
found in the Appendix. One must either accept the explorer's word as
conclusive,--even when he relates his own trickery,--or in rejecting his
journal also reject as fictions the Jesuit Relations, the Marine Archives,
Dollier de Casson, _Marie de l'Incarnation, and the Abbé Belmont_,
which record the same events as Radisson. In no case has reliance been
placed on second-hand chronicles. Oldmixon and Charlevoix must both
have written from hearsay; therefore, though quoted in the footnotes,
they are not given as conclusive proof. The only means of identifying
Radisson's routes are (1) by his descriptions of the countries, (2) his
notes of the Indian tribes; so that personal knowledge of the territory is
absolutely essential in following Radisson's narrative. All the regions
traversed by Radisson--the Ottawa, the St. Lawrence, the Great Lakes,
Labrador, and the Great Northwest--I have visited, some of them many
times, except the shores of Hudson Bay, and of that region I have some
hundreds of photographs.
Material for the accounts of the other pathfinders of the West has been
drawn directly from the different explorers' journals.
For historical matter I wish to express my indebtedness to Dr. N. E.

Dionne of the Parliamentary Library, Quebec, whose splendid sketch of
Radisson and Groseillers, read before the Royal Society of Canada,
does much to redeem the memory of the discoverers from ignominy; to
Dr. George Bryce of Winnipeg, whose investigation of Hudson's Bay
Archives adds a new chapter to Radisson's life; to Mr. Benjamin Sulte
of Ottawa, whose destructive criticism of inaccuracies in old and
modern records has done so much to stop people writing history out of
their heads and to put research on an honest basis; and to M. Edouard
Richard for scholarly advice relating to the Marine Archives, which he
has exploited so thoroughly. For transcripts and archives now out of
print, thanks are due Mr. L. P. Sylvain of the Parliamentary Library,
Ottawa, the officials of the Archives Department, Ottawa, Mr. F. C.
Wurtele of Quebec, Professor Andrew Baird of Winnipeg, Mr. Alfred
Matthews of the Prince Society, Boston, the Hon. Jacob V. Brower and
Mr. Warren Upham of St. Paul. Mr. Lawrence J. Burpee of Ottawa was
so good as to give me a reading of his exhaustive notes on La
Vérendrye and of data found on the Radisson family. To Mrs. Fred
Paget of Ottawa, the daughter of a Hudson's Bay Company officer, and
to Mr. and Mrs. C. C. Farr of the Northern Ottawa, I am indebted for
interesting facts on life in the fur posts. Miss Talbot of Winnipeg
obtained from retired officers of the Hudson's Bay Company a most
complete set of photographs relating to the fur trade. To her and to
those officers who loaned old heirlooms to be photographed, I beg to
express my cordial appreciation. And the thanks of all who write on the
North are permanently due Mr. C. C. Chipman, Chief Commissioner of
the Hudson's Bay Company, for unfailing courtesy in extending
information.
WILDWOOD PLACE,
WASSAIC, N.Y.
[1] I of course refer to the West as beyond the Great Lakes; for Nicotet,
in 1634, and two nameless Frenchmen--servants of Jean de Lauzon--in
1654, had been beyond the Sault.

Just as this volume was going to the printer, I received a copy of the
very valuable Minnesota Memoir, Vol. VI, compiled by the Hon. J. V.
Brower of St. Paul, to whom my thanks are due for this excellent
contribution to Western annals. It may be said that the authors of this
volume have done more than any other writers to vindicate Radisson
and Groseillers as explorers of the West. The very differences of
opinion over the regions visited establish the fact that Radisson did
explore parts of Minnesota. I have purposely avoided trying to say what
parts of Minnesota he exploited, because, it seems to me, the
controversy is futile. Radisson's memory has been the subject of
controversy from the time of his life. The controversy--first between
the governments of France and England, subsequently between the
French and English historians--has eclipsed the real achievements of
Radisson. To me it seems non-essential as to whether Radisson camped
on an island in the Mississippi, or only visited the region of that island.
The fact remains that he discovered the Great Northwest, meaning by
that the region west of the Mississippi. The same dispute has obscured
his explorations of Hudson Bay, French writers maintaining