Du L’Hut, who came to the rescue of Accault and Hennepin, was of noble family, and a member of the king’s bodyguard.  He decided, however, to seek his fortune in Canada, and obtained a commission as captain.  It was his cousin, Henri de Tonty, who had accompanied La Salle.  After returning to France to fight in the wars then going on, he came back to Canada with a younger brother, Claude.  He had in him the spirit of great adventurers, and longed to visit the unknown countries of the upper Mississippi.  In the early part of these journeys he rescued his fellow countrymen from the keeping of the Sious in the manner described.  After that he spent thirty years travelling and trading about North America, from the northern Mississippi into what we should now call Manitoba, and from the vicinity of Lake Winnipeg to Hudson Bay.  He brought the great Amerindian nation of the Dakotas into direct relations with the French.  He was absolutely fearless, and in no period of Canadian history has France been more splendidly represented in the personality of any of her officers than she was by Daniel de Greysolon du L’Hut.  His was a tiresome name for English scribes and speakers.  It was therefore written by them “Duluth” and pronounced D[)a]l[)a]th (instead of “Dueluet").  It is the name given to the township near the southernmost extremity of Lake Superior.

When the journeys of du L’Hut came to an end—­he died at Montreal in 1710—­and after the era of great French explorations in North America drew to a close, the French power was beginning to be eclipsed by that of the British, who were building up the foundations of a colony on the shores of Hudson’s Bay, and were taking steps to acquire Newfoundland and to colonize New Brunswick and Nova Scotia.

Nevertheless, in 1720, the King of France, or rather the regent acting for the king, decided that a serious attempt must be made to discover the Western Sea, or Pacific Ocean, from the French posts which had been established in what is now known as Manitoba.  The French had already discovered the Missouri, and had heard from several Indian tribes that it was possible to cross the Rocky Mountains and descend by other rivers to the waters of a great ocean, the coasts of which were visited by Spaniards.  Several expeditions were sent out, more or less under the control of Jesuits, but did not accomplish much.

The really great discoveries which link the “Great North-West” for all time in history with France and French names were initiated by PIERRE GAULTIER DE LA VERENDRYE, who was born in 1685 at the town of Three Rivers, in Lower Canada, where his father was Governor.  He entered the army at the age of twelve, and took part in the French campaigns in Flanders, winning the rank of lieutenant at the battle of Malplaquet, where he received nine wounds and was left for dead on the field.  He then returned to Canada, not having the necessary means with which to support the position of a lieutenant; and then, as France seemed