TO THE INHABITANTS OF THE GREAT VALLEY OF THE WEST, WHOSE MAGNIFICENT REALMS LA SALLE AND HIS COMPANIONS WERE THE FIRST TO EXPLORE, THIS VOLUME IS RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED, BY JOHN S. C. ABBOTT. PREFACE. There is no one of the Pioneers of this continent whose achievements equal those of the Chevalier Robert de la Salle. He passed over thousands of miles of lakes and rivers in the birch canoe. He traversed countless leagues of prairie and forest, on foot, guided by the moccasined Indian, threading