World Digital Library

New Travels to the West Indies. Including an Account on the Peoples who Live by the Great Saint Louis River, also Known as the Mississippi River, 1768

Jean-Bernard Bossu (1720–92) was a French soldier and adventurer who in the late 18th century explored large parts of the French colony of Louisiana. He made three extended trips to the New World, in 1751, 1757, and 1760. In 1751 he traveled up the Mississippi River to the lands of the Arkansas Indians, also known as the Quapaw. Bossu wrote extensive letters to the Marquis de l’Estrade about his adventures among the native peoples of the Mississippi Valley, who included not only the Quapaw but also the Illinois, Alabama, Natchez, Chickasaw, Caddo, Choctaw, Osage, Yazoo, and other tribes. Nouveaux voyages aux Indes occidentales (New travels to the West Indies) is a compendium of these letters published in Paris in 1768, and based on his voyages of 1751 and 1757. In 1777 Bossu published a collection of his letters about his last trip, Nouveaux voyage dans l’Amérique septentrional (New travels in North America). In addition to his descriptions of the Native American tribes, Bossu offers insights into several famous episodes in the history of Louisiana, including the death in 1687 of Cavelier de La Salle, the visit of Indian chiefs to Versailles in 1725, and the Natchez uprising of 1729, partly as seen from the native perspective. Bossu was a great friend and admirer of the Quapaw. A believer in Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s concept of the “noble savage,” he stressed the humanity of the Quapaw, who he wrote were “capable of heroism, humanism, and virtue.”

Second Voyage by the Commander on Behalf of the Very Pious King Francis, by Jacques Cartier, in the Year Fifteen Hundred and Thirty-six

During his first voyage to the New World, in 1534, Jacques Cartier explored the Gulf of Saint Lawrence and made contact with the Iroquois. Thanks to their accounts of a fabulously rich Kingdom of Saguenay, a second voyage was rapidly decided upon. Cartier’s second voyage to New France (present-day Canada), in 1535‒36, resulted in the discovery of the Saint Lawrence River, the most important route into the interior of the continent. This discovery for a long time would raise hopes of a passage to China. Cartier ascended the river as far as Hochelaga, the future site of the city of Montreal. Presented here is Cartier’s account of his voyage, the original of which is preserved in the National Library of France. It provides numerous geographic details that continued to be reported on maps for another 50 years. It also contains the first precise observations by a European about the native peoples, flora, and fauna of Canada. The full title, written on the first page of the manuscript, reads: “Second Voyage by the Commander on Behalf of the Very Pious King Francis I, by Jacques Cartier, in the Year Fifteen Hundred Thirty-six, which concluded with the discovery of the western lands under the climate and parallels of the lands and kingdoms of the King, a discovery which had already been initiated. This voyage was made in the year fifteen hundred and thirty-six by Jacques Cartier, pilot-captain of the King, who was born in Saint Malo de l’Isle, Brittany.” The first words of the manuscript are an address “to the very pious king.” The document concludes with a short glossary entitled “Hereby is the language of the lands and kingdoms of Hochelaga and Canada, also known as New France,” which gives Indian words for numbers, parts of the body, and various other items.

Relation, or True Chronicle of what Occurred in the Country of Louisiana for Twenty-two Consecutive Years from the Start of the French Settlement in the Region

André Pénicaut, born around 1680 in La Rochelle, France, was a “carpenter in the construction of royal ships” and an interpreter. This manuscript is his account of the 22 years he spent in Louisiana between 1699 and 1721. Pénicaut first sailed for Louisiana in September 1698 on Le Marin, captained by the Count of Surgères, as part of the expedition led by Pierre Le Moyne d'Iberville (1661‒1706), founder of the French colony of Louisiana. Based on his daily notes, Pénicaut’s account is extremely rich, describing in turn the geography and natural resources of the region, French wars against the Indians, the establishment of a land-holding system and the founding of New Orleans in 1718, as well as the religion and customs of the native population, particularly the Natchez. The narrative of his Mississippi adventures is likewise filled with anecdotes about relations between the French and the native populations. The 324-page manuscript is organized chronologically, with one chapter devoted to each year. Each chapter is introduced with a number of headings that summarize the main topics or incidents covered in the chapter.

History and General Description of New France with the Historical Journal of a Voyage in North America Made by Order of the King

Histoire et description générale de la Nouvelle France avec le Journal historique d'un voyage fait par ordre du roi dans l'Amérique septentrionnale (History and general description of New France with the historical journal of a voyage in North America made by order of the king) is the first general account of French settlements in North America, written by Jesuit priest Pierre-François-Xavier de Charlevoix (1682−1761) and published in Paris in 1744. Charlevoix’s account relies in part on his own knowledge, which he gained while staying in New France on two occasions: from 1705 to 1709 when he taught grammar at the Collège des Jésuites de Québec (Jesuit College of Quebec), and from 1720 to 1722 when he traveled from the Saint Lawrence Valley to New Orleans, gathering data on the then-rumored Western Sea. The first two tomes are a meticulous account of the political, military and diplomatic events affecting Acadia, Canada, and Louisiana. Volume one (books 1 to 12) starts with the first discoveries and attempts at colonization in the 16th century and ends with the Iroquois wars of the 1680s. Volume two (books 13 to 22) covers the period between 1680 and 1731. The third volume is an account of Charlevoix’s expedition of 1720−22. A map of North America by Jacques Bellin (1703−72) showing the route of Charlevoix’s voyage appears before the start of the main text, after a detailed, 19-page set of remarks by Bellin on the geography of North America and the table of contents. Bellin was a prolific cartographer attached to the French Marine Office, whose maps and sea atlases reflect the careful mapping of bays, seas, and harbors that characterized 18th-century French naval cartography. The map was also published separately by Bellin.

A Full and Impartial Account of the Company of Mississippi, Otherwise called the French East-India Company. Projected and Settled by Mister Law

John Law was a Scottish financier and adventurer who was also an authority on banking and the circulation of money. He convinced the regent of France, Philippe d’Orléans, that he could liquidate the French government’s debt by a system of credit based on paper money. In 1716 he launched the Banque générale, which had the authority to issue notes. The following year he founded the Compagnie d’Occident (Company of the West), the capital for which was raised by the sale of 500-livre shares, payable only in government notes. The first shares were called “mothers,” then, aided by the initial success, came the “daughters” and the “granddaughters.” Using advertisements and public relations in which he presented the Mississippi as a land of plenty, Law generated extraordinary enthusiasm for his scheme. In exchange for obtaining the trade monopoly for Louisiana, the Company of the West had to provide for the colony’s defense—the upkeep of fortifications and troops and gifts to the Indians. It also had to transport to the colony, over the next 25 years, 6,000 colonists and 3,000 African slaves. In 1719, the Company of the West acquired several other overseas companies (including the Senegal, East Indies, and China companies) to form the Compagnie des Indes (Company of the Indies). The issue of excessive quantities of bank notes weakened confidence, however, and Law’s system collapsed. Law was ruined and fled to Brussels in December 1720. This small, bilingual volume, with French and English texts on facing pages, was published in London in 1720, just before the collapse of Law’s economic system. The volume emphasized the spectacular rise of the Company of the West and the effect of its stocks on the economy of the entire Kingdom of France. The work includes a description of the Mississippi Country and an account of the discoveries by Louis Jolliet (1645‒1700) and Robert Cavelier de La Salle (1643‒87).

Original Account of the Voyage of Jacques Cartier to Canada in 1534

In the 16th century, exploration and settlement of the New World was not a high priority of the French monarchy, which was primarily concerned about rivalry on the European continent with the powerful Habsburg Empire. Moreover, France was weakened by the Wars of Religion (1562‒98). The first official voyage of exploration sponsored by France was undertaken in 1524 by an experienced Italian navigator, Giovanni da Verrazano (1485‒1528), whom King Francis I (reigned 1515‒47) commissioned to discover a new route to Cathay (China). Financed by Italian bankers established in France at Lyon and Rouen, Verrazano departed from Dieppe on the ship la Dauphine and explored the eastern coast of America from Cape Fear (North Carolina) to Cape Breton Island (Nova Scotia). He carefully reconnoitered every opening that gave hope for a passage to Asia, and he named the future site of New York New Angouleme. Ten years later, the king instructed Jacques Cartier (1491‒1557), a Breton navigator from Saint-Malo, to undertake another expedition to the New World. Cartier left Brittany on May 10, 1534, with two ships and 61 crew members. He took 20 days to reach the coast of Newfoundland, and then explored the coast of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence, where he encountered the Micmac Indians, who were friendly and wished to trade. At Gaspé Bay on the Gaspé Peninsula (in present-day Quebec), Cartier and his men erected a nearly 10-meter high cross. Cartier returned to France in September. With him were Taignoagny and Domagaya, two young Indians who Cartier either kidnapped or who were allowed to depart with him on the condition that the French would return with European goods (historians differ on exactly what happened). Testimony by Taignoagny and Domagaya about the existence of a fabulously rich “Kingdom of Saguenay” convinced King Francis to finance a second voyage in 1535‒36, which Cartier led, bringing with him Taignoagny and Domagaya as guides. He also made a third voyage in 1541‒42. Presented here is Cartier’s account of his first voyage, published in an edited 19th century edition.

Journal of an Expedition against the Iroquois in 1687

Louis-Henri de Baugy (died 1720), known as Chevalier de Baugy, was from a noble family in the French province of Berry. He arrived in Canada in October 1682. He served as aide-de-camp to the Marquis de Denonville in his 1687 campaign against the Senecas, one of the Iroquois nations hostile to the French. Baugy left a detailed account of this expedition, during which the French and their Indian allies ransacked four enemy villages, including their cornfields. Presented here is an 1883 edition of Baugy’s Journal d'une expédition contre les Iroquois en 1687 (Journal of an expedition against the Iroquois in 1687), edited by and with an introduction by Ernest Hubert Auguste Serrigny (1840‒1909)‏. The second part of the volume is a collection of documents relating to Baugy’s activities in North America between 1682 and 1689, including letters to his brother and various official documents. A table of contents listing these documents appears at the end of the work. Upon his arrival in New France, Baugy was involved as a lieutenant in the efforts by Governor-General Joseph-Antoine Lefebvre de la Barre to cut back the power of Robert Cavelier de La Salle in the Great Lakes region and to divert the fur trade of the Illinois country, then controlled by La Salle, to Montreal. Baugy returned to France in 1689, where he was seigneur of Villecien, Villevallier, Fay, and other places, and lived in his chateau at Villecien.

The Long Journey to the Land of the Hurons, Located in America, near the Mer douce to the Far Borders of New France, Called Canada

Gabriel Sagard (circa 1590‒circa 1640) was a Recollet brother who in 1623‒24 lived among the Hurons, France’s main Indian allies at the time. Accompanied by Father Nicolas Viel, Sagard left his monastery in Paris in March 1623 and arrived in Quebec some three months later. In August Sagard, Viel, and one other Recollet missionary, Father Joseph Le Caron, set out for the Huron country with a party of Hurons returning from their annual exchange of furs with the French. Sagard lived among the Hurons until May 1624, when he was recalled to Paris by his superior. In their time among the Hurons, the three Recollets lived in an Indian-style cabin, which they built, and where Sagard divided his time between prayer, studying the language, and visiting Indian families. In 1632 Sagard published an account of his stay among the Hurons, Le grand voyage du pays des Hurons, situé en l'Amerique vers la Mer douce, és derniers confins de la nouvelle France, dite Canada (The long journey to the land of the Hurons, located in America, near the Mer douce to the far borders of New France, called Canada). Although it is farther inland than Lake Ontario or the eastern part of Lake Erie, Lake Huron was the first of the Great Lakes discovered by the French. Not knowing about the other lakes, the French called Huron “La Mer Douce” (the sweet or fresh-water sea), the name used by Sagard. The first six chapters of Le grand voyage du pays des Hurons recount the ocean crossing, the journey from Quebec to Lake Huron, and the author’s return to France. Chapters seven through 22 cover the Huron customs and way of life, offering rich ethnographic detail. The remainder of the work describes the flora and fauna of the country. Sagard produced two other important works about New France, L’histoire du Canada (1636), a four-part history of the missions that earned him the title of first religious historian of Canada, and Dictionnaire de la langue huronne, a collection of French expressions translated into the Huron language.

Relation de ce qui s’est passé en la Nouvelle France en l'année 1634 (Relation of what occurred in New France in the year 1634) is without doubt the finest of the Jesuit Relations published in Paris between 1632 and 1673. Written by the French missionary Paul Le Jeune (1592−1664), the work is known for its literary quality as well as its observations on the Montagnais Indians. Born near the city of Châlons-sur-Marne, in the region of Champagne, Le Jeune spent two years, between 1613 and 1615, as a Jesuit novice. He then studied philosophy at the Collège Henri IV de La Flèche where he met Father Énemond Massé (1575−1646)‎, who had returned from Acadia. Massé sparked in Le Jeune an interest in faraway missions. Ordained a priest in 1624 and named superior of the Jesuit mission in Canada in 1631, Le Jeune arrived in Quebec the following year and kindled a great missionary spirit in the colony. Eager to learn Indian languages, he decided, in the winter of 1633−34, to follow a group of Montagnais on a trek across their hunting grounds. For nearly six months, he endured cold, hunger, and exhaustion from long marches on snowshoes. During the journey, he faced mockery and at times outright hostility from the principal shaman of the Montagnais, Carigonan, which some historians have argued that Le Jeune helped to provoke. The journey convinced Le Jeune that permanent settlement of the Indians was indispensable to their conversion. Upon conclusion of the voyage, Le Jeune wrote the magnificent Relation of 1634. In addition to displaying his talent as a writer, Le Jeune offered an account of Montagnais society in the 17th century of exceptional ethnographic interest. The author of many other Relations, Le Jeune remained superior of the Jesuit mission at Quebec from 1632 to 1639. He returned to France in 1649 to take up the position of mission procurator for New France, an office that he occupied until 1662.

Louis Nicolas (active 1667‒75) was a French Jesuit who in 1664 was sent to Canada as a missionary, where he remained until 1675. He traveled widely and developed a keen interest in the people, languages, flora, and fauna of New France. He wrote three major works, none of which was published in his lifetime but which survived in manuscript form: Histoire naturelle ou la fidelle recherche de tout ce qu'il y a de rare dans les Indes Occidantalles (Natural history, or the faithful research on all that is rare in the West Indies),known as Histoire Naturelle des Indes Occidentales (Natural history of the West Indies); the pictorial manuscript known as the Codex Canadensis; and Grammaire algonquine ou des sauvages de l'Amérique septentrionale (Algonquin grammar or on the natives of North America). The natural history, presented here, represents, according to its author, more than “20 years of assiduous work.” Its 12 books describe with equal quality and depth the fauna and flora of “a nearly infinite land” stretching from the land of the Eskimos to that of the Sioux. As is known from the introductory remarks to his Algonquin grammar, Nicolas conceived of the natural history as part of great work on New France, covering language, the topography of the New World, including a natural history of its plant and animal life, and the politics, customs, and religion of the natives. Nicolas returned to France in 1675 and was released from the Jesuit order in December 1678, although he remained a priest. Nothing is known of his subsequent life or when and where he died.

Historical Memoirs on Louisiana, Including the Most Interesting Events from 1687 to the Present

Mémoires historiques sur la Louisiane: contenant ce qui y est arrivé de plus mémorable depuis l'année 1687 jusqu'à présent (Historical memoirs on Louisiana, including the most interesting events from 1687 to the present) is based on a manuscript text by soldier Jean-François-Benjamin Dumont de Montigny (born 1696) that was completed in France in 1747. The work was compiled and edited by the Abbé Jean-Baptiste Le Mascrier and published in Paris in 1753. Dumont’s original manuscript is preserved in the Newberry Library in Chicago. It narrates the events of Dumont’s life between 1715 and 1747, including his experiences in Louisiana from 1719 to 1737. Dumont took part in the French attack on Pensacola, helped build forts in New Biloxi and Yazoo, explored the Arkansas River, and described in great detail the city of Natchez as it appeared before the massacre of 1729. He includes accounts of expeditions against the Natchez and the Chickasaws, and he offers his reasons for the misfortunes of the Company of the Indies and the retrocession of the colony to the king in 1731. The second section of the memoir, the printed text of which is presented here, describes Louisiana, settlements, and Indian practices and customs. Le Mascrier eliminated much of the sharpness and crudity of the original account, but the work remains a rich original source of ethnographic information about the Louisiana Indians, especially the Natchez.

Relation of the Voyage to Port Royal in Acadia, or New France

Diéreville was a French surgeon and poet who in 1699‒1700 made a voyage to New France, which he recounted in his Relation du voyage du Port-Royal de l'Acadie, ou de la Nouvelle France (Relation of the voyage to Port Royal in Acadia or New France), published in 1708 in Rouen. His full name is unknown, as is information about his life beyond the few autobiographical details offered in his account. He appears to have studied surgery in Paris and published a number of poems in a French literary magazine. He left La Rochelle, France, on August 20, 1699, and arrived in Port Royal (present-day Annapolis Royal, Nova Scotia), Acadia, on October 13. He spent a year in the country, gathering information about the region, the local Indian population, and plants, specimens of which he brought back with him to France. His account proved popular in Europe, and went through three printings in 1708. An unauthorized French edition of the work was published in Amsterdam in 1710. An English translation appeared in 1714, followed by an abridged German version in 1751. In addition to fauna, Diéreville was interested in the customs of the Indians, their interactions with the Acadians, and especially methods of cooking and the food eaten in the colony. He records Indian practices that struck him as a surgeon, for example, what he describes as their method of reviving drowned people by enemas of tobacco smoke. He also notes the widespread practice of official and unofficial marriage between the French and Indian women. The work is partly written in verse. Presented here is the original 1708 edition.

Relation of what Occurred that was Most Remarkable in the Missions of the Fathers of the Society of Jesus in New France in the Years 1671 and 1672

The Jesuit priest Claude Dablon (circa 1619‒97) came to Canada in the late summer of 1655, where he remained until his death. In addition to his work as a missionary, Dablon developed a keen interest in the geography of the interior of North America, still largely unknown to Europeans at that time. In 1669 he and Father Claude Allouez (1622‒89) undertook a journey around Lake Superior, which contributed to the earliest European mapping of the lake. Dablon was appointed superior of the Jesuit missions in New France 1671 and in that capacity wrote Relation de ce qui s'est passé de plus remarquable aux Missions des Pères de la Compagnie de Jésus, en la Nouvelle France, les années 1671 & 1672 (Relation of what occurred that was most remarkable in the missions of the fathers of the Society of Jesus in New France in the years 1671 and 1672). This was the last of the Relations to be published in the 17th century. Its contents include an account of a missionary journey to the Huron Country in 1671‒72, summaries of the activities of the seven Jesuit missions to the Iroquois, and an account of the discovery of a land route to Hudson Bay, made by order of Jean Talon, Intendant of New France, by one of Talon’s officers, Paul Denis de Saint Simon, and the Jesuit Charles Albanel. Presented here is the original edition, published in Paris in 1673. Like all of the Relations from 1633 onward, it was published by the press founded by Sébastien Cramoisy (1585‒1669), printer to the king, and carried on by his son Sébastien Mabre-Cramoisy.

Noteworthy History of Florida, Located in the West Indies, Including the Three Voyages Made There by Certain Captains and French Pilots

Before the establishment of colonies in Canada early in the 16th century, France made several unsuccessful attempts to found settlements in Canada, Brazil, and Florida. The second voyage of exploration by Jacques Cartier (1491‒1557), in 1535‒36, gave birth to the idea of a colonial settlement across the Atlantic. In 1541 King Francis I named Jean-François de la Roque de Roberval (circa 1501‒circa 1560), from the western province of Saintonge, lieutenant general of Canada. Guided by Cartier, Roberval established a small fort on the Saint Lawrence River, but scurvy and the rigors of winter led to the death of 50 colonists and in the spring of 1543 Roberval decided to repatriate his little colony to France. Between 1555 and 1565 France attempted to establish colonies in two more southerly regions of the New World, in Brazil and in part of the present-day U.S. state of Florida. In 1555 Nicolas Durand de Villegagnon (1510‒71), vice admiral of Brittany, ordered the construction of a fort on an islet in the Bay of Guanabara (Rio de Janeiro), which was to serve the base for a projected colony called France Antarctique. The small colony, weakened by dissensions between Catholics and Protestants, was defeated by a Portuguese flotilla in 1560. In April 1564 a second expedition, under the command of René Goulaine de Laudonnière, departed Le Havre with three ships carrying 300 soldiers and tradesmen. The French established themselves on the River of May (Saint John’s River, Florida), where they constructed Fort Caroline. Troubled by internal quarrels, famine, and heightened tensions with the Timucua Indians, the colony was near abandonment when a third colonizing expedition arrived in August 1565. This last expedition, led by Jean Ribault, included seven ships and 600 colonists. Many of the settlers were Huguenots, or French Protestants. The influx of people and supplies from France was insufficient to save French Florida. In September 1565, Pedro Menéndez de Avilés (1519–74), at the head of an armada of ten ships and acting on orders from King Philip II of Spain, massacred most of the Huguenots on the grounds that they were heretics. Histoire notable de la Floride (Noteworthy history of Florida), first published in 1586, is an account by Laudonnière of the French expeditions to the New World in this period. Presented here is an edition published in Paris in 1853.

This image is from the album of photographs compiled by Albert K. Fisher (1856−1948) to document the Harriman Expedition that explored the coast of Alaska in June and July of 1899. Fisher was an ornithologist and vertebrate zoologist who participated in many important scientific expeditions to the American West, including the Death Valley expedition of 1891 and biological surveys in California, Nevada, the Arizona Territory (including New Mexico), Utah, and portions of other western states in 1892. Fisher was also a member of the Harriman Expedition. The photograph is one of 386 preserved in a 127-page album held in the Albert K. Fisher Papers at the Library of Congress. The primary photographer on the expedition was Edward Curtis (1868‒1952). Other photographers and scientists whose images are included in the album are Clinton Hart Merriam, W.H. Averell, Edwin Chapin Starks, Grove Karl Gilbert, Walter Devereux, and Fisher himself. Funded and accompanied by railroad magnate Edward H. Harriman (1848–1909), the expedition, or "floating university" as it was called, included famous scientists, naturalists, artists, writers, and photographers. The results of the expedition’s scientific and ethnological investigations filled 13 volumes that were published between 1901 and 1914. Most of the images in the album are of the Alaska coast, Kodiak, and the Aleutian Islands, but it also includes scenes from the beginning of the expedition in Wyoming, Idaho and on the Snake River in Oregon and in British Columbia, as well as views of Plover Bay, Siberia, which the expedition visited briefly in July 1899.

New Travels to the West Indies. Including an Account on the Peoples who Live by the Great Saint Louis River, also Known as the Mississippi River, 1768

Second Voyage by the Commander on Behalf of the Very Pious King Francis, by Jacques Cartier, in the Year Fifteen Hundred and Thirty-six

Relation, or True Chronicle of what Occurred in the Country of Louisiana for Twenty-two Consecutive Years from the Start of the French Settlement in the Region

History and General Description of New France with the Historical Journal of a Voyage in North America Made by Order of the King

A Full and Impartial Account of the Company of Mississippi, Otherwise called the French East-India Company. Projected and Settled by Mister Law

Original Account of the Voyage of Jacques Cartier to Canada in 1534

Journal of an Expedition against the Iroquois in 1687

The Long Journey to the Land of the Hurons, Located in America, near the Mer douce to the Far Borders of New France, Called Canada

Relation of what Occurred in New France in the Year 1634

Natural History of the West Indies

Historical Memoirs on Louisiana, Including the Most Interesting Events from 1687 to the Present

Relation of the Voyage to Port Royal in Acadia, or New France

Relation of what Occurred that was Most Remarkable in the Missions of the Fathers of the Society of Jesus in New France in the Years 1671 and 1672

Noteworthy History of Florida, Located in the West Indies, Including the Three Voyages Made There by Certain Captains and French Pilots

View of Muir Glacier, Alaska

Nunatak Glacier, Alaska

Icebergs near Muir Glacier, Alaska

White Pass Railroad Switchback Blocked by Snow

Custom House and British and American Flags at the Provisional Boundary of British Columbia and Alaska, White Pass Summit

Iceberg near Muir Glacier, Alaska