=One Century More.= More than three centuries of American history had passed and the country west of the Mississippi River remained unsettled and practically unknown. The Spaniard and the Frenchman had come and gone, but the Indian still hunted the buffalo on the prairies. The white man had not yet made his home in the Kansas country. SUMMARY Spain explored in the South in search of wealth, France in the North to trade in furs with the Indians, and England along the coast between these two to establish homes. Spain claimed the Kansas country because of the exploration by Coronado, France through the claims of Marquette and La Salle, and England through the ocean-to-ocean claim. None of the nations succeeded in accomplishing anything here, and the Kansas country was left alone for nearly a century after it came into the possession of France. At the close of the French and Indian War the country west of the Mississippi was ceded to Spain. Later it came again into the hands of France, and was purchased by the United States in 1803. REFERENCES Elson, History of the United States, pp. 161, 384. Fiske, Discovery of America, vol. II, chap. XII. Foster, A History of the United States. Prentis, History of Kansas, pp. 24-40. Parkman, La Salle and the Great West. Spring, Kansas, pp. 19-20. Historical Collections, vol. IX, p. 250; vol. X, p. 336. Wilder, Annals of Kansas, pp. 15-18. QUESTIONS 1. Who were the Jesuits? What can you say of Marquette? Joliet? La Salle? 2. Contrast the motives of the French and Spanish in coming to America. 3. Why did the English come to the New World? 4. What territory was claimed by the French? By the Spanish? By the English? 5. To what nations did what is now Kansas successively belong? How and when did it first become a part of the United States? How long was this after the discovery of America? CHAPTER III EXPLORATION OF THE KANSAS COUNTRY BY THE UNITED STATES =President Jefferson Sent Explorers.= When the United States bought Louisiana the country from the Mississippi River to the Pacific Ocean was a vast unknown area. President Jefferson was eager to learn something about the great West, and sent out several exploring parties. =Lewis and Clark.= The first expedition, sent in 1804, the year following the purchase of Louisiana, was in charge of Meriwether Lewis and William Clark. They were instructed to move up the Missouri River and on to the Pacific Ocean. After a difficult journey lasting two and a half years the party returned to St. Louis and brought to the people of the United States much important information concerning the West. It is the part of their journey along the border of what is now Kansas in which we are most interested.