Joliet, a French trader, was a man possessed of far more brains than marked the average men of his times. He had not only the indomitable courage which is essential to the successful explorer, but he had also the rare ability to manage men; and we find him in 1672 with a commission from the French king directing him to explore the valley which was to be a part of New France. The lands which he visited must be his fee to the king; certain rights of trade he wisely secured to himself. So, with Pere Marquette, a Jesuit priest, he undertook the mission, which we may doubt whether to call a journey of discovery or an errand of diplomacy. Crossing the ocean, their route lay along the St. Lawrence River to the Great Lakes; through the Great Lakes to the country of the Illini; down the Illinois to the Mississippi, and down the Mississippi to its junction with the Arkansas. Here they encamped near the site of Napoleon. Everywhere along their route they had won the hearts of the savage Illini. They possessed that rare tact which was born in French travelers, and which no English explorer ever had. When they had reached the junction of the Arkansas, "they were kindly received by the Indian tribes." They held a council with the various chiefs, with whom they made a treaty. The treaty was celebrated by a feast, and, if we may believe the record thereof, libations of wine were freely poured forth to pledge the stipulations of the business transaction. For a heavenly possession in the uncertain future, the Indian acknowledged, by the cross raised in commemoration, that he had bartered away his earthly kingdom. The title by which the Indian held the soil wrested from the Mound-builder may not have been perfect; that of the wily Joliet may have been equally defective. But Joliet builded more wisely than he knew, for to this day, fraud, treachery and broken faith are the chief witnesses to our treaties with the aboriginal owners of the land. Nine years after the business venture of Joliet, La Salle received letters extraordinary from the King of France, directing him to make additional explorations along the course of the great river. He organized an expedition, crossed the ocean, and made his way rapidly to the scene of his explorations. Preparing his canoes and launches, he followed the sinuous course of the river to Napoleon. His arrival was celebrated by another feast and post-prandial business agreement, and New France began its brief existence. Never in the history of the world had such an empire been founded--such another could not be formed until the domains of this had been widened from sea to sea, and the energy of Saxon, Teuton and Kelt mingled to build a greater.