Until a very few years ago it has been generally accepted as a fact that Louis Hennepin, a Franciscan priest of the Recollect Order, was the first white man who entered the present boundaries of Minnesota; but a recent discovery has developed the fact that there has reposed in the archives of the Bodleian Library and British Museum for more than two hundred years manuscript accounts of voyages made as far back as 1652 by two Frenchmen, named respectively Radison and Groselliers, proving that they traveled among the North American Indians from the last named date to the year 1684, during which time they visited what is now Minnesota. It is also a well authenticated fact that Du Luth anticipated Hennepin at least one year, and visited Mille Lacs in 1679, and there, on the southwest side of the lake, found a large Sioux town, called Kathio, from which point he wrote to Frontenac, on the second day of July, 1679, that he had caused his majesty's arms to be planted in Kathio, where no Frenchman had ever been. Hennepin did not arrive until 1680. But as the exploits of these earlier travelers left no trace that can in any important way influence the history of our state beyond challenging the claim of priority so long enjoyed by Hennepin, I will simply mention the fact of their advent without comment, referring the curious reader for the proof of these matters to the library of the Minnesota Historical Society, where the details can be found. Hennepin was with La Salle at Fort Creve-Coeur, near Lake Peoria, in what is now Illinois, in 1680. La Salle was the superior of the exploring party of which young Hennepin was a member, and in February, 1680, he selected Hennepin and two traders for the arduous and dangerous undertaking of exploring the unknown regions of the Upper Mississippi. Hennepin was very ambitious to become a great explorer, and was filled with the idea that by following the water courses he would find a passage to the sea and Japan. On the 29th of February, 1680, he, with two voyageurs, in a canoe, set out on his voyage of discovery. When he reached the junction of the Illinois river with the Mississippi in March, he was detained by floating ice until near the middle of that month. He then commenced to ascend the Mississippi, which was the first time it was ever attempted by a civilized man. On the 11th of April they were met by a large war party of Dakotas, which filled thirty-three canoes, who opened fire on them with arrows; but hostilities were soon stopped, and Hennepin and his party were taken prisoners, and made to return with their captors to their villages.