In no case has reliance been placed on second-hand
chronicles. Oldmixon and Charlevoix must both have written from
hearsay; therefore, though quoted in the footnotes, they are not given
as conclusive proof. The only means of identifying Radisson's routes
are (1) by his descriptions of the countries, (2) his notes of the
Indian tribes; so that personal knowledge of the territory is
absolutely essential in following Radisson's narrative. All the
regions traversed by Radisson--the Ottawa, the St. Lawrence, the Great
Lakes, Labrador, and the Great Northwest--I have visited, some of them
many times, except the shores of Hudson Bay, and of that region I have
some hundreds of photographs.
Material for the accounts of the other pathfinders of the West has been
drawn directly from the different explorers' journals.
For historical matter I wish to express my indebtedness to Dr. N. E.
Dionne of the Parliamentary Library, Quebec, whose splendid sketch of
Radisson and Groseillers, read before the Royal Society of Canada, does
much to redeem the memory of the discoverers from ignominy; to Dr.
George Bryce of Winnipeg, whose investigation of Hudson's Bay Archives
adds a new chapter to Radisson's life; to Mr. Benjamin Sulte of Ottawa,
whose destructive criticism of inaccuracies in old and modern records
has done so much to stop people writing history out of their heads and
to put research on an honest basis; and to M. Edouard Richard for
scholarly advice relating to the Marine Archives, which he has
exploited so thoroughly.
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