VI, compiled by the Hon. J. V.
Brower of St. Paul, to whom my thanks are due for this excellent
contribution to Western annals. It may be said that the authors of
this volume have done more than any other writers to vindicate Radisson
and Groseillers as explorers of the West. The very differences of
opinion over the regions visited establish the fact that Radisson _did_
explore parts of Minnesota. I have purposely avoided trying to say
_what_ parts of Minnesota he exploited, because, it seems to me, the
controversy is futile. Radisson's memory has been the subject of
controversy from the time of his life. The controversy--first between
the governments of France and England, subsequently between the French
and English historians--has eclipsed the real achievements of Radisson.
To me it seems non-essential as to whether Radisson camped on an island
in the Mississippi, or only visited the region of that island. The
fact remains that he discovered the Great Northwest, meaning by that
the region west of the Mississippi. The same dispute has obscured his
explorations of Hudson Bay, French writers maintaining that he went
overland to the North and put his feet in the waters of the bay, the
English writers insisting that he only crossed over the watershed
toward Hudson Bay. Again, the fact remains that he did what others had
failed to do--discovered an overland route to the bay. I am sorry that
Radisson is accused in this _Memoir_ of intentionally falsifying his
relations in two respects, (1) in adding a fanciful year to the
1658-1660 voyage; (2) in saying that he had voyaged down the
Mississippi to Mexico.
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