The explorers seem to have
spent the summer hunting antelope, buffalo, moose, and wild turkey.
The Sioux received them cordially, supplied them with food, and gave
them an escort to the next encampments. They had set out southwest to
the Mascoutins, Mandans, and perhaps, also, the Omahas. They were now
circling back northeastward toward the Sault between Lake Michigan and
Lake Superior. How far westward had they gone? Only two facts gave
any clew. Radisson reports that mountains lay far inland; and the
Jesuits record that the explorers were among tribes that used coal.
This must have been a country far west of the Mandans and Mascoutins
and within sight of at least the Bad Lands, or that stretch of rough
country between the prairie and outlying foothills of the Rockies.[15]
The course of the first exploration seems to have circled over the
territory now known as Wisconsin, perhaps eastern Iowa and Nebraska,
South Dakota, Montana, and back over North Dakota and Minnesota to the
north shore of Lake Superior. "The lake toward the north is full of
rocks, yet great ships can ride in it without danger," writes Radisson.
At the Sault they found the Crees and Sautaux in bitter war. They also
heard of a French establishment, and going to visit it found that the
Jesuits had established a mission.
Radisson had explored the Southwest. He now decided to essay the
Northwest. When the Sautaux were at war with the Crees, he met the
Crees and heard of the great salt sea in the north.
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