One day he was visited by a party of Senecas, who
told him of a river, which they called the Ohio, so great that many
months were required to traverse it. From their description, La Salle
concluded that it must fall into the Gulf of California, and so form the
long-sought passage to China. He determined to explore it, and after
surmounting innumerable obstacles, actually did reach it, and descend it
as far as the spot where the city of Louisville now stands, afterwards
exploring the Illinois and the country south of the Great lakes, as well
as the lakes themselves.
Fired by La Salle's report of his discoveries, two other Frenchmen,
Louis Joliet, a native of Quebec, who had already led an expedition in
search of the copper mines of Lake Superior, and Jacques Marquette, a
Jesuit priest and accomplished linguist, started on a still greater
journey. With five companions and two birchbark canoes, they headed down
the Wisconsin river, and on June 17, 1673, glided out upon the blue
waters of the Mississippi. A fortnight later, they reached a little
village called Peoria, where the Indians received them well, and
continuing down the river, passed the Missouri, the Ohio, and finally,
having gone far enough to convince themselves that the river emptied
into the Gulf of Mexico and not into the Gulf of California, they turned
about and reached Green Bay again in September, having paddled more than
2,500 miles.
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