The vast uncharted and unexplored North American wilderness, with its hidden riches, challenged the imagination and bravery of the first Frenchmen to explore the New World.

Jacques Cartier was looking for a shortcut to the Orient, and discovered the St. Lawrence River instead. Upon his explorations, France based her claim to the entire St. Lawrence Valley.

Samuel de Champlain's fairness to the Indians won their help in building new trading posts. He is called the "Father of New France."

Daniel Duluth, King of the Beaver Hunters, broadened French hunting grounds for hundred of miles by also treating the Indians with trust.

Louis Joliet and Father Jacques Marquette risked encounters with savage Indians, hostile Spaniards, and such threats as "monsters that swallow canoes in one mouthful," to explore and map the mighty Mississippi River.

Robert La Salle, the first white man to sail the Great Lakes, also extended France's claim to the vast Louisiana Territory.

Here is the thrilling story of the courageous men who gave France two hundred years of greatness in the New World.

From the dust jacket