On the shore of the strait which affords the only visible outlet to Lake Superior, at the rapids, or "Sault," lies the village of Sault de Ste. Marie, on the spot where, it is believed, "the first white man set foot upon any portion of "* the Old Northwest Territory. The "white man" to whom reference is made was Jean Nicolet, who was in the service of. Champlain. He ascended the Ottawa and Mattawan Rivers, passed through Lake Nipissing and descended French River, coasted the northern shore of Lake Huron, and ascended the strait to the Sault, where he probably arrived in the summer of 1634. † Here the explorer and his Huron boatmen found rest and hospitality in the wigwams of the people of the falls. †

After a brief stay at the old Indian hamlet, Nicolet descended the strait and pursued a westerly course-making a short visit at Mo-che-ne-mok-enung, the Michilimackinac of the French.

The Jesuit missionaries, Raymbault and Jogues, came next, in 1641. "When they reached the falls, they found two thousand Indians assembled there, and amid their joyful greetings the missionaries gazed with delight on the vast field which lay before them. . Earnestly did the Chippewas press the two fathers to stay in their midst.

*Butterfield's History of the Discovery of the Northwest, p. 51. +Butterfield,

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