Note 9 — Historical Introduction.

Hennepin was a Jesuit priest, a courageous and rather able man, to whose memoirs we are indebted for much information concerning La Salle’s and other early explorations; though the value of his writings is much impaired by his tendency to tell large stories, and to claim for himself the credit which belonged to others; a tendency which seemed to increase more and more with each successive edition of his book.