was called "the Forked River," because "it had two branches, the one
toward the west, the other toward the south, . . . toward Mexico."
These people were the Mandans or Omahas, or Iowas, or other people of
the Missouri.[13]

A whole world of discoveries lay before them. In what direction should
they go? "We desired not to go to the north till we had made a
discovery in the south," explains Radisson. The people of the fire
refused to accompany the explorers farther; so the two "put themselves
in hazard," as Radisson relates, and set out alone. They must have
struck across the height of land between the Mississippi and the
Missouri; for Radisson records that they met several nations having
villages, "all amazed to see us and very civil. The farther we
sojourned, the delightfuller the land became. I can say that in all my
lifetime I have never seen a finer country, for all that I have been in
Italy. The people have very long hair. They reap twice a year. They
war against the Sioux and the Cree. . . . It was very hot there. . . .
Being among the people they told us . . . of men that built great
cabins and have beards and have knives like the French." The Indians
showed Radisson a string of beads only used by Europeans. These people
must have been the Spaniards of the south. The tribes on the Missouri
were large men of well-formed figures. There were no deformities among
the people. Radisson saw corn and pumpkins in their gardens. "Their
arrows were not of stone, but of fish bones. . . . Their dishes were
made of wood. . . . They had great calumets of red and green
stone . . . and great store of tobacco. . . . They had a kind of drink
that made them mad for a whole day." [14] "We had not yet seen the
Sioux," relates Radisson. "We went toward the south and came back by
the north." The _Jesuit Relations_ are more explicit. Written the
year that Radisson returned to Quebec, they state: "Continuing their