Revealing a little-known part of North American history, this lively guide tells the fascinating tale of the settlement of the St. Lawrence Valley. It also tells of the Montreal and Quebec-based explorers and traders who traveled, mapped, and inhabited a very large part of North America, and 'embrothered the peoples' they met, as Jack Kerouac everyday life to the events that emerged as historical turning points in the life of a people, this book sheds new light on Quebec's 450-year history''and on the historical forces that lie behind its two recent efforts to gain independence.