The French Presence in Kansas 1673-1854

Abstract

THE FRENCH PRESENCE IN KANSAS, 1673-1854, is a comprehensive history of the early French mapmakers, trappers, guides and others and their contacts with a number of Native Americans tribes as well as adventurers from other nations and of course from the eastern United States. It is separated into particular subjects (each treated chronologically), as is evident from the Table of Contents. The discussion of each topic is exhaustive and Professor Johnson meticulously presents the results of her research for historians, but the average non-specialist will enjoy reading about the intriguing characters who people these pages and come away with a greater appreciation of the contribution of the French to the development of the Territory of Kansas on its way to statehood in1861.