An island on the southern side of the entrance to the Baie de
Chaleur. Name probably of Indian origin. First appears in Champlain's
narrative. It was the reputed home of the Gougou, a very remarkable
monster, described by Champlain. Cartier sighted the island in 1534,
when sailing into the Baie de Chaleur. He named Miscou Point, Cap
d'Esperance. A Basque establishment is mentioned here as early as 1623;
and in 1645 Nicolas Denys built a fort about the same place, having
secured a concession from the Company of Miscou. =Index=: =Ch= French
habitation at, seized by Kirke, 177; Jesuit mission at, 234, 235.
=Bib.=: Ganong, _Place-Nomenclature of New Brunswick_ (R. S. C., 1896);
Denys, _Acadia_, ed. by Ganong; Dawson, _St. Lawrence Basin_.

=Mississagua Indians.= A tribe of Algonquian stock. They are named on
Galinee's map of 1670 as occupying the north shore of Lake Huron, about
the mouth of Thessalon River. Some were at the mission of Sault Ste.
Marie, 1670-1673. After the great Iroquois raid of 1650, they scattered
to the north country. A hundred years later, some of the tribe were
found on the borders of Lake Ontario. They had been absorbed by the
Iroquois in 1746. About seven hundred are now living on reservations in
Ontario. =Index=: =Hd= Engage in ginseng trade, 148; lands purchased
from, 265. =Bib.=: Chamberlain, _Notes on the History, Customs and
Beliefs of the Mississaguas_; Pilling, _Bibliography of the Algonquian
Languages; Jesuit Relations_, ed. by Thwaites.

=Mississagua Point.= =Bk= At entrance to Niagara River, lighthouse,
dockyard, and a fort at, 58.

=Mississippi River.= Rises in northern Minnesota, its chief source being
Itasca Lake, and enters the Gulf of Mexico, after a course of 2550
miles. It was discovered by the Spaniards, early in the sixteenth
century. De Soto explored the lower part of the river, and died on its
banks in 1541. Radisson was probably the first white man to see its
upper waters, in 1659. Jean Nicolet reached Wisconsin River in 1634, but
did not descend it to the Mississippi. Jolliet and Marquette in 1673
reached the Mississippi, and descended as far as the mouth of the
Arkansas. In 1682 La Salle descended the river from the mouth of the
Illinois to the Gulf of Mexico. Its headwaters were discovered by David
Thompson, of the North West Company, in 1798. =Index=: =WM= Exploration
of, 19. =L= Exploration of, 145; La Salle reaches mouth of, 150; taken
possession of, in name of king of