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The history that we were all taught growing up is wrong. My name is Scott Walter and I'm a forensic geologist. There's a hidden history that nobody knows about. There are pyramids, chambers, tombs, inscriptions. They're all over the world. We're going to investigate these artifacts and sites, and we're going to get to the truth. Sometimes history isn't what we've been told. In its earliest days, America was a vast land of opportunity. We grew up learning about people like Lewis and Clark who mapped the West, but not much about the people who came before them, the fur traders.
Fur was big business in the 1600s. Traders from many European nations were fighting to gain dominance at a time when the map of America looked very different. In the mid600s, the northeast was controlled by the English, the southeast by the Spanish, and land just east and west of the Mississippi was owned by the French. In 1803, Thomas Jefferson bought a large chunk of that territory from the French in what history calls the Louisiana Purchase. The question I have now is, how did the French get the land they ultimately sold to us? Could they have stolen America from other explorers who arrived here first? I don't know the answer yet, but I do believe that French fur traders
were here for more than just animal pelts. I think they had another mission, a secret one to destroy already established land claims and replace them with their own. A key piece of evidence could be sitting in my home state of Minnesota. It's a recently discovered artifact called the Deloo Stone that I've been asked to look at. But first, I've got to find it. Hi, Scott. Hi, Tom. So, this is the Doo Stone, huh? Yes, it is. And this is one of the most incredible artifacts I've ever seen. I mean, if you look here, we got the date inscribed 1679. It's very clear. It looks old. We've got the name Duth. No
question what that is. And in my mind, this can only be the early French explorer, Daniel Duth. Well, Duth is one I actually know quite a bit about. He was actually commissioned to come out here um not only to explore the region but also to stabilize it for commercial interests. Um he arrived at the modern site of Duth in 1679. If this is actually dated correctly to 1679 it would certainly be a significant find. Daniel Gracelon Sir Duth was a French nobleman born in 1639. When he was in his late 30s he was sent to what is now Minnesota to pave the way for French expansion.
The journeys of Duth and other early French explorers were remarkable. They entered into a wild frontier where Lewis and Clark wouldn't step foot for another 125 years. French explorers hoped to find gold and silver. But they discovered something just as valuable. Animal pelts. Furs were high fashion in Europe and America had an abundance of beaver, fox, mink, and otter. Native Americans initially traded animal pelts with the French, but eventually they taught the explorers how to catch the animals themselves. Daniel Duth was on a mission to make peace with the Native Americans in an effort to ensure
the long-term success of the fur trade. Does that make him the first European explorer in what is now Minnesota? No, actually there was French and European exploration here as early as 1615. The fur trade was extremely competitive. Few people realize that the fur trade actually played a significant role in determining the destiny of America. So in this area, what is now Minnesota, would Duth have been here in 1679? Yeah, the historical record does place him in this region. This Duth stone may be incredibly important. It could be the earliest evidence of a French land claim in the Midwest. But if it is a land claim, I'm certain it's not the first one left here
in Minnesota. Well, you know, everything that I see so far is really starting to tie together very nicely. We've got what looks like period writing that appears to be consistent with the time period, the block style writing of his name and the separation of his name. And you know, the weathering does look advanced. So, I'd like to do a little more work there. But there is one other thing that is vitally important, and that is the location of where this stone is. Let me show you something. You know, Tom, I've done a little research about these early French explorers like Duth, and not only were they trying to expand the fur trade, but they were also here in North America claiming land.
Yeah, that's absolutely true. In fact, there was actually a French land claim at Sue St. Marie shortly before Daniel Duth arrived in this region. So, you think the Duth stone is a land claim? I'm convinced it is. In the late 17th century, there was a land claim practice that the French and the Dutch had for sure where if they placed a land claim stone in the ground or carved one on a rock like this, they could lay claim to the entire river system or systems and all the land associated with it. So in my mind based on that, this doo stone is vitally important.
This is the continental divide and the rivers flow north to Lake Superior and south into the St. McCroy, Mississippi wershed. Continental divides are found across America. They occur where rivers and streams part and start flowing in two different directions. These divides were very important to early explorers. They would lay down rocks at these spots, allowing them to claim ownership of the waters in both directions. Whether or not this is a land claim or whether it's simply Duth writing his name on a rock for posterity pending the results of testing and
dating. Um I think it's it's a remarkable find. There's more work that I want to do, but I have to admit it looks good to me. But you're right, it does have to be vetted out and we'll do that. Are there any other similar land claim stones? Actually, there is uh another land claim stone here in Minnesota. You've heard of the Kensington runstone? Yeah, I've actually had a chance to see the stone. It's an incredible artifact. Well, it is. I mean, it was found in 1898 by a farmer who was clearing trees.
It's dated 1362 and it has a long inscription that includes a phrase taking up land. The Kensington runstone's primary function was as a land claim made by the Templars and it was found on the north south continental divide of North America. So, we have two land claim stones here in Minnesota. One is a French land claim, the other the Kensington runstone. But there's another land claim stone that's not on display. Have you ever heard of Pierre Levandre? Pierre Leandre was the first explorer of French descent born in what's now Quebec.
He and his sons were French explorers and fur traders who made their mark half a century after Daniel Duth. I suspect the LeBronres were looking for previously placed land claims like the Kensington runstone, but I believe there were other land claims, specifically one that I've learned about that's covered with strange symbols. If I can find it, it may prove there were explorers here from Europe way before the French. Well, there's one thing that many people don't know about Landre. He actually found an inscribed stone that I think might be another land claim. So, Scott, where is this other stone? It went missing about a hundred years ago, but I do have a few leads, and I'm going to do my damnedest to find it.
300 years ago, North America was a vast land with territory that was up for grabs. Different European nations were vying for land in what amounted to an epic game of capture the flag. The question is, were the French playing dirty? I wonder if explorer Daniel Duth could have removed someone else's land claim before he placed his own. A rock with his name and the year 1679 carved on it. I'm running tests on the doo stone in my lab in an effort to find out if it's as old as it seems. That's not the only thing I'm working on. A generation after Daniel Duth, another French fur trader, Pierre Leandre, may have uncovered a different artifact. Unlike the Duth land claim, the so-called Levandre stone is missing.
The Leandre stone could be evidence of a pre-Colombian land claim to America. If the French found it and took it, it could prove they were trying to steal America from someone who got here before them. I need to find that stone to find the truth. And I think there's a historian who can help me. You know, I'd like to learn a little bit more about this Leandre character. What I'm trying to understand more about is did the early explorers that came to the North American continent, were they actually trying to steal America, were they really secret agents that were trying to expand the borders of their countries?
Well, secret agents, I don't know, but certainly they were engaged in commercial warfare. You know, all across America, the legacy of these early explorers is preserved. It's all over Minneapolis with Henipin County, Lel Avenue, all named for the early explorers. But the one name you don't hear is Pierre Labberandry. So Tracy, tell me a little bit about Pierre Lebrandre. I think to understand Landre, you have to know him in context. you know, the other European nations that were competing for North America at the time, the English, the French, of course, the Dutch, and the Spanish, but around here,
it's all about the French. Well, that's true. I mean, many of these explorers legacies are preserved in the street system here. Lasal's just two blocks down the street. That's right. Lasal, he's the one that named the whole area Louisiana in honor of King Louie. Okay. So land obviously was the big prize that they were looking for over here and fur trading of course. What else were they looking for?
They needed Indian allies and so they were looking for alliances. Sure. Well, you aren't going to get anything done here without cooperation of the natives. Uh great. Thank you very much. Thank you. All right. So tell me a little bit about Pierre Leandre's early life. Well, he was born in 1685 in Three Rivers, Quebec. He became a soldier at age 12. He's a cadet uh fighting with his Indian allies against the English and uh he became a farmer. There he uh he met married a young French girl. He raised a family and at age 43 he got a midlife crisis and that's when he became a fur trader.
You know it was part of the job of being a fur trader is to interact with Indian peoples. Okay. And uh one of the things that's really fascinating about the story of course is this bearded white people. We're talking about the Mandan, right? Okay. Those bearded white people Levandre heard about weren't white people at all. They were Native Americans, specifically members of the Mandan tribe. The reference to them as bearded white people is because of a similarity and rumored biological connection between them and the Welsh. It's not just a facial resemblance either. The
Mandan boats look like those used by the Welsh. Some people think the similarities stem from a pre-colian voyage by the Welsh to the Midwest, where the two groups intermixed, but it's a connection that most historians and Tracy don't support. Landry was the first contact that white people ever made with the Mandan Indians, the Hadad Indians, the Cheyenne Indians, and he and his sons were opening up the northern great plains. So really Pierre Leandre was uh 75 years or so before Lewis and Clark who really did the same mission, right? Yes. 66 years before Lewis and Clark. When I investigated the mysterious death of Merryweather Lewis, I learned that President Jefferson asked the explorers to look for evidence of the earlier
contact by ancient Welshmen as they traveled west. Is it possible French explorers like Daniel Duth and the Levandre removed earlier stone land claims before laying down their own? And if that's the case, they may have stolen America from the Welsh. So you said that Pierre Leandre was working with the French government to try to expand the fur trade business. Do you think that he could also have been performing a secret mission, a secret land claim mission? You know, the possibility exists. Have you ever heard of the LeBron stone? No. Well, let me show you something. This is an excerpt from a Swedish botnist uh Memoirs who met Pierre Leandre towards the end of his life in 1749 in Montreal. And as the story goes,
Levandre had a few too many. Hey, he was doing a lot of that those days. and uh a slip of the tongue that was recorded by this botonist who wrote down a story that Lebrandre told him. Listen to this. They found on a large plane great pillars of stone leaning against each other. You know there is one place where geologically it matches these pillars that are described. It's in Alberta, Canada. At last they met a large stone like a pillar which was covered on both sides with unknown characters called tartarian script from whence it was sent to the count of Maripa in France. The count of Maripa was a powerful French leader skilled in military strategy and
a mastermind of French intelligence. The question is, why would Leandre be sending a stone with strange inscriptions back to a powerful politician in France? I think the Levandre family and other French fur traders and explorers were in essence the counts secret agents. I think they may have had orders to send back anything that would threaten France's interests in the new world, like land claims placed by earlier explorers. Tartarian is an old Eastern European script which resembles Scandinavian runes, very similar to those on the Kensington runstone and possibly other early languages as well. If Levandre saw Tartarian script on a stone, he'd naturally reach the
conclusion the French weren't the first ones here. Someone else made it to the new world before them. So, the Count Dearrapa was definitely communicating with Mr. for Leandre about the fur trade and apparently he had another mission. Well, that's just remarkable. You know, not a biographer has written about this, nor would I expect there to be anything if this was a secret mission. Well, Lavandry himself never made it farther than the Missouri, but he sent his sons on further missions. They went down the Missouri, they went into Wyoming, and then eventually they went farther north into Canada. They set out
west and explored the rivers of Alberta and Saskatchewan. So it does put not LeBron but his sons out there. They found this stone and they brought it back to their father who then sent it to France. That stone could be very important because I'm thinking maybe it's actually a medieval land claim stone. Maybe Leandre was one of many explorers who was clearing out the old and putting in the new. I'm investigating the idea that French fur traders acted as secret agents for the French government. I believe Daniel Duth, the guy who the Minnesota city is named after, left this stone as a land claim for France. Who knows, he might have made off with
someone else's earlier land claim, too. I'm trying to track down a stone that was reportedly found by another French explorer, Pierre Leandre, and his family. Some think it could be proof pre-Colombian explorers were here long before the French. An ancient journal suggests Lebrandre sent that stone to his boss, Count of Maripa in Paris, possibly eliminating it as a land claim so the French could place their own. Turns out I'm not the first to search for this stone. In 1911, someone connected with the Minnesota Historical Society searched museums in Paris for the Leverandre stone. But there's one place he may not have looked. The church of Saint Peace. A breathtaking place of worship that Leandre's boss, the Count of Maripa, had a hand in
designing. I think the church might hold clues or even the stone itself. So, I need to travel to France. There are no photos of the Levandre stone, but I do know something about the writing on it. Supposedly, the language on the stone is written in Tartarian, an old Eastern European script, but I think it could just as easily have been runes or another medieval language. It's easy to see how someone could confuse runes with Tartarian. It's possible that the Levandre stone ended up here because of Count Dear's connection to this French church. Michelle, thank you for taking the time to meet with me today.
Thank you very much. I'm welcome you to Central Peace. Tell me a little bit about this amazing church. Well, it was started in 1645 by the founder of the company of Sanspace priests who specialize in running seminaries everywhere in the world. The church was completed 99 years later. Does the church house historical artifacts here? Many, many. It does. Of course, and of great quality. the stained glass window showing Christ and the historic shell that was brought to France at the time of Columbus from the South Pacific and it was used later here as a holy water fund. The reason I'm asking about artifacts is because a French explorer by the name of Pierre Lavandre was placing his own land claimed plaques for France and he uh reportedly found a stone that uh had
an inscription on it that uh some believe was carved in runes and sent here to St. Sop. So that's what I'm looking for here uh in your church. I've never heard of such a stone, but uh perhaps you can tell me a little more about it. What I believe is that Levandre was looking for older land claims to clear them out so he could put his own French land claims down um to claim the land in North America. Do these look familiar at all to you? Not at all. I'm sorry. This is an example of Titarian script used by the Tartars going back to ancient times. Never seen anything like that.
All right. Well, this is uh reportedly what was on the Landre stone. But why was this stone sent to a church center piece or any other? It makes a lot of sense to me that Landre would have sent the stone to Count Dearrapa uh who must have been his superior in some way because he was reporting back something that he had found that he believed might have been a previous land claim. And if the French were trying to stake out land in North America, obviously you wouldn't want older land claims to usurp your land claims. Do you have any of uh Dear's papers here?
Well, I'm afraid we don't. At the time of the French Revolution, this church was paged. Many documents were removed or stolen or destroyed. The French Revolution lasted a decade. Between 1789 and 1799, people were fed up with all the power the aristocracy and the priests had. The revolution marked the rise of democracy. But churches like Saint Peace were raided or ruined and valuable artifacts were lost, destroyed or stolen, perhaps even the Levandre stone. They just took things away in such piece. A lot of damage was done. The church was changed to a venue for political meetings. All the religious objects were removed.
Well, Michelle, even if that stone isn't here, I think there are more clues out there. I think that Lebrandre was not only placing land claims for France at that time, but he was also trying to obliterate previous land claims laid by anybody who came before him. I'm in Paris searching for a legendary stone that French explorers may have stolen from America in the mid700s. I think the Leandre stone could prove ancient cultures came to North America long before the French did. My investigation led me to a French church, but I didn't find the stone I'm looking for. What I did discover was that many artifacts were lost, damaged, or destroyed during the French Revolution.
Next, I'm going to what I believe is the scene of the crime. the place from where the Levandres may have first encountered the stone with the strange writing on it. Based on descriptions in an old diary, I think the Leandre may have stolen the rock from this place riding on Stone Park in Canada. There are great stone pillars everywhere, just like those mentioned in the diary. If I'm lucky, there might be similar carvings still here. The Levandre stone itself was identified as containing Tartarian, an ancient East European script with characters that look a lot like runes.
Could the Levandre stone be proof that ancient Europeans, perhaps the Welsh, made it to America and left a carved rock as a land claim? I think French explorers came looking for land claims and once they found them, removed the stones and left their own. That may have happened with the recently discovered doo stone, which I'm having evaluated back at my lab for authenticity. I saw many Native American carvings while I was walking around the park. Unfortunately, none of them resembled runes or Tartarian script. The markings supposedly found on the Lebrand stone, but I'm hoping someone from the local
Blackfoot tribe can help me find clues I might be missing. Hi, Scott. Well, Janita, I have to say this is stunningly beautiful and I have to believe it's probably a sacred place, is it not? It is a sacred place for the Blackfoot people. So, out of all of our territory, this is the most sacred place. Well, the geology is amazing as well. The softer rock which creates these cliffs and these tall columns. I think you call them hoodos. Yeah, that's what we call them. think the Blackfoot would actually call them spirit rocks. So, when I was hiking around here, I noticed that there's a lot of
petetroglyphs. I did see a lot of what has to be Blackfoot art here. Tell me a little bit about that. So, we've got the largest concentration of rock art in the plains of North America. Really? And we have some of the most unique rock art in the world. You know, we're talking about carving in rock. And that's part of the reason I'm here. Um, there's a story uh that involves a man by the name of Pierre Leandre. Pierre Levandre was an early French explorer. He reportedly sent his two sons into this area trying to find a passage to the Pacific. Um, apparently they were led by the Blackfoot and it was here that they reportedly found an inscribed stone with what was called
Tartarian script. And I have a couple of examples of some of the script. If you look at these characters and then if you look at these carved characters which are Scandinavian runes, you can see that the similarity is striking. Have you seen anything like this around here at all? Well, just seeing the lines on there. We've got many places that have lines that are drawn in there, but due to erosion, it's hard to pick out the details in some places. So, it's possible there could be some writing around here that uh could look like this. It's possible. Hearing that there could have been carvings similar to the Levandre stone in this park may be important. It makes me even more convinced that
pre-Colombian European explorers made it here and left their mark. So, what do you think this stone was doing here? I think it was a very old land claim and it was put at this particular place for a reason. what I think Leandre's sons were doing. I think they found out about this or knew about this older land claim and they came here to clear it out and then bury le plaques for a more modern land claim uh claiming land here for France. For us, you know, we don't believe anyone really owns the land. We don't actually have a term for ownership. That's a modern concept. Yes, it is. Okay. Well, it's an old concept uh to the white people and that was the main mission that Lebrandre was here for.
So, you mentioned a lead plaque. Where is that? Well, Leandre buried a lead plaque in South Dakota and I've never seen it, but there might be some clues there because that's what I think this is all about. It was about claiming land and in essence trying to steal America. I'm exploring the question of whether French fur traders and explorers were on a covert quest to steal America. I think French explorers like Pierre Lebrandre and Daniel Duth may have removed land claims placed by others and replaced them with their own. This could explain the Duth stone that I saw in Minnesota. If it's authentic, that means
Duth carved it over 330 years ago, likely to claim land for the French. I'm awaiting results that could give me the answers I'm looking for. In Leandre's case, I've got reason to believe his sons found a stone carved in a mysterious language. I think they found it at Writing on Stone Park and gave it to their father who sent it to a government official in France. I'm about to see a land claim I know for sure that the Leandres did place. It's here in South Dakota. A monument overlooking the Missouri River now marks the spot where the plaque was found. But the lead plaque itself is preserved nearby at the South Dakota State Historical Society.
I'm very anxious to take a look at this Leandre plaque, but I have a question for you. Um, Pierre, South Dakota. Is that named after Pierre Leandre? Well, let me correct you right away. It's not pronounced Pierre, South Dakota. It's Pier, South Dakota. Okay. And actually, the town was named after Pierre Chateau, who was a fur trader who had a started a fort up the riverways. You know, I've learned an awful lot about fur traders, including uh Leandre and his four sons that were uh in this area. Um, I just came from Canada, as a matter of fact, where many people believe an ancient land claim stone was found by Leandre's sons. But
I'm here to look at the Levandre plaque. Should we take a look at it? Yeah, let's go. Come on. So, Jay, this is the Levandre lead plaque. It's over 270 years old now, right? Absolutely. It was placed in 1743. Um, it wasn't found until the 1913. There were four kids that are credited with being the discoverers and they were up with other kids up on this bluff overlooking what's now the city of Fort Pier and I guess was a kind of a common hangout for kids to be at. And one of the kids saw this thing protruding out of the ground, went over and kicked at it and picked it up and started brushing it off and noticed there was handwriting on it. And so they
were they were fascinated by it. One of the other kids took it, brushed it off more, and saw the date, 1743. So, who placed it? Was it his sons? I would guess two of his sons, um, Francois and, um, Luis Joseph, and they're the ones who actually placed it. And we know that because on the reverse side of it is carved, um, into the medal, um, their names and the date that they placed it, March 30th, 1743. Does this represent for South Dakota the oldest evidence of European contact in the state? Yeah, it's the first physical evidence of non-Indians being in South Dakota. And what does it say on this side?
Oh, it's it's stamped um on the one side um into the lead. It's got the flu deise. It's written in Latin and it basically claims the region for King Louis the 15th of France. I know enough about land claim practices to know that they get placed at spots that grant the most amount of land. One reason I think the loose stone is a land claim is because it was found on a continental divide. This meant all the land to the north and south would belong to the country of whoever placed the claim. For Daniel Duth, that country was France. If the Levandre plaque is also a French land claim, then where it was placed is also important. The placement of this plaque, what's
significant about its location? it where the Bad River flows into um the Missouri River and it provides a great vantage point for France in the standpoint that it's the Missouri River drainage system which feeds into the Mississippi drainage system and claiming this large geographic area for the King of France. This particular plaque was one of maybe other plaques that served as the foundation for what would eventually become the Louisiana Purchase. Right. Absolutely. Louisiana purchase um is key in the history of the United States. Clearly, you know, um France owned the land for a long time.
You can't underestimate the importance of the Louisiana purchase. When Thomas Jefferson signed that deal with the French, he more than doubled the size of the United States. Who knows what America would look like today if that deal hadn't gone down? Well, Jay, I don't think anybody's going to debate that this is a land claim plaque placed by the Leandre Party claiming land for France that eventually became the Louisiana Purchase. But there's also some evidence that suggests that the Levandre Party may have traveled farther west and found an earlier land claim. Levandre told this story that his sons found an inscribed stone at the top of a pillar and they gave it to their father.
So, what happened to the stone? Leandre said he put it on a ship to France uh to the Count de Maripa and it's never been seen since. I think that this is an older land claim. I think it's very important. In the end, the Count of Maripa may be the only one who really knows the truth about whether or not explorers like the Levandre were in America stealing other people's land claims and replacing them with their own. Everything I've seen leads me to believe that Daniel Duth, the French fur trader who came 60 years before the Leverandres, may actually have had the same mission. I suspect he may have been sent to hunt down medieval land claims in Minnesota, like the Kensington runstone, which wasn't
found until the late 1800s. He may very well have found one and removed it, then replaced it with the Deloo stone. I just want to get back to my lab where tests are being run that will hopefully solve this ancient mystery. My investigation into whether early French explorers stole land claims and replaced them with their own has taken place in three countries. here in the United States, in France, and in Canada. I searched in vain for a possibly medieval land claim that I believe the French stole. It's called the Leandre stone. It's documented in historical records, and I think it was shipped off to Paris only to be lost in the French Revolution. But there's one stone that isn't lost. The Duth stone. A newly discovered boulder
that could be a missing land claim left by another French fur trader, Daniel Gracelon. Sir Duth. Hey, Scott. How you doing? Good. How's the investigation going? Well, it's going pretty well. Although, I have to say I've got good news and I've got bad news. The bad news is I was not able to find the Levandre Stone in France. It looks like the French Revolution has something to do with it. Um, all the archives and uh artifacts were taken from Saints Peace Church during the Revolution and who knows where they are. But I do have some good news. Take a look at this.
What do you have for me? Well, I did a little work on the doo stone and this relative age weathering study worked out pretty good. There are some tombstones in the same area and I was able to get some close-up photographs here of the carved surfaces. Now, this is a tombstone that's just under 100 years old. And see how sharp the edges are on the grooves here at the top. Now, take a look at the deloo stone. This is the uh groove right here. And notice how rounded the top edges are and the bottom of the groove is also very rounded. That's consistent with lengthy weathering. And it's much different than the tombstone which is only 100 years
old. So when I look at the weathering here, it looks consistent with about 350 or so years. So in my mind, this thing's genuine. Well, it matches the time that Daniel Duth was in the area. We know he was in that area around 1679, so it definitely fits. Authenticating the Duth stone is a huge accomplishment. It's possibly the earliest proof of a French land claim to America. It helps us know who was where and when. It also makes me question Daniel Doo's motives. He could have been hunting for medieval land claims like the Kensington runstone to try and clear out evidence of who was here before. Whether he found any is something we may never know. This thing being genuine, I mean, doesn't it represent the oldest
tangible artifact of Europeans in Minnesota? I mean, very likely. I mean, there wasn't really any habitations or permanent European settlements at this time. So, I think this is very significant. You think it is significant? I do, too. In fact, I think it's really important, not just for Minnesota history, but American history. Let me show you something. Come here. Sure. What do you have? Looks like ants. This is an ant farm. And ants are really amazing creatures when you stop and think about it. I mean, the amount of ground that they cover. And they're amazingly powerful. In fact, they can
carry objects five to 10 times their own weight. Okay. So, what does this have to do with European explorers? Well, in my mind, this serves as an interesting analogy. I mean, these guys are working hard and really they're answering to the queen, right? Just like these French explorers were working over here in North America and answering to the French crown. Leandre in Duth were burying land claim stones and clearing out the old ones to try to steal America. After everything I've seen in all the places I've been, I'm more convinced than ever that French fur traders and explorers in America were here looking for a lot more than beaver pelts to send back to France.
I think they were looking for land claims that might jeopardize their own. Just like ants in my lab, they were working for someone. Not a queen, but a king. King Louie of France. looking for ways his country could get a leg up on the competition to claim land in what's now the US. In the end, the calculations of the French may have led to the prosperity of Americans. After all, the vast amount of land they claimed, they sold to us in the Louisiana purchase, creating what is now the United States. Now, with one stone lost and another found, we at least have a better handle on what I think could be our true history.
