Includes Index

Part I: Discovery --
Phantom river --
The mist rises-a little --
The paths of glory ... --
... Lead but to the grave --
Iberville's Mardi Gras --
Chaos in paradise --
Noble swindler --
The frustrations of Bienville --
Approach to the Rockies --
Part II: The purchase --
The westering English --
France loses an empire --
Spain gets a lemon --
Thomas Jefferson: land developer --
Four Nations: one river --
Treaty trouble and-worse-Monsieur Genet --
The tightrope walkers --
The chancellor's great adventure --
Bonaparte makes up his mind --
Fait accompli --
Epilogue.

"So Vast, So Beautiful a Land" is the remarkable story of how the early explorers discovered the Mississippi region and by what steps, through one hundred and twenty-one years, their rulers came to allow the infant United States to buy one of the richest territories on earth for fifteen million dollars. Marshall Sprague explores an epic saga of heroism, corruption, wilderness survival, visionary idealism, royal intrigue, greed, murder, and political chicanery. Probing the political, economic, and social factors that led to the Purchase, he skillfully traces the direct sources of France's eventual disillusionment with its territory. Sprague's incisive commentary and lively prose make this volume a work of meticulous scholarship and eminent readability.