A pinch of French and a punishment of dialogue string together this uneventful chronology of the La Verendryes' western-exploration: ""Mon Dieu Just look at all them horses."" La Verendryes and his four sons left Madame behind in Montreal and opened up trading posts in the new region West of the Mississippi all for the glory of France. La Gloire could be better served than in this book; the luck of the La Verendryes, always bad; hasn't changed.