PREFACE
Reading edition
For three hundred years the Great Lakes have been the centre of an immensely varied and interesting history. They were originally the home of savages; they were discovered and explored by Frenchmen; they became the scene of a century-long struggle for possession by Indians of many tribes and white men of three nations; and they have been finally occupied and developed by Americans. In every epoch they present a rich field for study.
No minute and exhaustive chronicle has been attempted in this volume, but important events, with the customs and life of each period, have been brought together and presented. Changes have come with such rapidity that the conditions of fifty years ago seem remote to-day. In this swift progress the heritage of the past must not be forgotten. The picturesqueness of the early life, the courage and hardihood of the explorers and settlers, and the tale of thrilling adventures and noble deeds should be treasured, as should the achievements of the builders of cities and captains and soldiers of industry of our own day.
Cambridge, Massachusetts, November, 1908.