Chapter I: Preface

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.

CONTENTS

PART I

DISCOVERY AND EXPLORATION

CHAPTER PAGE

I. The Great Lakes 3

II. Champlain on the Great Lakes, 1615–1616 10

III. The Jesuit Mission to the Hurons, 1626–1650 25

IV. The Pageant of Saint Lusson, 1671 39

V. The Building of the _Griffon_, 1678–1679 49

VI. La Salle on the Great Lakes, 1679 61

VII. A Hapless French Governor, 1682–1684 73

PART II

THE STRUGGLE FOR POSSESSION

VIII. The Founding of Detroit, 1701 87

IX. Niagara and the Loss of Canada, 1759 101

X. The Conspiracy of Pontiac, 1763–1764 113

XI. The Adventures of a Trader, 1761–1764 135

XII. Wayne’s Indian Campaign, 1794 151

XIII. The Great Lakes in the War of 1812 165

XIV. The Conquest of Lake Erie, 1813 179

XV. General Lewis Cass and Reorganization 1813–1832 191

XVI. The Black Hawk War, 1832 201