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Great Lakes History – History of the Old Northwest

Great Lakes History - History of the Old Northwest - Frontier History

Great Lakes history, history of the Old Northwest, U.S. frontier history, Great Lakes region history. Free online books & articles; includes vintage books.

Annals of the West: Embracing a concise account of the Principal Events which have occurred in the Western States and Territories …

from the Discovery of the Mississippi Valley to the year 1856. Compiled from the most authentic sources

Albach, James R. comp.
Pittsburgh: 1858

This is a long work; just over 1,000 pages in a single volume. At the beginning of the book there is a 7-page list of “Authorities used in the preparation of this work”, followed by a 28-page “Chronological Table” listing all of the important events in the region from Ponce de Leon’s discovery of Florida in 1512 until the Presidential election of 1856. This chronological table appears to serve as a Table of Contents, as the entire book is arranged chronologically, with the year under discussion at the top of every page.

See the Menu at the top of every page for Directories of Free Online Fiction and NonFiction Books, Magazines, and more, on 400 pages like this at Century Past

Great Lakes Journey: A New Look at America’s Freshwater Coast

Ashworth, William
Wayne State University 2000

“Through personal observation, research, and numerous interviews with scientists, activists, and government agencies, Ashworth creates a detailed picture of the status of the Great Lakes at the end of the twentieth century. Among the most prominent changes he finds are the arrival of the zebra mussel and other exotic species, the rise and fall of the RAP process for pollution cleanup, a growing public mistrust of government action, a substantial loss of habitat and biodiversity, and an explosion of urban sprawl along the shores of the Lakes.” – Book jacket.

The Land of the Miamis: An Account of the Struggle to Secure Possession of the Northwest from the End of the Revolution until 1812

Barce, Elmore
Fowler, IN: Benton Review Shop 1922

“The English contrary to the provisions of the treaty of 1783 refused to give up their posts in the Northwest. They attempted to maintain possession of the fur trade by inciting the Indians to war against the Americans who were crowding in from the south and east. Within this territory was one of the most important tribes of the middle west. These Miamis could not help but resist when they found themselves being crowded farther away from the rich hunting grounds of southern Indiana and Kentucky. To share their hunting grounds with the Shawnees coming from the south; the Wyandots from the east; and the Pottawatomies from the northwest, earlier, had been enough to try their patience to the breaking point. But now to see the grazing land of the buffalo and the home of the beaver completely destroyed was too great a blow. The pelts of these animals when carried to the northern British posts meant a wealth of comfort and pleasure for the Indian. The loss of these was undoubtedly due cause for the Shawnee brothers, Tecumseh and the Prophet to attempt a coalition of the tribes in an effort to drive the early settlers back across the Ohio. On the other hand the author is correct in attempting to justify the acts of the early Kentuckians and others who matched their wits against the treachery of the red man in an effort to gain control of the rich unutilized prairie lands beyond the Wabash. This narrative, interesting as a novel, but yet a sound piece of historical information, enriched by extracts on the wild animals, such as the beaver and the buffalo, a clear topographical description of the country, a close-up view of the life of the Indian, and the early pioneers who won this domain, comes to a climax with the breaking of the Indian power in the northwest and the ascendancy of American control in an account of the battle of Tippecanoe.”
– V. O. Pinkerton from a review in Indiana Magazine of History, Vol. 18, Issue 4, Dec 1922, pp. 393-394.

Jay’s Treaty and the Northwest Boundary Gap

Bemis, Samuel Flagg
American Historical Review 1922

The Discovery and Conquests of the Northwest …

including the early history of Chicago, Detroit, Vincennes, St. Louis, Ft. Wayne, Prairie du Chien, Marietta, Cincinnati, Cleveland, etc., etc., and incidents of pioneer life in the region of the Great Lakes and the Mississippi Valley

Blanchard, Rufus
Chicago: Cushing, Thomas 1880

Our First Great West, in Revolutionary War, Diplomacy and Politics

(how it was won in war and politics under Virginia’s lead and under John Jay’s in diplomacy)

Bodley, Temple
Louisville, Morton 1938

The Civilization of the Old Northwest. A Study of Political, Social, and Economic Development, 1788-1812

Bond, Beverley W.
NY: Macmillan 1934

The author states in the preface that [his aim] has been to present a composite view of the civilization that arose in the formative period of the Old Northwest, between the first settlement at Marietta in 1788 and the outbreak of the War of 1812. In this quarter of a century the foundations of an American civilization were laid in this region… At the same time an American colonial system was tested in this same area, and so successfully was it adapted to practical needs that the precedents set up in the Old Northwest, along with the distinctive civilization which developed there, were later transplanted into the Trans-Mississippi country.”

The Eastern and Western States of America, Vol 1

Volume 2

Volume 3

Buckingham, James Silk
London: Fisher 1842

History of the Midwest region.

Notes on the Early Settlement of the Northwest Territory

Burnet, Jacob
Cincinnati: Derby, Bradley 1847

Jacob Burnet (1770-1853) was a native of New Jersey and graduate of Princeton. He established a law practice in Cincinnati in 1796, where he quickly became one of the new city’s leading citizens. He was appointed in 1799 by President Adams to serve on Ohio’s Territorial Council; later serving as a judge in the Northwest Territory, an Ohio state legislator, president of the Cincinnati branch of the Second Bank of the U.S., Ohio Supreme Court justice, and as a U.S. Senator. Much of the material in Notes on the Early Settlement of the Northwest Territory was originally written in 1837 as a series of letters for the Ohio Historical Society about his own experiences, and he later enlarged them into this historical volume. The Old Northwest, Great Lakes history books, Upper Midwest history.

See a brief history of the ‘Old Northwest’

A History of the Commonwealth of Kentucky

Butler, Mann
Louisville: Wilcox 1834

The Great Lakes Frontier; an Epic of the Old Northwest

Caruso, John Anthony
Bobbs Merrill 1961

Contents:1. The Illinois Country 2. George Rogers Clark 3. The Ohio Country 4. Early Settlements in Ohio 5. Indian War 6. Ohio: Pawn of Politics 7. Indiana: Slave or Free Territory? 8. Tecumseh 9. The Frontier War of 1812 10. Statehood for Illinois 11. Pioneer Days and Ways 12. Americanization of Michigan and Wisconsin – Selected Bibliography.

Heroes of the Middle West: The French

Catherwood, Mary Hartwell
Boston: Ginn 1900

Mary Hartwell Catherwood (1847 -1902) was a novelist born in Luray, Ohio and as an adult lived in several cities in the Midwest. She developed a signature style of incorporating Midwestern culture, dialect, and local color into her texts. Although most of her novels and stories are set in Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois, some are also based along the American border with French Canada and on colonial Mackinac Island. In this volume, she put her expertise in the history of the period to use in writing a history rather than a novel.

Contents:-The Discoverers of the Upper Mississippi -Bearers of the Calumet -The Man with the Copper Hand -The Undespairing Norman -French Settlements -The Last Great Indian.

The Story of the Great Lakes

Channing, Edward and Marion Florence Lansing
NY: Macmillan 1909

Channing was a Professor of History at Harvard.

Contents: Part 1 – Discovery and Exploration
– The Great Lakes – Champlain on the Great Lakes, 1615-1616 – The Jesuit Mission to the Hurons, 1626-1650 – The Pageant of Saint Lusson, 1671 – The Building of the Griffon, 1678-1679 – La Salle on the Great Lakes, 1679 – A Hapless French Governor, 1682-1684

Part 2 – The Struggle for Possession
– The Founding of Detroit, 1701 – Niagara and the Loss of Canada, 1759 – The Conspiracy of Pontiac, 1763-1764 – The Adventures of a Trader, 1761-1764 – Wayne’s Indan Campaign, 1794 – The Great Lakes in the War of 1812 – The Conquest of Lake Erie, 1813 – General Lewis Cass and Reorganization, 1813-1832 – The Black Hawk War, 1832

Part 3 – Occupation and Development
– Gateways of the Great Lakes, 1600-1900 – The Story of a Road, 1600-1900 – Before and after the Turnpike, 1796-1811 – The Erie Canal, 1825 – The Great Lakes in 1840 – The Coming of the Railroad to Lake Erie, 1836-1853 – Lincoln and Douglas in Chicago, 1858-1861 – The Great Lakes in the Civil War, 1864 – Three Great Industries of the Lakes – Shipping on the Lakes – The Development of the City – A Short List of Books.

History and General Description of New France, Vol 1

Volume 2

Volume 3

Volume 4

Volume 5

Volume 6

de Charlevoix, Pierre-François-Xavier
Paris: 1744

Pierre François Xavier de Charlevoix (1682-1761) is generally considered the first historian of New France. He was born in the province of Picardy, France and, after joining the Jesuit novitiate in Paris at 16, was sent for four years of training to the Jesuit College in Quebec. He then returned to Paris for more education, becoming a professor. One of his young students was Voltaire, who would become known as a great philosopher of the Enlightenment.

In 1720 Charlevoix returned to Quebec on an assignment of exploration. He traveled through Michilimackinac, into Green Bay, up the St. Joseph River, and then up the Illinois River before taking the Mississippi into the Gulf of Mexico. In 1722 he made a second expedition down the Mississippi. He returned to France and resumed a career of teaching and writing. – Information from the Wikipedia entry for Charlevoix.

American’s Greatest Subdivision; The Northwest Territory

Chauncey, A. E.
Benton Harbor, MI: Burch 1957

The Picturesque Ohio; A Historical Monograph

Clark, C. M.
Cincinnati: Cranston & Stowe 1888

A volume in “Clark’s Guide Books” of the states, cities, and picturesque water-ways and railroad routes of the United States.

“The Westward Movement in the Upper Mississippi Valley during the Fifties”

Proceedings of the Mississippi Valley Historical Association Vol VII, 1913-1914, 212-19

Clark, Dan E.
Cedar Rapids, Iowa: Mississippi Valley Historical Association

This overview covers a decade of migration in which the population of the subject region grew more than 167 percent.

The Savage Years

Connell, Brian
NY: Harper & Brothers 1959

“The Indian as a Diplomatic Factor in the History of the Old Northwest”

Ohio History XVIII, October 1909/Number 4, 542-65

Cox, Isaac J.
Columbus: Ohio Historical Society

The author of this diplomatic history paper, Professor Cox, begins by explaining British foreign policy goals in the Northwest Territory while under French control and then during British rule from 1763 to 1783. He then focuses on the period after 1783 when the British continued to retain military and trading posts in the region in order to continue the fur trade. The continuing British influence upon the Indians at that time affected Indian behavior toward the Americans. This was to the detriment of Americans in the region, and it poisoned American attitudes toward the British.

The Making of the Ohio Valley States, 1660-1837

Drake, Samuel Adams
NY: Scribner 1894

First Ownership of Ohio Lands

Dyer, Albion Morris
Boston: New England Historical Genealogical Society 1911

Contains a history of congressional consideration and actions related to the first distribution of Ohio lands, as well as specific information about who received lands, and where.

The Ohio Valley in Colonial Days

Fernow, Berthold
Albany, N.Y: J. Munsell’s Sons 1890

Berthold Fernow (1837-1908) was a German-born historian and author, and a NY state librarian.

“Presents much valuable material concerning the discovery of the Ohio valley, the aborigines inhabiting it, and the struggle between the French and English for the supremacy. There is a brief chapter on the Indian wars following that struggle. The last two chapters give material concerning the earliest attempts at settlement both north and south of the Ohio before 1788.” – Literature of American history; a bibliographical guide 1902

Contents:-Discovery -Geographical Knowledge -The Indians of the Ohio Valley -The Beginning of the Struggle for Supremacy -The Contest Transferred to the Ohio Valley -The French Masters of the Ohio Valley -The Flag of St. George Floats again over the Valley -Indian Wars -North and West of the Ohio -South of the Ohio -Appendix.

A Condensed Geography and History of the Western States, or the Mississippi Valley, Vol 1

Volume 2

Flint, Timothy
Cincinnati: Flint 1828

Besides general chapters on geography, history, and social conditions in the West, one chapter is devoted to Illinois and treats of the physical characteristics, settlements, people, agriculture, manufacturing, roads, education, history, and political institutions of the state. Flint derived much of his information from observation during a long residence in the West and the work is a valuable source.

For historic maps of the Great Lakes region and states, see:
Great Lakes Maps, Atlases & Map Collections
;
Ohio Maps, Atlases & Map Collections;
Indiana Maps, Map Collections & Gazetteers;
Illinois Maps, Map Collections & Gazetteers;
Michigan Maps, Map Collections & Gazetteers;
Wisconsin Maps, Map Collections & Gazetteers

The Wilderness Trail: or, the Ventures and Adventures of the Pennsylvania Traders on the Allegheny Path, Vol 1

Volume 2

With some new Annals of the Old West, and the Records of some Strong Men and some Bad Ones. With eighty maps and illustrations.

Hanna, Charles A.
New York: G. P. Putnam’s Sons 1911

The author “has undertaken to assemble in these closely packed volumes all available materials relating to the exploration and early colonization of western Pennsylvania and the Ohio valley during the first half of the eighteenth century, that is, preceding the war between the British colonies and French Canada for the possession of the coveted forests and plains of the Interior. The book is thus made a storehouse of material, authenticated by references, and copiously indexed, of the period mentioned, and of the bold men and women who followed the wilderness trails and converted them into roads for civilization.”
“The lists of persons living in different villages, killed in raids, licensed as traders or recorded as emigrants to Ohio and Kentucky will be useful to genealogical workers.”
“The value of Mr. Hanna’s work is in bringing into compact form a vast amount of scattered facts, and in reproducing from old and rare books and documents many maps and plans otherwise inaccessible to the ordinary reader.”
“It is, to be quite frank, hopelessly unreadable, except in spots; but, on the other hand, as a reference work it has much to commend it. The historical student and writer will thus find his work a veritable treasure-trove.”
– The Book Review Digest.

Volume 1 seems to mainly cover frontier areas to the east of the Ohio River from the late 1600s through about the middle of the 18th century. Some trails and place-names mentioned in the Table of Contents and Maps index are: the Shamokin path, the Frankstown path, the Raystown path, Kittanning, Chartier’s Town, the Beaver, Logstown, Thomas Cresap’s Fort, Minisink Island, Shawnee Island, Shawnee Towns of Wyoming and Chillisquaque, Kittanning Gap, Old Kuskuskies.

Volume 2 profiles George Croghan, “King of the Traders”, and includes areas in Ohio and Kentucky country in the third quarter of the 18th century. Some place names mentioned include Chillicothe, the Conchake route, the Pickawillany path, the Kanawha Shawnee Town, King Beaver’s Town, Eskippakithiki Town, Pickawillany.

On the last pages of Volume 1 can be found a large map of traders’ routes in Pennsylvania and Ohio country, including neighboring regions.

The Old Northwest with a View of the Thirteen Colonies as Constituted by the Royal Charters

Hinsdale, Burke A.
NY: MacCoun 1888

“After treating of the French discovery and colonization of the Northwest and its surrender by the French to the English in 1763, the author paves the way for a discussion of the conflicting colonial claims to the territory, by two excellent chapters upon the charter grants of the old thirteen colonies.The discussion of the Northwestern land-claims and cessions is full and accurate, and that of the ordinances of 1785 and 1787, while containing little that has not been printed before is clearly and convincingly stated. The division of the territory into states, the organization of those states and a chapter on the progress of the territory during the first century, complete a work the value of which can hardly be overestimated.”
– Unsigned Review. Ohio History Vol 2, No. 2 (Sep 1888) p. 348.

The Ohio River: A Course of Empire

Hoffman, Charles F.
New York: G.P. Putnam’s Sons 1906

For this history the author drew heavily upon a number of other histories of the west that were published near the turn of the 20th century.

Contents:-The River, its place and power -Where France and England met -The old French war in the west -One of the vanguard of the pioneers -The “Monongahela Country” and its metropolis -The Ohio in the Revolution -The fighting Virginians -Fort Washington and the “Bloody Way” -The reign of the rowdy and outlaw -From keelboat to schooner -From Pittsburg to Louisville in 1806 -Blennerhassett Island -Where Yankee and Virginian met -When the steamboat was king -The workshop of the world

For works on boats and shipping, see: Navigation on the Great Lakes & the Region’s Rivers

The Older Middle West, 1840-1880; Its Social, Economic, and Political Life

and sectional tendencies before, during and after the Civil War

Hubbart, Henry Clyde
NY: Appleton-Century 1936

“Some Phases of the History of the Northwest, 1783-1786”

Proceedings of the Mississippi Valley Historical Association Vol VII, 1913-1914, 168-95

James, James Alton
Cedar Rapids, Iowa: Mississippi Valley Historical Association

This is focused on the relation of George Rogers Clark to events during the period immediately after the Revolutionary War.

The Old Northwest as the Keystone of the Arch of American Federal Union

a study in commerce and politics

Kohlmeier, A. L.
Bloomington, IN: Principia 1938

“British Conquest of the Old Northwest”

Wisconsin Magazine of History Vol 35 (1), Autumn 1951, 49-61

Krenkel
Madison: State Historical Society of Wisconsin

This is a chronological account of hostilities between the English and French over control of the Northwest territory from 1755-1765. The impact of the English incursion on the region, relations with Indians at French outposts, and Indian land rights are the main focus.

The Historical Writings of the Late Orsamus H. Marshall Relating to the Early History of the West

Marshall, Orsamus Holmes
Albany, NY: Munsell’s Sons 1887

“Chiefly studies of the aborigines of western New York, and of the French explorers who visited the region, in good part based on the author’s researches in French archives. Conspicuously conscientious work, accurate and thorough, the style not lacking literary grace. An ” Index rerum,” pp. 345-468, gives many hundreds of names local to the region, references to authorities, etc.” – Literature of American History; a bibliographical guide 1902

Contents:-A sketch of some of the Indian tribes which formerly dwelt on the borders of the Great Lakes -Champlain’s expedition against the Onondagas in 1615 -Champlain’s astrolabe -The building and voyage of the Griffon in 1679 -Narrative of the expedition of the Marquis de Nonville against the Senecas in 1687 -The first visit of De La Salle to the Senecas, made in 1669 -De Céloron’s expedition to the Ohio in 1749 -Early notices of the copper regions

Legends of the Ohio Valley, or, Thrilling Incidents of Indian Warfare. Truth Stranger than Fiction

McMechen, James H.
Wheeling: West Virginia Printing 1887

Contents:-Battle of Point Pleasant -Lord Dunmore’s Treaty with the Indians -Murder of Cornstalk -Siege of Fort Henry (which includes evidence refuting the oft-told tale of Elizabeth Zane saving the fort) -Ambush of Captain Foreman -Moravian Massacre -Colonel William’s Crawford’s Campaign (and his death by torture) -Lewis Wetzel’s Exploits
-Captain Samuel Brady’s Remarkable Feats

The Northwest under Three Flags, 1635-1796

Moore, Charles
NY: Harper 1900

“A most admirable, accurate and complete resume of the history of the occupation and development of the great Ohio Valley from the earliest French settlements to the establishment of the Northwest Territory, under the famous ordinance of 1787. Mr. Moore recounts a delightful and thrilling story of the conflicts between the aboriginal inhabitants and the Latin race (French) usurpers; then between the French and English and finally between the two divisions of the Anglo-Saxon race, the English and the Americans. We know of no one book that covers the movements of these important events so compactly and clearly.”
– Review by E.O. Randall. Ohio History. Vol 10. (July 1901) page 101.

The Old Northwest: A Chronicle of the Ohio Valley and Beyond

Ogg, Frederic A.
New Haven, Conn: Yale University Press 1919

The author “treats of the half century between Pontiac’s conspiracy and the war of 1812. It also contains material on the Black Hawk war and covers later events.”
“Mr Ogg has caught admirably the excitement of the time; his chapter on ‘The great migration’ conveys a thrill of adventure”.
– The Book Review Digest

Frederick Austin Ogg (1878-1951) received his PhD from Harvard in 1908, and served as a Professor of political science and American history at the University of Wisconsin from 1917 to 1951.

Contents:-Pontiac’s Conspiracy -“A Lair of Wild Beasts” -The Revolution Begins -The Conquest Completed -Wayne, the Scourge of the Indians -The Great Migration -Pioneer Days and Ways -Tecumseh -The War of 1812 and the New West -Sectional Cross Currents -The Upper Mississippi Valley -Bibliographical Note.

History of the Backwoods, Or, the Region of the Ohio …

Authentic, from the Earliest Accounts; Embracing Many Events, Notices of Prominent Pioneers, Sketches of Early Settlements, Etc. Not Heretofore Published

Patterson, A W.
Pittsburgh: 1843

“It is a perfectly reliable narrative of events in the West, arranged chronologically from the earliest discoveries ‘of the French to Wayne’s victory. The events detailed, relate principally to the Western part of Pennsylvania, in the neighborhood of Fort Pitt, but it contains some valuable information, in regard to the Indians and early settlements in Ohio. We name the principal—” Ohio Land Company,” pp. 40—47, ” Washington’s Journey,” pp. 48-62, “Bouquet’s March into Ohio,” pp. 159, “Col. Broadhead’s Campaign against the Ohio Indians,” pp. 249, “James Smith’s Captivity,” pp. 187. “Crawford’s Campaign,” pp. 253-273, “Harmar’s Campaign,” “St. Clair’s Expedition,” “Wayne’s Victory.”” – Peter G. Thomson

The French Foundations 1680-1693. French Series Vol. 1

Pease, Theodore C. and Werner, Raymond C. eds.
Springfield, ILL: Illinois State Historical Library 1934

A selection of documentary material revealing the activities of the French in the Old Northwest. The documents are in the both English and French. There is a list of documents in the volume at pp. 397-404.

Anglo-French Boundary Disputes in the West 1749-1763. French Series, Vol. 2

Pease, Theodore C. ed.
Springfield, ILL: Illinois State Historical Library 1936

Documents are in original French with English translation on same page.

Illinois on the Eve of the Seven Years’ War 1747-1755. French Series, Vol. 3

Pease, Theodore C. ed.
Springfield Ill: Illinois State Historical Library. 1940

“Using original French correspondence and papers (with English translations), the authors have tried to document the period between the War of the Austrian Succession and the Seven Years’ War as it was reflected in the Illinois country. The collection mainly represents the writings of the people who labored to maintain the cause of France in the West.

“Throughout, the story is one of Indian disaffection, of the wiles which English traders exercised not merely over the French Indians, but over the French traders themselves, of the measures concerted at New Orleans and Quebec to uphold the name of France in the interior and of how these measures were carried out on the ground by post commandants, officers and Jesuits.”
– From the author’s Preface

Contents:-The End of King George’s War, 1747-1749 -The Expedition of Celoron and its Results -New Commandant at Miamis -The Collapse of La Jonquiere’s Policy, Sep-Oct, 1751 -Macarty’s Command of the Illinois, Jan-Feb, 1752 -The Shadow of the English, Mar-Apr, 1752 -The Ministry Announces its Policy -Affairs in the Illinois Country, Sep-Oct, 1752 -The Illinois, Nov – Dec, 1752 -The Administration of Kerlerec and Duquesne, 1753-1754 -The Imminence of War

Historic Towns of the Western States

Powell, Lyman P., ed.,
NY: G.P. Putnam’s Sons 1901

This volume has essays by various authors on the histories of 22 cities west of the Alleghenies, including 9 cities in the five states covered by this site, as follows:

-Marietta -Cleveland -Cincinnati -Detroit -Mackinac -Indianapolis -Vincennes -Chicago -Madison

“Ohio in Early History and During the Revolution”

Ohio History X, April 1902/Number 4, 395-434

Randall, Emilius O.
Columbus: Ohio Historical Society

Emilius Randall (1850-1919) of Columbus, OH was a Law Professor at Ohio State University and the official reporter of the Ohio Supreme Court. Appointed by the Governor as a Trustee of the Ohio State Archaeological and Historical Society, he also served as Secretary and Editor. He edited 28 volumes and authored several books and numerous articles for the Society.

The Winning of the West, Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Part 5

Part 6

Roosevelt, Theodore
NY: Putnam 1889-96

It is widely known that Roosevelt was a robust outdoorsman, a New York politician and a ‘Rough-Rider’ in the Spanish-American War before he became U.S. President. It is not widely remembered that he was also a very competent and popular historian.

“[The author] has brought into prominence an important, but much-neglected, subject by unfolding our relations with Spain and England respecting the frontier, and has given a valuable treatment of the tortuous intrigues of western leaders with the Spaniards and the French. These are some of the strong features of Mr. Roosevelt’s work. … It is the dramatic and picturesque aspects of the period that most interest him, — the Indian fighting, the intrigues with Spain, and the exploration of the far West. He handles the subject with dash and lightness of touch; and sometimes this facility shows itself in a readiness to pass over institutional development with a comment of praise or blame, instead of information that the reader has a right to expect. . . . Taken as a whole, the volumes will be to the general reader a revelation in American history.” – Literature of American History; a bibliographical guide 1902

Part 1: “The Spread of English-Speaking Peoples”
Part 2: “In the Current of the Revolution”
Part 3: “The War in the Northwest”
Part 4: “The Indian Wars, 1784-1787”, “Franklin, Kentucky, Ohio, and Tennessee”
Part 5: “St. Clair and Wayne”
Part 6: “Louisiana and Aaron Burr”

Early History of Western Pennsylvania

and of the West, and of western expeditions and campaigns, from 1754 to 1833

Rupp, Israel Daniel; Hickok, William Orville
Pittsburg, PA: Kauffman 1846

The British Regime in Michigan and the Old Northwest, 1760-1796

Russell, Nelson Vance
Carleton College 1939

From Quebec to New Orleans: The Story of the French in America. Illustrated. Fort De Chartres

Schlarman, J.H. PhD.
Belleville, ILL: Buechler. 1929

This appears to be mainly a history of the French in the Illinois country as they attempt to tie together their empires on the lower Mississippi and Canada by taking control of the upper Mississippi and Ohio Valley. The history of Fort de Chartres, near St. Louis, is woven into that broader story. The author says of this book, “I would call it a story, somewhat gossipy, though documented, or a cursory summary of the high points, of the interesting and at times unique occurrences, with just enough explanation to establish in the mind of the reader a logical and causal connection between events. This determines the nature of the book.”

Guide to Treasure Map of the Great Lakes Region

Schultz, Gerard
Elkton, MI: Schultz 1961

No map was found here. This is a list of 242 ships that sank on the Great Lakes, and a dozen legendary treasures supposedly buried on land.

The Pioneers of the West: or, Life in the Woods

Strickland, William Peter
NY: Carlton & Phillips 1856

Contents:-The West -Pioneer Explorers of the West -The Hunters of the West -The Pioneer Settlers -The Pioneer Preachers -Pioneer Institutions and Professional Men -Pioneer Boatmen -The Prophet Francis -Logan, the Mingo Chief -The Mountain Hunter -Indian Captivity -“The Old Chief” or, The Indian Missionary -The Hermit -Pioneer Panther Hunting -The Squatter Family -The Lost Hunter -The Wisconsin Schoolma’am.

“The Place of the Ohio Valley in American History”

Ohio History XX, January 1911/Number 1, 32-47

Turner, Frederick Jackson
Columbus: Ohio Historical Society

Frederick Jackson Turner was a professor of history at Harvard and President of the American Historical Association when he delivered this address. He argues that the vast region of the U.S. consists of a number of distinct sections, and “…the real federal aspect of the nation, if we penetrate beneath constitutional forms to the deeper currents of social, economic and political life, will be found to lie in the relation of sections and nation, rather than in the relation of States and nation.” He goes on to elaborate his point that the Ohio Valley, or the region between Pittsburgh and St. Louis, constituted a distinct economic and cultural entity.

Rise of the New West, 1819-1829

Turner, Frederick Jackson
NY: Harper & Row 1906

This survey is a national history with an emphasis on western expansion, written by a leading American historian on that subject.

George Croghan and the Westward Movement, 1741-1782

Volwiler, Albert T.
Cleveland: Clark 1926

George Croghan (c. 1718-1782) “… was the leading exponent of the expansion of the Anglo-Saxon race into the Ohio region during the generation before 1775. He was pre-eminent as an Indian trader, an Indian agent, a land speculator, and a projector of inland colonies. His trading houses were scattered throughout the upper Ohio region and the activities which radiated from them constituted on of the chief causes of the French aggression in the Ohio valley from 1749 to 1754”. – Preface
After the outbreak of the French and Indian War he became the deputy to the British superintendent of northern Indian affairs, and conducted extensive negotiations with Indian tribes for more than a decade.

The History of Illinois and Louisiana Under the French Rule …

Embracing a General View of the French Dominion in North America with Some Account of the English Occupation of Illinois

Wallace, Joseph
Clarke 1893

Contents:-Introductory Narrative; or Discovery and Settlement of Canada. 1497-1690
– Discovery of the Mississippi River, and of the North- west. 1539- 1671 – The Great River Voyage of Joliet and Marquette. 1673- 1675 – La Salle and his Early Explorations. 1666- 1680 – Father Louis Hennepin. 1675- 1701 – La Salle and Tonty. 1680- 1681 – La Salle’s Exploits continued. 1681- 1683 – Last Great Enterprise of La Salle. 1684- 1687 – Survivors of La Salle’s Texan Colony. 1687- 1689 – Illinois as a Dependency of Canada. 1689- 1712 – Permanent Settlement of Lower Louisiana. 1698- 1711 – Louisiana under M. Crozat – Dmise of Louis XIV. 1712- 1717 – French Finances, and Law’s Mississippi Company. 1717- 1723 – Lieutenant Boibriant’s Rule in the Illinois – The Natchez War 1718- 1732 – Louisiana under the Direct Government of the Crown. 1732- 1752 – Progress of Events in the Dependency of Illinois. 1742- 1756 – The Memorable Seven Years’ War. 1753- 1760 – Indian Conspiracy and War of Pontiac. 1760- 1765 – Occurrences in Lower Louisiana. 1764- 1769 – Illinois under the British Domination. 1764- 1778 – General Description of the French Colonists.

The Mississippi Basin. The Struggle in America Between England and France 1697-1763 …

With Full Cartographical Illustrations from Contemporary Sources

Winsor, Justin
Boston: Houghton, Mifflin 1898

“An authoritative, detailed, and readable record of the struggle in America between England and France, beginning with Iberville’s expedition to the Mississippi in 1697 and ending with the triumph of England in 1763. The story is continued by the author’s Westward Movement (on this page) which deals in a similar manner with the struggle for possession of the Trans-Alleghany region. Both volumes have valuable cartographic illustrations from contemporary sources, and both, are a continuation of his Carrier to Frontenac“. – A.L.A. Catalog, 1926: An Annotated Basic List of 10,000 Books, ed. by Isabella M. Cooper.

Contents:-The Mississippi Basin at the end of the Seventeenth Century -Iberville’s Expedition. 1697-1700 -Throughout the Valley. 1700-1709 -Crozat and Trade. 1710-1719 -The Mississippi Bubble. 1714-1720 -The Barriers of Louisiana. 1710-1720 -Charlevoix and his Observations. 1720-1729 -Along the Appalachians. 1720-1727 -The Rivalries of France, England, and Spain. 1730-1740 -The Search for the Sea of the West. 1727-1753 -War and Truce. 1741-1748 -The Portals of the Ohio Valley. 1740-1749 -Louisiana and its Indians. 1743-1757 -Undeclared War. 1750-1754 -The Rival Claimants for North America. 1497-1755 -The Anxieties and Plans of 1754 -The Alleghany Portals. 1755 -Two Dismal Years, 1756, 1757 -The Ohio and St. Lawrence Won. 1758-1759 -The Transition from War to War. 1760-1762 -The Treaty of Peace. 1762-1763 -The Effect upon the Indians. 1763-1765 -Occupation Completed. 1764, 1765 -Index.

The Westward Movement: The Colonies and the Republic West of the Alleghanies, 1763-1798 … – History of the American Frontier

With Full Cartographical Illustrations from Contemporary Sources

Winsor, Justin
Boston: Houghton, Mifflin 1897

“Mr. Winsor’s work is a thesaurus of events for the student, rather than a history for the general reader. His work is essentially monographic, and yet, by a most regrettable policy, Mr. Winsor has omitted, except in the rarest cases, to cite the authorities for his statements. . . . The book remains a splendid proof of the immense research of its author, of his skill and fairness in dealing with a multiplicity of detail, and of the continental breadth of his view.” – Literature of American History; a bibliographical guide 1902

Contents:– An Introductory Survey – The Property Line 1763- 1764 – Louisiana, Florida, and the Illinois Country, 1763- 1768 – The Kentucky Region, 1767- 1774 – The Quebec Bill and the Dunmore War, 1774 – South of the Ohio, 1769- 1776 – The Fortunes of the Mississippi, 1766- 1777 – George Rogers Clark, Arbiter and Suppliant, 1776- 1779 – The Sinister Purposes of France, 1774- 1779 – A Year of Suspense, 1780 – East and West, 1781 – Peace, 1782 – The Insecurity of the Northwest, 1783- 1787 – The Northwest Occupied, 1786- 1790 – The Southwest Insecure, 1783- 1786 – The Spanish Question, 1787- 1789 – Uncertainties in the Southwest, 1790 – The Conditions of 1790 – Harmar’s and St. Clair’s Campaigns, 1790- 1791 – The Northwest Tribes at Last Defeated, 1792- 1794 – Jay’s Treat and the Territorial Integrity of the Northwest Secured 1794- 1796 – Wayne’s Treaty and the New Northwest, 1794- 1797 – The Unrest of the Southwest, 1791- 1794 – Pinckney’s Treaty and the Kentucky Intrigue, 1795- 1796 – The United States Completed, 1796- 1798

New France 1534-1763

Featuring the region that now includes all or parts of Michigan, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Vermont, Maine, and Canada fro Manitoba to Newfoundland

Worth, Richard
National Geographic Society 2007

Explores the everyday lives of the people who inhabited what was called New France during North America’s colonial history.

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