First-Person Accounts in History of the Great Lakes States Archives

Pioneers in Illinois Tell Their Stories

Books, Illinois / Chicago, First-Person Accounts in History of the Great Lakes States, frontier, history, memoirs, pioneers / April 1, 2014

We have a number of books authored by people who were settlers or visitors in Illinois in the early 1800s, and who wrote about their experiences there. The list below doesn’t include all such books on History of the Great Lakes States, but it’s a good start. Illinois Biographies and Memoirs page Burlend, Rebecca, A […]

Pioneers in Illinois Tell Their Stories Read More »

Foreign Visitors Interpret America 1800-1867

biographies, Books / First-Person Accounts in History of the Great Lakes States, frontier, memoirs, pioneers, travelers / February 27, 2014

The books below were authored by foreign visitors to the U.S. They described what they saw, recorded their reactions, and collected information for friends or reading audiences back home. All the works cover, at least in part, travels in the region of the Great Lakes States. Books are grouped below in the decades in which

Foreign Visitors Interpret America 1800-1867 Read More »

Pontiac’s War: Northern Forts Under Attack

History, Michigan, Native Americans / ebooks, First-Person Accounts in History of the Great Lakes States, Fort Detroit, Fort Michilimackinac, french and indian war, historical fiction, history, library, military, Pontiac, Pontiac's War / January 31, 2014

As a boy I visited Fort Michilimackinac and learned how the Indians, playing a ball game next to the fort in 1763, used a ruse to get warriors inside the gate. They then attacked the British garrison and took the fort. This was just one of many similar attacks on British forts in the region

Pontiac’s War: Northern Forts Under Attack Read More »