The Northwest Under Three Flags: 1635-1796

The three flags referred to in the title belonged to France, England and the United States. Since the time of the earliest voyages of French explorers, missionaries and traders, the area around the Great Lakes and between the Ohio and the Mississippi Rivers was hotly contested by the chief colonial powers. Indians, French traders, Jesuits, American frontiersmen, great armies and famous leaders clashed over this important ground, the stage for many significant events in the shaping of early American history. Braddock’s defeat on the Monongahela, George Rogers Clark’s victories at Kaskaskia and Vincennes, Pontiac’s Conspiracy, the exploits of Daniel Boone and Simon Kenton; the siege of Detroit and the massacre at Michilimackinac are just part of this saga. This enjoyable narrative will make a worthy addition to any historical collection. Among the well-known people discussed in this work are Father Marquette, Jacques Cartier, La Salle, Sebastian Cabot, George Washington, Charles Langlade, Christopher Gist, George Croghan, Sir William Johnson, Robert Rogers, Benjamin Franklin, Patrick Henry, Thomas Jefferson, Anthony Wayne, Rufus Putnam and many others. The influences of the French and Jesuit missionaries, the fur traders, coureurs de bois, Native Americans and others are also considered. The text is profusely annotated and enhanced by fine illustrations of Indians, coureurs de bois, fur traders and others by Remington and Pyle; engravings of historic sites; portraits of important people; and five maps. The author had a distinguished career as a librarian and historian, serving for nearly a decade in the manuscript division at the Library of Congress. He published several historical and biographical works, including a four-volume history of Michigan.