THE HISTORY of Ohio, not only necessarily includes the early history of the Northwestern Territory, but of the whole of that valley, of the beautiful river, whose extended realm is now divided into the States of West Virginia, Kentucky, Ohio, and Indiana. In this wild and wondrous story Michigan also occupies a conspicuous position The State of Ohio extends two hundred and ten miles from north to south, and two hundred miles from east to west. It contains forty thousand square miles, which is equivalent to twentyfive million six hundred thousand acres. On the south it has a navigable frontier, through the windings of the majestic river, of four hundred and thirty miles. On the north it has a lake shore, two hundred miles in length, opening water communication with almost illimitable realms of the interior, through vast inland seas, and inviting commerce, through the St. Lawrence, with all the ports of the habitable globe. Nearly three millions, of an intelligent, industrious, and moral community, people this fair domain. A more favored realm cannot be found on earth. Three-fourths of a century ago it was a howling wilderness. Now, in population, wealth and power, it is the third State of the American Union. It is the object of the author, in this volume, to record the wonderful adventures by which this great achievement has been effected. It would be difficult to find a narrative more full of all the elements of thrilling interest. We follow the early explorers through the trails of the wilderness, which the moccasined foot of the Indian has trodden for uncounted centuries. We drift, with the missionary, in his birch canoe, paddled by his Indian guide, through hundreds of leagues of unknown rivers. We sit with the hardy adventurer, at midnight, by his camp-fire, as, far away in the wilderness, he listens to the wailings of the storm, the howl of the wolf, and perhaps to the war whoop of the savage. We accompany the bold emigrant, in his long, long journey, over Alleghany ridges, and through forest glooms, to his lonely hut, where solitude and silence, in all their awfulness, reign. We are introduced to the plumed and painted savage, and, at one time, in his lodge, partake of his hospitality as a friend; and again we meet him and his fellow warriors, as they brandish tomahawk and scalping knife, in the horrid battle, making the forest resound with their demoniac yells. It is through such scenes of tumult and suffering that Ohio has attained its present exalted position and power. And these are the scenes of heroic achievement and wondrous adventures which the writer of this volume would attempt to rescue from the oblivion in which the fast revolving years threaten to engulf them. JOHN S. C. ABBOTT. Fair Haven, Connecticut. |