Front matter
Class ^alB
Book 'E.S,(c .
Gopight}^^
CHAPTER II. French and Indian Wars
CHAPTER I.
• 32
Massachusetts,
Connecticut, . . . .
• 49
Rhode Island,
New Hampshire,
■ 56
Maine
Vermont, . . . . .
• 63
CHAPTER I.
95 106
PERIOD IV.
THE REVOLUTION.
CHAPTER II. 137 The War of the Revolution,
• 25
74 76 81 83 87
89 92
"5
VI
CONTENTS.
PERIOD V,
THE CONSTITUTIONAL PERIOD.
CHAPTER I.
The New States, . . . 164-207
CHAPTER II.
The Territories, . . . 207-227
Chapter VII. 335 340
359 362
395 416
GREAT HISTORICAL PAPERS.
Franklin's Plan of Union, . . 433
The Declaration of Independence, . 435
The Confederation of 1778, . 438
Constitution of the United States, 440
Amendments to the Constitution, . 452 The Farewell Address of George
Washington, .... 457
Proclamation of Emancipation, . 467
Inhabitants Before Our Historical Period,
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
Page First Sight of Land, . Frontispiece
Vessel of the Northmen, . . -15 The Dragon Ship, . . . i6
Ruins of a Norse Building, . ■ i/
Old Tower at Newport, . . . 18
The Dighton Rock, . . . -19 Christopher Columbus, ... 20 Vessels of Columbus, . . .22
Balboa's Discovery of the Pacific, . 23 The Eclipse of the IMoon, . . 24
Gate at the Entrance of St. Augustine, 25 Street Scene in St. Augustine, . 26 The Sun at Midnight in the Arctic
Regions, . . . . -27 The Aurora Seen in Greenland, . 29 The Natural Bridge, Virginia, . . 30
Page
The James River near Richmond, 32
View on the Potomac, . . -33
Tower Rocks, Virginia, ... 34
Baptism of Pocahontas, . . -36
Introduction of Slavery, . . 37
View on the Rappahannock, . . 39
Plymouth Rock, Massachusetts, . 43
Scene on the Hudson River, . . 44
Silver Cascade, Crawford's Notch, 46
Old South Church, Boston, . . 47
Turner's Falls, Massachusetts, . 48
Attack on the Early Settlers, . . 5°
Yale College, Connecticut, . . 52
Woodland Scene in Rhode Island, . 55
Squam Lake, New Hampshire, . 57
St. John's River, . . . .58
Vlll
OUR COUNTRY.
Bar Harbor, Maine,
Off the Coast of Maine, .
View in Acadia, ....
Scene in Maine, . . . .
Trout Stream in Vermont,
Sabbath-day Point, Lake George,
Sketch of Niagara Falls by Father
Hennepin in i6g8, .
Niagara Falls, American Side, .
The Falls of Niagara, Opening of the Erie Canal, Trenton Falls, New York, First Passenger Railway, 183 1, .
Rapids of the St. Lawrence River, Catskill Mountain Scene, .
Arrest of Carteret, Chateaugay Chasm, New York, .
Penn's House, Philadelphia, .
View on the Susquehanna River, Penn's Treaty with the hidians, Pennsylvania Forest Scenery, Scene on the Delaware Bay, .
Fight with the Maryland Pinnace, The " Golden Lion " Firing on the
Marjdand Boats, Cumberland Gap, Maryland, .
A Vista in North Carolina, View of a Cotton Chute, Scene in South Carolina, .
A Planter's House in Georgia, Scene in a Georgia Meadow, On the New England Coast, Shore of Cape Ann, . . . .
Evening at Sea, ....
Church-Goers in the Early Colonies, .
A Pioneer Home in Winter, .
Page
59 60 61 62
63 65
67 69 70
72 73 74 75 77 78
79 80
82 84
85 86
87 89
91 92
94 96
97 97 98
lOI
A Mountain Stream,
Indian Burial Ground,
View on the James River, Virginia,
A Virginia Summer Scene,
Group of Trees,
Summer on the Rappahannock,
Upper Au Sable Lake,
A River Scene, ....
A Cotton Field,
The Cascades, ....
The Alleghany Mountains,
A Coast Scene, ....
Roger's Slide, Lake George,
A Dutch Household,
Early Settlers Ascending the Hudson, 125
Washington's Attack on the French, 130 Wolfe's Cove, . . . .132
Night Attack on Colonial Schooner, 133 Attack on the Fort at Presque Isle, 134 Meeting of Washington and Rocham-
Building in Boston Where the Tea
Plot was Hatched, . . . 140 Building in Philadelphia Where the
First Congresses were held, . 141 The Brook, ..... 142
The Monument on Bunker Hill, . 144 Statue of Jefferson, .... 145
The Prison Ship " Jersey," . . 146 Washington Crossing the Delaware, 148 Attack on Chew's House, . . .150 Surrender of Burgoyne, . . 152
Washington Reproving Lee at Monmouth, ..... 153
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
IX
Page Arnold at New London, . . 155 Washington's Headquarters at Newburgh, 156
Exploit of Arnold, . . -157
Attack by the British on the Block
House at Tom's River, . .158
The House Where Cornwallis Surrendered, . . . .160 Washington Surrendering his Commission, ..... 162 Attack on the Rioters, . . .163 Mammoth Cave, Kentucky, . . 165 Look-out Mountain, Tennessee, . 166 Red-mill Falls, near Elyria, Ohio, . 167 A Mississippi River Boat, . . 168 Loading a Cotton Steamer, . . 169 View on the Mississippi, . . 172 A Nook, Fox Lake, Illinois, . -173 Scene on the Mississippi River, . 174 Cathedral Spires on the Merrimac, 175 Hot Springs, Arkansas, . . .176 Detroit River Scenes, . . .177 Scenes on the St. Mary River, . .178 Government Canal and Locks, Sault
Ste. Marie, Michigan, . . 179 Amelia Island, Florida, . . .181 Sam Houston, .... 183
A Nook on Spirit Lake, Iowa, . . 185 On the Brule River, Wisconsin, . 187 Big Trees of California, . . .188 Yosemite Valley, . . . .189 Three Brothers, Yosemite Valley, 190 Mirror Lake and Mount Watkins, 191
The Falls of St. Anthony, . . 192
Lake of the Woods, . . .193
Portland, Oregon, and Willamette
River 194
Page A Kansas Harvest Scene, . . 196
Basaltic Pinnacles, Colorado River, 199 The Cascades, .... 200 Near the Summit of the Rockies, . 203 View in Grand Caiion, . . 204
Rocky Mountain Scene, . . 205
Flowers and Butterflies, . . 206 Mountain Scenery, Utah, . . 208
White Cliffs, Utah, ... 209 Colored Cliffs Near Kanab, Utah, 210 Marble Canon of the Colorado, . 211 Cliff Dwellings, Arizona, . . 212 Distant View of Moqui, with Sheeppens in the Foreground, . .213 Sitka, Alaska, . . . . 215 Scenes in the Inland Passage, . 216
Washington (Two Views), . . 218 Washington in 18 10 — The Old Capitol, 219 The Capitol — East View, . . 221
The Bartholdi Fountain, Statues —
General Scott and others, . 222 The Naval, and Other Statues, . 223 Statues — General Rawlins and others, 224 Washington Monument, . . 225 The White House From Pennsylvania
avenue, ..... 226 Mount Vernon from the Potomac
River, 227
Washington's Reception at Trenton, 228 George Washington, . . . 230
Franklin's Grave at Philadelphia, 231
View of Washington's House, Mt.
Washington's Bedchamber, . . 233 John Adams, .... 234
OUR COUNTRY.
Martha Washington's Bedchamber,
Washington's Grave, Mt. Vernon,
Thomas Jefferson, ....
Duel Between Burr and Hamilton,
The Ofificers of the Chesapeake Offering Their Swords,
James Madison, ....
Perry's Victory on Lake Erie,
The Burning of Washington,
Capture of the Cyane and Levant,
James Monroe, ....
A Scene in the Early Settlement of Ohio,
John Q. Adams, ....
Early Days on the Delaware and Hudson Canal Railroad, .
Andrew Jackson,
A Negro Village, ....
Scene in Florida near Rock Ledge,
Scene on St. Clair River, Michigan,
Martin Van Buren,
William IL Harrison,
John Tyler, ....
Salt Lake City, ....
James K. Polk, ....
The City of Mexico,
The City of Vera Cruz,
A Woodland Scene,
Zachary Taylor, ....
Millard Fillmore, ....
Franklin's Expedition in the Polar Regions, ....
Franklin Pierce, ....
Mount Hood, ....
James Buchanan, ....
Harper's Ferry, Virginia,
Page
236 237 239
240 241 243 245 247 249
250 2^2
255 256
268^
270 271 272 273 274
A Skirmisher, ....
General Robert E. Lee's Old Home, Arlington, ....
Defense of Fort Sumter, . ' .
A Railroad Battery,
Early Home of Abraham Lincoln,
Abraham Lincoln, ....
Federal Iron-clad River Gun-boat.
The Swamp Angel,
On the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad,
Destruction of Fort Ocrakoke,
Battle of Bull Run,
Fort Pensacola, ....
Capture of New Orleans,
Bailey's Dam on the Red River,
\J . S. Military Telegraph Wagon,
Fort Pillow, .....
The " Destroyer,"
Battle of Malvern Hill, .
Antietam Bridge ....
Sinking of the Alabama,
Fight Between the Monitor and Merrimac, .....
The "Nashville" Destroying the " Merchantman,"
Battle of Chancellorsville,
View F"rom Gettysburg — West,
Pickett's Charge at Gettysburg, .
Gettysburg From Little Round-Top — East, .....
Gun-boats Passing Before Vicksburg,
Longstreet's Arrival at Bragg's Headquarters, ....
Federal Lines at Chattanooga,
Moist Weather at the Front,
Attack on Charleston,
Page 275
276 277
303 304 305
306 307
309 310
3"
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
Page Fairfax Court House, . . 312
Explosion of Mine Before Petersburg, 314 General Sherman's Scouts, . -315 Death of General Polk, . . 316
Savannah, 317
Opening of the Fight Between the
Kearsarge and Alabama, . 319 End of the Oyster War, . . . 320 The Peace Commissioners, . 321
Raising the Flag over Fort Sumter, 322 Destruction of the Nashville, . 323
Sunset Over Atlanta, . . . 324
On Picket, 325
Retreat of Lee's Army, . . 326 Surrender of General Lee, . . 327 The House Where General Lee Surrendered, .... 328 The Capture of Booth, . . . 329 Lincoln's Grave, .... 330 Review of the Union Troops at
Washington, .... 331 The Lincoln Monument, . . 332 Residence of Andrew Johnson, . 335 Andrew Johnson, . . . 336
Ruins of Richmond After the War, 337 Picking Up the Atlantic Cable, . 339 Ulysses S. Grant, . . . 340
Birthplace of U. S. Grant, . . 341 The Joint High Commission, . 342 Storming of the Corean Forts, . 343 The Burning of Chicago, . . 344 " I Declare the Centennial Exhibition
Attack by Modocs on the Peace Commissioners, .... 346 Custer's Last Fight, . . . 347
Page Rutherford B. Hayes, . . 349
View on the Panama Railroad, . 350 James A. Garfield, . . . 351 Put-in-Bay Harbor, Ohio, . -352
Chester A. Arthur, . . . 353 General View of the Brooklyn Bridge, 354 Arrival of the French Transport Isere, 355 Statue of Liberty, .... 356 The Farthest Point North, Reached
by Lieutenant Lockwood, . 357 Caldwell, the Birthplace of Cleveland, 358 Grover Cleveland, .... 359 Decoration Day, .... 360 Earthquake at Charleston, S. C, . 361 The Funeral Train of General Grant
Passing West Point, . . 363 Benjamin Harrison, . . . 364
Hon. Thomas W. Palmer, . . 365 Kentucky Scene, . . . . 367 A Harvest Scene in Michigan; . 369 A Western Prairie, . . . -371 Ihiproving Leadville, 1877, . . 372 Leadville in 1887, .... 374 Gulf Coast near Galveston, . . 378
Wild Flowers 381
The Bend, 383
Along the Shore 385
Ferns and Leaves, . . . 387 Wild Flowers of the Pacific Coast, 391 Mountain Flowers, . . . 395
Pennsylvania Scenery, . . . 39S An Early Steamboat, . . . 407 A Modern Steamer, . . . 408
A Scene in the Rockies, . . 410 The Hunter's Retreat, . . .413 Fort Scenes, Mackinac, . . 414 xu
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
Robinson's Folly, Mackinac Island
Plummer's Lookout,
Sugar Loaf Rock,
Arch Rock, ....
Yosemite Valley,
Grand Canon, Colorado River,
Steeple Rocks, Yellowstone,
The Grotto, ....
Boiling Springs, Yellowstone Park,
Boiling Sulphur Springs, Yellowstone
Park, 425
Great Falls of the Yellowstone River, 426 Old Faithful Geyser, . . . 427
Page 416
417 418 419 420 421 422
423 424
Lime Tower near Hot Springs,
The Yellowstone,
The Grotto Geyser,
Lower Falls, Yellowstone Park, .
Signers of the Declaration of Independence, ....
The Golden Gate, ....
Observatory Mound, Works at Marietta, Ohio, Islands in the Detroit River, .
American Country Scenes, The First Icebergs,
439 468 470 473
V
vii xii
Our Country.
PERIOD
EARLY DISCOVERIES AND EXPLORATIONS.
CHAPTER I. The Northmen or Vikings
THE history of our country is full of interest, both to the old and young. Long before its discovery by Europeans, it was inhabited by the " Mound Builders," a prehistoric people whose monuments are now found in various parts of the land, and who, some suppose, were the remote ancestors of the modern Indians, while others think they were an entirely different people, conquered, and possibly in part exterminated, and in part merged in the tribes of the conquerors, and so disappearing as a people. Squier, Davis, and others take the former view ; but the traditions of at least two large Indian tribes give the latter, saying that the modern Indians conquered and drove out a people before them ; that that people conquered and drove out a race before themselves, and that the last mentioned people conquered and drove out those known as the " Mound Builders." Long before America was known to Europeans it was occupied by the Indians, whose numerous tribes were found in every part of the land, and the descendants of whom are still in the country, partly on reservations allotted by the government for their occupation, and partly in regions where they have long wandered or dwelt. Of the origin of the " Mound Builders," or of the Indians, comparatively little is known, but more full notices of them may be found at the end of this work.
Nearly four hundred years before Christ, the inhabitants of the Eastern world had believed that there were undiscovered lands far to the West. Plato, who said his information came through Solon, from an old Egyptian priest, had told the well-known story, or fable, of Atlantis, describing its climate and scenery, its mountains, rivers, animals and inhabitants, and speaking of the Island as almost a paradise. And about a hundred years later Aristotle had taught that the earth was a sphere, and that the waters on the west side of Europe washed the eastern shores of Asia. And Seneca tlie teacher of tlie Emperor Nero, who hvcd in the first century and died A. D. 65, as his words are translated by Archbishop Whately, said : "There shall come a time, in later ages, when the ocean shall relax its chains, and a vast continent shall appear, and a pilot shall find new worlds, and Thule (which was thought to be the end of the world) shall no more be the earth's boundary." This idea, kept alive through the middle ages, gave the impression which was widely spread, that by sailing westward, countries beyond the sea would some time be discovered.
It is said that as early as A. D. 800, Japanese junks, driven by severe storms, had landed on the western coast of our great continent, and Modoc, a Welch prince, is said to have reached the coast of Virginia as early as A. D. 1170, though no permanent settlement was the result. And tradition had long asserted that nearly five hundred years before the time of Columbus, the Northmen had landed and made settlements on our eastern coast. These Northmen or Vikings had nothing, as the term "Viking" might seem to imply, of a kingly or royal character. They were not Vi-kiiig:. but l^ik-iiigs, simply the dwellers on the ]'iks or bays of the Scandinavian coasts, from which they went forth as bold and persevering buccaneers of the sea, much like the Algerian corsairs of a later day, except that, unlike tlie Algerians, they were not merely pirates and conquerors, but were also colonists, founding settlements in the lands they subdued and robbed. They were of the same race as those who, as Saxons, had, at an early day, overrun and subdued England, and afterward, as Normans, had conquered France, and still later, crossing over from France, had again conquered England, and mingling with the English and Saxons, laid the foundation of the Anglo-Saxon people.
For a long time the Vikings were the terror of Europe, entering the ports and landing on what are now the British Isles, raiding up the rivers of France, and through the Mediterranean sea, reaching and plundering Africa, which they called "Saracen's land," and sending back the wealth of their booty to Norway, where, to this day, Greek and Arabic coins and chains of gold are found, as may be seen in the museums of Christiana and Copenhagen.
Of the history and movements of these Vikings, Mr. Keary, in liis " Vikings in Western Christendom," has given full and most interesting accounts. As early as the year 789, as he quotes from the English Chronicle, " These Vikings sought the land of English folk," three ships bearing the first of these buccaneers, that, so far as is known, had not since the sixth century, made incursions on any Christian shore. These fierce freebooters had long and strongly built vessels, manned by from twenty to forty oarsmen on each side, and each having a mast thirty or forty feet high, set in a block of wood so large that, it is said, no block of equal size could now be found in Norway. These masts had no standing rigging, but with their square sails, were probably taken down when not in use, the dependence, in the absence of favoring wind, then being on the oars. In these powerful vessels the}' swept down from their old homes in the Scandinavian regions to the milder and richer South, and across the North sea to England, .Scotland, and Ireland, conquering and robbing wherever they went, and making many settlements under leaders who took the name of Kings. The ninth century saw their rise to greatness, and it saw also their decline; but during this hundred years they were the terror not only of France and the continent, but of the British Islands and every part of the coast.
EARLY DISCOVERIES AND EXPLORATIONS.
The model and structure of these vessels are now as well-known as if they were just built and launched from our ship-yards. They are depicted on the celebrated Bayeux tapestry, and cuts of them are still seen on the rocks of Norway, and their remains are now and then found in different parts of that country. One of them, represented in the cut, which is taken from an engraving in possession of Mr. R. B. Anderson, of Wisconsin, was dug up at Sandefjord, about half a mile from the sea. It had evidently
been used as the burial place of its owner, and a full account of it has been given in a volume by Mr. N. Nicolayson, published at Christiana in 1882. It was about seventy- seven feet long, over sixteen feet wide at its greatest width, and between five and six feet in depth, drawing less than five feet of water. It was not like the "dug-outs " or bark canoes (ill^ij of the savage or half civilized tribes, but was "neatly built
and well preserved, constructed on what a sailor would call beautiful lines, and eminently fitted for sea service." It was clinker built, that is each of its thick oaken boards overlapped the one below it, like shingles on a house-top, just as our best boats are built to-day, and all were bound together with strong iron rivets well made and clinched. The vessel had no decks, but seats were arranged for from forty to sixty rowers, and there were corresponding holes for the oars which were some twenty feet long. In the vessel was a tent-like chamber in which were found human bones, the bones of a dog, the bones and feathers of a peacock, some fish-hooks, and several bronze and lead ornaments for belts and harness, and about the vessel were the bones of several horses and dogs, which, it is supposed, had been sacrificed at the burial of the owner. Vessels much larger than this were called Dragons, and other sizes were known as Serpents and Cranes, each ship so built, or having some part or figure such as to represent the name it bore. /(l|''''t|W W S The Vikings who went forth in these vessels fought with
stones, arrows and spears, and had grappling irons, with which to fasten to other vessels for boarding and close fighting. At a council in Norway some were clad in iron, some wore leather cloaks and had halberds over their shoulders and steel caps on their heads, and their leaders wore rich and costly garments. One of their leaders, or kings, as they were called, who, landed in Ireland to carry away cattle and other booty, is mentioned as having an iron helmet on his head, a red shield inlaid with gold, a sword the handle of which was of ivory, a short spear, and a red silk cloak over his coat, on which was embroidered with yellow silk, the figure of a lion.
Ireland suffered more from the Vikings than England itself, for it was in the fullness of their strength and when their eagerness for plunder was still unsatisfied that lit r^i if
^vi
Pv il i6
OUR COUNTRY.
they came down on the Irish coasts. Ireland, at that time, was rich in monasteries, abbeys, and convents, which offered most tempting inducements as well as opportunities for their attacks, for in the fifth and sixth centuries that country abounded in religious establishments in which was gathered a large part of the wealth of the people. The jeweled mass-books, the richly adorned vestments of the priests, and the gold and silver sacrificial vessels, both invited and rewarded those daring robbers of the sea. Up to the year 807 their attacks had been mostly confined to the outlaying islands lona and Man and to the Northumbrian coast, but in that year they came down upon the mainland, and by the year 825 had plundered most of the churches and religious establishments of the country.
By the middle of the century they had established three Norse or Viking settlements in Dublin, Waterford, and Limerick, under rulers whom they called kings. Great as were the losses and sufferings from their conquests some advantages resulted from their occupation of the country. They taught the people great improvements in ship, or rather boat-building; the first native coinage was introduced by the Norse king of Dublin, and the Irish were practically instructed in the uses and benefits of navigation, for both commerce and war. The capital of ancient times had been in the middle kingdom, but the Norsemen brought it down to the coast, and when they broke
up the monasteries, and scattered the monks and clerks who were the scholars of the times, the latter went forth in great numbers to the continent, to be instructors there, and in place of the religious houses from which they had been expelled, trading stations grew up, especially along the coasts, starting the germs of a new civilization and prosperity.
The attack of the Northmen on England was later than on Ireland, and though for a time successful, they were in the end defeated and checked by King Alfred and his west Saxons in the great battle of Edington, and compelled to conform to the terms of the treaty of Wedmore, and from this time on their power in the country was broken, and their success as freebooters of the land as well as of the sea, steadily declined. It was toward the end of this century that they found their way to the New World.
In coming to America the Northmen were not intending or thinking of discoveries. They did not go forth like Columbus in the faith that a new world was to be found in the West. They were, rather, accidental discoverers, making " what might almost be called coasting voyages from Norway to Scotland, from Scotland to Iceland, and at last to North America, each passage extending but a few hundred miles," and, so, unexpectedly to themselves, reaching the new world.
After they had colonized in Iceland, and made it their home, Eric the Red, having, on account of a quarrel, been declared an outlaw, went to sea and discovered Greenland, which he thus named, that people, by the name, might be attracted to it. Taking a colony with him, he there took up his abode, about the year 986. With Eric was a friend, whose son, Bjazzi Herjulfson, was absent when they left Iceland, and who in endeavoring to follow them to Greenland, landed at three different places, and at last at Greenland, where he found his father and remained with him. His fellow adventurers
THE DRAGON SHU'.
EARLY DISCOVERIES AND EXPLORATIONS.
determined to make further explorations, and to the number of thirty-five, led by Lief Ericson, sailed south and west, touching at several places, and at last discovered land which they called Vinland. Lief was followed by his brother Thorwald with thirty men, and Thorwald was followed by a larger expedition of sixty men and five women, who took with them cattle and provisions, and formed a settlement on the eastern part of what is now New England. Some have supposed the place was in the northern part of Maine, or even further north. But according to the writings of the Sagas, the region was not only one of forests and meadows, but of sO mild a climate that cattle did not need to be housed for the winter, and grapes abounded, and corn grew abundantly — a description that could not apply to Labrador, or even to the northern part of Maine.
For a long time the accounts of the landing and settlement of the Northmen on the Atlantic coast were regarded with doubt and even disbelief. But they rest on writings and traditions as authentic as most of the statements which we have in the earliest annals of European history. They are mentioned in manuscripts of good authority still in existence in Iceland, in the Saga of Eric the Red written in Greenland,
RUINS OK A NORSE BUILDING IN GREENLAND.
and in that of Karlesnefni written in Iceland. These have been translated into different languages, and may be seen in Beamish's translation published in London in 1841, which has been reprinted by the Prince Society of Boston, and also, in part, in the Massachusetts Quarterly Review for March, 1849. -^"d in later Norse manuscripts of undoubted authority, there are references to " Vinland the Good " as a region in America well known.
Where it was that the Northmen so settled has long been supposed to be utterly unknown. But from recent and careful investigation. Professor Eben N. Horsford, of Cambridge, Massachusetts, claims not only to have confirmed the statements of the Sagas, but to have found that the land on which these colonies settled was in Massachusetts; that after landing at Cape Cod and other places they finally fixed their main settlement at the mouth of what is now known as Stony Brook, on the Charles river, some nine miles from Cambridge, at or near where the town of Waltham now stands. Here, as he tells us, are found the remains of the buildings they erected, the fort, docks, wharves, walls, dams, canals, and basins, and also excavations ten and twelve iS
OUR COUNTRY.
feet deep, extending hundreds of feet in length on both sides of Stony Brook, and for much of the distance carefully graded and paved with stone. The old tower at Newport, Rhode Island, and the well known Dighton Rock, were at one time conjectured
'J i
OLD TOWER AT NEWPORT.
to have been the work of the Northmen, though the former is of much later date, and is said to have been a windmill, copied from one at Chesterton, England; and the inscriptions on the Dighton Rock are supposed to have been made by the Indians.
EARLY DISCOVERIES AND EXPLORATIONS.
Norumbega, the name given to the region spoken of, was the ancient form of Norvega, or Norway, and of this, Vinland was supposed to be a part, the whole extending from what is now Rhode Island to the St. Lawrence river. It was first seen by Bjazzi Herjidfson in A. D. 985. The "landfall" of Lief Ericson, on Cape Cod, was in A. D. 1000, in which year he discovered the region supposed to be about Charles river, explored by Thorwald, his brother in A. D. 1003, and colonized by Thorfin Karlsnefni in A. D. 1007. The first bishop or minister of the settlers, Eric Gnupson, arrived in A. D. 1121 ; and the various industries of the settlers are said to have been carried on for three hundred and fifty years, till, finally, the last Norse ship went back to Iceland in A. D. 1347. The region was afterward occupied by the Breton French in the 15th, i6th and 17th centuries.
Coming down to later times, it is an interesting fact that a Norwegian colony was founded in Bergen, New Jersey, in 1624; that the Swedes settled in Delaware in 1638; and that the first Swedish church was built at Wilmington, Delaware, in 1698; though both these colonies lost, to a certain extent, their identity, first by the infusion of the Dutch element and later by the English. Immigration from Norway to this country began on a larger scale in 1821, when religious persecution led large numbers, like the Pilgrims and Puritans of old, to seek new homes in some of our Western States. In 1824, the first emigration society was formed in Norway, and on the fourth of July, 1825, a party of fifty-two persons started for America, and after a voyage of fourteen weeks landed in New York, safely and all well. Since that time large numbers have followed to this country, where not a few of them have become distinguished in literature, and prominent as editors and in political life.
OUR COUNTRY.
CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS. [Said by the present Duke of Varagua to be the most representative of the known portraits.]
CHAPTER II. Columbus and other Discoverers
THE inland rivers of Greece and Rome, and so the Mediterranean sea had long been navigated, but it was not till toward the end of the fifteenth century, and the beginning of the sixteenth, that the discovery of the mariner's compass and other inventions had prepared the way for long voyages out of sight of land, and that the great discoveries of that period were made. Then, in the hope of finding a short way to the East Indies and all their supposed riches, various expeditions were fitted out in .Europe. The Portuguese landed in Brazil. Balboa reached the isthmus of Darien. {See cut on page 23.) Vasco de Gama went to India by the way of the Cape of Good Hope. And, at later dates, Davis, and Baffin, and Hudson, at the North, and IMagellan and others, at the South, as also the French, through the St. Lawrence and the great lakes, were seeking the same desired end — a short way to the East.
The opening of the book is shown; the full text loads in the reader.
Loading the full text…
The end
You’ve reached the end of Our country, historic and picturesque. A complete story of its development and progress from the first discovery by the Northmen to the present time.