An excellent detailed account of the settlement and development of a single section of the Northwest is G. N. Fuller, Economic and Social Beginnings of Michigan, Michigan Historical Publications, Univ. Series, No. 1 (1916). A very readable book is R. G. Thwaites, The Story of Wisconsin (rev. ed., 1899), containing a full account of the early relations of white men and red men, and of the Black Hawk War. Mention may be made, too, of H. E. Legler, Leading Events of Wisconsin History (1898).
Among the volumes dealing with the diplomatic history of the Northwest, mention should be made of two recent studies: C. W. Alvord, The Mississippi Valley in British Politics (2 vols., 1917), and E. S. Corwin, French Policy and the American Alliance (1916).
Aside from Lincoln, few men of the earlier Northwest have been made the subjects of well-written biographies. Curiously, there are no modern biographies, good or bad, of George Rogers Clark, General St. Clair, or William Henry Harrison. John R. Spears, Anthony Wayne (1903) is an interesting book; and Andrew C. McLaughlin, Lewis Cass (1891), and Allen Johnson, Stephen A. Douglas (1908) are excellent. Lives of Lincoln that have importance for their portrayal of western society include: John T. Morse, Jr., Abraham Lincoln (2 vols., 1893); John G. Nicolay and John Hay, Abraham Lincoln, a History (10 vols., 1890); and Ida M. Tarbell, Life of Abraham Lincoln (new ed., 2 vols., 1917).
The reader will do well, however, to turn early to some of the works within the field which, by reason of their literary quality as well as their scholarly worth, have attained the dignity of classics. Foremost are the writings of Francis Parkman. Most of these, it is true, deal with the history of the American interior prior to 1763. But Frontenac and New France under Louis XIV (Frontenac edition, 1915), and A Half-Century of Conflict (2 vols., same ed.) furnish the necessary background; and The Conspiracy of Pontiac (2 vols., same ed.) is indispensable. Parkman's work closes with the Indian war following the Treaty of 1763. Theodore Roosevelt's Winning of the West (4 vols., 1889-96) takes up the story at that point and carries it to the collapse of the Burr intrigues during the second administration of Thomas Jefferson. This work was a pioneer in the field. In the light of recent scholarship it is subject to criticism at some points; but it is based on careful study of the sources, and for vividness and interest it has perhaps not been surpassed in American historical writing. A third extensive work is Archer B. Hulbert, Historic Highways of America (16 vols., 1902-05). In writing the history of the great land and water routes of trade and travel between East and West the author found occasion to describe, in interesting fashion, most phases of western life. The volumes most closely related to the subject matter of the present book are: Military Roads of the Mississippi Valley (VIII); Waterways of Western Expansion (IX); The Cumberland Road (X); and Pioneer Roads and Experiences of Travellers (XI-XII). Mention should be made also of Mr. Hulbert's The Ohio River, a Course of Empire (1906).