PREFACE. 



XI 



have also been examined, and careful search made 

 for every book which, directly or indirectly, might 

 throw light upon the subject. I have visited the 

 sites of all the principal events recorded in the 

 narrative, and gathered such local traditions as 

 seemed worthy of confidence. 



I am indebted to the liberality of Hon. Lewis 

 Cass for a curious collection of papers relating to 

 the siege of Detroit by the Indians. Other impor- 

 tant contributions have been obtained from the 

 state paper offices of London and Paris, from the 

 archives of New York, Pennsylvania, and other 

 states, and from the manuscript collections of sev- 

 eral historical societies. The late William L. Stone, 

 Esq., commenced an elaborate biography of Sir 

 William Johnson, which it is much to be lamented 

 he did not live to complete. By the kindness of 

 Mrs. Stone, I was permitted to copy from his exten- 

 sive collection of documents such portions as would 

 serve the purposes of the following History. 



To President Sparks of Harvard University, Gen- 

 eral Whiting, U. S. A., Brantz Mayer, Esq., of 

 Baltimore, Francis J. Fisher, Esq., of Philadelphia, 

 and Eev. George E. Ellis, of Charlestown, I beg to 

 return a warm acknowledgment for counsel and 

 assistance. Mr. Benjamin Perley Poore and Mr. 

 Henry Stevens procured copies of valuable docu- 

 ments from the archives of Paris and London. 

 Henry E. Schoolcraft, Esq., Dr. Elwyn, of Phila- 



