PREFACE 
Considering the present condition of Eastern United States, with 
its great population and wealth, its many cities and industrial 
centers, wide fields and orchards, all connected by a network of 
many thousands of miles of railways, it is difficult to visualize the 
same region as it was a short time ago—a vast wilderness covered 
by virgin forests, with scattered camps and villages of native tribes 
standing near the water courses, crossed by narrow trails which 
often led for long distances over mountain, plain, and valley. Such 
was the nature of the country traversed by the Spaniards during the 
years 1539 and 1540, colonized by the English in 1607 and 1620, 
and explored by the French in 1673. But now allis changed. Many 
tribes have become extinct and few remain; their towns have dis- 
appeared, though often it is possible to identify the sites where once 
they stood. Fortunately the early explorers and others left records 
of their journeys, and described the villages reached in their travels 
through the wilderness. Now many such references to the widely 
scattered towns have been brought together, and the attempt has been 
made to present them in such a manner as will reveal the country as 
it was before the encroachment of European settlements. 
5 
