The tract of territory now embraced in the State of Michigan, derives its name probably from the Indian word Michisawgyean. signifying a Great Lake. Its growing importance has induced me to undertake this work. Endeavoring to exhibit its history and its resources in a condensed form, I have aimed at accuracy in all its parts; and to state nothing but that for which ample evidence may be produced. The materials have been scattered around; some in rough fragments half buried in the soil, some in sculptured masses, and others had not been hewn from the quarry. If it be thought that they are arranged into a well-proportioned fabric, I reap a full reward. Besides a large body of documentary matter and other sources from which facts have been derived, are the works of Hakluyt, Hennepin, La Hontan, Charlevoix, Henry, Carver, Roger, Mackenzie, Schoolcraft, and the valuable discourses which have been delivered by Lewis Cass, Henry R. Schoolcraft, Henry Whiting, and John Biddle before the Historical Society of Michigan.
