In this volume we offer the reader a combination of two of the most
fascinating qualities which a book can possess. It is almost strictly
historical, and yet as marvelous as the most romantic fiction. The
sketches and incidents here gathered are all authenticated; yet many of
them, in their wonderful interest and pathos, exceed the bounds of
fancy. They belong to two classes: those which are connected with the
Revolution, and those which chronicle the peculiar events of our
Frontier History. While they will absorb the attention of the most
intelligent reader, they are charmingly adapted to attract young people,
who will be both instructed and delighted. Boys will find examples
worthy of emulation, and will learn to appreciate those traits of
character which made the glory and the progress of our young republic;
while girls may gain dignity of mind by contemplating the devotion,
courage and endurance of the women of those days.
An insight will be afforded into the customs of the Indians, and into
the manner of life of the early settlers, whose dangers and
difficulties, privations and calamities, are almost incredible. Many of
the most thrilling events in our national history are herein related,
along with the fearless adventures of our brave pioneers, and the perils
and catastrophes which befell the families of those whose protectors
were absent on the field of battle, or whose cabins failed to find
sufficient defense in the rifles of their owners.
The reader will linger over these pages, thrilled by the consciousness
that the scenes so vividly brought before him are real—a living, abiding
part of our existence as a people. The "storied Rhine" and "classic
Italy" are laid and overlaid thickly with traditions which give a vague
interest to soil, ruin, mountain and sky. We, also, have our
traditions—different in kind, but of wild and marvelous interest—and the
day shall come when the banks of the fair Ohio, the blue Muskingum, the
picturesque Allegany, the noble Mississippi, shall be trodden by
reverent feet, while the thoughts of the traveler speed back to the days
of the lurking red-man and the bold ranger. It is no mean duty of the
chronicler to treasure up the threads of a thousand little facts, and
weave them into a web which shall perpetuate them for the future.
The publishers believe that this volume will not only be a favorite in
the hands of men, young and old, but will have its appropriate place by
the fireside.