rritorial organization with
boundaries extending westward to the Missouri.

Thus the Old Northwest had arrived at the goal set for it by the
large-visioned men who framed the Ordinance of 1787; every foot of
its soil was included in some one of the five thriving, democratic
commonwealths that had taken their places in the Union on a common
basis with the older States of the East and the South. Furthermore, the
Mississippi had ceased to be a boundary. A magnificent vista reaching
off to the remoter West and Northwest had been opened up; the frontier
had been pushed far out upon the plains of Minnesota and Iowa. Decade
after decade the powerful epic of westward expansion, shot through with
countless tales of heroism and sacrifice, had steadily unfolded before
the gaze of an astonished world; and the end was not yet in sight.

Bibliographical Note

There is no general history of the Northwest covering the whole of
the period dealt with in this book except Burke A. Hinsdale, The Old
Northwest (1888). This is a volume of substantial scholarship, though
it reflects but faintly the life and spirit of the people. The nearest
approach to a moving narrative is James K. Hosmer, "Short History of
the Mississippi Valley" (1901), which tells the story of the Middle West
from the earliest explorations to the close of the nineteenth century,
within a brief space, yet in a manner to arouse the reader's interest
and sympathy. A fuller and very readable narrative to 1796 will be found
in Charles Moore, "The Northwest under Three Flags" (1900). Still more
detailed, and enlivened by many contemporary rasps and plans, is Justin
Winsor, "The Westward Movement" (1899), covering the period from the
pacification of 1763 to the close of the eighteenth century. Frederick
J. Turner, "Rise of the New West" (1906) contains several interesting
and authoritative chapters on western development after the War of 1812;
and John B. McMaster, "History of the People of the United States" (8
vols., 1883-1913), gives in the fourth and fifth volumes a very good
account of westward migration.

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 w