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THE FIGHT AT LEXINGTON. Frontispiece. See page 128. 
 
The Child's Book of 
 American History 
 
 By 
 ALBERT F. BLAISDELL 
 
 AND 
 
 FRANCIS K. BALL 
 
 Authors of *' The American History Story-Book," " The 
 
 Enghsh History Story-Book," "Hero Stories 
 
 from American History," *' Short Stories 
 
 from American History," etc. 
 
 WITH ILLUSTRATIONS BY 
 
 FRANK T. MERRILL 
 
 &tiiaoi lEMtum 
 
 Boston 
 
 Little, Brown, and Company 
 
 1913 
 
Copyright^ 1913, 
 By Little, Browk, akd Company. 
 
 All rights reserved 
 Published, September, 1913 
 
 THE COLONIAL PRESS 
 C. H. SIMONDS & CO., BOSTON, U. 8. A. 
 
 ^ 
 
PREFACE 
 
 This book is a supplementary history in- 
 tended for use in the fourth and fifth grades 
 of our pubhc schools, or for boys and girls 
 from ten to fifteen years of age. It is also 
 designed as a collateral reading book in con- 
 nection with the study of one or more of the 
 many elementary textbooks on American 
 history. 
 
 The authors have described in some detail 
 a few of the more dramatic and picturesque 
 events in the history of our country from the 
 earliest times to the present day. The story 
 form has been freely used because teachers of 
 experience know that such material has the 
 unmistakable mark of reality and that it is 
 instinct with ^^ the magic of life.'' 
 
 As in the other books of this series of his- 
 torical readers, the authors have freely used 
 
 V 
 
PREFACE 
 
 such personal anecdotes and incidents as 
 may serve to hold the attention because of 
 their human interest. These stories, care- 
 fully culled and rewritten from standard 
 books and authors, rest on a substantial 
 historical basis. 
 
 It is not enough merely to read this book 
 as we read the ordinary story-book, and 
 then throw it aside. It should serve as one 
 of the smaller foundation stones on which 
 young pupils may build in due time a more 
 extended and formal course in American 
 history. To this intent, the study of this 
 book should be enriched with such other his- 
 torical material as teachers may advise their 
 pupils to utilize from the school, home, or 
 public library. 
 
 Albert F. Blaisdell. 
 
 Francis K. Ball. 
 
 August, 1913. 
 
 VI 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 CHAPTER 
 
 
 PAOB 
 
 
 Preface 
 
 V 
 
 I. 
 
 Columbus, the Wool Comber's Boy 
 
 1 
 
 II. 
 
 John Cabot, the Merchant 
 
 8 
 
 III. 
 
 The Fountain op Youth .... 
 
 12 
 
 IV. 
 
 Virginia Dare 
 
 18 
 
 V. 
 
 John Smith, Founder of Virginia . 
 
 24 
 
 VI. 
 
 Pocahontas, the Indian Princess . 
 
 30 
 
 VII. 
 
 The Story of the Mayflower . 
 
 36 
 
 VIII. 
 
 Thanksgiving at Plymouth 
 
 42 
 
 IX. 
 
 The Indians, and How They Lived 
 
 48 
 
 X. 
 
 King Philip's War 
 
 55 
 
 XI. 
 
 The Indians Attack Haverhill 
 
 64 
 
 XII. 
 
 Betty Merrill and the Big Clock 
 
 71 
 
 XIII. 
 
 Washington as a Boy 
 
 77 
 
 XIV. 
 
 Washington as a Young Man . 
 
 83 
 
 XV. 
 
 Life at Mount Vernon .... 
 
 91 
 
 XVI. 
 
 The Defeat of General Bracdock 
 
 97 
 
 XVII. 
 
 King George Taxes the Colonies . 
 
 104 
 
 XVIII. 
 
 The Eve of the Revolution . 
 
 112 
 
 vu 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 CHAPTER 
 
 XIX. " The Midnight Message of Paul Revere " 
 
 XX. John Sevier, and How He Found His Wife 
 
 XXI. Frontier Life in Indiana 
 
 XXII. How Gold was Found in California . 
 
 XXIII. Abraham Lincoln 
 
 XXIV. Lincoln and the Sleeping Sentinel . 
 XXV. The First Day at Gettysburg 
 
 XXVI. Gettysburg Turns the Tide of War . 
 
 XXVII. Old Abe, the Soldier Bird of Wisconsin 
 
 XXVIII. " The Star - Spangled Banner " . 
 
 XXIX. The Thirtieth of May .... 
 
 Appendix 
 
 Pronunciation of Proper Names . 
 
 120 
 130 
 138 
 144 
 152 
 163 
 173 
 180 
 191 
 199 
 204 
 209 
 217 
 
 Vlll 
 
ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 The Fight at Lexington .... Frontispiece 
 
 The baby was baptized, with Grandfather White 
 
 as godfather Page 21 
 
 Captain Standish put on his armor and paraded 
 
 hi^ Uttle company of twelve soldiers . . "45 
 
 " True enough," replied the redskin. " That is 
 
 the way it is with you English " . . . "57 
 
 Gist wanted to kill the Indian .... "88 
 
 He carried a wounded captain across the river to 
 
 a place of safety " 171 
 
THE CHILD'S BOOK OF 
 AMERICAN HISTORY 
 
 COLUMBUS, THE WOOL COMBER S BOY 
 
 MORE than four hundred years ago 
 there hved in a large city in Italy 
 a boy named Christopher Colum- 
 bus. His father was a wool comber, and 
 lived in a narrow street close to the sea. The 
 lad worked with his father, but he did not 
 wish to be a wool comber. He wanted to be 
 a sailor. Every chance he got he would sit 
 on the wharf and watch the big ships sailing 
 away to other lands. He liked to listen to 
 the stories the sailors told him of what they 
 had seen and done in far-off countries. No 
 wonder, then, that as the boy grew older, he 
 
 1 
 
THE child's book OF AMERICAN HISTORY 
 
 longed more than ever to be a sailor and go 
 to sea. 
 
 '^ Some day/' he told his playmates, ^^ I 
 will go to sea and sail to strange lands." 
 
 '^ If you are really to be a sailor, my boy," 
 said his kind father, ^^ you must be a good 
 sailor. You must go to school and learn 
 about the winds and the tides, and how to 
 steer a vessel by the stars." 
 
 The lad went to school. He studied long 
 and hard, and his father and his teachers 
 were soon proud of him. 
 
 When Christopher got older, he was per- 
 mitted to go to sea. He became captain of a 
 small vessel, and sailed far and wide. After a 
 time he became famous and sailed farther 
 than anybody had been before. We must 
 remember that in those days sailors did not 
 dare to go far from land. The Atlantic Ocean 
 was called the Sea of Darkness. Monsters 
 big enough to swallow ships were said to live 
 there. Even wise men of that time did not 
 know that the earth was round. They thought 
 
 2 
 
THE child's book OF AMERICAN HISTORY 
 
 it was flat, and believed if anybody went far 
 enough he would come to the edge and fall off. 
 
 Now Columbus was one of the few men of 
 that time who did not beheve these stories. 
 He felt sure that the earth was round. He 
 beheved that by sailing west across the Sea 
 of Darkness he should reach India, a land rich 
 in gold, silks, spices, and precious stones. At 
 last he made up his mind to try and find this 
 new way to the East. 
 
 But Columbus was a poor man. He had 
 no ships and no money. He asked some rich 
 men to help him. They only laughed at him. 
 They even said he was crazy. He went from 
 one country to another in search of help. He 
 told his plan to kings. And at last, after 
 eighteen long years of travel from court to 
 court, after eighteen long years of patient 
 toil, he found favor with Ferdinand and Isa- 
 bella, the king and queen of Spain. 
 
 " I will fit out some vessels for you,'' said 
 the queen; '^ I will even sell my jewels, if I 
 must, to get money enough.'' 
 
 3 
 
THE CHILD^S BOOK OF AMERICAN HISTORY 
 
 Columbus finally received three small ships, 
 manned with ninety sailors. With these ves- 
 sels, no larger than some of the fishing-smacks 
 of our day, that fearless man bade good-by 
 to the land and set sail on the most daring of 
 voyages across the unknown ocean. Other 
 brave men had sailed far away along distant 
 coasts. But Columbus was the first that went 
 forth to learn what lay beyond the trackless 
 sea. For many, many long and anxious 
 days they sailed. No wonder the men be- 
 came afraid, and wanted to turn back. But 
 Columbus would not listen. 
 
 '^ Sail on, sail on,'^ he begged them; and 
 when they got unruly, he threatened, and 
 coaxed, and bribed them, to get them to 
 obey. 
 
 ^^ He is indeed crazy, '^ they began to say to 
 one another; " let us throw the poor fellow 
 overboard; we will say that he fell into the 
 ocean while watching the stars. ^' 
 
 But one day, when they had been sailing 
 for more than a month, a bird came and 
 
 4 
 
THE child's book OF AMERICAN HISTORY 
 
 lighted on one of the vessels. Soon afterward 
 flocks of birds were seen. A branch of a tree 
 with berries on it floated on the waves. The 
 next night a sailor on watch saw far away a 
 light, which seemed to rise and fall. 
 
 ^^ I believe there is land not far away/* 
 said Columbus, who paced the deck of his 
 little vessel all night long. 
 
 A sailor climbed into the rigging. 
 
 ^^ Land! Land! " he cried joyfully. 
 
 In the dim light of the cool morning the 
 long-looked-for land could be seen. The 
 vessels cast their anchors, and all waited anx- 
 iously for the day. At sunrise a lovely island 
 lay before them. This was on the morning of 
 October 12, 1492. 
 
 How full of joy Columbus and all his men 
 were! They rowed ashore. They fell on their 
 knees and kissed the ground. Columbus 
 wore a red robe. He solemnly planted the 
 cross and took the land in the name of the 
 king and queen. Strange men with copper- 
 colored skin and long straight black hair 
 
 5 
 
THE child's book OF AMERICAN HISTORY 
 
 came down to the shore. These red men 
 thought Columbus and his companions had 
 dropped from the sky. And they called the 
 vessels big white birds. 
 
 The place where Columbus first landed 
 was one of the cluster of islands called the 
 Bahamas. Columbus believed that he had 
 reached India, and so he called the red men 
 Indians. He had sailed west to reach India; 
 instead of finding India he had found a new 
 world; he had discovered America. 
 
 After a time Columbus returned to Spain. 
 With what shouts and cheers the people 
 greeted the great sailor and his men when his 
 little vessels came sailing into the harbor! 
 It was a wonderful story that Columbus had 
 to tell the king and queen and the Spanish 
 court. The people were much excited when 
 they saw the red men, the strange animals 
 and plants, and many other curious things 
 from the new world. 
 
 Columbus made several more trips across 
 the Atlantic, but he did not dream that he 
 
 6 
 
THE CHILD S BOOK OF AMERICAN HISTORY 
 
 had discovered a new world. He died in 
 the behef that he had found a group of is- 
 lands near India. In reality he had opened 
 the way across the Sea of Darkness. It was 
 now easy for others to follow. 
 
II 
 
 JOHN CABOT, THE MERCHANT 
 
 WHEN Columbus was becoming fa- 
 mous as a sailor, there lived in 
 England an Italian by the name of 
 John Cabot. He was a sea captain too, and 
 a merchant; and he had traveled in remote 
 lands. One day when he was looking about 
 the streets of a city in Arabia, he saw camels 
 coming into town. They were carrying loads 
 of rich spices. 
 
 '' Where do those spices come from? '' he 
 asked one of the drivers. 
 
 '' From a land far to the east." 
 
 Now Cabot thought that if he sailed west 
 
 far enough he might reach the land from 
 
 which the spices came. Then the news of 
 
 what Columbus had done reached England. 
 
 8 
 
THE child's book OF AMERICAN HISTORY 
 
 Shortly after this Cabot came home from a 
 voyage. He asked King Henry of England 
 to fit out a vessel for him. The king said he 
 would do so. 
 
 Five years after Columbus made his first 
 voyage, Cabot sailed across the Atlantic to 
 find a new way to India and China. He did 
 not find what he went after. But he found 
 what was of still more importance. He 
 found the mainland of North America. 
 
 This was in the year 1497. Cabot probably 
 reached the coast of Labrador. He landed 
 and took possession of the country in the name 
 of King Henry of England. He then sailed 
 along the bare and desolate shore for nearly 
 a thousand miles, but came upon no such 
 lovely spot as Columbus had done on his first 
 voyage. Soon afterward he sailed back to 
 England and told King Henry that he had 
 found the coast of China. The king was 
 greatly pleased and gave him a large sum of 
 money. 
 
 Cabot was now a famous man. He was 
 9 
 
THE CHILD^S BOOK OF AMERICAN HISTORY 
 
 called the Great Admiral. He dressed in 
 fine silks of bright colors, like the other great 
 men of his time. So fine did he look that a 
 crowd used to run after him when he walked 
 about the streets of London. 
 
 '' This is all very well/' said King Henry, 
 ^' but where are the spices and precious stones 
 that you were to bring home, sir captain? 
 You had better make another voyage and 
 see what you can find.'' 
 
 So once more Cabot set out. This time he 
 sailed south along our coast as far as Cape 
 Cod. He planted the flag of England on our 
 shore and took possession of the land. 
 
 Nothing more is known about this daring 
 sailor. It is believed that he died and was 
 buried at sea. His son Sebastian, who sailed 
 with him on his second voyage, lived for 
 sixty years after this. He became one of the 
 greatest sea-captains of his time. 
 
 Like so many other sailors of those days, 
 the Cabots told strange stories of what they 
 had seen across the ocean. They said the 
 
 10 
 
THE child's book OF AMERICAN HISTORY 
 
 sea was so full of fish that their vessels had 
 hard work to sail along some parts of the 
 coast. And they declared the bears were 
 hungry enough to swim out to sea and catch 
 codfish in their claws. 
 
 The Cabots did not bring back gold or 
 spices. They saw only thick woods, wild 
 animals, and a few savages dressed in skins. 
 
 King Henry and the English people did 
 not care for these things; and so it was many 
 years before anybody thought of coming to 
 our coast to live. But we must remember 
 that the discoveries of John Cabot gave 
 England the right to claim the larger part of 
 North America as her own. 
 
 11 
 
Ill 
 
 THE FOUNTAIN OF YOUTH 
 
 THERE lived in the days of Columbus 
 an old Spanish nobleman by the name 
 of Ponce de Leon. He had fought 
 long and hard for his king. He had sailed 
 with Columbus on his second voyage across 
 the Sea of Darkness. As a favor the Spanish 
 king had made him governor of Porto Rico. 
 The old Spanish knight set sail for this 
 island with eight vessels and several hundred 
 soldiers. He laid out the city now called 
 San Juan. He built a fine house for himself 
 and called it the White Castle. Although 
 Ponce de Leon was now a rich man, he 
 was still greedy. He had been told that the 
 island was rich in gold and precious stones. 
 But there was nothing of either to be found. 
 
 12 
 
THE CHILD^S BOOK OF AMERICAN HISTORY 
 
 So the poor old fellow vented his spite on the 
 kind and gentle natives. He had hundreds 
 of them killed, and many others he hunted 
 in the woods like wild beasts. He robbed the 
 Indians of what they had, and enslaved as 
 many as he could. Then he was not allowed 
 to be governor any longer. He was unhappy 
 and wanted to go in search of a new country. 
 
 For many years a strange story had been 
 going round among the natives of the new 
 world. It was a tale about a lovely island 
 far away to the north. On this island 
 there was said to be a spring of healing 
 water, the most wonderful in all the world. 
 '^ Bimini ^' was the queer name the natives 
 gave to this island, of which they were never 
 tired of talking. 
 
 One day when the old Spaniard sat in his 
 White Castle looking out on the sea, he over- 
 heard some of his slaves speaking of this 
 magic spot. 
 
 ^^ I tell you,'^ said one, '^ nobody ever 
 grows old in Bimini.'^ 
 
 13 
 
THE child's book OF AMERICAN HISTORY 
 
 '' Why not? '' 
 
 ^^ Because there is the fountain of youth. 
 If you drink of its waters, you never can grow 
 old; you will always keep young/' 
 
 The old governor pricked up his ears. A 
 drink from such a fountain was just what 
 he needed. He was old, feeble, and un- 
 happy. Oh that he might never die! If he 
 could only become young again, what brave 
 deeds he would do! How hard he would 
 fight again for his king! What glory and 
 gold he would win for himself in this new 
 world ! 
 
 He sent for the slave. 
 
 ^' You were speaking of Bimini. What of 
 Bimini? Where is Bimini? '' he asked. 
 
 ^^ An island, master, far away to the north. 
 It is more than five days' sail." 
 
 ^^ Come, tell me all about it. Have you 
 ever been there? " 
 
 '^ No, master, it is too far away for us to 
 go in our canoes. But we have heard about 
 it all our lives." 
 
 14 
 
THE child's book OF AMERICAN HISTORY 
 
 The poor slave then told what he had heard 
 about the magical fountain. The old governor 
 called other slaves and asked them. They 
 all told the same story. The island lay far 
 to the north. It was a land of lovely flowers, 
 with this most wonderful spring of clear 
 water. The good ships of the white men 
 could sail there in a few days. 
 
 Ponce de Leon decided to go in search of 
 the magical fountain of youth. He fitted out 
 three vessels and sailed away toward the 
 northwest. When the little fleet sailed past 
 the tiny island where Columbus had first 
 landed, the old governor shouted to the 
 natives along the shore. 
 
 ^^ Bimini! Where is Bimini? '' 
 
 The Indians pointed to the northwest. 
 Nobody had ever seen the island, but all had 
 heard of it. 
 
 One lovely morning Ponce de Leon came in 
 sight of a strange coast. The day was Easter 
 Sunday, which in Spain is known as the 
 Feast of Flowers. The land was covered 
 
 15 
 
THE child's book OF AMERICAN HISTORY 
 
 with beautiful flowers. The natives were 
 gentle and friendly. 
 
 " Is this Bimini? '' cried the governor. 
 '^ Is this the land of the magical spring? '' 
 
 Nobody could understand. 
 
 At all events, because it was Easter, and 
 there was an abundance of flowers, Ponce de 
 Leon called the land Florida. 
 
 Up and down the coast the old Spaniard 
 sailed in search of the fountain of youth. 
 Many and many springs of clear, cool 
 water were found in this land of flowers. 
 As the story goes, he drank from all; but 
 his youth never came back. He bathed in 
 many gentle rivers; but he kept growing 
 older. 
 
 At last he gave up the search and sailed 
 back to Porto Rico. 
 
 Ten years went by. Once more Ponce de 
 Leon sailed in search of the magical foun- 
 tain. This time he was cruel to the natives. 
 They in turn killed many of the Spaniards 
 and drove the others back to their ships. 
 
 16 
 
THE child's book OF AMERICAN HISTORY 
 
 The old governor was mortally wounded by 
 an arrow. 
 
 " Carry me back to Cuba/' he said to his 
 men; '' I shall never find the wonderful 
 fountain of youth/' 
 
 Back to Cuba he was carried. After many 
 days' suffering from his wound, the poor old 
 man died. He died wishing that he might 
 have found his lost youth. 
 
 17 
 
IV 
 
 VIRGINIA DARE 
 
 WHEN the Cabots returned to Eng- 
 land, they had neither gold nor 
 spices. The English people soon 
 lost interest in the New World; and for almost 
 a hundred years they did not try to find out 
 any more about it. 
 
 Now at the time of Queen Elizabeth lived 
 the brave and noble Walter Raleigh. It was 
 he who spread his red velvet cloak in the 
 mud to keep Good Queen Bess, as she was 
 called, from soiling her fine slippers. She 
 received him at court, and gave him leave to 
 plant an English nation in America. 
 
 So Sir Walter fitted out two vessels and 
 sent them across the Atlantic. These ships 
 sailed many miles along the coast of America 
 
 18 
 
THE child's book OF AMERICAN HISTORY 
 
 before they could find a safe harbor. At last 
 they came to a quiet place where it seemed 
 as if they were in a garden filled with all kinds 
 of sweet-smelling flowers. This land of 
 strange and beautiful birds, of vines which 
 dipped their fragrant clusters into the surge of 
 the ocean, was Roanoke Island, on the coast 
 of what is now North Carolina. 
 
 Queen Elizabeth was pleased with what 
 Sir Walter's vessels had done, and gave a 
 name to the region. 
 
 '^ The goodly land shall be named Virginia, 
 in honor of my maiden life." 
 
 The first two bands of settlers in Virginia 
 dug for gold instead of planting corn. The 
 homesick men nearly starved to death before 
 a vessel came along to carry them back to 
 England. Three years after this a third 
 colony of men, with their wives and chil- 
 dren, was sent out from England to make 
 homes for themselves in this wonderful new 
 land. 
 
 *^ It is a beautiful spot," said John White, 
 19 
 
THE child's book OF AMERICAN HISTORY 
 
 the leader of this colony, when the vessel 
 drew near the coast and he caught sight of 
 the trees and the grass. 
 
 On the day that they landed on Roanoke 
 Island, the men, women, and children went 
 to work. The men cut down trees and built 
 log houses. They tilled the rich soil, and soon 
 had fine fields of corn and potatoes. The 
 women cooked, washed, and baked. The 
 boys brought water from the springs, chopped 
 wood, caught fish, picked berries, and climbed 
 the trees after wild grapes. 
 
 One sunny morning in August, only a 
 few weeks after the people had landed, the 
 little village was astir with strange good 
 news. In the log cabin of Eleanor Dare, the 
 daughter of the governor, the first English 
 child in America was born. It was a little 
 girl. 
 
 '^ What shall we call this tiny pink stranger? 
 What shall we name our baby? " asked the 
 good people of one another; for they were all 
 interested in the child. 
 
 20 
 
THE BABY WAS BAPTIZED, WITH GRANDFATHER WHITE AS 
 GODFATHER. Page 21. 
 

 
THE child's book OF AMERICAN HISTORY 
 
 '' Let us call her Elizabeth, after our good 
 queen/' the men suggested. 
 
 '' No/' rephed the women, '' let us call her 
 Virginia, after this lovely new land to which 
 she has come." 
 
 '' Yes, yes," cried they all, '' call her Vir- 
 ginia." 
 
 '' Indeed, she is our baby, the baby of the 
 colony," added Grandfather White; '' we 
 will call her Virginia." 
 
 '^ Very well," the father and mother agreed; 
 '^ let that be her name." 
 
 A few days afterwards, on a Sunday morn- 
 ing, the settlers, some sailors from the vessels, 
 and a few Indians came to the cabin of 
 Eleanor Dare. The baby was baptized, with 
 Grandfather White as godfather. Thus the 
 first white child born of English parents in 
 America was christened Virginia Dare. And 
 the little white-faced girl grew so sweet and 
 gentle that the Indians called her the White 
 Fawn. 
 
 By and by food began to fail the settlers. 
 21 
 
THE child's book OF AMERICAN HISTORY 
 
 '^ I will go back to England," said Governor 
 White. ^' Take good care of yourselves and 
 of Baby Virginia when I am away/' 
 
 ^' We will, we will,'' cried the people from 
 the shore as the ship sailed on its long 
 voyage. 
 
 England was at war with Spain when the 
 governor reached his old home. No vessel 
 could be spared to carry him back. For four 
 long years the good man waited. At last a 
 ship was given him, and he started for Vir- 
 ginia. 
 
 One day the vessel came sailing into the 
 harbor at Roanoke. Nobody came to the 
 shore to meet it. The log houses were in 
 ashes. The people were gone. There was 
 nothing but ruins and silence to greet the 
 broken-hearted grandfather. 
 
 He searched for the colony far and near. 
 
 " Did my people not wish to live with 
 you? " he asked the Indians. 
 
 The red men could tell him nothing. 
 
 At last, crushed with sorrow. Governor 
 22 
 
THE child's book OF AMERICAN HISTORY 
 
 White returned to England, where he died 
 soon after, of a broken heart. 
 
 Do you ask what became of Virginia Dare? 
 
 Some think that the White Fawn grew up 
 and became an Indian princess. If the In- 
 dians knew, they never told. 
 
 23 
 
JOHN SMITH, FOUNDER OF VIRGINIA 
 
 THE life of John Smith, founder of 
 Virginia, is as interesting and thrilHng 
 as a story. When he was a boy, in 
 England, he learned a trade, but ran away. 
 Like so many other runaway boys, he found 
 the world a hard place. He went to sea, but 
 was shipwrecked. On another occasion he 
 was thrown overboard, but swam ashore. 
 He was once robbed of his money, and had 
 to beg to get back home. 
 
 Not long after, he became a soldier and 
 fought against the Turks. One day a Turk- 
 ish officer said he would fight any Christian 
 single-handed, to amuse the ladies. Young 
 Smith took the man at his word. He killed 
 the Turk and cut off his head. In another 
 
 24 
 
THE child's book OF AMERICAN HISTORY 
 
 fight he once killed three Turks. He was so 
 proud of his deed, he tells us, that he had a 
 picture of the men put on his flag. 
 
 At last he was captured by the Turks, and 
 sold as a slave. His owner was cruel and put 
 an iron collar round his neck. He then set 
 his prisoner to work threshing wheat, and in a 
 fit of anger hit him over the head with the 
 flail. The young Englishman killed his mas- 
 ter, took a bag of wheat for food, jumped on 
 a horse, and rode for his life into the forest. 
 
 After many hardships the young fellow got 
 out of the country and reached his home in 
 England. We may be sure that our hero 
 found life at home pretty dull after his many 
 narrow escapes and wonderful adventures 
 in foreign countries. 
 
 At this time there was a good deal of talk 
 in England about sending out a colony to 
 settle Virginia. The restless and daring John 
 Smith liked the idea. No better place for 
 brave deeds and strange adventures could be 
 found than in the wilds of the New World. 
 
 25 
 
THE CHILD ^S BOOK OF AMERICAN HISTORY 
 
 He joined the company which was being 
 formed, and set sail for America. On reach- 
 ing the coast of Virginia, the Httle fleet of 
 three vessels sailed up a river. They named 
 it the James River, after King James of Eng- 
 land. On its banks they found a pleasant 
 place to build their log cabins, and called it 
 Jamestown. Thus was laid, in the year 
 1607, the foundation of the first permanent 
 settlement of English people in the New 
 World. 
 
 At first the settlers had a hard time of it. 
 They knew nothing about work. They were 
 not used to laboring in the fields. They 
 called themselves gentlemen. What did they 
 care about cutting down trees and planting 
 corn? They expected to pick up gold along 
 the banks of the rivers. 
 
 When the food they brought from England 
 was gone, they came near starving. Many 
 fell sick and died from lack of something to 
 eat and proper shelter. Indeed, it is hard to 
 see how the little settlement could have lived 
 
 26 
 
THE child's book OF AMERICAN HISTORY 
 
 if it had not been for John Smith. He made 
 the idle get to work. 
 
 ^' If you don't work/' he said, '^ you shall 
 not eat." 
 
 He showed the men how to cut down trees 
 and build log huts. He sailed along the coast 
 and made a map of it. With a few men he 
 went on trips up the rivers and traded with 
 the Indians. If the red men were ugly and 
 would not trade, he won their good will by 
 giving them hatchets and colored beads. 
 Many of the settlers grew tired of the hard- 
 ships and begged to go back to England, but 
 he coaxed them to stay. 
 
 At first the Indians were glad to see Cap- 
 tain Smith and the pale-faced strangers. 
 They treated them kindly and traded their 
 corn for beads and trinkets. But pretty soon 
 they began to think that the Englishmen 
 wanted to rob them of their lands. So at 
 last they would not give or sell their corn to 
 the Jamestown settlement. 
 
 Now Smith was shrewd as well as fearless. 
 27 
 
THE child's book OF AMERICAN HISTORY 
 
 When his people were short of corn, he would 
 set sail up the river in a small boat and go 
 boldly among the savages. Before he came 
 back, he would be sure to trade some little 
 mirrors, blue beads, and trinkets for corn. 
 Even if the Indians did not care to trade, he 
 would in some way come back to the settle- 
 ment with a boatload of food. 
 
 On one of these trips, when he had others 
 with him, the Indians attacked them and 
 killed all of his men. He grabbed a redskin, 
 and by holding him as a shield shot three of 
 the savages. The place was swampy, how- 
 ever, and he could not get away. He was 
 easily captured. But he was quick-witted. 
 He took out his pocket compass and began 
 to amuse the savages by telling them about 
 its use. The Indians were sure that he be- 
 longed to another world, and did not dare 
 to kill him. 
 
 On another trip a young Indian was taken 
 sick. Captain Smith, with a great show, 
 wrote a few words on a piece of birch bark. 
 
 28 
 
THE child's book OF AMERICAN HISTORY 
 
 ^^ Let some brave take this to Jamestown, 
 and my people will give him some medicine 
 to make this boy well/' 
 
 Back came the Indian with the medicine. 
 This was too much for them. They were 
 afraid to do harm to a man who could make a 
 piece of bark talk. 
 
 It would fill a book much larger than this 
 to tell you about the fearless deeds and nar- 
 row escapes of Captain John Smith. It is 
 for us to remember that he was the founder 
 of the first permanent English colony in the 
 New World. Without his wise leadership the 
 settlement of Jamestown would never have 
 lived; and this band of pioneers laid the first 
 foundation stone of our nation. 
 
 29 
 
VI 
 
 POCAHONTAS, THE INDIAN PRINCESS 
 
 DURING his last days John Smith 
 wrote a book of his adventures in 
 the New World. Some people say 
 that much of this is not true. They even 
 doubt the story in which he describes how 
 his life was saved by the Indian girl Poca- 
 hontas. But for all that, the story is worth 
 telling. 
 
 One day Smith was tramping through the 
 woods with some of his men, in search of 
 com. All of a sudden an arrow whizzed by 
 his head. The war whoop of the Indians 
 followed, and the woods seemed full of sav- 
 ages. His friends were killed, but he escaped 
 into a swamp, where he sank up to his waist. 
 It was of no use to fight longer. He was made 
 
 30 
 
THE child's book OF AMERICAN HISTORY 
 
 a prisoner. With hands tied behind him, he 
 was carried a captive from one village to an- 
 other. The Indians did not dare to kill him. 
 They knew too well that the palefaces had 
 guns which made a noise hke thunder. 
 
 After a time the Indians led their prisoner 
 to their chief. His name was Powhatan. He 
 sat on a rude kind of throne, covered with 
 skins of wild beasts. His face and arms were 
 painted red. About his neck was a string of 
 small shells from the seashore. In his hair 
 were feathers of many bright colors. A toma- 
 hawk lay at his side. Gathered round him 
 were warriors dressed in blankets. 
 
 Now this great chief felt friendly toward 
 his captive, for Captain Smith had once given 
 him a tin washbasin, a red cloak, a brass ring, 
 and a jackknife. These gifts, however, had 
 made the savage chief so proud that for a 
 long time he would not sell his com to the 
 settlers at Jamestown. At another time 
 Captain Smith had given him some blue 
 beads, and told him that such were worn 
 
 31 
 
THE child's book OF AMERICAN HISTORY 
 
 only by great kings. This so pleased King 
 Powhatan that he traded a boatload of corn 
 for a pound of them. 
 
 Now Powhatan had a daughter, a little 
 gir] ten or twelve years old. Her father 
 called her Pocahontas. Captain Smith grew 
 fond of the little Indian princess. He made 
 her some pretty toys, which won her heart. 
 
 Finally the Indians decided to put the 
 white chief to death. As the story goes, 
 Pocahontas cried bitterly when she heard 
 that her father was going to take the life of 
 her friend. 
 
 A few days afterward. Captain Smith was 
 brought before Powhatan and his braves. 
 A big stone was brought and laid on the 
 ground in the chief's wigwam. Powhatan 
 again sat on his throne of furs, and his war- 
 riors stood round in a circle. They looked 
 fierce in their war paint. They were eager 
 for the white man's death. The prisoner's 
 arms were tied behind him. His head was 
 laid on the stone. An Indian brave stood 
 
 32 
 
THE CHILD^S BOOK OF AMERICAN HISTORY 
 
 ready with his war club. The club was 
 raised to strike. A scream was heard, and in 
 rushed Pocahontas and threw herself on the 
 captive. 
 
 " Kill me/^ she cried, '^ kill me, but you 
 shall not kill him.^' 
 
 The Indian did not dare to strike. He 
 would have killed his chief's beloved daugh- 
 ter. The heart of the Indian chief was 
 touched. Of all his children, he loved her 
 best. 
 
 ^^ Let him live,'' said Powhatan; '^ he shall 
 make toys and string beads for my daugh- 
 ter." 
 
 After a time he made a treaty with the 
 English, and sent Captain Smith back to his 
 friends at Jamestown. 
 
 The settlers used to call Pocahontas ^^ the 
 dearest daughter of the king." In after years 
 she often came to the help of the English. 
 One winter, when they were nearly starving, 
 she brought them baskets of corn and deer 
 meat. 
 
 33 
 
THE child's book OF AMERICAN HISTORY 
 
 At another time she ran from home in the 
 night and warned them of danger. 
 
 ^^ My father means to attack the settle- 
 ment to-morrow night/' she said, and hurried 
 away. 
 
 The next day Captain Smith sent a mes- 
 sage to Powhatan: ^^ Come whenever you 
 please; we are ready for you.'' 
 
 When the princess grew up and became a 
 young woman of eighteen, an English settler 
 named Rolfe fell in love with her. Pocahontas 
 was baptized, and took the name of Rebecca. 
 One day the little log church at Jamestown 
 was prettily trimmed with wild flowers. 
 This was the wedding day of Pocahontas and 
 John Rolfe. The happy man took his fair 
 bride to England. She was treated as a 
 young princess. The king and queen of 
 England sent for her and gave her presents. 
 The people gathered in crowds to see the 
 fair Indian girl. They had heard of her brave 
 deed in saving the life of Captain Smith. She 
 was petted by men and women of high rank. 
 
 34 
 
THE CHILD ^S BOOK OF AMERICAN HISTORY 
 
 ^' She carries herself as the daughter of a 
 king/' said one of the great men. 
 
 All this was not good for the health of the 
 princess. She grew tired and pale. She was 
 homesick. She often wished she were once 
 more in her father's wigwam, amid the noble 
 woods and lovely flowers of her old home. 
 She grew sick and died just as she was about 
 to go back to Virginia. She was only twenty- 
 two years old. 
 
 '' Lady Rebecca/' as the princess was 
 called in England, left a little baby boy. He 
 went back to Virginia and grew up to become 
 well known in that state. Many people in 
 that part of the country are now proud to 
 claim relationship to the son of Pocahontas, 
 the Indian princess. 
 
 35 
 
VII 
 
 THE STORY OF THE MAYFLOWER 
 
 NEARLY three hundred years ago the 
 little vessel called the " Mayflower '' 
 crossed the Atlantic in midwinter 
 and reached the coast of Massachusetts. 
 The people in this ship were the Pilgrims. 
 Their homes had been in England. The 
 English king did not treat them kindly; for 
 he would not let them worship God as they 
 wished. So they left their own land and went 
 to Holland, where they lived about twelve 
 years. 
 
 Now we must know that the people of 
 Holland speak Dutch. Soon the children of 
 the Pilgrims were speaking the strange lan- 
 guage. They were also learning Dutch ways 
 and manners of living. All this did not please 
 these sturdy Enghsh people. 
 
 36 
 
THE child's book OF AMERICAN HISTORY 
 
 After a time they began to talk about the 
 new land in far-away America. 
 
 " Let us go to the New World/' they said, 
 ^^ and there make a new home for ourselves. 
 Surely there we can worship God in our own 
 simple way. Besides, we can bring up our 
 children to speak our own language.'' 
 
 So some of the Pilgrims hired a vessel and 
 left Holland. They went to England first. 
 Some friends joined them. Leaving behind 
 the sick and feeble, about one hundred Pil- 
 grims set sail. For sixty-three long days the 
 frail little vessel was tossed about on the 
 stormy ocean. At last it reached land and 
 came to anchor in the harbor of Province- 
 town, on the tip of Cape Cod. 
 
 Here the Mayflower remained at anchor 
 for nearly a month. 
 
 During the first week in December, eighteen 
 of the men, led by Captain Miles Standish, 
 put off in a sailboat for a trip along the 
 coast. At last they found the spot for which 
 they were looking. This place is now Plym- 
 
 37 
 
THE child's book OF AMERICAN HISTORY 
 
 outh. The men said it was ^' a lovely spot 
 with corn fields and running brooks. '^ Not 
 far from the shore was a large spring of pure 
 cold water. 
 
 '^ We have found our home at last/' said 
 Captain Standish; 'Met us go back and tell 
 the good news.'' 
 
 It was on Saturday, a few days before 
 Christmas, that the good ship Mayflower 
 came to anchor off the Pl3mQouth shore. A 
 young girl named Mary Chilton, we are told, 
 was allowed to go ashore with the first party 
 that left the vessel. As the story runs, she 
 '' jumped from the boat to a large rock that 
 lay half buried in the sand." 
 
 If you ever go to Pljmiouth, you will wish 
 to climb upon the big rock which rests under 
 the canopy, close to the shore. This is the 
 famous Plymouth Rock on which the young 
 Pilgrim girl is said to have stepped. It is 
 sometimes called " the stepping stone of 
 New England." The date of the landing of 
 the Pilgrims was December 21, 1620. It is 
 
 38 
 
THE child's book OF AMERICAN HISTORY 
 
 now known as Forefathers' Day, and is cele- 
 brated every year. 
 
 The men went ashore when the weather 
 permitted, and began to build log houses. 
 The women and children lived on board the 
 Mayflower until the rude cabins were ready 
 for use. What a hard time they had that first 
 winter! The winter was long and cold. The 
 rain, snow, and sleet often put an end to all 
 work. The men were made sick from ex- 
 posure and lack of food. The children were 
 frost-bitten. Before spring came, one half 
 of the entire colony had died of cold, hunger, 
 and exposure. When they were buried, the 
 ground was smoothed over their graves, for 
 fear the Indians would find out how many 
 had died. 
 
 At one time there were only seven people 
 in the whole settlement able to wait on the 
 sick and bury the dead. Captain Standish 
 was brave as a lion, but tender-hearted as a 
 child. He nursed the sick, cooked the food, 
 and washed the clothing. 
 
 39 
 
THE child's book OF AMERICAN HISTORY 
 
 Now Captain Miles was not really a Pil- 
 grim. He was a soldier. He came along 
 with the Pilgrims to show them how to fight 
 the Indians. He was the right man in the 
 right place. He soon became the most useful 
 man in the colony. The savages soon learned 
 to fear him. Some of them called him Boil- 
 ing Water, because he was easily made angry. 
 Others called him Captain Shrimp, on ac- 
 count of his being so little. 
 
 At last the long, sad winter came to an 
 end. Bright and early came the spring that 
 year. Governor Bradford tells us in his 
 Journal that on the third day of March the 
 grass was green and the birds were sweetly 
 singing in the trees. One day two young 
 girls, Elizabeth Tilley and Mary AUerton, 
 came home from a walk in the woods. Their 
 hands were filled with rose-tinted flowers 
 they had picked by the edge of a snowbank. 
 
 ^^ God be praised! behold our Mayflowers 
 here! '^ said good Elder Brewster. 
 
 Ever since that day the boys and girls, in 
 40 
 
THE child's book OF AMERICAN HISTORY 
 
 the early spring, have picked Mayflowers 
 in the Plj^nouth woods. 
 
 One morning in the middle of April the 
 good ship Mayflower was ready to sail back 
 to England. With sad faces the men and 
 women stood on Burial Hill and said fare- 
 well to the httle vessel which had been so 
 long their only home. But not one of them 
 wanted to give up and go back. Here they 
 had come to stay, and stay they did. 
 
 ^^ It is not with us/' said Elder Brewster, 
 '' as with men whom small things can dis- 
 courage.'' 
 
 They had crossed the ocean and made 
 homes for themselves where they could Hve 
 in peace and worship God as they pleased. 
 
 Thus this little handful of brave and God- 
 fearing men and women on the Plymouth 
 shore began one of the earliest settlements 
 in the history of our country. 
 
 41 
 
VIII 
 
 THANKSGIVING AT PLYMOUTH 
 
 ONE day in early spring, when the 
 Pilgrims were hard at work, an In- 
 dian, tall and straight as an arrow, 
 walked into the little village of Plymouth. 
 As he tramped along the street, he cried, 
 '^Welcome, English! Welcome, English!'^ 
 The name of the Indian was Samoset. He 
 had picked up a few English words from 
 fishermen along the coast of Maine. 
 
 The Pilgrims were glad to see this friendly 
 savage. They gave him some butter, cheese, 
 and padding, and let him stay over night in 
 one of the log houses. The next day they 
 gave him a jackknife, a bracelet, and a ring, 
 and sent him back to his home in the woods. 
 In a few days Samoset came again and 
 42 
 
THE CHILD^S BOOK OF AMERICAN HISTORY 
 
 brought another Indian with him, named 
 Squanto, who could speak EngUsh better. 
 
 Well, Squanto came and lived with the 
 Pilgrims. He taught them how to do many 
 useful things. He showed them how to 
 catch the little fishes called alewives and put 
 them in the hills of corn to make it grow 
 faster. The Pilgrims had been fortunate 
 enough to find corn buried in the sand hills 
 of Cape Cod, and they had saved it for seed. 
 It has been well said that if it had not been 
 for this corn and the help of Squanto, the 
 colony would probably have starved to death 
 during the first year at Plymouth. 
 
 The first summer was warm. There was a 
 good deal of rain, and much sunshine. Every- 
 body worked hard, and in the autumn there 
 was a fine crop of corn. The people were 
 happy because they were sure of food for the 
 next winter. 
 
 ^^ God has been good to us,'' said the 
 women; ^^ let us thank him for all these 
 blessings." 
 
 43 
 
THE child's book OF AMERICAN HISTORY 
 
 '^ True/' said Elder Brewster; " let us take 
 one day in which to thank God for all these 
 things. Let us ask our Indian friends, who 
 have been so kind to us, to share this day of 
 thanksgiving with us/' 
 
 One day did not seem long enough. So 
 they planned to take a whole week, during 
 the month of October. Ninety Indian braves, 
 dressed in deerskins, feathers, and foxtails, 
 with their faces daubed with red, yellow, and 
 white paint, came as guests. With them 
 came their chief, the great Massasoit. Round 
 his neck he wore a string of bones and a bag 
 of tobacco. At his belt he carried a long 
 knife. His face was painted red, and his 
 hair, as Governor Bradford wrote in his 
 Journal, " looked quite greasily." 
 
 Of course it was a task to prepare food 
 enough for the settlers and their guests. 
 Four of the best marksmen among the Pil- 
 grims went into the woods to shoot wild 
 turkeys. They killed enough in one day for 
 the whole company. Massasoit also sent out 
 
 44 
 
:?ii5 
 
 CAPTAIN STANDISH PUT ON HIS ARMOR AND PARADED HIS LITTLE 
 COMPANY OF TWELVE SOLDIERS. Page 45. 
 
THE child's book OF AMERICAN HISTORY 
 
 some of his men. They killed five deer, 
 which they gave their pale-faced friends as 
 their share of the feast. At this time there 
 were only eleven log houses in the whole 
 settlement; and so the Indians had to sleep 
 and eat out of doors. They did not mind 
 this, for it was a lovely, warm week of Indian 
 summer. 
 
 Indeed, it was a fine thanksgiving. On the 
 rude table under the trees were roast turkeys, 
 deer meat, broiled fish, and baked clams. 
 The young Pilgrim girls helped to serve the 
 food to the hungry redskins. What a merry 
 time everybody had during that thanksgiving 
 week! The young men among the Pilgrims 
 ran races, played games, and had a shooting 
 match. At night the Indians sang and 
 danced. Now and then they gave a war 
 whoop, which made the woods ring. Every 
 morning Captain Standish put on his armor 
 and paraded his little company of twelve 
 soldiers. Then he fired off the cannon on 
 the top of Burial Hill. 
 
 45 
 
THE CHILD^S BOOK OF AMERICAN HISTORY 
 
 On the third day Massasoit had to leave 
 for home. He smoked the pipe of peace with 
 his friends, and taking his presents of glass 
 beads and trinkets, he and his braves said 
 good-by and began their long tramp through 
 the woods. 
 
 On the last days of the thanksgiving party 
 Elder Brewster prayed a long prayer and 
 preached a long sermon. He gave thanks 
 to God for all his mercy and goodness to the 
 little Plymouth colony. 
 
 He spoke tenderly of good John Carver, 
 their first governor, who had died a few 
 months before of worry and overwork. 
 
 Of course he did not forget Rose Standish, 
 the lovel}^ young wife of Captain Standish, 
 who died of cold and lack of food during the 
 winter. 
 
 Many shed tears when the good man spoke 
 of the gentle Dorothy Bradford, who fell 
 overboard from the Mayflower in Province- 
 town harbor and was drowned. 
 
 With tender words he spoke of the many 
 46 
 
THE child's book OF AMERICAN HISTORY 
 
 loved ones who died during the long winter 
 and were sleeping on Burial Hill. 
 
 Nearly three hundred years have passed 
 since the band of Pilgrims had their first 
 thanksgiving on the Plymouth shore. Since 
 that time Thanksgiving has come to be 
 celebrated all over our land as the great 
 family festival of the year. It is observed as 
 a season of sweet and blessed memories. 
 
 47 
 
rx 
 
 THE INDIANS, AND HOW THEY LIVED 
 
 WHEN Columbus discovered the New 
 World, he thought he had reached 
 India, and called the natives In- 
 dians. But the savages of America called 
 themselves red men. They were a tall, well- 
 built race of people. Their color was chest- 
 nut-brown. They had black eyes, straight, 
 raven-black hair, and high cheek bones. 
 Most of them cut their hair close to the head, 
 except one tuft called the scalp lock. They 
 liked to daub their faces with red, yellow, 
 and blue paint. They did this, perhaps, to 
 make themselves look ugly and fierce. Round 
 their necks they wore strings of shining 
 stones and shells, bits of mica, and the teeth 
 of animals. 
 
 48 
 
THE CHILD^S BOOK OF AMERICAN HISTORY 
 
 The Indians made their clothes out of the 
 skins of the bear, deer, and beaver. Their 
 shoes, or moccasins, and their leggings were 
 made of deerskin, or other soft leather, 
 trimmed with colored beads. They gener- 
 ally lived in villages of wigwams. The wig- 
 wam was a kind of tent made of birch bark 
 or skins, held up by poles meeting at the top. 
 There was only one room in the wigwam. 
 The brave, his squaw, the children, and the 
 dogs slept on the ground, with skins or dried 
 grass for beds. In cold weather fire was built 
 in the middle of the wigwam. The smoke 
 went out through a hole in the top. These 
 wigwams were pretty snug and warm even 
 in the middle of winter. 
 
 The main task of the Indians was to get 
 enough food to eat. They lived chiefly on 
 fish and flesh of rabbits, bears, deer, turkeys, 
 and other wild game, which they caught, or 
 shot with their bows and arrows. They some- 
 times tiUed the soil. Besides corn, they raised 
 beans, squashes, pumpkins, and tobacco. 
 
 49 
 
THE child's book OF AMERICAN HISTORY 
 
 They were fond of com and beans cooked 
 together. This old-time dish is still common 
 with us, and is called by its Indian name of 
 succotash. Green corn and clams were 
 roasted in hot ashes, somewhat as we cook 
 them now at picnics. Meat and fish were 
 broiled over a fire, on a gridiron of sticks. 
 
 When they wished to make a fire, they 
 rubbed two dry sticks together until the 
 sticks grew hot enough to kindle leaves or 
 moss. They did not let their fire go out, if 
 they could help it. 
 
 The only drink used by the red men was 
 water. After the white man came, they 
 learned to drink rum, which they called fire 
 water. From the Indians, on the other 
 hand, the settlers learned the use of tobacco. 
 
 The Indians were fond of fighting. Before 
 the white men came, they fought with each 
 other, and were cruel to their prisoners. 
 Their weapons were rude. They fought with 
 bow and arrow, with the tomahawk and the 
 war club. Their bows were strung with the 
 
 50 
 
THE CHILD^S BOOK OF AMERICAN HISTORY 
 
 sinews of the deer. The arrow heads were 
 made of flint or other hard stone. The toma- 
 hawk was made of a sharp stone fastened to 
 a wooden handle. After a time the Indians 
 traded the skins of bears, foxes, and other 
 animals to the settlers for knives, guns, and 
 powder. 
 
 The savages were much puzzled about 
 gunpowder. They thought it grew out of the 
 ground like tobacco or corn. They believed 
 that every paleface knew how to make it. 
 It is said that once when the Indians cap- 
 tured two young girls, they tried to force 
 them to make gunpowder for their tribe. 
 
 Squanto used to scare his savage friends by 
 telling them that the Pilgrims kept gun- 
 powder, as well as the plague, hid under their 
 log cabins. He also told them that if they 
 did any harm to his white friends, the gun- 
 powder would be let loose and would kill 
 every redskin on the coast. 
 
 Instead of money made of gold, silver, or 
 copper, the Indians used what they called 
 
 51 
 
THE child's book OF AMERICAN HISTORY 
 
 wampum. This was made of round pieces 
 of polished shells strung like beads. Besides 
 their use as money, strings of wampum, 
 trimmed with colored beads, were worn as 
 bracelets and belts. 
 
 An Indian baby was called a papoose. 
 It was strapped into a kind of cradle 
 made of bark, padded with soft moss. This 
 rude bit of a cradle was handy to carry 
 round, or lean against a tree or the side of 
 the wigwam. Better still, the mother used 
 to hang it on the limb of a tree, and let the 
 wind rock the baby to sleep. When on a 
 march, the Indian mother carried her pap- 
 oose in its cradle, strapped to her back. 
 
 The Indians loved outdoor life. They 
 lived in the open air except in the coldest 
 weather. They hunted and wandered in the 
 woods. They fished in the rivers and ponds, 
 and paddled their light canoes up and down 
 the streams and across the lakes. They 
 could follow game or their enemies through 
 the thick woods by signs which would not 
 
 52 
 
THE CHILD^S BOOK OF AMERICAN HISTORY 
 
 be seen by most white men. They knew the 
 meaning of a broken twig, the trace of a foot, 
 or a torn bit of moss. 
 
 The school of the Indian boy was the 
 woods. He studied the ways and habits of 
 bears, wild turkeys, rabbits, and other wood- 
 land creatures. While he was still small, he 
 learned to imitate the hoot of the owl, the 
 cry of the turkey, and the howl of the woK. 
 Before he was twelve years old, he could make 
 his own bow and arrows, and help make 
 canoes. He knew how to shape and use the 
 tomahaw^k and the war club. 
 
 The Indians also loved sports and games. 
 A famous traveler who knew Indian life tells 
 us, in one of his books, that he would ride on 
 horseback thirty miles to see an Indian game 
 of ball. He said that he had often sat all 
 day on his horse to see a match game with 
 several hundred players on each side. 
 
 From childhood the Indian was trained to 
 endure pain. Boys would put live coals 
 under their naked arms to see who would 
 
 53 
 
THE CHILD S BOOK OF AMERICAN HISTORY 
 
 hold out longest. The Indian warrior had 
 no equal in power of endurance or capacity 
 for suffering. He could travel hundreds of 
 miles without food or rest. He would be 
 tortured to death without showing a sign 
 of pain, while with his last breath he chanted 
 his death song. 
 
 54 
 
X 
 
 KING Philip's war 
 
 MASSASOIT was the best Indian 
 friend that the Plymouth people 
 ever had. He made a treaty with 
 them which lasted more than fifty years. 
 This chief had two sons. He wanted them 
 to live at peace with his white friends. One 
 day he took the boys to Pl3miouth and called 
 on Governor Bradford. 
 
 '^ I want my boys to like the English; will 
 you please give them English names.'' 
 
 The governor named the older Alexander, 
 and the younger Philip. 
 
 Massasoit lived to a great age. On his 
 death his son Alexander became chief. 
 
 After a time the governor heard that 
 Alexander was trying to stir up the Indians 
 
 55 
 
THE child's book OF AMERICAN HISTORY 
 
 to make war on the settlers. He sent for the 
 young chief to come to Plymouth and explain 
 matters. Alexander came, but on his way 
 back he was taken sick and died before he 
 could reach home. 
 
 His young wife was furious. She told her 
 people that the English had given her hus- 
 band poison. This was not true, but most of 
 the Indians seemed to think it was. For this 
 reason they felt bitter toward the colony. 
 
 Philip now became chief of the Indians 
 who lived near Plymouth. He was one of 
 the greatest Indian chiefs who ever lived. 
 He was shrewd, crafty, and cruel. He called 
 himself King Philip. 
 
 Now King Philip hated the English. He 
 was sure that they had killed his brother. 
 He was eager for revenge. Besides, more 
 and more white people were coming every 
 year, and he saw that his own people were 
 growing weaker. 
 
 An Indian chief once asked a paleface to 
 sit on a log with him. Then he kept asking 
 
 56 
 
0r 
 
 TRUE ENOUGH," REPLIED THE REDSKIN. " THAT IS THE WAY IT 
 IS WITH YOU ENGLISH." Page 57. ^ 
 
THE child's book OF AMERICAN HISTORY 
 
 him to move along. Finally they came to 
 the end of the log. 
 
 ^^ Move on/' said the Indian. 
 
 '^ I can't; I am at the end of the log now." 
 
 '^ True enough/' repHed the redskin. " That 
 is the way it is with you English. You keep 
 asking us to move on, and then to move on 
 again, until we are as far as we can go; and 
 now you ask us to move on again." 
 
 Now Massasoit had been the chief over 
 the land from Cape Cod to the shore of Nar- 
 ragansett Bay. This was a strip about 
 thirty miles wide. The Indians did not 
 really put the land to much use except for 
 hunting and fishing. 
 
 At first the English bought a small piece 
 of land. More and more people came over 
 from England. They also bought land. 
 They paid for it in blankets, glass beads, 
 knives, and trinkets. When Massasoit died, 
 the white men had nearly all the land of his 
 entire tribe. Well might the red men say, 
 '' They take our land from us and drive us 
 
 57 
 
THE CHILD^S BOOK OF AMERICAN HISTORY 
 
 out/^ Then, too, some of the Enghsh were 
 bad and dishonest. They sold the Indians 
 strong drink, which made them ugly. They 
 cheated them out of furs and skins, which 
 they sold at a great price in Europe. 
 
 And so it came about that most of the 
 Indians hated the pale-faced strangers. King 
 Philip was a proud man. He could not bear 
 to see things going on in this way. 
 
 ^' If the red men do not drive out the white 
 men," he said, ^' the palefaces will drive out 
 the red men.'' 
 
 The English did not trust Philip. They 
 had good reason to think that he was plan- 
 ning to do them harm. Indeed, it was true; 
 for he had sent presents to other Indian 
 chiefs, saying, ^^ Come and help us drive out 
 the whites." 
 
 Now began a cruel and bloodthirsty war. 
 It lasted for almost two years. More than a 
 thousand log houses were burned, and six 
 hundred women and children killed or made 
 captives. This war began in 1675, a little 
 
 58 
 
THE child's book OF AMERICAN HISTORY 
 
 over fifty years after the Pilgrims landed at 
 Plymouth. 
 
 At first the fighting took place near Plym- 
 outh. Soon it spread, like a forest fire, to 
 the larger towns along the Connecticut 
 River. 
 
 Years before this the Indians had fought 
 with bow and arrow, and the tomahawk. 
 After a time they traded furs, land, and corn 
 for guns and gunpowder. In a short time 
 they could load and fire a gun as well as a 
 white man. 
 
 The redskins did not fight in the open. 
 They hid behind trees, rocks, and bushes, 
 where they could shoot the settlers without 
 being seen. They could make a noise ex- 
 actly hke a wild turkey. This trick would 
 often draw a white man into the woods, only 
 to be killed by his unseen foe. 
 
 It was the same old story in a hundred 
 villages. The savages would creep up in the 
 night. They would set fire to the cabins, 
 kill or scalp the men, and carry off the women 
 
 59 
 
THE child's book OF AMERICAN HISTORY I 
 
 and children to Canada to be traded for gold, | 
 
 rum, or guns. | 
 
 The Indians made an attack on the village i 
 
 of Brookfield in the Old Bay State. They i 
 burned everything except the blockhouse. 
 
 To this the women and children had fled. \ 
 
 The savages shot burning arrows into the ! 
 roof. But the men tore off the rough shingles 
 and put out the fire. Again the Indians crept 
 
 up, and set fire this time under the corner of \ 
 the blockhouse. The men rushed out and 
 
 once more saved the building. The savages i 
 
 now found a cart, filled it with hay, set it ■ 
 on fire, and pushed it against the house. It 
 
 seemed as if the settlers were to be burned out. | 
 
 All of a sudden it began to grow dark. | 
 
 " God is coming to our help. That big | 
 
 black cloud in the west will surely bring \ 
 
 rain.'' i 
 
 It soon began to rain, and the fire was put ' 
 
 out. A little later some men from a neigh- j 
 
 boring village came to their help and drove 1 
 
 off the redskins. i 
 
 60 I 
 
THE child's book OF AMERICAN HISTORY 
 
 One day a woman was alone in her cabin 
 with her two children. She looked up from 
 her w^ork and saw an Indian peering in at 
 the window. Quick as a flash she put the 
 little ones under a big brass kettle. Then 
 seizing a shovelful of coals from the fireplace, 
 she dashed them into the redskin's face. 
 With a yell of pain he ran into the woods. 
 
 The leading man of the settlers was Cap- 
 tain Benjamin Church. He was a fearless 
 Indian fighter. He knew how to meet the 
 savages in their own way. During the winter 
 a band of Indians gathered in a log fort in 
 Rhode Island. The savages felt safe, for the 
 fort was in a swamp and hard to reach. 
 
 Now was the time to strike a hard blow. 
 Through the deep snow Captain Church led 
 his men into the swamp. It was a long, 
 bloody battle, but the fort was at last taken. 
 The English set fire to the wigwams and put 
 the women and children to death. The 
 Indians lost nearly a thousand of their 
 people. 
 
 61 
 
THE CHILD S BOOK OF AMERICAN HISTORY 
 
 Shortly afterward Captain Church made 
 prisoners of King Phihp's wife and little 
 son. 
 
 '^ It breaks my heart. Now I^m ready to 
 die/^ cried the Indian chief. 
 
 The little boy, the grandson of the great 
 Massasoit, and his mother were sold as 
 slaves, sent to Bermuda, and there died. 
 
 King Philip was hunted like a wild beast 
 from one hiding-place to another. He grew 
 more cruel as he fled from swamp to swamp. 
 He killed one of his men for wanting to make 
 peace with the whites. The brother of the 
 Indian ran away and told Captain Church 
 where Philip was hid. 
 
 A guard of soldiers was put round the 
 swamp. In trying to escape, the chief was 
 shot by the very Indian whose brother he 
 had slain. The settlers cut off the savage's 
 head and carried it to Plymouth, where they 
 put it on a pole in a public place. This was 
 a cruel thing to do, but it was done to make 
 the other Indians afraid. 
 
 62 
 
THE CHILD S BOOK OF AMERICAN HISTORY 
 
 The death of King PhiUp put an end to 
 the war. The Indians never again dared to 
 make a serious attack on the people in this 
 region. 
 
 63 
 
XI 
 
 THE INDIANS ATTACK HAVERHILL 
 
 MORE than two hundred years ago a 
 long war took place between Eng- 
 land and France. This war began 
 in 1702 and lasted for nearly twelve years. 
 It was called Queen Anne's War. It was one 
 part of the long struggle to see whether Eng- 
 land or France was to rule in North America. 
 The Indians for the most part took sides 
 with the French. The settlers along the 
 border lived a life of ever-present peril. 
 Bands of savages came down from Canada. 
 They attacked the little log-house villages. 
 They burned the cabins, killed and scalped 
 the men, and carried off the women and 
 children to be sold in Canada. Savages 
 would hide in the woods for weeks to find a 
 
 64 
 
THE child's book OF AMERICAN HISTORY 
 
 chance to burn some lonely house, and kill 
 and scalp the men at work in the fields. 
 
 In the state of Massachusetts there is now 
 a rich and thriving city called Haverhill, on 
 the Merrimac River. At the time of our 
 story it was a Httle village of thirty log houses. 
 The Indians used to come down the river in 
 their canoes, and kill the settlers. Then 
 with prisoners and plunder they would paddle 
 upstream and steal out of sight in the deep 
 woods of New Hampshire. 
 
 During the summer of 1708 a large band 
 of French and Indians set out from Canada 
 to attack the settlements along the frontier. 
 Among other towns the village of Haverhill 
 was to be visited. 
 
 One Sunday morning in August, about 
 daylight, a shoemaker by the name of John 
 Kezar was walking home from Amesbury. 
 When he was almost at Haverhill, he hap- 
 pened to look through the underbrush, and 
 saw a band of savages marching toward the 
 village. 
 
 65 
 
THE CHILD^S BOOK OF AMERICAN HISTORY 
 
 '' Indians! Indians! " he shouted when he 
 ran to give the alarm. 
 
 He dashed to the green in front of the 
 meetinghouse and fired his gun. 
 
 " Indians! Indians! " was soon heard all 
 over the frontier village. 
 
 The savages scattered in every direction, 
 that they might do their cruel work the more 
 quickly. 
 
 The foremost party of the redskins at- 
 tacked the house of the minister, Benjamin 
 Rolfe. They began to beat down the door 
 with their tomahawks. 
 
 The good man jumped from his bed and 
 braced himself against the stout oak door. 
 There were three soldiers in the house; but 
 they were so afraid that they did not use a 
 gun or lift a finger to defend the place. 
 
 The Indians fired through the door. One 
 of the bullets hit Mr. Rolfe on the elbow. 
 The poor man was not able to defend his 
 own home any longer. He ran out of the 
 back door. The savages caught up with 
 
 66 
 
THE child's book OF AMERICAN HISTORY 
 
 him at the well and killed him with their 
 tomahawks. 
 
 Mr. Rolfe had two httle girls, Mary, thir- 
 teen years old, and Elizabeth, nine. And 
 there was a negro girl, named Hagar. She 
 jumped from her bed, and led the two fright- 
 ened children into the cellar. She put them 
 under big tubs, and then hid herself behind 
 the meat barrel. 
 
 Down came the Indians. They stole every- 
 thing they could carry away. Several times 
 they walked past the tubs that hid the 
 children. They even stepped on the foot of 
 one of them. They drank milk from the 
 pans and hurled them on the cellar floor. 
 They took the meat from the barrel behind 
 which Hagar was hid. But they saw nobody. 
 A nurse named Ann Whittaker lived at Mr. 
 Rolfe's at this time. She hid herself in a 
 chest under the stairs and also escaped with- 
 out harm. 
 
 A family named Hartshorn fared badly. 
 Mr. Hartshorn saw the Indians coming toward 
 
 67 
 
THE child's book OF AMERICAN HISTORY 
 
 his house. He and his two sons ran out. All 
 three were shot dead in the yard. Mrs. 
 Hartshorn, leaving her infant boy asleep in 
 the garret, took the rest of the children 
 through a trapdoor into the cellar. 
 
 The Indians plundered the house, but did 
 not happen to go into the cellar. One big 
 savage went up into the garret, took the 
 baby boy from his bed, and threw him out 
 of the window. The poor thing fell stunned 
 but unharmed on a pile of boards. 
 
 Some of the Indians attacked the house of 
 Mr. Swan, which stood out in a field. The 
 savages tried to break in the front door. 
 
 Mr. Swan was a timid man and told his 
 wife to let the savages in. 
 
 '^ Never,'' cried the heroic woman; ^' let 
 me try and see what I can do." 
 
 A big redskin placed his back against the 
 door, and the others pushed against him. 
 Mrs. Swan seized an iron spit, nearly three 
 feet long. With all her might she drove it 
 through the body of the savage. This was 
 
 68 
 
THE CHILD^S BOOK OF AMERICAN HISTORY 
 
 too much. The Indians ran off and did no 
 harm to the family. 
 
 A small band of Indians set fire to the 
 meetinghouse, one of the largest on the 
 frontier. A man named Davis ran behind a 
 barn which stood near. He struck the side 
 of it long and hard with a big club. 
 
 '^ Come on, men! come on! we'll have 
 them yet/' he shouted, as if giving a word 
 of command. 
 
 Then the Indians began to shout: ^' The 
 English are coming! The English are com- 
 ing! " 
 
 Shortly afterward Major Turner, with a 
 company of soldiers, came to the help of the 
 village. The French and Indians made a 
 hasty retreat, taking with them a number 
 of prisoners. 
 
 Captain Samuel Ayer, a fearless Indian 
 fighter, got together a little band of twenty 
 men and went in pursuit. He shortly came 
 up with the party, and began fighting, al- 
 though against great odds. Another com- 
 
 69 
 
THE child's book OF AMERICAN HISTORY 
 
 pany of settlers soon came to help. The 
 Indians were beaten. They retreated toward 
 Canada, losing a part of their prisoners and 
 leaving some of their own number dead. 
 
 It was a time of sorrow and mourning in 
 that httle frontier village. Sixteen men, 
 women, and children were killed outright. 
 As many more were carried off to Canada as 
 prisoners. It was hot weather, and the dead 
 were buried the same day in one large grave. 
 
 For many years the people of Haverhill 
 suffered hardships from the Indians. That 
 terrible August Sunday was long remem- 
 bered as the last and worst attack. In the 
 old burying ground which overlooks the 
 Merrimac stands a granite monument. It 
 tells in simple words the story of the fight 
 with the Indians and the death of the beloved 
 minister and fifteen of his people on that hot 
 Sunday so many long years ago. 
 
 70 
 
XII 
 
 BETTY MERRILL AND THE BIG CLOCK 
 
 MANY years ago a large part of New 
 Hampshire was one vast wilderness. 
 In this region, on the banks of the 
 Connecticut River, there Hved a settler by 
 the name of John Merrill, with his good wife, 
 Hannah. They had a bright, lively daughter 
 named Betty. She was a girl about twelve 
 years old. 
 
 Now Betty loved her home. She hked to 
 tramp through the deep woods. She made 
 friends with the squirrels, the rabbits, the 
 robins, and the blue jays. She liked to sit 
 on the banks of the river, where she could 
 watch the water and look at a big mountain 
 in the distance. 
 
 Among other things that Betty hked was 
 71 
 
THE child's book OF AMERICAN HISTORY 
 
 the tall clock in a corner of the kitchen. Her 
 grandfather, who lived in London, had sent 
 it as a present to her mother, two years 
 before. Often, when Betty was helping her 
 mother get supper, she would stand before 
 it and watch the long pendulum swing slowly 
 to and fro, and listen to its solemn ticking. 
 
 ^^ Listen sharp, Betty,'' said her father one 
 day, '' and hear what the clock says to you." 
 
 ^^ I'm sure I cannot make it out; what 
 does it say, father? " 
 
 ^^ This is what it says, my girl, ' Be brave, 
 Httle girl, be brave, be brave.' " 
 
 Often after this, when Betty was busy at 
 work, she would look up now and then at the 
 clock and say to herself, " I really believe 
 you do say ^ Be brave, my girl, be brave.' " 
 
 At the time of our story, Betty's mother 
 had gone down the river to spend a few days 
 with a sick neighbor. The little girl was 
 keeping house for her father. 
 
 One cold morning, in the midst of a driving 
 snowstorm, Mr. Merrill was to go on horse- 
 
 72 
 
THE child's book OF AMERICAN HISTORY 
 
 back to get his wife. Behind him was strapped 
 a cushion, or pillion, as it was called, on which 
 the good woman would ride. 
 
 ^' Hurry back with mother,'' cried Betty^ 
 when her father was ready to start. '' It 
 will be dark early; and the snow may drift." 
 
 " I'll hurry back, Bett}^, dear; I don't hke 
 to leave you alone even for a short time. 
 Keep the bar across the door. Have a good 
 fire going." 
 
 The father kissed his daughter and rode 
 away, following a trail through the woods. 
 
 Betty was busy about the house all the 
 morning. She sang as she washed the dishes 
 and put them in order. She swept the kitchen 
 floor and dusted the two oak settles with 
 their high backs and narrow seats. Then 
 she drew the spinning wheel near the fire and 
 spun some flax. After a time she began to 
 get ready for dinner. She pulled out the 
 crane and hung on it the big iron kettle half 
 filled with succotash. 
 
 The tall clock struck tv/elve. 
 73 
 
THE child's book OF AMERICAN HISTORY 
 
 '^ Surely it is almost time for father and 
 mother to come. The snow must be deep in 
 the woods/' 
 
 The clock struck one. No father or mother 
 was to be seen. The clock struck two. The 
 succotash was done long ago. Betty had 
 spread the table with its coarse linen cloth, 
 its cups, pewter spoons, and wooden plates. 
 
 There was a small window in the front of 
 the cabin. The glass was thick with frost. 
 Betty breathed on it, and through the clear 
 place looked down the trail. 
 
 '^ There they are. I can see them just 
 coming out of the woods.'' 
 
 She took the kettle from the crane, dished 
 out the succotash, and put it on the table. 
 Again she looked out of the window. In 
 another moment she shrank with terror. 
 Along the trail were coming two tall Indians. 
 
 '' Oh, what shall I do? Where can I hide? " 
 
 All of a sudden her eyes fell on the clock. 
 
 '^ I know. Perhaps the Indians will not 
 think to look inside of it for me." 
 
 74 
 
THE child's book OF AMERICAN HISTORY 
 
 She ran across the kitchen, pulled open the 
 door of the clock, unfastened the weights, 
 and hid them behind the settle. In another 
 moment she stepped into the clock case and 
 pulled the door to as tight as she could. 
 There was not a moment to spare. One 
 Indian was trying to look in at the window. 
 The other was pounding away on the door 
 with his tomahawk. 
 
 '^ Surely they will break in. I'm glad I'm 
 not a big girl. Dear me, I wish father would 
 come." 
 
 Just at this time there was an angry bark 
 of a dog. Then came the sharp crack of a 
 rifle, a scramble, and a rush outside. 
 
 Betty opened the door of the clock a wee 
 bit. 
 
 ^' That is Johnson's dog Nero; the Indians 
 will run off now. Some of the folks are com- 
 ing home with father." 
 
 Weak and almost ready to faint, she got 
 out of the clock. She lifted the oak bar from 
 the door, and fell in a heap on the floor. 
 
 75 
 
THE child's book OF AMERICAN HISTORY 
 
 In rushed her father and mother, Mr. 
 Johnson, and his two grown-up sons. Nero 
 leaped wildly round the cabin as if chasing 
 a whole tribe of savages. He lapped the 
 girl's face, and barked. The mother dashed 
 cold water into Betty's face and gently rubbed 
 her forehead. In a few moments the child 
 opened her eyes and found herself in her 
 mother's arms. 
 
 '' How is the succotash? " she asked, sit- 
 ting up and looking round the cabin. 
 
 ^^ It is all right," said her father, as he 
 tenderly kissed her. ^' And so are you. I 
 suppose those Indians meant no harm. Per- 
 haps they were only prowling round to steal 
 something. You were a brave little girl, 
 and I am proud of you. Dinner is ready. 
 Let us sit down and eat; for we are all as 
 hungry as bears." 
 
 76 
 
XIII 
 
 WASHINGTON AS A BOY 
 
 GEORGE WASHINGTON is often 
 spoken of as the Father of his Coun- 
 try. He is also called the first of 
 Americans. His birthday is celebrated from 
 one end of our land to the other. Flags fly, 
 cannon boom, and from Maine to California 
 school children celebrate the day by reciting 
 pieces, singing patriotic songs, and listening 
 to eloquent speakers. We like to see the 
 picture of Washington in our homes, in our 
 schools, and in public buildings. Indeed, we 
 have come to know this man's face almost as 
 well as that of our father or mother. 
 
 George Washington was born in Virginia, 
 on February 22, 1732. When he was old 
 enough, he went to a little country school 
 
 77 
 
THE child's book OF AMERICAN HISTORY 
 
 and learned to read, write, and cipher. Be- 
 fore he was twelve, he could write a clear, 
 bold hand. Most children do not care to 
 keep their copy and exercise books. Those 
 of the boy Washington have been kept, and 
 even now, after all these years, are easily 
 read. 
 
 Among the many good rules and sayings 
 which the lad copied in smooth and even 
 lines there is one that we should remember: 
 ^^ Learn to keep alive in your breast that 
 little spark of celestial fire called conscience.'' 
 
 Like most other boys, George was not 
 always busy about his copy books. He grew 
 to be tall, strong, and manly. He was fond 
 of outdoor games and sports. We are told 
 that he could run faster, jump farther, and 
 throw a stone a greater distance than any 
 other boy in Virginia. In their school games 
 his mates used to pick him out as their leader. 
 Just as boys do now, so boys then used to 
 play being soldiers. They had cornstalks 
 for guns, and swords whittled from pine wood. 
 
 78 
 
THE child's book OF AMERICAN HISTORY 
 
 With cheers these boys used to rush into 
 their battles with Captain George as their 
 leader. 
 
 During all his life Washington had a quick 
 temper, but he learned to keep it under 
 control. He was never known to say or do 
 a mean thing. He hated a lie. He was 
 obedient to his father and mother. 
 
 We all know the story of how he used the 
 new hatchet which his father gave him; 
 how he tried its keen edge on many things, 
 and finally cut down one of his father's finest 
 cherry trees; and we know how angry his 
 father was. 
 
 ^^ I wish I knew who cut down my cherry 
 tree. George, do you know who did it? " 
 
 ^^ Father, I cannot tell a lie. I cut down 
 your tree with my new hatchet. I am sorry 
 about it." 
 
 ^^ George, my boy," and the father took his 
 son into his arms, ^^ I had rather lose all my 
 cherry trees than have you tell one lie." 
 
 This story of George and the cherry tree 
 79 
 
THE child's book OF AMERICAN HISTORY 
 
 may not be true; but it is good enough to 
 be true. There is another story, too, worth 
 teUing. It seems that when George was a 
 lad, his mother owned a colt that had never 
 been broken. Nobody about the plantation 
 seemed to care to break him. Indeed, they 
 were a little afraid of him. 
 
 Early one morning George and some of 
 his playmates were out in the pasture. They 
 watched the colt running about and kicking 
 up his heels. This was too much for George. 
 
 " Help me to get a bridle on him, boys, 
 and I will ride him.'' 
 
 After a lively chase they succeeded in 
 catching and bridling the frisky animal. The 
 next moment George was on his back. 
 
 The colt did not like it. He kicked. He 
 almost stood on his head. He plunged about, 
 trying to throw the boy off. George hung 
 tight to his mane. 
 
 '^ Hang on for your life, George, or he will 
 kill you," shouted his companions. 
 
 The fun was getting to be a little bit too 
 80 
 
THE CHILD^S BOOK OF AMERICAN HISTORY 
 
 serious. The boy was perhaps frightened, 
 but he would not let go. All of a sudden the 
 colt gave a leap into the air and fell over on 
 his side dead. He had broken a blood vessel. 
 
 It was a lame and sad boy that trudged 
 back to the house with his playmates coming 
 slowly along behind. 
 
 ^^ Oh, what will mother say? It was her 
 pet colt." 
 
 When the boys came to the front porch, 
 Mrs. Washington called them in to break- 
 fast. 
 
 '' Did you see my sorrel this morning, 
 boys? " 
 
 ''He is dead, mother; I killed him; " and 
 George's eyes filled with tears. 
 
 ''Dead! how can that be? He was not 
 sick early this morning," said Mrs. Wash- 
 ington. 
 
 Then the boy told the whole affair, just as 
 it had taken place. 
 
 His mother was both sorry and glad. She 
 looked steadily at her young son. 
 
 81 
 
THE CHILD S BOOK OF AMERICAN HISTORY 
 
 ^' George, you did wrong; but I am glad 
 you told me the truth. I am indeed sorry to 
 lose my colt, but the truth from you is worth 
 more than everything else. I am glad to 
 have a son who speaks the truth/' 
 
 82 
 
XIV 
 
 WASHINGTON AS A YOUNG MAN 
 
 WHEN Washington was eleven years 
 old, his father died. It was now the 
 mother who had to look after the 
 son. Her first thought was to make him a 
 good man. When the lad was fourteen, he 
 wanted to go to sea. There was a ship at 
 anchor in the Potomac River. George liked 
 to talk with the sailors when they came on 
 shore. In some way he got a chance to ship 
 as a sailor on this vessel. His trunk was 
 packed. His mother had given her consent. 
 When he went to say good-by to her, he found 
 her in tears. 
 
 '^ Oh, George, my dear boy, how can I ever 
 let you go to sea? It was more than I could 
 bear to lose your dear father/^ 
 
 83 
 
THE child's book OF AMERICAN HISTORY 
 
 '^ Mother, I will not go. I will stay with 
 you until I grow up/' 
 
 So he gave up his dream of going to sea. 
 He went back to school and studied mathe- 
 matics and surveying. 
 
 George's older brother, Lawrence, had 
 married the daughter of a rich English noble- 
 man named Sir Thomas Fairfax, who owned 
 thousands of acres of wild land in Virginia. 
 When the old gentleman heard that settlers 
 were building log cabins on his land without 
 his leave, he looked about for somebody to 
 survey the property. One day Lawrence 
 took his young brother along with him to 
 call on Lord Fairfax. The old nobleman 
 took a fancy to the sturdy youth. Together 
 they hunted and fished through the woods 
 and fields of the great estate. Then Sir 
 Thomas hired this boy of sixteen to survey 
 his lands on the other side of the Blue Ridge 
 Mountains. 
 
 Washington, with one friend, set out for 
 the wild region. Of course it was a rough, 
 
 84 
 
THE child's book OF AMERICAN HISTORY 
 
 hard life. They had to cross mountains and 
 wade through rivers, and slept in the open 
 air beside the camp fire. For food they shot 
 wild turkeys and deer and caught fish in the 
 rivers. They cooked their meat and fish 
 on sticks held over the coals of the camp fire. 
 They had no plates and dishes except chips 
 from hickory trees. Now and then they 
 came across bands of Indians. At night, 
 when the day's work was done, the two 
 friends would watch the savages yell and 
 dance to the music of their rude drums. 
 This frontier life was a fine training for the 
 future soldier. The young man gained cour- 
 age and self-control, and learned to endure 
 all manner of hardships. 
 
 Lord Fairfax was well pleased with the 
 work his young friend had done. Off and 
 on, Washington worked three years for the 
 old nobleman. Soon after, he was made a 
 public surveyor, and for his work received a 
 goodly sum every year. 
 
 Now at this time the French had made 
 85 
 
THE child's book OF AMERICAN HISTORY 
 
 homes for themselves in Canada. The Eng- 
 Ush were hving on a narrow strip of land 
 along the coast between the Atlantic Ocean 
 and the mountains. Little by little the 
 French were building forts and making friends 
 with the Indian tribes along the valley of the 
 Ohio. This meant, of course, that the Eng- 
 lish were to keep out of this part of the 
 country. 
 
 " All the land west of the mountains be- 
 longs to us/^ the French declared. 
 
 '^ No, the whole country from the Atlantic 
 to the Pacific belongs to us/^ was the answer 
 of the English. 
 
 The governor of Virginia now decided to 
 write a letter to the French on the distant 
 frontier, to tell them that the land belonged 
 to the English. Who was to carry the letter 
 over the mountains and through the thick 
 woods? 
 
 '^ Young George Washington is the man 
 to do it," said the governor; ^^ he knows the 
 Indians and is not afraid of them; I will 
 
 86 
 
THE CHILD^S BOOK OF AMERICAN HISTORY 
 
 send him. He is young, but he is the best 
 man in Virginia for this trip." 
 
 So with a frontier friend named Gist, a 
 few hunters, and an Indian guide, Washing- 
 ton set out on a trip of nearly five hundred 
 miles to the French forts. After a long, hard 
 tramp the little party reached a French out- 
 post near Lake Erie. 
 
 ^^ We will hold the Ohio in spite of what 
 you Enghsh can do," sneered the French 
 captain of the outpost. 
 
 Another long tramp was taken to the next 
 frontier fort. 
 
 " We are all under orders to keep the Eng- 
 lish out of the Ohio Valley," firmly replied 
 the French commander when he read the 
 governor's letter; '^ and we intend to do 
 our duty." 
 
 With his pack on his back and his gun on 
 his shoulder, Washington now started to 
 make his way back home. It was a slow and 
 painful trip. It was late in the season, and 
 snow covered the ground. The rivers were 
 
 87 
 
THE child's book OF AMERICAN HISTORY 
 
 full of ice. There were no paths through the 
 woods. Indeed, if Gist had not been so skill- 
 ful a woodsman, Washington might never 
 have reached home again. The Indian guide 
 proved a rascal. He begged to carry Wash- 
 ington's gun for him, but the young Virginian 
 did not trust him. One night when the Uttle 
 party was tramping along single file, the 
 Indian turned suddenly and fired at Wash- 
 ington from behind a tree. It was dark, 
 and the bullet missed its mark. Gist wanted 
 to kill the Indian, but Washington would not 
 allow him to do so. 
 
 On another occasion Washington nearly 
 lost his life. He and his friend had reached 
 the Allegheny River. It was full of floating 
 ice. They worked long and hard to make a 
 raft of logs. When they were pushing across 
 with a pole, a big cake of ice struck them. 
 Washington was thrown into the water. The 
 two men at last got ashore on a little island. 
 There was no way to build a fire, and they 
 had to keep walking all night in their wet 
 
 88 
 
GIST WANTED TO KILL THE INDIAN. Page 
 
THE child's book OF AMERICAN HISTORY 
 
 clothing. In the early morning they were 
 able to get across on the ice. 
 
 After many other hardships and perils 
 Washington reached Virginia and told the 
 story of his trip. The governor was much 
 pleased with what his young friend had done, 
 and made him a colonel. It was now Colonel 
 Washington. 
 
 At this time Washington was twenty-two 
 years old and more than six feet tall. He was 
 straight as an arrow and tough as a hickory 
 tree. The people of Virginia said he was the 
 strongest and bravest young man in the state. 
 
 The governor of Virginia now made ready 
 for the war which everybody knew was sure 
 to break out. Colonel Washington, with a 
 small force, was sent over the mountains to 
 build a fort on the Ohio River. This he did 
 near the place where the great city of Pitts- 
 burg now stands. 
 
 '^ There will be a great city on this spot 
 some day/' said Washington to his men. 
 
 The enemy now began to give them trouble. 
 89 
 
THE child's book OF AMERICAN HISTORY 
 
 Washington had only a few soldiers, while the 
 French had a great many. He was wise 
 and prudent. He gave up his fort, and was 
 allowed to go back to Virginia. 
 
 This was the beginning of a bitter war 
 which lasted for nine years. It is known as 
 the French and Indian War. When peace 
 came, in 1763, France gave up to England 
 the whole of Canada with all the vast region 
 between the Alleghenies and the Mississippi 
 River, except the city of New Orleans. 
 Washington had become a hero to the people 
 of Virginia. He now married a lady named 
 Martha Custis, and went to live at Mount 
 Vernon; for his brother Lawrence had died 
 and he had fallen heir to the property. At 
 this time he was known as one of the richest 
 men in the state and also as the ablest and 
 bravest soldier in Virginia. 
 
 90 
 
XV 
 
 LIFE AT MOUNT VERNON 
 
 MOUNT VERNON, the home of 
 George Washington, is on the Po- 
 tomac River, sixteen miles below 
 the capital. This spot was to Washington 
 the dearest place on earth. He was sorry to 
 leave it. He was always glad to go back to 
 it. When the American Revolution was over, 
 Washington served his country eight years as 
 president, and then retired to Mount Vernon 
 to spend his last days. He died here in the 
 year 1799. 
 
 Mount Vernon was one of the loveliest and 
 finest estates in the country. The entrance 
 is in the rear of the mansion, near the old 
 gateway used in Washington's time. On the 
 left, as you enter the grounds, is the old 
 
 91 
 
THE child's book OF AMERICAN HISTORY 
 
 flower garden. In it may still be seen many 
 of the plants and shrubs which were given to 
 Washington by some of the noted men of his 
 time. The famous Mary Washington rose- 
 bush still blooms. It came from France, and 
 was named by Washington in honor of his 
 mother. 
 
 In front of the great house is a broad lawn, 
 which slopes to the banks of the Potomac. 
 In the rear are an orchard, the garden, and a 
 deer park. At either end of the mansion 
 is a long, arched gallery which leads to the 
 kitchen and other outbuildings. 
 
 In the old coach house you may still see 
 the family carriage. In it Washington and 
 his family used to ride eight miles to church. 
 It took four horses to draw it over the muddy 
 Virginia roads. 
 
 Down the path, a little way to the right 
 toward the river, is Washington's tomb. 
 Through the iron grating of the door may be 
 seen two caskets, hewn from single pieces of 
 marble. They hold the remains of General 
 
 92 
 
THE CHILD^S BOOK OF AMERICAN HISTORY 
 
 Washington and his wife. How many fa- 
 mous men and women of the world have 
 stood with bowed heads before this sacred 
 spot! 
 
 Washington's bride was a widow named 
 Martha Custis. She brought to Mount Ver- 
 non her two children. Washington called 
 his stepdaughter Patsy, and his stepson 
 Jacky. 
 
 Patsy died when she was seventeen. Jack 
 grew up to be a soldier. He died of camp 
 fever at the siege of Yorktown, leaving a 
 little daughter, Eleanor, only two years old. 
 Washington tells us that when he received 
 news of Jack's death, he threw himself on his 
 camp bed and cried like a child. 
 
 Now Httle Eleanor, or Nellie, as she was 
 usually called, was given to Washington to 
 bring up as his own child. She was adopted 
 '' in full legal form." She became the pride 
 and pet of the great man, and hved at 
 Mount Vernon until the death of Wash- 
 ington. 
 
 93 
 
THE CHILD^S BOOK OF AMERICAN HISTORY 
 
 When you go to Mount Vernon you may 
 see her room as it was furnished when she 
 lived there. In one corner is her bed with its 
 tall posts and its curtains of cloth called 
 dimity. The bed is so high that she had to 
 step up three steps to get into it. 
 
 On the first floor at Mount Vernon is the 
 music room. In this room is the old-fashioned 
 piano which Washington bought in London 
 and gave Nellie as a wedding present. The 
 lively young girl liked much better to romp 
 in the woods and ride the unbroken colts 
 than to study music. We are not surprised 
 to read that she used to cry when the time 
 came to practice her music lessons. 
 
 In this same music room you may see a 
 queer guitar which Nellie played when she 
 grew older. There is also a flute which 
 Washington used to play. 
 
 We are told that the grave and stately man 
 Vi^ould unbend a good deal when Nellie 
 amused him with her bright chatter and 
 sunny smiles. Indeed, this merry girl was 
 
 94 
 
THE child's book OF AMERICAN HISTORY 
 
 said to be the only person who was known 
 to make Washington laugh aloud. 
 
 In those days every little girl of a good 
 family was taught to work with fancy stitches 
 her name and age, the alphabet, and trees 
 and houses on a square piece of canvas. This 
 was called '' working a sampler/' These 
 samplers were often framed and hung up on 
 the walls, just like pictures. Some of the 
 samplers that Nellie made are still to be seen 
 in her room at Mount Vernon 
 
 When Washington was chosen president of 
 the new nation, he lived in New York, which 
 was then the capital of the country. Nellie 
 went along and hved in that city for eight 
 years. During this time she saw and talked 
 with most of the famous men of our country. 
 
 Nellie Custis grew up to be a sweet and 
 lovely lady. She married Washington's 
 nephew. Washington gave the young hus- 
 band a fine estate near Mount Vernon, but 
 as long as Washington lived, Nellie and her 
 husband made their home with him. 
 
 95 
 
THE child's book OF AMERICAN HISTORY 
 
 Nellie lived to be an old lady. She was 
 buried at Mount Vernon. Her tomb is near 
 that of Washington. On the marble stone 
 you may read how she was ^^ raised under 
 the roof of the Father of his Country/' and 
 that she ^^ was a fair and lovely woman and 
 dearly beloved by all.'' 
 
 96 
 
XVI 
 
 THE DEFEAT OF GENERAL BRADDOCK 
 
 THE French had made their homes in 
 Canada. The English were settled 
 along the coast of the Atlantic. At 
 the time of our story, the French were com- 
 ing south. They built a string of forts and 
 trading posts from the Great Lakes down the 
 Ohio Valley, and even to the Gulf of Mexico. 
 The Allegheny Mountains made a kind of 
 natural boundary between the English along 
 the coast and the French in the West. 
 
 ^' John Cabot and his son sailed along this 
 coast years before the French came here; so 
 the land belongs to us,'' the EngUsh de- 
 clared. 
 
 ^^ No," answered the French, *' it belongs 
 to us; you must stay between the mountains 
 and the ocean." 
 
 97 
 
THE child's book OF AMERICAN HISTORY 
 
 Now began the long struggle to decide 
 whether the French or the English should be 
 masters of America. It is known as the 
 French and Indian War. In this, as in other 
 wars, the Indians for the most part took sides 
 with the French. 
 
 The spot where the city of Pittsburgh now 
 stands was the most important point along 
 the frontier. It was the main entrance to the 
 Ohio Valley. It was long called the Gateway 
 of the West. 
 
 ^^ Here is a fine place for a fort/' Washing- 
 ton had said years before, when he was sent 
 to tell the French to leave the Ohio Valley; 
 ^^ there will be a great city on this spot some 
 day.'' 
 
 So the English made haste and began to 
 build a fort at this place. But the French 
 came along, drove the English off, and fin- 
 ished the fort for their own use. 
 
 The next year the king of England sent his 
 soldiers to force out the French. General 
 Braddock was in command. 
 
 98 
 
THE CHILD S BOOK OF AMERICAN HISTORY 
 
 " Send that young Colonel Washington to 
 me/^ were General Braddock^s words when 
 he landed in Virginia; '^ I need his help to 
 drive the French from the Ohio/^ 
 
 Washington replied, " I will take my rifle- 
 men and go with you/^ 
 
 Now General Braddock was a brave sol- 
 dier, but he knew nothing about fighting In- 
 dians. The savages, as we have already seen, 
 do not come out and fight in the open. They 
 lurk in the woods, and fire from shelter. 
 
 " We must send out scouts, General Brad- 
 dock, ^^ said Washington; '^ the Indians will 
 lie hid and will jump out at us when we least 
 expect it.'' 
 
 J' Pooh, pooh! '' was the reply of the proud 
 British general; " the idea of a boy's telhng 
 an old soldier what to do. We shall make 
 short work of the Indians." 
 
 So General Braddock and his redcoats set 
 out on their long march toward Fort Du- 
 quesne. The settlers of Virginia stood in the 
 doors of their log cabins to see the fine sol- 
 
 99 
 
THE child's book OF AMERICAN HISTORY 
 
 diers march through the villages. Drums 
 were beating, fifes were playing, and banners 
 waved in the air. 
 
 In a few days the army plunged into the 
 deep woods. There were no roads, only 
 bridle paths. The little army marched more 
 than four weeks, and was now only eight 
 miles from the fort. 
 
 ^' The enemy cannot escape us to-morrow, '' 
 declared General Braddock. ^' What do you 
 say. Colonel Washington? '^ 
 
 ^' Perhaps you are right; but we must be 
 careful. Between us and the fort is a deep 
 valley. The Indians may hide there and 
 attack us before we can help ourselves. Let 
 me send out my riflemen as scouts. '' 
 
 General Braddock was angry. " Do not 
 tell me what to do, young man; I was an 
 officer in the king's army long before you 
 were born." 
 
 The next day the redcoats were hewing 
 their road along a narrow trail. No scouts 
 were sent in advance. It was a hot day in 
 
 100 
 
THE child's book OF AMERICAN HISTORY 
 
 July. Not a sound was heard but the ring of 
 the ax and the falling of trees. Into a deep, 
 narrow valley they were making their way 
 without a thought of a hidden enemy. 
 
 All of a sudden, Hke a clap of thunder out 
 of a clear sky, rang out the dreadful war 
 whoop of the Indians. From behind trees, 
 bushes, and rocks the savages shot down the 
 Enghsh soldiers. 
 
 The redcoats were veterans. They had 
 often fought in wars at home. But for the 
 first time they were to meet a foe of another 
 kind. They stood in ranks to shoot, but 
 there was no enemy in sight. From the 
 thick underbrush rang out the rifles amid 
 the yells of the enemy. Scores of men were 
 shot down Hke sheep, with nothing to be 
 seen but puffs of smoke. Those who Uved 
 through that afternoon said they could not 
 be sure that they had caught sight of a single 
 Indian. 
 
 General Braddock did all that a brave man 
 could do. Four horses were killed under him. 
 
 101 
 
THE CHILD^S BOOK OF AMERICAN HISTORY 
 
 He was soon fatally wounded, and the army 
 was in a panic. 
 
 Colonel Washington and his riflemen came 
 up from the rear in the nick of time. They 
 took to the rocks and bushes and fought the 
 Indians in their own way. Washington had 
 two horses shot under him. Four bullets 
 went through his coat. Years afterward an 
 old Indian chief said that in this battle he 
 had fired at Washington many times, but 
 that the young American brave seemed to 
 have a charmed hfe. 
 
 ^^ What is to be done now? ^' whispered the 
 dying British general. 
 
 '^ We must withdraw at once/^ replied 
 Washington. 
 
 The young Virginian and his riflemen held 
 the savages back until the British troops 
 retired to a safe place. 
 
 It was a terrible defeat. Seven hundred 
 English regulars were killed. Before dark all 
 that was left of Braddock's army was in full 
 retreat. Washington and his men brought 
 
 102 
 
THE CHILD^S BOOK OF AMERICAN HISTORY 
 
 up the rear. By their skill and courage they 
 had saved the remnant of the British sol- 
 diers. 
 
 General Braddock died a few days after. 
 He was secretly buried in the trail. Wash- 
 ington read the burial service by twilight. 
 The soldiers, horses, and wagons, in their 
 mad flight, passed over the grave and blotted 
 out every sign of the weird burial place. 
 This was done at the general's request, to 
 prevent the Indians from finding the body. 
 
 The French and Indian War lasted nearly 
 eight years. At the end of it the French 
 were driven out of the vast territory west of 
 the Allegheny Mountains. Even Canada 
 was given up to the English. The settlers 
 along the coast were soon making their way 
 over the mountains to find new homes in the 
 region now known as Kentucky and Tennes- 
 see. 
 
 103 
 
XVII 
 
 KING GEORGE TAXES THE COLONIES 
 
 THE French and Indian War was at an 
 end. It had cost much money, des- 
 troyed the hves of many brave men, 
 and brought untold suffering and hardship 
 upon thousands of innocent people. And yet 
 this war had taught its lesson to our people. 
 It had brought the colonies together and 
 given them some dim notion of their united 
 strength. Thousands of men had been trained 
 to the use of arms side by side with the Brit- 
 ish regulars. And now that there was peace 
 with France, our people felt less need of the 
 protection of the mother country. Besides 
 all this, the vast region east of the Mississippi 
 was left open for the colonists to lay the 
 foundation stones of a new nation. 
 
 104 
 
THE child's book OF AMERICAN HISTORY 
 
 The European nations that planted colo- 
 nies in this country treated them after 
 the selfish and narrow notions of the time. 
 England also used to make all manner of laws 
 to squeeze money out of her colonies. Loss 
 in trade fell on us, while the gain went to the 
 people across the Atlantic. Twenty-five years 
 before the Revolution no less than twenty- 
 nine acts of Parliament had been passed for 
 this purpose. 
 
 It was a sad day for the British Empire 
 when George the Third, a young man of 
 twenty-two, came to the throne. He was 
 selfish, stubborn, and weak. He hated every- 
 body who stood up for the rights of the people. 
 He seemed to think that the colonies across 
 the sea belonged to him. 
 
 '' My colonies," he said, ^^ must pay their 
 share of our war debt and the cost of keeping 
 soldiers in America.'' 
 
 ^^ No, indeed," cried our people; '^ we can 
 take care of ourselves without help of any 
 kind." 
 
 105 
 
THE child's book OF AMERICAN HISTORY 
 
 In spite of all their hardships our people 
 were thrifty. They built ships, sailed to 
 the West Indies, and traded lumber and 
 fish for sugar, molasses, and silver dollars. 
 They made boots, shoes, hats, glass, salt, 
 gunpowder, and many other useful things, 
 and sold them across the Atlantic. In New 
 England alone five hundred vessels engaged 
 in trading along the coast and in foreign 
 lands. 
 
 These and many other signs of progress 
 stirred the jealousy of the British rulers. 
 
 " This will never do,'' they declared. '^ Our 
 colonies in America are getting too rich. The 
 French and Spaniards are getting their money. 
 We must have it. We must force them to 
 trade with us." 
 
 From his youth the queen mother had been 
 saying to her son, '' George, be a king." 
 
 So now the dull ruler was eager to show his 
 power. He and his short-sighted advisers 
 began to pick a quarrel with the colonies. 
 Harsh and unjust laws which had been dead 
 
 106 
 
THE child's book OF AMERICAN HISTORY 
 
 for years were now brought to life. A stand- 
 ing army was to be kept in America. Our 
 merchants were not allowed to send out goods 
 to other lands, or bring in any except from 
 English colonies. They could not bring in 
 sugar or molasses without paying a tax. 
 They could buy their hardware only in Eng- 
 land. 
 
 It was against the law for us to make goods 
 from the wool of our own sheep. A farmer 
 could not cut down the trees on his own land 
 to make staves and barrels. As for chairs, 
 tables, wagons, and so on, the lumber must 
 first be shipped to England to be worked up, 
 and the finished goods brought back to this 
 country. 
 
 Pine trees twelve inches or more in diame- 
 ter were marked with what was called the 
 king's arrow, which meant that they must be 
 saved for the Royal Navy. A man could not 
 cut down one of these trees to build his own 
 house. And before he could clear his own 
 land, he had to pay the king's officer to 
 
 107 
 
THE child's book OF AMERICAN HISTORY 
 
 come and cut the arrow mark on his own 
 trees. 
 
 Of course these unwise and unjust laws 
 caused a great deal of ill will and hatred 
 toward the mother country. If they had been 
 strictly enforced, probably the American Rev- 
 olution would have broken out several years 
 before it did. 
 
 King George now made up his mind to send 
 his soldiers to America. To pay for it, he 
 planned to make our people pay a direct tax. 
 The Stamp Act was passed. By this law we 
 were forced to use stamps, not unlike our 
 postage stamps, on notes, wills, deeds, and 
 even on pamphlets, newspapers, and alma- 
 nacs. The cost of a stamp ran from one cent 
 to fifty dollars. No document was legal unless 
 it was stamped. 
 
 A storm of indignation swept over the land. 
 The injustice of the law made the people 
 angry. What right, they asked, had the king 
 and the British Parliament to force a tax on 
 them? " Taxation without representation is 
 
 108 
 
THE CHILD^S BOOK OF AMERICAN HISTORY 
 
 tyranny/^ became the watchword of the 
 hour. 
 
 One day the Virginia Assembly was in 
 session. Washington was there, and Thomas 
 Jefferson, then a young law student, stood 
 listening at the door. Patrick Henry stoutly 
 claimed that Virginia was not bound to obey 
 any law which was plainly a menace to the 
 common freedom of Englishmen. 
 
 ^^ Caesar had his Brutus,'^ said the elo- 
 quent and fearless orator; ^^ Charles the First 
 his Cromwell, and George the Third — ^^ 
 
 ^^ Treason! ^^ shouted the speaker of the 
 Assembly; and the cry, " Treason, treason! '' 
 rang through the room. 
 
 The intrepid patriot did not flinch. '^ And 
 George the Third may profit by their example. 
 If that be treason, make the most of it! ^^ 
 
 On the day the Stamp Act became a law, 
 funeral bells were tolled, flags were put at 
 half mast, and shops were closed. 
 
 The people refused to buy the stamps. 
 Packages of them were burned in the streets. 
 
 109 
 
THE child's book OF AMERICAN HISTORY 
 
 Boxes of them were seized on vessels and 
 thrown into the sea. Stamp officers were 
 dragged out of their beds and made to swear 
 that they would not sell them. The hated 
 stamp tax was done away with after one year. 
 
 King George was now angrier than ever. 
 He was not slow to pick a fresh quarrel. 
 Laws were passed by Parliament by which 
 duties were laid on tea, glass, paper, oil, and 
 a few other articles, if brought from foreign 
 lands. 
 
 Our people also were more angry than be- 
 fore. Thousands declared with Sam Adams 
 that they would '^ eat nothing, drink nothing, 
 and wear nothing " from England until all 
 the duties had been taken off. The shop- 
 keepers now found their business going to 
 ruin. Ships that came with Enghsh goods 
 had to sail back without unloading a single 
 article. 
 
 The colonists did not wish to break from 
 England. It was only liberty they wanted. 
 They came from England, and England they 
 
 no 
 
THE child's book OF AMERICAN HISTORY 
 
 loved. It was their mother country. They 
 called themselves Englishmen. They had 
 fought for England, and they were willing 
 to fight her battles again. 
 
 ^' We will buy your goods/' they said. 
 '' We will help fight your battles. Give us 
 our Hberties. This is all we ask." 
 
 But this the king would not do. He would 
 not listen to reason. He thought the colonies 
 were weak and would not dare to resist the 
 royal power. During all the time of this 
 quarrel the king was his own prime minister 
 and did things in his own way. His policy 
 was to force the colonists from their position; 
 for the colonists insisted that they ought not 
 to be taxed without having some part in 
 making the laws. 
 
 We should keep in mind, however, that 
 many of the best people in England did not 
 favor this harsh and unwise treatment of the 
 colonies in America. 
 
 Ill 
 
XVIII 
 
 THE EVE OF THE REVOLUTION 
 
 THE quarrel between the colonies and 
 the mother country grew more and 
 more bitter. 
 ^^ Pay the taxes/' declared King George, 
 ^^ or I will send my soldiers over and make 
 you/' 
 
 '' We will not pay taxes/' rephed the colo- 
 nists, '' unless we can have something to say 
 about making the laws." 
 
 Two regiments of British soldiers were 
 sent to Boston. The people were angry, and 
 insulted the redcoats. 
 
 ^' What right have these soldiers in Bos- 
 ton, anyway? " they asked. 
 
 The boys laughed at the British and called 
 them lobster backs. 
 
 112 
 
THE child's book OF AMERICAN HISTORY 
 
 ^^ Lobster backs! Kill the lobster backs/' 
 shouted the crowd, when the troops paraded 
 the streets on Sunday morning. 
 
 In winter the boys used to coast down to 
 the frog pond in the Common. They became 
 excited when they saw the redcoats going into 
 camp close by. The soldiers, as the story 
 goes, used to tease the youngsters by spoiling 
 their sledding. 
 
 One day, having rebuilt their sHdes, and 
 finding, on their return from school, that 
 they were again destroyed, several of the 
 boys went to the captain and complained. 
 
 The officer made fun of them; and the 
 soldiers became more troublesome than 
 ever. 
 
 At last a party of some of the larger boys 
 waited on General Gage, the commander in 
 chief. He asked why so many children had 
 called on him. 
 
 '' We come, sir,'' said the tallest boy, '^ to 
 demand satisfaction." 
 
 ''What," said the general, ''have your 
 113 
 
THE child's book OF AMERICAN HISTORY 
 
 fathers been teaching you rebellion, and sent 
 you to exhibit it here? " 
 
 ^^ Nobody sent us, sir/' replied the boy, 
 while his eyes flashed and his cheeks grew 
 red; ^^ we have never injured or insulted' 
 your troops, but they have spoiled our snow 
 slides and broken the ice on our skating 
 grounds. We complained, and they called 
 us young rebels, and told us to help ourselves 
 if we could. We told the captain, and he 
 laughed at us. Yesterday our slides were 
 destroyed the third time, and we will bear it 
 no longer." 
 
 General Gage was a kind-hearted man. 
 After gazing on the boys in silent admiration 
 for a moment, he turned to an officer by his 
 side, and said, ^^ The very children here draw 
 in a love of liberty with the air they breathe. 
 You may go, my brave boys, and be assured 
 that if my soldiers trouble you again, they 
 shall be punished." 
 
 One winter day a crowd of Boston school- 
 boys pelted one of the hated tax collectors 
 
 114 
 
THE CHILD^S BOOK OF AMERICAN HISTORY 
 
 with snowballs and drove him into his house. 
 The man opened a window and rashly fired 
 a gun at random. A boy named Snider was 
 killed. 
 
 A few days later, on the Common, there 
 was trouble between the soldiers and some 
 rope makers. The redcoats got the worst of 
 it. 
 
 One night in March, 1770, some soldiers 
 stationed in Boston got into a quarrel with 
 the people, and the noise increased until the 
 guard was called out. When the regulars 
 drew up in line, most of the crowd fell back. 
 
 A few remained and insulted the redcoat 
 soldiers, shouting, '^ Lobster backs! Fire if 
 you dare, you cowards! You don^t dare to 
 fire." 
 
 Captain Preston, the officer in command, 
 gave the word, ^^ Fire! " 
 
 The soldiers fired. 
 
 Five men were killed and several wounded. 
 
 There was now intense excitement in Bos- 
 ton. The next day the Old South Church was 
 
 115 
 
THE child's book OF AMERICAN HISTORY 
 
 crowded with an angry town meeting. Thou- 
 sands filled the streets. The people demanded 
 that the troops be removed. 
 
 The governor promised to remove one 
 regiment. 
 
 '^ Both regiments or none/' was the an- 
 swer. 
 
 Samuel Adams waited on the governor; 
 stretching forth his long right arm, and point- 
 ing his finger at him, he sternly demanded, in 
 the name of three thousand freemen, that 
 every British soldier be removed from Boston. 
 
 ^^ I observed his knees to tremble,'' said 
 the stern patriot in after years, ^^ I saw his 
 face grow pale, and I enjoyed the sight." 
 
 Before sunset of the same day the British 
 troops were removed from the city and sent 
 to an island in the harbor. Not until then 
 did the meeting in the Old South Church 
 break up. 
 
 The unfortunate act of the soldiers in 
 killing the people was the so-called Boston 
 Massacre. It did more to mould public 
 
 116 
 
THE child's book OF AMERICAN HISTORY 
 
 opinion than weeks of fine talk could have 
 done. It was one step, and an important 
 one, toward the final appeal to the bayonet. 
 
 The quarrel did not stop. Three years had 
 passed, and King George had taken the tax 
 off everything except tea. 
 
 ^^ We don't mind the tax of a few cents on 
 a pound of tea," said the people; '^ this is 
 not the point. You have no right to tax us 
 unless we can help to make the laws.'' 
 
 ^^ Buy the taxed tea or go without." 
 
 Three of the king's ships landed their tea 
 in Charleston, South Carolina, but nobody 
 would sell it. It was hid in a damp cellar 
 and left to spoil. In vain the royal officers 
 tried to land tea in New York and Philadel- 
 phia. The shipowners were glad to send 
 their unloaded vessels back to England. 
 
 In Boston things took a different turn. 
 Warning was several times given to the mas- 
 ters of the ships to sail out of the harbor. 
 On the last day before the tea must be landed, 
 or be prevented from landing, a town meeting 
 
 117 
 
THE child's book OF AMERICAN HISTORY 
 
 was held in the Old South Church. There 
 was a crowd in the church, and in the streets. 
 
 The discussion continued until dark, and 
 candles were brought in. It was decided that 
 the tea should not be landed. 
 
 ^' Who knows/ ^ shouted somebody in the 
 audience, '^ how tea will mix with salt water? '' 
 
 The church rang with cheers. 
 
 Then up rose Samuel Adams and said, 
 '^ This meeting can do nothing more to save 
 the country. '^ 
 
 This was the signal. 
 
 A war whoop was heard outside, and forty 
 or fifty men, disguised as Indians, went 
 quietly aboard the three vessels. Before the 
 nine o'clock bell rang, three hundred and 
 forty-two chests of tea had been cut open 
 and their contents emptied into Boston 
 Harbor. 
 
 The next morning there was not a chest of 
 taxed tea in Boston, on shipboard or on shore. 
 At the same time Paul Revere was riding 
 with all haste to Philadelphia to let the good 
 
 118 
 
THE child's book OF AMERICAN HISTORY 
 
 people of that city know that Boston was 
 ready to fight for her rights. 
 
 One of the '' Indians '' found a handful of 
 tea in his shoe. He saved it and sealed it in 
 a bottle. It is still shown as a souvenir of 
 this informal '^ tea party '^ in Boston Har- 
 bor. 
 
 This was the famous Boston Tea Party. It 
 took place in the middle of December, 1773. 
 There was not the sHghtest disorder. The 
 ^' Indians '^ quietly went back to their homes. 
 The people of the thirteen colonies showed 
 every sign of joy when swift riders carried 
 the good news everywhere. 
 
 119 
 
XIX 
 
 ^^ THE MIDNIGHT MESSAGE OF PAUL KEVERE '^ 
 
 ** Listen, my children, and you shall hear 
 Of the midnight ride of Paul Revere, 
 On the eighteenth of April, in Seventy-five; 
 Hardly a man is now alive 
 Who remembers that famous day and year/' 
 
 GENERAL GAGE was in command of 
 the British forces in America. There 
 were now about four thousand red- 
 coats in Boston. It was plain enough that 
 this meant war. 
 
 ^^ If we must fight, we will get ready/' 
 said the patriots, and formed themselves in- 
 to companies. They were ready to march at 
 a minute^s notice, and came to be called min- 
 utemen. 
 
 General Gage sent his spies far and wide 
 120 
 
THE child's book OF AMERICAN HISTORY 
 
 to find where the powder and supplies of the 
 patriots were kept. On one trip the redcoats 
 looted Salem. On another raid they seized 
 the powder in the old powder house on Winter 
 Hill, in Somerville. 
 
 About this time the patriots began to store 
 gunpowder, bullets, and pickaxes, besides a 
 goodly amount of food and other supplies, in 
 the village of Concord, twenty miles from 
 Boston. 
 
 Secret societies were formed in Boston to 
 watch the movements of the enemy. Picked 
 men walked the streets night and day to 
 learn of any sudden or unusual doings of the 
 soldiers. Meetings were held to which no- 
 body was admitted without having taken 
 oath on the Bible not to reveal anything that 
 was said or done. 
 
 One of the leaders of the patriots in and 
 about Boston was the famous Dr. Joseph 
 Warren, who was killed at Bunker Hill. He 
 chose Paul Revere as his right-hand man. 
 Revere was at this time about forty years old. 
 
 121 
 
THE CHILD^S BOOK OF AMiERICAN HISTORY 
 
 He was the leader of a band of thirty patriots 
 who served as a vigilance committee. They 
 were all eyes and ears, but as close-mouthed 
 as oysters. 
 
 General Gage now laid his plans to send 
 soldiers by night to Concord. He wished to 
 destroy the military supplies and capture 
 Samuel Adams and John Hancock, who were 
 known to be in that neighborhood. A Brit- 
 ish officer told this to a gunsmith, named 
 Jasper, who quickly sent word to Dr. Warren. 
 A hostler named Ballard overheard a red- 
 coat officer say, ^^ There will be the mischief 
 to pay to-morrow." The news was at once 
 sent to Paul Revere. This was in the eve- 
 ning of the eighteenth of April. 
 
 The patriots now believed that the long- 
 expected war was going to begin. The Sons 
 of Liberty quickly carried the news to Dr. 
 Warren. He sent for William Dawes and 
 Paul Revere, and planned for them to ride 
 to Lexington to spread the alarm. Paul 
 Revere called on his friend Captain Pulling, 
 
 122 
 
TH^E CHILD S BOOK OF AMERICAN HISTORY 
 
 to arrange for a signal from the tower of the 
 Old North Church, that he might know what 
 direction the British troops were taking. 
 
 '' He said to his friend, ' If the British march 
 By land or sea from the town to-night, 
 Hang a lantern aloft in the belfry arch 
 Of the North Church tower, as a signal light, 
 One, if by land, and two, if by sea; 
 And I on the opposite shore will be. 
 Ready to ride and spread the alarm 
 Through every Middlesex village and farm, 
 For the country folk to be up and to arm.' " 
 
 Then he said good night and hurried to his 
 boat, which lay near the present Craigie 
 bridge. 
 
 Two of his friends went to the boat with 
 him. Out in the Charles River the British 
 man-of-war Somerset lay at anchor. Revere 
 was afraid that the noise of the rowing might 
 alarm the sentries, and sent one of his com- 
 panions to the house of a friend for some- 
 thing to muffle the oars. The man quickly 
 ' came back with a petticoat, which a Daughter 
 
 123 
 
THE child's book OF AMERICAN HISTORY 
 
 of Liberty gave him. Revere and his friends 
 pushed off from the Boston shore only five 
 minutes before General Gage's order went 
 forth to allow nobody to leave the town that 
 night 
 
 '' Then he said ' Good night, and with muffled oar 
 Silently rowed to the Charlestown shore, 
 Just as the moon rose over the bay, 
 Where swinging wide at her moorings lay 
 The Somerset, British man-of-war; 
 A phantom ship, with each mast and spar 
 Across the moon, like a prison bar, 
 And a huge black hulk, that was magnified 
 By its own reflection in the tide." 
 
 Late in the night, under cover of the dark- 
 ness, eight hundred British regulars went 
 quietly to their boats and were rowed across 
 the Charles River, which in those days 
 widened into a bay extending to the foot of 
 the Common. They had acted with great 
 secrecy, but they did not escape the vigilance 
 of the patriots. Captain Pulling at once 
 made for the Old North Church. 
 
 The clocks were striking eleven. 
 124 
 
THE child's book OF AMERICAN HISTORY 
 
 '' Meanwhile, impatient to mount and ride, 
 Booted and spurred, with heavy stride 
 On the opposite shore walked Paul Revere. 
 Now he patted his horse's side, 
 Now gazed at the landscape far and near, 
 Then, impetuous, stamped the earth, 
 And turned and tightened his saddle girth; 
 But mostly he watched with eager search. 
 The belfry tower of the Old North Church, 
 As it rose above the graves on the hill. 
 Lonely and spectral and sombre and still. 
 And lo! as he looks, on the belfry's height 
 A glimmer, and then a gleam of light! 
 He springs to the saddle, the bridle he turns, 
 But Hngers and gazes, till full on his sight 
 A second lamp in the belfry burns." 
 
 Springing into the saddle, he dashed off 
 toward Medford. 
 
 '^ Halt! " shouted a sharp voice. 
 
 Two British troopers were standing guard 
 under a tree in a narrow part of the road. 
 
 Revere wheeled his horse in the nick of 
 time and made his escape into a road which 
 ran over Winter Hill. 
 
 '' The regulars are coming. The regulars 
 are coming," he shouted as he galloped 
 
 125 
 
THE child's book OF AMERICAN HISTORY 
 
 down the long hill into Medford. He stopped 
 long enough to wake up Captain Hall, com- 
 mander of the minutemen. 
 
 ^^ Up and arm! The regulars are coming," 
 and the rider galloped swift as the wind along 
 the road to Arlington Centre. At the old 
 Cooper tavern he turned off toward Lexing- 
 ton. 
 
 " The regulars are coming. Up and arm! " 
 
 Men, women, and children awoke out of 
 
 their sleep and rushed to the doors only to 
 
 catch a glimpse of a horse and rider as they 
 
 vanished out of sight along the dark road. 
 
 " A hurry of hoofs in a village street, 
 A shape in the moonlight, a bulk in the dark. 
 And beneath, from the pebbles, in passing, a spark 
 Struck out by a steed flying fearless and fleet; 
 That was all. And yet, through the gloom and the 
 
 light, 
 The fate of a nation was riding that night ; 
 And the spark struck out by that steed in his flight 
 Kindled the land into flame with its heat." 
 
 Shortly after midnight Revere reached 
 Lexington and dashed to the house of the 
 
 126 
 
THE child's book OF AMERICAN HISTORY 
 
 Rev. Jonas Clark, where Samuel Adams and 
 John Hancock were sleeping. Eight men, 
 under the command of Sergeant Munroe, 
 were on guard. 
 
 ^^ Don't make so much noise/' said Mun- 
 roe; ^^ everybody is sound asleep." 
 
 '' Noise? " shouted Revere; '' you'll have 
 noise enough before long. The British 
 regulars are coming. I must see Mr. Han- 
 cock." 
 
 An upper window was raised. 
 
 ^^ Never mind, Revere, come in. We are 
 not afraid of you," said the great man, who 
 was now wide awake. 
 
 Half an hour later Dawes arrived from his 
 longer ride through Roxbury and other towns. 
 The two tired riders were given something to 
 eat, after which they started toward Concord 
 to spread the alarm. About two miles be- 
 yond Lexington they were captured by Brit- 
 ish officers who were on guard in the woods. 
 Both managed to escape. Revere- reached 
 Lexington on foot about the time the first 
 
 127 
 
THE CHILD^S BOOK OF AMERICAN HISTORY 
 
 volley was fired at daybreak on Lexington 
 Common. 
 
 The news from Boston spread like wildfire. 
 Guns were fired, and church bells rang out 
 the alarm. Men and boys loaded their guns, 
 put on their powderhorns, filled their pockets 
 with bullets, and marched hurriedly along 
 the country roads toward Lexington. 
 
 Before nine o'clock hundreds of minute- 
 men, even as far away as forty miles out of 
 Boston, were on their way to cut off the 
 British regulars that dreadful nineteenth of 
 April, 1775. 
 
 " You know the rest. In the books you have read 
 How the British regulars fired and fled, 
 How the farmers gave them ball for ball, 
 From behind each fence and farmyard wall, 
 Chasing the redcoats down the lane, 
 Then crossing the fields to emerge again 
 Under the trees at the turn of the road, 
 And only pausing to fire and load. 
 
 The copyrighted verse in this chapter is used by arrangement 
 with Houghton Mifflin Company. 
 
 128 
 
THE CHILD S BOOK OF AMERICAN HISTORY 
 
 '' So through the night rode Paul Revere; 
 
 And so through the night went his cry of alarm 
 
 To every Middlesex village and farm, 
 
 A cry of defiance and not of fear, 
 
 A voice in the darkness, a knock at the door, 
 
 And a word that shall echo for evermore. 
 
 '^ For, borne on the night- wind of the Past^ 
 Through all our history, to the last, 
 In the hour of darkness and peril and need, 
 The people will waken and listen to hear 
 The hurrying hoof-beats of that steed. 
 And the midnight message of Paul Revere." 
 
 129 
 
XX 
 
 JOHN SEVIER, AND HOW HE FOUND HIS WIFE 
 
 SOME years before the Revolution the 
 people began to go from Virginia and 
 North Carolina into what is now the 
 eastern part of Tennessee. This region was a 
 great forest-clad valley bounded on one side 
 by the Cumberland River and on the other 
 by the Great Smoky and other mountains. 
 
 Now the great war trails used by the north- 
 ern and southern tribes of Indians passed 
 through this country. So we can well see 
 how eager the savages were to attack the 
 pioneers who went there to make their homes. 
 Whatever else the settlers lacked, there 
 was one thing of which there was enough 
 and to spare. And that was land. For a 
 mere song everybody could have all he 
 
 130 
 
THE child's book OF AMERICAN HISTORY 
 
 wanted. If the land belonged to an Indian, 
 it could often be obtained for a few glass 
 trinkets or a bottle of rum. But the pioneers 
 of the Tennessee region had to face dangers 
 and hardships without number. 
 
 At times they liked to get out of the dull, 
 narrow ways of daily living; and so they 
 had fiddling and dancing, and horse-racing. 
 Corn huskings, house raisings, weddings, and 
 the like would be attended and enjoyed by a 
 whole settlement. 
 
 As soon as the little settlements began to 
 grow, preachers came and cast their lot with 
 these frontier people. Log meetinghouses 
 were built here and there. On week days the 
 preacher worked in the field with his people. 
 On Sundays, when they went to church, the 
 men took their rifles, and the preacher had 
 his rifle standing beside the pulpit. In many 
 a fight with the Indians he showed that he 
 could shoot as well as preach long sermons. 
 
 Among the pioneers who lived along the 
 Watauga River two stood head and shoulders 
 
 131 
 
THE CHILD^S BOOK OF AMERICAN HISTORY 
 
 above the rest. These two men, not yet 
 thirty years old, were James Robertson and 
 John Sevier. Robertson could not read or 
 write when he was married. His good wife, 
 however, taught him his letters and how to 
 sign his name. He was a mighty hunter, a 
 fearless Indian fighter, and a born leader of 
 men. For the next thirty years these two 
 men played the chief part in the history of 
 the region which grew into the state of Ten- 
 nessee. 
 
 Our story, however, has to do with John 
 Sevier. He was a gentleman by birth, the 
 son of a Frenchman who had settled in Vir- 
 ginia. He received a fine education. During 
 his life he corresponded with Benjamin Frank- 
 lin, James Madison, and other great men of 
 his time. Sevier was tall and slender, fair- 
 skinned, and blue-eyed, but with the look of 
 one born to comm-and. He was dearly loved 
 by the frontier people for his unselfish deeds 
 and his bravery and skill as a soldier. 
 
 Now Sevier began life as an Indian trader, 
 132 
 
THE child's book OF AMERICAN HISTORY 
 
 but soon became known as the most fearless 
 Indian fighter of his time. He was never so 
 much at ease as in a skirmish with the sav- 
 ages. By his quick marches through the 
 thick woods he struck terror to their hearts. 
 
 Sevier was known far and wide as Chucky 
 Jack, because he hved in a log house on the 
 NoHchucky River. Here he kept open house 
 to everybody. The settlers felt free to help 
 themselves to his venison, bear meat, fowl, 
 cider, applejack, and hominy. When there 
 was a wedding or any other kind of merry- 
 making, he used to roast an ox and feed the 
 whole settlement, with his tables spread 
 under the trees. 
 
 When Colonel Shelby rode posthaste to 
 Sevier's house just before the battle of King's 
 Mountain, he found Sevier and his people 
 roasting an ox. After the feast and a horse- 
 race Sevier and his merrymakers went over 
 the mountains on their wiry little horses and 
 fought like heroes in winning the most de- 
 cisive battle of the Revolution. 
 
 133 
 
THE child's book OF AMERICAN HISTORY 
 
 In the summer of 1776 a terrible war with 
 the Cherokee Indians broke out. At this 
 time there were about six hundred people in 
 the Watauga settlement. A friendly squaw 
 named Nancy Ward gave warning of the 
 approach of the savages. The settlers took to 
 the log forts. The most important of these 
 was at Watauga. Sevier and Robertson were 
 in command. The stockade was crowded 
 with women and children, but there were 
 only about fifty fighting men. 
 
 At sunrise one hot July morning an old 
 Cherokee chief, named Abraham, and his 
 braves crept through the underbrush and 
 with war whoops ran toward the stockade. 
 
 Bang! bang! bang! cracked the rifles from 
 the loopholes of the fort. The deadly fire 
 of the pioneers drove the Indians back into 
 the woods; but the savages kept up a siege 
 for over three weeks, until some riflemen 
 from a neighboring fort came to the rescue 
 and drove them off. 
 
 While the Indians were lurking about, the 
 134 
 
THE CHILD^S BOOK OF AMERICAN HISTORY 
 
 people were getting tired of being shut up 
 SO close, for the da3^s were long, and the 
 weather was hot. Heedless of danger, the 
 women and children would now and then 
 run out into the woods. One poor boy was 
 captured, carried off, and burnt at the stake. 
 A woman was captured outside the stockade, 
 but Nancy Ward saved her life. 
 
 One day during the siege the women found 
 one of their number missing. 
 
 ^^ Where is Catherine Sherrill? '^ cried 
 somebody; '' I have not seen her since sun- 
 rise.'^ 
 
 ^' Does anybody know where Kate is? '^ 
 cried her father, as he stood, rifle in hand, at 
 a loophole. 
 
 The women and children looked for the 
 girl, but no Kate could be found. 
 
 " I heard her say last night," said one 
 young woman, " that she was tired of being 
 penned up in the fort, and was going out into 
 the woods to pick wild flowers." 
 
 '' Oh, dear! " cried the girl's mother; " the 
 135 
 
THE child's book OF AMERICAN HISTORY 
 
 Indians have captured her by this time. Oh, 
 what shall I do? " 
 
 ^^ Look, James! Who is that running so 
 fast? '^ said Sevier to Robertson, both of 
 whom were keeping a sharp lookout for the 
 redskins. 
 
 ''Bless my eyes! That is Kate Sherrill, 
 our missing girl.'' 
 
 Running toward the fort was the girl with 
 half a dozen yelling Indians close to her, but 
 between her and the big oak gate. She ran 
 toward another part of the stockade. Sevier 
 at once hurried in that direction. With a 
 leap the girl caught the top of the pickets, 
 drew herself up, and the next moment 
 tumbled, out of breath, into the arms of the 
 pioneer. 
 
 The bold Indian fighter could not resist 
 the charms of the lovely girl, nor could she 
 forget the face of the finest-looking young 
 man in Tennessee, who had saved her from 
 a bad fall. At all events, three years later 
 she became his wife. 
 
 136 
 
THE child's book OF AMERICAN HISTORY 
 
 ^' I would take a leap like that every day/' 
 said Catherine in her old age, '' to fall into 
 the arms of a man like John Sevier." 
 
 After getting the better of the Indians in 
 more than thirty fights, John Sevier lived 
 for many years. When Tennessee was ad- 
 mitted into the Union, he was elected its first 
 governor. Afterwards he was sent to Wash- 
 ington as a member of Congress. 
 
 One sentence on his monument at Nash- 
 ville tells the story of his li-f e : 
 
 " He served his country faithfully for forty 
 years, and in that service died." 
 
 137 
 
XXI 
 
 FRONTIER LIFE IN INDIANA 
 
 MORE than one hundred years ago a 
 goodly slice of what was known as 
 the Northwest Territory was set 
 apart as the territory of Indiana. General 
 Harrison, the famous Indian fighter, and 
 afterward the ninth president of the United 
 States, was appointed governor. 
 
 Shortly after General Harrison came to 
 Indiana to take charge of affairs, a new and 
 strange trouble with the Indians began. A 
 certain Shawnee Indian named Loud Voice 
 called himself a prophet. He said the Great 
 Spirit would protect him, so that he could not 
 be killed. Soon a band of outcast savages 
 looked on him as a great chief. 
 
 ^^ Do what I tell you to do,'' he said to 
 138 
 
THE child's book OF AMERICAN HISTORY 
 
 them, " and no white man's bullet will ever 
 do you harm. You will win in every battle 
 and drive the palefaces away from our land." 
 
 Now the prophet vvas only the tool of his 
 brother, the famous Tecumseh, one of the 
 greatest Indians that ever lived. At this 
 time Tecumseh was planning to unite the 
 Indians of this region in a general war against 
 the pioneers, and the story of the prophet 
 spread like wildfire from one tribe to another. 
 Hundreds of the redskins beheved that he 
 could make them bullet-proof, shield them 
 from wounds and death, and make them win 
 in battle. 
 
 For several years they prepared for war; 
 but General Harrison defeated them in the 
 famous battle of Tippecanoe. 
 
 Two years afterward the brave Tecumseh 
 was killed in the battle of the Thames. As 
 for the prophet, he was never heard of after 
 the death of his famous brother. 
 
 During the years of cruel wars with the 
 Indians, the pioneers in the deep woods and 
 
 139 
 
THE child's book OF AMERICAN HISTORY 
 
 on the broad prairies of Indiana lived in 
 dread night and day. By hard toil the lonely 
 settler would clear a few acres to raise corn, 
 potatoes, and other things for his family. 
 When he went to work in the field, he kept 
 his rifle on the ground near him, while in his 
 belt he carried pistols and a long knife. 
 
 At night a dog was on guard in the cabin, 
 while another lay outside. If the dog out- 
 doors barked, the dog inside did the same and 
 so woke up the family. The cabin had port- 
 holes, so that the settler could fire his gun 
 from inside with little or no risk of expo- 
 sure. 
 
 Both men and women were trained to the 
 use of guns from their childhood. A boy of 
 twelve received a rifle and became a soldier 
 in the stockade. A loophole was given him 
 from which he was to shoot when the savages 
 came. 
 
 The pistols and guns of those days were 
 single-barreled and loaded at the muzzle. 
 They were clumsy affairs, with small bore 
 
 140 
 
THE child's book OF AMERICAN HISTORY 
 
 and flintlock. Often the flint would not 
 strike fire and the lock had to be snapped 
 several times. The rifles were heavy, with a 
 long barrel and a short stock. But in the 
 hands of a sturdy pioneer this clumsy weapon 
 was deadly, and the Indians had a great dread 
 of it. 
 
 In one of the stockades along the Indian 
 frontier, a pioneer tells us, were gathered a 
 hundred people who had fled there for ref- 
 uge. After a long and hard siege the fight- 
 ing force was reduced to three men. For 
 three weeks they slept in their clothes. No 
 household work was done. Food was cooked 
 and put where those who were hungry could 
 help themselves. 
 
 After the fight was over, this pioneer, who 
 was then a boy, went, with an armed escort 
 of twenty men, to the nearest settlement to 
 prove his father's will. The father had been 
 killed by the Indians a iew months before. 
 Twenty-three widows were at the log court- 
 house to look after the property of their 
 
 141 
 
THE child's book OF AMERICAN HISTORY 
 
 husbands, all of whom had been killed by 
 the savages within a year. 
 
 The early settlers of Indiana had to fight 
 other pests than the Indians. The wolves, 
 foxes, and lynxes killed and ate their sheep, 
 lambs, and pigs. The squirrels and rac- 
 coons laid waste their cornfields. Then 
 there were the rattlesnakes and the copper- 
 heads. 
 
 Besides all these was the suffering from 
 chills and fever. Almost every family in the 
 region suffered from some form of ague, now 
 commonly known as malaria. Very few 
 pioneers could spare the time to quit work 
 and go to bed when stricken with this disease. 
 The sturdy backwoodsman plowed his land, 
 and the good wife cooked the meals over the 
 open fire, shaking with chills or burning with 
 fever. Indeed, these people came to regard 
 an attack of ague as a matter of course, and 
 often made grim jokes about it. 
 
 The story is told of a young man who went 
 out one day in search of a cow. He found 
 
 142 
 
THE child's book OF AMERICAN HISTORY 
 
 one of his neighbors sitting on a log in the 
 woods with his rifle across his knees. 
 
 ^' Hello, Jim, what on earth are you doing 
 here? '' 
 
 ^' I am waiting for my chill to go off, so I 
 can shoot the gray squirrel on that tree,'' re- 
 plied the victim; and he pointed with sha- 
 king fingers to a bushy tail on the topmost 
 branch of an oak. 
 
 As the story goes, the young fellow took 
 the sick man's rifle and shot the squirrel for 
 him. 
 
 Such were the men and women who laid 
 the foundation stones of our great states in 
 what was then the West. There is nothing 
 in romance more interesting or instructive 
 than the story of the life of our forefathers. 
 
 143 
 
XXII 
 
 HOW GOLD WAS FOUND IN CALIFORNIA 
 
 HURRAH, boys! I really believe I 
 have found gold. Just take a look 
 at the yellow stuff I have here/^ 
 ^' Say, boss, what's the matter with you 
 anyway? Are you crazy? '' 
 
 " Not at all. Let me show you. We are 
 in luck this time." 
 
 " Don't tell us any more of your fairy 
 stories. You are out of your head from think- 
 ing too much of your old sawmill. No such 
 luck for us poor fellows." 
 
 This conversation took place in the year 
 1849. A dozen or more men were building a 
 sawmill in California. It was on a branch 
 of the American River, about forty miles 
 from what is now Sacramento. The day's 
 
 144 
 
THE child's book OF AMERICAN HISTORY 
 
 work was done, and the men were sitting 
 round the open fire in the log shanty in which 
 they slept. They took the subject of the 
 gold mine as a joke. After poking a little 
 fun at their companion, they shpped off to 
 bed and thought no more about it. 
 
 A few years before this a Swiss, known as 
 Captain Sutter, had received a large tract 
 of land in what is now California. At this 
 time the region belonged to Mexico. Mr. 
 Sutter soon became a rich man. He had 
 hundreds of cattle, sheep, horses, and mules. 
 He even had a company of soldiers to guard 
 a fort which he built near the junction of the 
 American and Sacramento rivers. 
 
 Captain Sutter v/as in need of lumber with 
 which to build houses and to fence his farms. 
 So he sent one of his men, by the name of 
 Marshall, with carpenters to build a sawmill 
 on the American River. 
 
 Mr. Marshall built the mill and then dug a 
 mill race to carry the water to run it. 
 
 One day he was walking along the mill race 
 145 
 
THE child's book OF AMERICAN HISTORY 
 
 after the water had been shut off. In a heap 
 of gravel and sand at the end of it he saw some 
 dull yellow specks. He picked up a few 
 handfuls of the stuff, washed the dirt out of 
 it, and carried it to the cabin. He then 
 put it on a rock and hammered it. The 
 specks did not break, but changed their 
 shape. 
 
 ^' These specks are gold,^' said Marshall to 
 himself. " I must tell the boys about it, and 
 to-morrow I'll go down to the fort and show 
 Captain Sutter what I have found. How 
 astonished he will be! " 
 
 Early the next day Mr. Marshall started 
 for Fort Sutter. 
 
 " I must see you alone," he said to his 
 employer; " I have something to show you. 
 Please lock the door." 
 
 Marshall then took a little packet from his 
 pocket and spread the shining dust on the 
 table. 
 
 ^^ There, Captain Sutter! Surely that is 
 gold, although the boys at the mill said I 
 
 146 
 
THE child's book OF AMERICAN HISTORY 
 
 was crazy. What do you think? I found 
 it in the mill race.'' 
 
 Captain Sutter knew the tests for gold, for 
 he had been a miner. The glittering dust 
 stood the test. 
 
 The captain was not pleased. He said that 
 a mob of men would dig up his land and lay 
 waste his wheat fields in their mad rush for 
 gold. The two men tried their best to keep 
 matters a secret. It could not be done. It 
 would have been about as easy to keep the 
 wind from blowing. 
 
 '^ Gold! Gold!" cried one poor fellow, 
 holding up a bottle full of gold dust, and 
 running like a madman through the streets 
 of San Francisco. " Gold! Gold! from the 
 American River." 
 
 Then began a wild rush for this region. 
 Men from far and near left their homes, their 
 shops, their pulpits, in the mad chase after 
 riches. Some tramped overland across the 
 plains and over the mountains. Others 
 sailed round Cape Horn, or went by the way 
 
 147 
 
THE CHILD^S BOOK OF AMERICAN HISTORY 
 
 of Panama. Thousands endured all manner 
 of hardships to reach the land where riches 
 might be dug out of the earth. Many sold 
 all they had to get money to buy mining 
 tools and food until they could find gold. 
 The moment a ship dropped anchor in the 
 harbor of San Francisco, the sailors ran 
 away to the mines. Vessels were even 
 hauled up on the mud flats and made into 
 houses. 
 
 During the next year more than a hundred 
 thousand gold hunters from every part of 
 the world hurried to California. No such 
 tidal wave of people to any section of our 
 country had ever been known before. Gold 
 had indeed been found. So rich was the 
 sand along some of the rivers that the first 
 miners made a thousand dollars a day, even 
 with the crudest of tools. It is said that 
 within five years gold was found to the value 
 of several hundred millions of dollars. 
 
 The wonderful stories of lucky strikes read 
 more hke fairy tales than the plain truth. 
 
 148 
 
THE child's book OF AMERICAN HISTORY 
 
 One day a miner stopped to drink at a road- 
 side spring and found at his feet a nugget 
 of gold that weighed twenty pounds. An- 
 other man while tramping along a well- 
 known trail found a fifty-pound nugget. A 
 poor fellow was driving his mule through the 
 street; his wheel struck a stone; he jumped 
 down to roll it out of the way, and found a 
 nugget of gold worth hundreds of dollars. 
 Another man happened to turn a rock over 
 and found beneath it enough gold dust to 
 fill his hat. 
 
 Some of the gravel banks along the rivers 
 were rich in the metal. One place was called 
 Tin Cup because a cupful of gold could be 
 picked up every day for weeks at a time. 
 One panful of earth from the Feather River 
 was sold for fifteen hundred dollars. 
 
 A miner sweeping his shanty saw specks 
 of gold glittering in the earth floor, and dis- 
 covered rich diggings right under his feet. 
 Thereupon the neighboring miners dug up 
 their floors. One man, it is said, found 
 
 149 
 
THE CHILD^S BOOK OF AMERICAN HISTORY 
 
 twenty thousand dollars' worth of the metal 
 inside his cabin. 
 
 For a long time gold dust was used in a 
 crude sort of way as money. What could be 
 pinched between the thumb and finger passed 
 among the shopkeepers for a dollar. A tea- 
 spoonful of the precious stuff was worth six- 
 teen dollars. 
 
 Of course all these thousands of gold hunt- 
 ers had to have something to eat. Food of 
 all kinds was scarce and high. Eggs cost 
 ten dollars a dozen. Milk was a dollar a pint. 
 Potatoes cost fifty cents each. A dish of 
 pork and beans was served up for a dollar 
 and a half at some shanty called a hotel. 
 Men who had been prosperous at home were 
 glad to cook their own food. 
 
 It was a rough life, full of danger, hardship, 
 and suffering. A few became rich and re- 
 turned home in safety, tlundreds of others 
 died from exposure and sickness. 
 
 The gold these men took from the earth 
 made CaUfornia famous the world over. But 
 
 150 
 
THE child's book OF AMERICAN HISTORY 
 
 rich as the state is in the gold dug out of its 
 soil, its real wealth lies in its fields of grain, 
 in its sheep and cattle, in its vineyards, in its 
 orange plantations, and above all else in the 
 enterprise and industry of its people. 
 
 151 
 
XXIII 
 
 ABRAHAM LINCOLN 
 
 LINCOLN was born February 12, 1809, 
 in a little log cabin in the backwoods 
 of Kentucky. He was named Abra- 
 ham for his grandfather, who had been killed 
 by the Indians many years before. 
 
 The boy's mother was beautiful, gentle, 
 and refined. She was known as the neatest 
 housekeeper in that region. She was of deep 
 rehgious feeling, and devoted to her family. 
 She could use the ax and the hoe, as well as 
 the spinning wheel. She was a good shot 
 with the rifle, and could not only kill wild 
 game, but dress the skins and make clothes 
 of them. 
 
 In cold and stormy weather the good mother 
 used to read stories from the Bible to her 
 
 152 
 
THE CHILD^S BOOK OF AMERICAN HISTORY 
 
 little boy. While he was still a mere slip of 
 a child, she taught him to read the stories for 
 himself. 
 
 When Abe was seven years old, the family 
 moved to Indiana. It was less than one 
 hundred miles from the old to the new home. 
 Yet it was a long and hard trip. There were 
 only a few roads. Often the little party had 
 to cut a path for themselves through the 
 thick underbrush. 
 
 In Indiana they lived in a log shanty of the 
 poorest sort. It had only three sides, one 
 side being open to the weather. Such a cabin 
 was known as a half -faced camp. There was 
 no door or window, not even a floor or a 
 chimney. In winter a buiTalo skin was hung 
 up to keep out the cold. 
 
 The young boy slept in a Httle loft above 
 the main room. There was no stairway. 
 Wooden pegs driven into the logs served as 
 stairs to chmb to his sleeping place. His bed 
 was a pile of dry leaves in a corner. 
 
 As for the clothes that the boy wore, they 
 153 
 
THE CHILD S BOOK OF AMERICAN HISTORY 
 
 were of the plainest kind. His cap for winter 
 was coonskin. In summer he had a straw hat 
 without a band. He wore deerskin breeches, 
 held up by one suspender. His shirt was 
 deerskin or homespun. He did not have 
 stockings. His shoes were cowhide or mocca- 
 sins. About half the year he went bare- 
 foot. 
 
 No wonder that Lincoln used to say in 
 after years, in speaking of his boyhood days 
 in Indiana, '' Those were pretty pinching 
 times." 
 
 After a while Mr. Lincoln and his boy went 
 to work and built a new and better log cabin. 
 There was one room below and a loft above, 
 and a door hung at the doorway. They had 
 a table hewn out of a log, with four stout 
 sticks for legs. For chairs they had three- 
 legged stools. 
 
 With the rough outdoor life young Abe 
 grew to be a tall, strong young man. He 
 could drive a span of horses, handle a plow 
 or sickle, thresh wheat v/ith a flail, chop down 
 
 154 
 
THE child's book OF AMERICAN HISTORY 
 
 trees, and clear a field for planting corn. To 
 get a little money, he would sometimes hire 
 out to work for the neighbors. 
 
 Shortly after their moving to Indiana, Mrs. 
 Lincoln's health began to fail from the hard- 
 ships of pioneer life. She took to her bed 
 and soon after died. She was buried under a 
 big sycamore tree not far from her home. It 
 was Abe's first and greatest sorrow. He 
 dearly loved his mother. Years afterward, 
 when he became famous, he once said to a 
 friend, with tears in his eyes, '^ All that I am 
 and ever hope to be, I owe to my angel 
 mother." 
 
 Not long after this the people in the little 
 pioneer settlement made up their minds to 
 have a school. First they must have a school- 
 house. The men met, cut down trees, and 
 built a log cabin. A huge stone fireplace 
 i filled one side of the room. There was no 
 floor except the hard dirt, and only one win- 
 dow. Instead of glass, strips of oiled paper 
 were pasted across the opening. School desks 
 
 155 
 
THE child's book OF AMERICAN HISTORY 
 
 were not then known. Rough logs spht in 
 halves served as seats. 
 
 School continued only for a few weeks, in 
 the winter, when there was Uttle or no work 
 for the boys at home. Study began at sun- 
 rise and closed at sunset, and Lincoln had to 
 walk a mile and a half each way. 
 
 Young Abe went to this school for two or 
 three terms. All his school days put to- 
 gether would not make more than a year. 
 Well might he say, as he said when president, 
 that he went to school ^' by littles.'^ 
 
 Meanwhile he was learning in another way. 
 This was his own school of hard work, self- 
 denial, and the use of every spare moment. 
 He had from his mother a desire for good 
 books. We may be sure that books of any 
 sort were hard to find on the frontier. What 
 few the lad could get he read until he knew 
 them by heart. 
 
 ^' He read everything he could lay his hands 
 on,'' said his stepmother. 
 
 Abe read and reread the Bible, ^Esop's 
 156 
 
THE child's book OF AMERICAN HISTORY 
 
 '' Fables/' and Bunyan's '' Pilgrim's Prog- 
 ress " until he could repeat whole pages from 
 them. During the dreadful days of the war 
 the sad-faced president would free his mind 
 from worry by repeating from memory whole 
 chapters from Isaiah and the New Testa- 
 ment. 
 
 Once a neighbor named Crawford lent the 
 boy Weems's ^^ Life of Washington/' a popu- 
 lar and readable book of that time. Abe 
 read the book in his loft, by the light of a 
 tallow candle. Having no bookcase, he used 
 to put the book between two logs of the 
 cabin. One night there came a storm, and 
 the book was wet through. Early the next 
 morning the boy carried it back to the 
 owner. 
 
 ^^ Mr. Crawford, your book is ruined. I 
 have no money, but I will work for you until 
 I have paid for it." 
 
 '' Well, Abe, you are an honest lad. I'll 
 be eas}^ with you. Come over and husk corn 
 for three days and the book is yours." 
 
 157 
 
THE child's book OF AMERICAN HISTORY 
 
 And so the boy helped the farmer for three 
 days and became the owner of the prized 
 book. In his droll way Lincoln used to tell 
 how he would be plowing and then sit on the 
 rail fence and read this book while the horses 
 were resting. From this time Washington 
 was his ideal hero, the one great man whom 
 he admired all his life. 
 
 Like so many other boys, Abe liked to do 
 sums in arithmetic. He used the back of a 
 wooden fire shovel for a slate, and a burnt 
 stick of wood for a pencil. In this rude way 
 he learned to do sums by the light of the fire- 
 place. When the shovel was full of figures, 
 he scraped it to erase the work. 
 
 One day two men came along and asked 
 to be rowed to a flatboat in the Ohio River. 
 The boy did the rowing. Each man threw 
 him a silver half dollar. Never before had 
 he possessed so much money at one time. In 
 speaking of this incident Lincoln said, " I 
 could scarcely believe that I, a poor boy, had 
 earned a dollar in less than a day. I was a 
 
 158 
 
THE child's book OF AMERICAN HISTORY 
 
 more hopeful and thoughtful boy from that 
 time/' 
 
 When Lincoln was about nineteen years 
 old, he took his first trip into the world. A 
 neighbor hired him to go with his son to carry 
 produce on a fiatboat down the Mississippi 
 to New Orleans, more than eighteen hundred 
 miles away. In that distant Southern city 
 he saw new sights and had new experiences. 
 
 In the spring of 1830 the family, with some 
 relatives, moved from Indiana to Illinois, 
 and settled near the town of Decatur. 
 
 Abe was now past twenty-one years of age, 
 and decided to begin life on his own account. 
 He was six feet four inches tall and as strong 
 as a young giant. It was said that he could 
 carry as much as three ordinary men. Some 
 of his feats are almost beyond belief. 
 
 He began for himself as a farm hand, work- 
 ing for different people. He chopped wood, 
 split rails, or did whatever was to be done. 
 Needing a suit of clothes, he agreed with a 
 Mrs. Miller to split four hundred fence rails 
 
 159 
 
THE child's book OF AMERICAN HISTORY 
 
 to pay her for each 3^ard of brown homespun, 
 which was to be richly dyed with walnut 
 bark. 
 
 Unlike most young men of his time, Lin- 
 coln was free from bad habits. He did not 
 use strong drink. Nor was he known to speak 
 a profane word. At the same time there was 
 no cant about him. All his life long he was 
 noted for his droll stories, his wit, and his 
 practical jokes; but he never forgot what he 
 had learned from his mother in his early 
 years: to love truth, to be honest and up- 
 right in his dealings with men, and to rever- 
 ence God. 
 
 Many stories have been told to show how 
 honest he was. From his boyhood to the day 
 of his death he was known to the plain people 
 of the country as Honest Abe Lincoln, or, 
 for short. Honest Abe. Indeed, these words 
 have been woven into American speech for 
 all that is just and honest in man. 
 
 When Lincoln was clerking in a store, he 
 discovered one morning that he had given a 
 
 160 
 
THE CHILD S BOOK OF AMERICAN HISTORY 
 
 woman four ounces of tea less than was due 
 her. He weighed out the balance and carried 
 it to her without waiting for his breakfast. At 
 another time^ in making up his accounts, he 
 found that he had charged a man six and a 
 fourth cents too much. He closed the store 
 and tramped some six miles out of the village 
 to return the money. 
 
 Lincoln was too fond of study to keep a 
 village store for his life work. At one time 
 he was postmaster and carried round the 
 letters in his hat. Then he studied survey- 
 ing, and with the money he earned he be- 
 gan to study law. Soon the tall, homely 
 young lawyer, with his droll stories and his 
 ready wit, became known throughout the 
 region for his honesty and his knowledge of 
 law. 
 
 At twenty-five he was elected to the legis- 
 lature. He bought a new suit of homespun, 
 and then, being too poor to ride, tramped a 
 hundred miles to the state capital. Twelve 
 years later the people sent him to Washing- 
 
 161 
 
THE child's book OF AMERICAN HISTORY 
 
 ton as a member of Congress. He soon came 
 to the front as an orator and debater. 
 
 In the critical period of 1860, when a new 
 president of the United States was to be 
 elected, the choice of the people was for 
 ^^ Honest Abe/' ^^ the rail splitter of Illi- 
 nois." Shortly after his election, the terrible 
 war for the Union broke out. 
 
 Lincoln showed himself a great, wise, and 
 patient leader in the deadly conflict that 
 followed. The deep and abiding faith that 
 the plain people had in him was touching and 
 matchless. In 1865, when serving his second 
 term as president, he lost his life from the 
 bullet of an assassin. The whole nation 
 mourned his death. 
 
 162 
 
XXIV 
 
 LINCOLN AND THE SLEEPING SENTINEL 
 
 IT was a rainy morning in September, 1861, 
 the first year of the Civil War. Judge 
 Chittenden, the register of the Treasury, 
 found a party of soldiers waiting for him 
 when he reached his office in the Treasury 
 Building, near the White House. The blue- 
 coats were much excited, and all talking at 
 the same time. One of them wore the bars 
 of a captain. 
 
 ^' Boys,'^ said Mr. Chittenden, '^ what are 
 you talking about? I cannot understand you. 
 Let your captain speak. Tell me what you 
 want. What can I do for you? " 
 
 These soldiers belonged to the 3d Vermont 
 regiment, made up mostly of farm boys from 
 
 163 
 
THE CHILD S BOOK OF AMERICAN HISTORY 
 
 the Green Mountains. Since their arrival 
 in Washington they had been stationed at 
 Chain Bridge, some three miles above George- 
 town. At this time Chain Bridge across the 
 Potomac was of vital importance; for on it 
 depended the safety of the capital. 
 
 The Confederates occupied the southern 
 approach to the bridge. The Union troops 
 commanded the hills of Maryland on the 
 opposite side. There had been no fighting. 
 Indeed, the opposing forces had grown 
 friendly. They used to tell each other stories 
 and exchange tobacco, daily papers, and 
 other things until they seemed like friends 
 rather than enemies. 
 
 It was getting to be too much for General 
 Smith, the commander of the bluecoats. This 
 man, commonly known as Baldy Smith, was 
 a stern soldier. He now gave out some strict 
 orders. Among them was one to the effect 
 that a sentinel caught sleeping at his post 
 was to be shot within twenty-four hours. 
 
 According to the story told to Judge Chit- 
 164 
 
THE CHILD^S BOOK OF AMERICAN HISTORY 
 
 tenden by the captain, a boy named William 
 Scott had enhsted in Company K. Brought 
 up on a farm and used to hard work, he 
 needed a goodly amount of sleep. Although 
 not used to camp life, he had taken the place 
 of a sick comrade, and passed the night on 
 guard. As it happened, he was himself de- 
 tailed for picket duty the very next night. 
 The young fellow could not keep awake for 
 two nights in succession. When the relief 
 guard came round, he was found asleep. He 
 was arrested, tried by court-martial, and 
 found guilty. He was to be shot within 
 twenty-four hours. 
 
 ^^ I promised his mother," continued the 
 captain, ^^ that I would look after him as if 
 he were my own son. I was stupid not to 
 listen to the boy when he told me that he 
 had fallen asleep during the day, and said 
 he could not keep awake the second night. 
 I ought to have sent somebody else, but I let 
 him go to his death. If anybody is to be 
 shot, I am the fellow. You will help me, 
 
 165 
 
THE CHILD^S BOOK OF AMERICAN HISTORY 
 
 Judge, won't you? '^ he pleaded, with tears 
 in his eyes. 
 
 '^ There is only one man on earth who can 
 save your comrade. It is well for you that 
 he is the best man in the whole country. 
 Come with me. We will go to President 
 Lincoln. '' 
 
 Out of the Treasury Building and over to 
 the White House they went, with the stately 
 judge at their head; then up the stairway to 
 a little office, where they found the president 
 busily writing. Lincoln was the first to speak. 
 
 ^^ What is this? Do you want a furlough 
 to go home and vote? You cannot have it. 
 I could not get a furlough for myself if I 
 asked for it." 
 
 '' Mr. President/' said Judge Chittenden, 
 '^ these men want nothing for themselves. 
 They are Green Mountain boys of the 3d 
 Vermont; they are good soldiers. They want 
 something which you alone can give them. 
 They want the life of a comrade.'' 
 
 '' What has he done? " 
 166 
 
THE child's book OF AMERICAN HISTORY 
 
 '' Tell him/' whispered the judge to the 
 captain. 
 
 ^' I cannot; I cannot do it. You can do 
 it so much better." 
 
 ^^ No, no/' said Chittenden, pushing the 
 officer to a place in front of Lincoln's desk; 
 ^^ the life of Scott depends on you; tell your 
 story.'' 
 
 The young captain began to stammer when 
 he met the gaze of the great man before him. 
 Overcoming his diffidence, he told the story 
 in a plain, simple manner. The eager words 
 bursting from the lips of the young officer 
 stirred the blood of his hearers. He finished 
 by asking for his comrade's life. 
 
 '' William Scott, sir, is as brave a boy as 
 there is in your army; he is no coward. The 
 mountains of Vermont are the home of thirty 
 thousand men who voted for Abraham Lin- 
 coln. They will not say the best thing to do 
 is to shoot this young fellow hke a traitor, 
 and bury him like a dog. Can you say it, 
 Mr. President?" 
 
 167 
 
THE child's book OF AMERICAN HISTORY 
 
 " No, I cannot." 
 
 The face of the great president was a study. 
 It took on a soft, sad, and touching look. 
 There seemed to be a mist in the depths of 
 his eyes. It was only for a moment; \hen he 
 broke out into a hearty laugh. 
 
 '^ Do you Green Mountain boys fight as 
 v/ell as you talk? If you do, I do not wonder 
 at the stories I used to read about Colonel 
 Ethan Allen. 
 
 '^ Captain," went on Mr. Lincoln, '' I do 
 not believe a brave, honest soldier, knowing 
 no crime save sleeping when he was over- 
 tired, ought to be shot. The country has 
 better uses for him. No, your boy shall not 
 be shot; that is, not to-morrow, and not till 
 I know more about his case. I will attend 
 to this matter myself. I have wanted to go 
 out to Chain Bridge for some time. I will 
 do so to-day. Good day, gentlemen." 
 
 Later in the day President Lincoln was seen 
 riding from the White House out to George- 
 town, and in the direction of Chain Bridge. 
 
 168 
 
THE child's book OF AMERICAN HISTORY 
 
 Within a day or so the newspapers reported 
 that a soldier sentenced to death for sleeping 
 at his post had been pardoned by the presi- 
 dent, and had returned to his regiment. 
 
 It was a long time before Scott would 
 speak of his interview with President Lin- 
 coln. One day he told a comrade the whole 
 story. 
 
 '^ I knew the president at once/' he said, 
 ^' by a Lincoln medal I had long worn. I was 
 scared at first, for I had never talked with a 
 great man before. He asked me all about 
 the folks at home, my brothers and sisters, 
 and where I went to school, and how I liked 
 it. Then he asked me about my mother. 
 I showed him her picture. He said that if 
 he were in my place he would try to make a 
 fond mother happy, and never cause her a 
 sorrow or a tear. 
 
 ^'^My boy,' he said, ^you are not going 
 to be shot. You are going back to your regi- 
 ment. I have been put to a good deal of 
 trouble on your account. Now what I want 
 
 169 
 
THE child's book OF AMERICAN HISTORY 
 
 to know is how you are going to pay me back. 
 My bill is a large one; there is only one man 
 in all the world who can pay it; his name is 
 William Scott. If from this day you will 
 promise to do your whole duty as a soldier, 
 then the debt will be paid. Will you make 
 that promise, and try to keep it? ' '^ 
 
 Gladly the young Vermont soldier made 
 the promise, and well did he keep it. From 
 that day William Scott, the boy soldier, 
 became the model man of his regiment. He 
 was never absent from roll call. He was 
 always on hand if there was any hard work 
 to be done. He worked nights in the hospital, 
 nursing the sick and wounded, because it 
 trained him to keep awake. He made a 
 record for himself on picket duty. As a scout, 
 he became well known in the army. He re- 
 fused all offers of promotion, saying that he 
 had done nothing to deserve it. 
 
 Some time after this the 3d Vermont went 
 into one of its many hard battles. The men 
 were ordered to dash across a small stream, 
 
 170 
 

 i 
 
 HE CARRIED A WOUNDED CAPTAIN ACROSS THE RIVER TO A 
 PLACE OF SAFETY. Page 171. 
 
THE CHILD^S BOOK OF AMERICAN HISTORY 
 
 charge up the bank, and clean out the rifle 
 pits of the enemy. 
 
 The Vermonters were finally forced to 
 retreat, leaving nearly half their number 
 dead or wounded, in the river or on the op- 
 posite shore. William Scott of Company K 
 was the first to reach the bank of the river, 
 the first to jump into the rifle pits, and the 
 last to retreat. He carried a wounded cap- 
 tain across the river to a place of safety. He 
 was carrying a wounded soldier across when 
 he fell, shot to pieces. His comrades carried 
 him out of the line of fire, and laid him on 
 the grass to die. He lived long enough to be 
 put on a cot in the field hospital. 
 
 ^^ Boys, I shall never see another battle. 
 I thought this would be my last. Tell Presi- 
 dent Lincoln I have tried to be a good sol- 
 dier and be true to the flag. Thank him again 
 because he gave me a chance to die hke a 
 soldier in battle, and not Hke a coward by 
 the hands of my comrades.'^ 
 
 Company K buried Wifliam Scott in a 
 171 
 
THE child's book OF AMERICAN HISTORY 
 
 grove just in the rear of the camp, at the foot 
 of a big oak tree. Deep into the oak they 
 cut the initials ^' W. S." and under it the 
 words '' A brave soldier/' 
 
 A few weeks afterward Judge Chittenden 
 told President Lincoln of the death of young 
 Scott. 
 
 '^ Poor boy! " said Mr. Lincoln, with a look 
 of tenderness. " And so he is dead, and he 
 sent me a word. I am truly sorry he is dead, 
 for he was a good boy. Too good a boy to 
 be shot for falling asleep when he could not 
 help it." 
 
 172 
 
XXV 
 
 THE FIRST DAY AT GETTYSBURG 
 
 THE summer of 1863 was perhaps the 
 gloomiest period of the whole Civil 
 War. In the great battle of Chancel- 
 lorsville, fought early in May, the Federal 
 forces under ^^ Fighting Joe " Hooker met 
 the worst defeat they were to suffer during 
 the war. The victory was dearly won by the 
 Confederates, for Stonewall Jackson, their 
 ablest general next to Lee, was mortally 
 wounded and died in a few days. As events 
 proved, the battle of Chancellors ville marked 
 the zenith of the Confederate success. 
 
 Flushed with victory, Lee now made ready 
 to lead his army into Pennsylvania. He 
 planned to draw the Army of the Potomac 
 in pursuit, and thus rid Virginia of the Union 
 
 173 
 
THE child's book OF AMERICAN HISTORY 
 
 forces. If he could only defeat Hooker again, 
 the cities of Baltimore, Philadelphia, and 
 Washington would be at his mercy, and he 
 could dictate peace on Northern soil. If an 
 invasion of the North was ever to be made, 
 now was the time. 
 
 Just a month after Chancellorsville, he 
 began to move his army of 75,000 veterans 
 toward the Shenandoah Valley. Three weeks 
 later the three main divisions of the army, 
 under EweU, Hill, and Longstreet, had crossed 
 the Potomac into western Maryland. Shortly 
 afterward Lee's whole army had crossed the 
 Pennsylvania line, and was advancing rap- 
 idly into the heart of the North. 
 
 The Army of the Potomac had fought 
 bravely, only to meet with disaster and de- 
 feat. Even now the ablest officers could not 
 believe that the gallant Hooker was the man 
 to cope with Lee and his victorious army. 
 
 The people of the North were thus threat- 
 ened with the horrors of war on their own 
 soil. The situation was critical enough to 
 
 174 
 
THE child's book OF AMERICAN HISTORY 
 
 dismay the stoutest heart. The country was 
 wild with all kinds of rumors. In towns and 
 villages north of Mason and Dixon's line 
 there was great excitement. Newspapers 
 were eagerly read for the latest news. The 
 people of southeastern Pennsylvania hurried 
 away their horses, cattle, and sheep, to places 
 of safety. Silverware, money, and other 
 valuables were hid to save them from the 
 enemy. Men, women, and children fled 
 before the invaders, carrying their household 
 goods across the Susquehanna. 
 
 President Lincoln called for 100,000 mihtia 
 from the four states most in danger. Gov- 
 ernor Curtin of Pennsylvania called for^60,000 
 men, ^^ to defend their soil, their families, and 
 their firesides.'' Thirty regiments from Penn- 
 sylvania and nineteen regiments from New 
 York rallied to the defense of Harrisburg. 
 On a single day it was estimated that 14,000 
 men in Pittsburg were at work with pickaxes 
 and shovels in throwing up intrenchments 
 for the defense of the city. 
 
 175 
 
THE child's book OF AMERICAN HISTORY 
 
 The hopes of an anxious people rested on 
 the Army of the Potomac. Keeping to the 
 east of the Blue Ridge^ and constantly cov- 
 ering Washington, Hooker followed sharply 
 on Lee's right flank. On June 27 he had 
 led his army across the Potomac and made 
 his headquarters at Frederick, in Maryland. 
 After some disagreement with the authorities 
 at Washington, he asked to be relieved. The 
 command was then given to General George 
 G. Meade. 
 
 Meanwhile a scout had brought word to 
 General Lee that the Army of the Potomac 
 was rapidly marching northward. The Con- 
 federate commander now ordered Ewell, Long- 
 street, and Hill to concentrate their forces; 
 for he saw that his communication with 
 Virginia might be cut off at any moment, 
 and that it would not be safe to advance 
 farther until he had turned back and met his 
 foe. 
 
 On taking command General Meade had 
 acted promptly. His main thought was " to 
 
 176 
 
THE child's book OF AMERICAN HISTORY 
 
 find and fight the enemy." He at once 
 pushed northv/ard. On the evening of June 
 30 the first corps, under the command of 
 General Reynolds, had crossed into Pennsyl- 
 vania. The movement of the Union army 
 was toward Harrisburg, the object being to 
 fight the invading army at the earliest pos- 
 sible moment. 
 
 The two great armies, the extreme portions 
 of which were more than forty miles apart, 
 were now rapidly moving toward each other. 
 The natural meeting place would be the town 
 of Gettysburg, into which roads led from 
 various directions. 
 
 Gettsyburg stands on a kind of plain, 
 among several ranges of hills running nearly 
 north and south. The range south of the 
 town, called Cemetery Ridge, bends round 
 not unlike a fishhook. Several small hills 
 rise from this range; among them is Round 
 Top and Little Round Top on the south, 
 Cemetery Hill at the bend of the fishhook, 
 and Gulp's Hill near the barb. Half a mile 
 
 177 
 
THE child's book OF AMERICAN HISTORY 
 
 or SO west of the town is another range known 
 as Seminary Ridge. 
 
 On June 30 General Buford, who had been 
 sent with 4000 cavalry to check Lee's ad- 
 vance guard, passed through Gettysburg and 
 camped on Seminary Ridge. 
 
 The next morning there was a sharp 
 fight between Buford's men and the Con- 
 federates led by Hill. Reynolds soon joined 
 Buford, Longstreet joined Hill, and the 
 battle became general. About ten o'clock 
 Reynolds received a sharpshooter's bullet 
 and fell dead. His death was a calamity 
 indeed, but it did not stay the fury of the 
 battle. The Union forces were gradually 
 pressed back toward Gettysburg with great 
 loss. 
 
 When General Meade heard of the death 
 of Reynolds, he sent Hancock to take com- 
 mand until he himself could reach the field. 
 Hancock rode at full speed and reached the 
 battle field about four o'clock. His presence 
 restored order and inspired confidence. The 
 
 178 
 
THE CHILD S BOOK OF AMERICAN HISTORY 
 
 main part of the army withdrew to a position 
 on Cemetery Ridge. 
 
 The men slept that night among the grave- 
 stones. They were too tired to think of any- 
 thing but their much needed rest. Thus 
 ended the first day of the battle of Gettys- 
 burg. The Confederates had won the day. 
 
 179 
 
XXVI 
 
 GETTYSBURG TURNS THE TIDE OF WAR 
 
 THROUGH that hot July night the 
 other divisions of the two great ar- 
 mies were rapidly marching toward 
 Gettysburg. It was felt that here a decisive 
 battle would be fought. 
 
 The next morning showed the two hostile 
 armies about a mile apart, ready for the 
 deadly struggle. The Union line, about six 
 miles long, was arranged on Cemetery Ridge. 
 Cannon had been placed on the rocky crest of 
 the hill, and fresh troops had worked all night 
 in throwing up earthworks. The Confeder- 
 ates, hidden by the woods, were stationed in 
 a huge semicircle, five or six miles in length, 
 on Seminary Ridge. 
 
 It was not until the afternoon that the two 
 180 
 
THE child's book OF AMERICAN HISTORY 
 
 mighty armies began the dreadful combat. 
 Most of the fighting took place on the two 
 wings. Longstreet, with a battle line a mile 
 ?,nd a half long, surged hke a mighty tide 
 against the left wing of the Union army; 
 Ewell, on the enemy's right, made a grand 
 assault on Gulp's Hill and captured it. 
 
 A terrific hand-to-hand battle was now 
 fought for the possession of Little Round 
 Top. This was really the key to the situation. 
 If the Confederates captured it, they could 
 shell the Union army out of its strong posi- 
 tion. Bayonets were crossed, muskets were 
 clubbed, and stones were hurled in the fierce 
 struggle. The Union troops at last took and 
 held the hill, and placed a strong battery on 
 Its top. 
 
 General Lee thus summed up the result 
 of the second day's fighting: '^ We attempted 
 to dislodge the enemy, and though we gained 
 I some ground, we were unable to get posses- 
 sion of his position." 
 
 The harvest of death was appalling. In 
 181 
 
THE child's book OF AMERICAN HISTORY 
 
 the two days' fighting 40,000 men had been 
 killed or wounded. The result was still in 
 doubt. A feeling of gloom filled the hearts 
 of the Union troops. During the night a 
 council of war was called, and it was decided 
 ^^ to stay and fight it out." On the same 
 night Lee called a council of his generals, and 
 they decided to try to break through the 
 Union center. 
 
 On the morning of the third day the people 
 of Gettysburg were awakened by the sound 
 of guns. The Union artillery was bombard- 
 ing Gulp's Hill. After four hours of fighting, 
 Stonewall Jackson's troops were dislodged, 
 and once more the Union line was intact. 
 Lee must now retreat or try to pierce the 
 Union ranks. 
 
 For two hours a wonderful stillness brooded 
 over the great battle field. The birds sang, 
 and the wearied men rested beneath the 
 trees. Old soldiers tell us that the sheep and 
 cattle were quietly grazing in the rich pas- 
 tures of the valley between the two armies, 
 
 182 
 
THE CHILD^S BOOK OF AMERICAN HISTORY 
 
 But the stillness only served to sharpen man's 
 fears. It was only the calm that precedes 
 the storm. 
 
 In the early afternoon the silence was 
 broken by the roar of more than a hundred 
 cannon, which the Confederates had massed 
 on Seminary Ridge. The crest of the hill 
 was a hne of fire. The shot and shell were 
 directed against Cemetery Ridge. 
 
 Meade replied with eighty cannon, all that 
 could well be used in the narrower space. 
 The air was full of missiles. The hills seemed 
 shaken to their very base. The sky appeared 
 to rain fire and iron. 
 
 The batteries on both sides suffered severely. 
 Riderless horses ran hither and thither. The 
 dead lay in heaps. The Union soldiers were 
 partly protected by stone walls, rocks, trees, 
 and earthworks. Fortunately most of the 
 enemy's guns were elevated too much and 
 swept the open ground in the rear. 
 
 For nearly two hours the storm raged. 
 Suddenly the Union cannon stopped their 
 
 183 
 
THE child's book OF AMERICAN HISTORY 
 
 fire. The ammunition was running low, and 
 the over-heated guns must be allowed to cool. 
 At the same time preparations needed to be 
 made for the more deadly combat that was 
 sure to follow; for everybody knew, from 
 General Meade to the humblest private, that 
 the object of the artillery fire was to break 
 the Union lines and prepare the way for a 
 charge of infantry. 
 
 Believing that he had silenced the Union 
 batteries, General Lee now made ready to 
 send a division of Longstreet's veterans, 
 under General Pickett, to pierce the Federal 
 center on Cemetery Ridge. 
 
 General Longstreet did not believe that the 
 movement could succeed. It was his duty, 
 however, to obey his chief. He rode with 
 Pickett to the crest of Seminary Ridge and 
 showed him what he was expected to do. 
 
 The decisive moment was at hand. 
 
 " Come quickly, or my ammunition will 
 not let me support you properly,'' was the 
 word sent to Pickett by the chief of artillery. 
 
 184 
 
THE CHILD^S BOOK OF AMERICAN HISTORY 
 
 " Shall I advance? '' asked Pickett of 
 Longstreet. 
 
 The Confederate general could not speak; 
 he /imply nodded his head, and burst into 
 tears. 
 
 '' Sir/' said Pickett grimly, " I shall lead 
 my division forward/' 
 
 At four o'clock in the afternoon, Pickett, 
 at the head of 15,000 men, the flower of the 
 Confederate infantry, rode over the woody 
 crest of Seminary Ridge and began his march 
 down the slope. 
 
 ^^ As he passed me," wrote Longstreet, ^' he 
 rode gracefully, with his jaunty cap raked 
 I well over on his right ear, and his long auburn 
 locks, nicely dressed, hanging almost to his 
 shoulders. He seemed a holiday soldier." 
 
 In double column, with banners flying and 
 I bayonets glittering, those 13,000 well-tried 
 soldiers of the Southern army marched for- 
 ward steadily and in perfect order into the 
 |j open plain. 
 
 " There they come, there they come," 
 185 
 
THE CHILD^S BOOK OF AMERICAN HISTORY 
 
 shouted the boys in blue, while they gazed 
 across the plain, and watched in breathless 
 admiration and suspense the long gray hnes 
 advancing, as if on parade, across the 
 valley. 
 
 Flat on the ground and gripping their mus- 
 kets, the Union men in grim silence lay wait- 
 ing for the charge. 
 
 When the Confederate columns were half- 
 way across the plain, the Union cannon 
 opened a fire of shot and shell. On, on, the 
 gray-clad veterans swept, like a huge tidal 
 wave. Now the Union guns poured in a 
 storm of canister. The left wing of the char- 
 ging lines staggered. Great gaps were torn 
 in their ranks. They faltered but for a mo- 
 ment. The gaps were filled with living men. 
 When they came within musket range, the 
 Union infantry opened a galling fire. Pick- 
 ett^s gallant soldiers only quickened their 
 pace, and returned volley for volley. 
 
 General Hancock, with reckless bravery, 
 rode everywhere along the Union line. A 
 
 186 
 
THE child's book OF AMERICAN HISTORY 
 
 shot, which proved to be a tenpenny 
 nail, hit him, and he fell from his horse. 
 Raising himself on his elbow, he shouted, 
 " Go in, boys, and give it to them on the 
 flank.'' 
 
 A gap had opened up between the Vir- 
 ginia troops in the center and the Alabama 
 men on the right. Stannard's famous Ver- 
 mont brigade and part of a New York brigade 
 charged into the opening, and turned on the 
 Virginians. 
 
 No soldiers, however brave, could endure 
 such deadly cross fire. Many were killed or 
 taken, many were driven back or crowded in 
 on the center. A little later, reversing his 
 front, Stannard attacked the Alabama troops 
 on the flank and captured many men and 
 ('many standards. 
 
 Since Stannard's Vermonters were new 
 troops and had been stationed near Washing- 
 ton, the veterans nicknamed them the ^^ paper 
 collar '' brigade, some of the men having been 
 seen wearing paper collars. After this famous 
 
 187 
 
THE child's book OF AMERICAN HISTORY 
 
 flank movement, and the savage fighting that 
 followed, the nickname was never again ap- 
 plied to them. 
 
 Two of the Confederate brigades, led by 
 General Armistead, dashed up the slope to 
 the very muzzles of the cannon, leaving a 
 long line of dead and dying men behind them. 
 In the last assault these brave fellows, men 
 as brave as ever faced death, pushed up to 
 Hancock's lines and across them. 
 
 ^' Give them cold steel, boys," shouted the 
 gallant Armistead, leaping over the stone 
 wall, and waving his hat on the end of his 
 sword. The next instant he fell mortally 
 wounded. True to his promise, a standard 
 bearer named Tyler planted his colors on the 
 crest of the hill. For one moment the Con- 
 federate flag waved on Cemetery Ridge. 
 The next instant the standard bearer and his 
 standard went down together. 
 
 Every Union officer in every battery but 
 one was killed or wounded. Among them was 
 young Gushing, a brother of the hero who 
 
 188 
 
THE child's book OF AMERICAN HISTORY 
 
 captured the Albemarle. He was almost 
 cut in two, but holding his body together 
 with one hand, he continued the fight. 
 
 ^^ General Webb/' he cried, ^^I will give 
 them one more shot." 
 
 He fired once, and caUing out ^^ Good-by," 
 fell dead at the post of duty. 
 
 In their wild charge the brave Virginians 
 had fallen into a death trap. From three 
 sides Hancock's men poured in volleys of 
 musketry on the wavering lines, and then 
 charged bayonets. Hundreds were shot dead; 
 hundreds were wounded; hundreds threw 
 down their arms and rushed into the Federal 
 lines. Regiments seemed to melt away and 
 disappear like snowflakes on running water. 
 Two thirds of Pickett^s men were dead, 
 wounded, or captured. 
 
 With a heart full of anguish the intrepid 
 Pickett gave the order to retreat. The frag- 
 ments of that valiant band, which only an 
 hour before had advanced so proudly and with 
 such high hopes of victory, now fled down the 
 
 189 
 
THE child's book OF AMERICAN HISTORY 
 
 hill and sought refuge among their comrades 
 on Seminary Ridge. 
 
 Pickett's charge at Gettysburg was one 
 of the most daring the world has ever seen. 
 It failed because the odds were too great. 
 
 The next morning, the Fourth of July, the 
 anniversary of the Declaration of Independ- 
 ence, the Union flag waved over the field of 
 Gettysburg. Y\^hen the news was flashed to 
 the North, there was no wild rejoicing, for 
 more than 23,000 of her soldiers lay dead or 
 wounded. 
 
 On the spot reached by Armistead, where 
 he leaped the stone wall and laid his hands 
 on a Union cannon, stands a monument to 
 commemorate the repulse of Pickett's des- 
 perate charge. A large, open book, supported 
 on two pyramids of bronze cannon balls, 
 rests on a granite base. Across the open 
 book in letters of bronze are the words " High- 
 Water Mark of the Rebellion." 
 
 190 
 
XXVII 
 
 OLD ABE, THE SOLDIER BIRD OF WISCONSIN 
 
 SOLDIERS often take pet animals and 
 birds to war. Thus, in the war in 
 Crimea, the Russians frequently carried 
 cats on their knapsacks when marching or 
 fighting. The poor things used to sleep on 
 their masters' shoulders. They were some- 
 times found dead on the battle field. 
 
 During our war for the Union a drummer 
 from Wisconsin had a tame squirrel for a pet. 
 It was taught to dance to martial music and 
 to spin round the rim of its master's drum. 
 A regiment from Pennsylvania had a little 
 black and tan dog named Jack, which was 
 in twenty battles. He was taken prisoner 
 several times, and kept for a long while in a 
 Southern prison. A Minnesota regiment had 
 
 191 
 
THE child's book OF AMERICAN HISTORY 
 
 a young bear, which was in half a dozen 
 battles, but came home safe. Many other 
 pets, such as foxes, rabbits, coons, and 
 badgers, were kept by the soldiers to pass 
 away the dull hours of camp life. 
 
 Of all the pets that the soldiers had during 
 the Civil War, the great eagle carried by a 
 Wisconsin regiment was more generally known 
 than any other. Its name was Old Abe. It 
 was also known as the " soldier bird of Wis- 
 consin. '^ 
 
 One bright morning in the early spring of 
 1861, the first year of the war, a young Chip- 
 pewa Indian named Chief Sky was hunting 
 in the northern woods of Wisconsin. He 
 spied an eagle's nest on a tall pine tree. To 
 make sure of his prize, he cut the tree down 
 and caught the two young eagles when they 
 rolled out of the nest and were running to 
 hide in the grass. 
 
 One eagle died from the fall. Sky took 
 the other home and built a nest for it in a 
 tree near his wigwam. The Indian children 
 
 192 
 
THE CHILD S BOOK OF AMERICAN HISTORY 
 
 were much pleased with their new pet. 
 After a time the eaglet used to sit in the 
 grass and watch the children play with the 
 dogs. 
 
 Now Chief Sky was poor. One day when 
 he went to the village to sell maple sugar and 
 moccasins, he took the young eagle along 
 and sold him to a farmer for a bushel of corn. 
 The farmer brought the bird to Eau Claire. 
 At this time the httle town was astir with 
 men going to the war. 
 
 ^^ Here's a new recruit for you, boys/' 
 shouted the farmer to the soldiers. 
 
 ^^ It's a hve eagle. Hurrah for the eagle! " 
 cried the boys in blue. 
 
 '^ Hurrah for the eagle! " shouted the sol- 
 diers; '' it's a bird of freedom. Let us swear 
 him into the army." 
 
 After looking at the eagle's eyes, beak, 
 wings, and plumage, a trade was quickly 
 made with the farmer, and the soldiers voted 
 to accept ^' the new recruit from Chippewa." 
 With a red, white, and blue ribbon tied about 
 
 193 
 
THE CHILD S BOOK OF AMERICAN HISTORY 
 
 his neck the young eagle was sworn into the 
 service amid the laughter and jokes of the 
 boys of Company C. 
 
 The bird was now taken to Madison, the 
 capital of the state. While Company C was 
 marching into camp with colors flying, drums 
 beating, and the people cheering, the eagle at 
 first sat quiet on his perch; but when the 
 company passed across the parade grounds, 
 he began to get excited; he seized with his 
 beak one end of the flag floating over his 
 head and began to flap his wings. 
 
 The men of the 8th Wisconsin shouted and 
 cheered. ^' The eagle of freedom forever, the 
 bird of Columbia! Hurrah, boys! we will 
 carry him to the front." They named him 
 Old Abe, and the regiment was afterwards 
 known as the " eagle " regiment. 
 
 The 8th Wisconsin was soon under orders 
 to go to the front. Old Abe and his regiment 
 were everywhere greeted with delight. At 
 St. Louis a man offered five hundred dollars 
 for the bird. Another man from lUinois 
 
 194 
 
THE child's book OF AMERICAN HISTORY 
 
 offered to give his farm for him. At La Crosse 
 two hundred dollars were offered. 
 
 '^ No/' said the commanding officer; ^^ the 
 eagle belongs to the company. No money 
 can buy him.'' 
 
 During the three years that the regiment 
 was in service, Old Abe was allowed to do 
 pretty much as he pleased. He had many 
 fights with guinea hens, and often raced with 
 the negroes. 
 
 In the morning he would fly away to the 
 river, half a mile from camp, splash and play 
 in the water, and return to camp when his 
 bath was over. 
 
 He was fond of a dog named Frank that 
 belonged to the regiment, and would listen 
 for his bark in the woods. When the dog 
 returned from his hunt, Old Abe would rustle 
 his wings and coax him with a low chuckle to 
 share his game with him. He did not like 
 hardtack, and now and then would steal a 
 chicken. 
 
 He received his rations from the commis- 
 195 
 
THE child's book OF AMERICAN HISTORY 
 
 sary just as if he were a soldier. If fresh 
 meat was scarce, he would go on a foraging 
 trip. He might be gone two or three days, but 
 would usually return with a lamb or chicken 
 in his talons. However far he flew in search 
 of food, on his return he was never known to 
 alight save in his own regiment and among 
 his own men. 
 
 When surprised, he whistled sharply. His 
 scream during a battle was a trill of five or 
 six notes. He was fond of music, especially 
 ^^ Yankee Doodle '' and ^^ Old Hundred.^' 
 On parade he always gave heed to '^ Atten- 
 tion ''; with his eye on the colonel of the regi- 
 ment he would listen and obey orders, noting 
 time accurately. After a parade he would 
 put off the air of a soldier, flap his wings, and 
 make himself at home. 
 
 Old Abe was in more than a score of battles 
 and fully as many skirmishes. His regiment 
 was never defeated. Not one of its standard 
 bearers was ever shot down. Once or twice 
 the eagle was hit by a spent bullet, and lost 
 
 196 
 
THE child's book OF AMERICAN HISTORY 
 
 a feather or two. As the battle grew hotter 
 and hotter, he would flap his wings, jumping 
 up and down on his perch, and shriek his 
 war cry with such wild, fearful notes as only 
 an eagle can utter. With head erect, he faced 
 the whizzing bullets and crashing shells with 
 no signs of fear. 
 
 General Price of the Confederate army 
 gave orders to his men to capture the eagle. 
 He said he had rather get him than a dozen 
 battle flags. 
 
 At last the war came to an end, and the 
 Wisconsin 8th, with its eagle and its torn 
 and battle-stained flag, went back to Madi- 
 son. The regiment had gone out to the war 
 a thousand strong, and returned a little band, 
 scarred and worn. Old Abe was presented 
 to the State of Wisconsin. The governor 
 accepted the gift, and provided quarters in 
 the basement of the beautiful capitol. The 
 bird's attendant was one of the soldiers who 
 had carried him during the war. 
 
 Old Abe's services for his country, however, 
 197 
 
THE CHILD ^S BOOK OF AMERICAN HISTORY 
 
 did not end here. At the great fair in Chicago, 
 in 1875, he was an honored guest at the re- 
 union of the Grand Army of the Repubhc. 
 Thousands of photographs of the old eagle 
 were sold for the benefit of poor and sick 
 soldiers. 
 
 At the centennial celebration in Philadel- 
 phia, in 1876, Old Abe occupied a prominent 
 place. Thousands of visitors from all parts 
 of the country paid their respects to him. 
 
 In 1881, surrounded by his comrades. Old 
 Abe died in the arms of his keeper. The 
 eagle was then stuffed and kept on exhibition 
 in the capitol. A few years ago a fire took 
 place, and in the words of a veteran and com- 
 rade of Old Abe, ^^ The mortal remains of 
 our immortal bird were utterly consumed.^' 
 
 198 
 
XXVIII 
 
 ^' THE STAR - SPANGLED BANNER '^ 
 
 " 'Tis the star-spangled banner; oh, long may it wave 
 O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave! " 
 
 OUR national flag is often called the 
 star-spangled banner. The thirteen 
 stripes stand for the thirteen original 
 colonies. There is a star for every state. 
 The red of the flag says, '' Be brave; '^ the 
 white says, " Be pure and good; " the blue 
 says, ^^ Be true.^' When we look at the flag 
 of our nation, let us think of these three 
 beautiful words: Bravery, Goodness, Truth. 
 
 The words at the beginning of our story 
 are from that stirring song called " The Star- 
 Spangled Banner, '^ written by Francis Scott 
 Key, a young lawyer of Baltimore. During 
 our second war with England, a hundred 
 
 199 
 
THE CHILD^S BOOK OF AMERICAN HISTORY 
 
 years ago, the British had taken the city of 
 Washington and burned the pubhc buildings. 
 They now made ready to capture Baltimore. 
 While the British fleet was at anchor in Ches- 
 apeake Bay, below Baltimore, the young law- 
 yer was allowed to row out to the flagship of 
 the fleet to visit a friend who had been cap- 
 tured and was held as a prisoner. 
 
 With Key still on board, the British fleet 
 sailed up Chesapeake Bay. Alarm guns 
 were fired and signal fires lighted along the 
 shore to warn the people of the coming of the 
 enemy. Household goods were hastily thrown 
 into farm wagons and wheelbarrows, and 
 hurried away into the country. The water 
 of the bay was so shallow, however, that the 
 British vessel could not get within range of 
 Baltimore. 
 
 '' We will bombard the forts first, '^ said 
 the British admiral; ^^ we can batter them 
 down in a few hours and then march up and 
 take the city.'^ 
 
 The chief protection of Baltimore was Fort 
 200 
 
THE CHILD^S BOOK OF AMERICAN HISTORY 
 
 McHenry. If this were taken, the city was 
 doomed. All day long the British fleet hurled 
 shot and shell into the fortification. 
 
 ^' Baltimore is safe so long as the fort holds 
 out/' said Key to himself. 
 
 The young lawyer now found himself in an 
 unpleasant situation. The British admiral 
 would not allow him to leave the warship. 
 
 " You must stay on board until we take the 
 city." 
 
 Key made the best of it. He quietly 
 watched the bombardment of Fort Mc- 
 Henry. After dark he paced the deck, ex- 
 cited and anxious. By the light of the blazing 
 cannon and the bursting shells he saw that 
 the flag still waved over the fort. 
 
 At midnight the firing suddenly stopped. 
 
 ^' Has the fort surrendered? Oh, if daylight 
 would only come! '' 
 
 At last came the gray of the dawn. He 
 strained his eyes to catch a glimpse through 
 the early morning mist. 
 
 ^^ Thank God! our flag is still there/' he 
 201 
 
THE child's book OF AMERICAN HISTORY 
 
 cried when the Stars and Stripes floated out 
 on the morning breeze; ^^ the fort holds out. 
 Baltimore is safe/' 
 
 In his joy and excitement the young man 
 took an old letter from his pocket and on its 
 back wrote in pencil the words of the song. 
 
 At sunrise the British gave up the attack 
 on Fort McHenry. The warships were soon 
 sailing down Chesapeake Bay. Baltimore 
 was safe. 
 
 During the same morning Key was allowed 
 to go home. He made a copy of his song and 
 gave it to a friend. This friend had it printed 
 as a handbill and scattered through the 
 city. 
 
 ^^ Hear this, hear this, you people, and tell 
 me what you think of it. Let me read it to 
 you, and see if it does not stir your blood,'' 
 shouted a young man, rushing into the Hving 
 room of a tavern. He mounted a chair and 
 with ringing voice read the verses to a crowd 
 of patriots celebrating the failure of the 
 British to capture their city. 
 
 202 
 
THE child's book OF AMERICAN HISTORY 
 
 ^' Sing it. Sing it. Let us hear how it 
 sounds/' cried his companions. 
 
 He started the words to an old and favorite 
 tune, and all joined him. 
 
 The public eagerly took up the new song. 
 It was sung in the taverns, the theaters, 
 everywhere. It spread like magic all over 
 the country. For a hundred years the good 
 old tune and its thrilling words have stirred 
 the minds and hearts of our people. 
 
 " Oh, thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand 
 
 Between their loved homes and the war's deso- 
 lation ! 
 Blest with victory and peace, may the heaven- 
 rescued land 
 Praise the Power that hath made and preserved 
 us a nation. 
 
 " Then conquer we must, for our cause it is just, 
 And this be our motto, ' In God is our trust,' 
 And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall 
 wave 
 O'er the land of the free and the home of the 
 brave." 
 
 203 
 
XXIX 
 
 THE THIRTIETH OF MAY 
 
 HOW dear to the hearts of our people 
 Memorial Day is! Its story is sad 
 and pathetic, although even to the 
 white-headed soldier the dreadful war seems 
 like a dream out of the distant past. 
 
 The day is given over to the memory of 
 those brave men who fifty years ago fought 
 and died in the Civil War: the boys in blue, 
 led by Grant, Sherman, and Sheridan; and 
 the boys in gray, under the command of Lee, 
 Stonewall Jackson, and Longstreet. 
 
 The celebration of this day began a good 
 many years ago, in the South. A few sad- 
 faced women met each year to scatter flowers 
 on the graves of their soldiers. Little by 
 
 204 
 
THE CHILD^S BOOK OF AMERICAN HISTORY 
 
 little the day began to be observed in the 
 North as well as in the South. And now May 
 30, Memorial Day, is set apart all over our 
 land as a glorious but pathetic reminder of 
 those who gave their lives for their cause. 
 
 With each year the custom has grown to 
 decorate the graves not only of the soldiers, 
 but also of all our dead. 
 
 " Bring flowers to strew again 
 With fragrant purple rain 
 Of lilacs, and of roses white and red, 
 The dwellings of our dead." 
 
 The flag is at half-mast. Here with feeble 
 steps grizzled heroes march in the ranks of 
 the Grand Army of the Republic, escorted 
 by young soldiers in showy uniforms. Now 
 comes a line of schoolgirls dressed in white. 
 All have their flowers; all turn their steps 
 toward the cemetery. After the few simple 
 words of the Grand Army ritual, the flowers 
 are scattered where the soldiers lie buried, 
 the graves being marked by tiny flags. 
 
 205 
 
THE child's book OF AMERICAN HISTORY 
 
 *' Under the sod and the dew, 
 Waiting the judgment day; 
 Under the roses, the Blue; 
 Under the hhes, the Gray." 
 
 To the stirring music of the band the httle 
 procession marches home. Here and there a 
 few women and children Hnger at the grave 
 of some loved one who has passed away since 
 the last Memorial Day. Bunches of roses 
 and lilacs are tenderly put on the freshly 
 turned sod. Then God's acre takes on its 
 usual quiet. 
 
 The lesson of the day should sink into our 
 hearts; and the passing years should deepen 
 our reverence for those brave men who for 
 our sakes gave the best they had to give. 
 
 " Yes, bring fresh flowers and strew the soldier ^s grave, 
 Whether he proudly lies 
 Beneath our Northern skies, 
 Or where the Southern palms their branches wave. 
 Let the bells toll and wild war music swell. 
 And for one day the thought of all the past, 
 Of all those memories vast, 
 Come back and haunt us with its mighty spell. 
 206 
 
THE child's book OF AMERICAN HISTORY 
 
 Bring flowers, then, once again. 
 And strew with fragrant rain 
 Of lilacs, and of roses white and red, 
 The dwellings of our dead." 
 
 207 
 
APPENDIX 
 
 BOOKS FOR REFERENCE AND READING IN THE 
 STUDY OF AMERICAN HISTORY 
 
 This book is intended to serve as a convenient basis for 
 more extended work on the part of both teacher and pupils. 
 It should be used either before the formal textbook on 
 American history Js begun, or may be read in connection 
 with it. Hence, to the study of the preceding chapters 
 should be added a more or less extended course in supple- 
 mentary reading. 
 
 The following plan is suggested, which may be readily 
 modified to meet the needs of any particular grade or class 
 of pupils: 
 
 1. Reference Books for Teachers of American 
 History 
 
 Channing and Hart's Guide to American History ($2.00) is 
 of special value to teachers. This book is replete with sug- 
 gestions, hints, and helps on collateral study, with numerous 
 references, detailed lists of topics, and a wide range of other 
 subjects. 
 
 The subject of reference books on American history is well 
 treated in Montgomery's American History (see " Short List 
 of Books," in Appendix), and Fiske's History of the United 
 States (see Appendix). 
 
 For brief extracts from documents and from original ma- 
 
 209 
 
APPENDIX 
 
 terials pertaining to the Colonial period and the Revolution, 
 admirably edited for school use, consult Hart's " Source- 
 Readers in American History: " No. 1, Colonial Children 
 (40 cts.) ; No. 2, Camps and Firesides of the Revolution (50 
 cts.); No. 3, How our Grandfathers Lived (60 cts.). 
 
 The Introductions in these three books are suggestive 
 and of practical value to teachers of history. 
 
 For a study of a few great epochs of history, identical in 
 point of time with the epochs of our own history as a land 
 and as a people, the teacher may consult Mann's America 
 in its Relation to the Great Epochs of History ($1.00). 
 
 Historical Sources in Schools, A Report to the New Eng- 
 land History Teachers' Association by a Select Committee, 
 Part V, American History (60 cts.), is useful in advance 
 work. 
 
 2. School Textbooks for Reading and Reference 
 
 Teachers and pupils should have easy access, by means of 
 the pubhc or school library, or otherwise, to one or more of 
 the formal school textbooks on American history. These 
 books are useful for additional topics, for dates, maps, illus- 
 trations, reference tables, and for filling in subjects which 
 do not come within the scope of this book. In connection 
 with this book, especially in advanced work. Mace's School 
 History of the United States ($1.00), Gordy's History of the 
 United States ($1.00), Thwaites and Kendall's History of the 
 United States ($1.00), Elson's School History of the United 
 States (90 cts.), Larned's History of the United States ($1.40), 
 Montgomery's Leading Facts of American History ($1.00), 
 McMaster's Brief History of the United States ($1.00), Fiske's 
 History of the United States ($1.00), Lawler's Essentials of 
 American History ($1.00), Channing's Short History of the 
 
 210 
 
APPENDIX 
 
 United States ($1.00), Morris's History of the United States 
 ($1.00), Eggleston's New Century History of the United States 
 ($1.00), and Barnes's School History of the United States 
 ($1.00) are recommended. 
 
 If less difficult and smaller textbooks are desirable, the fol- 
 lowing books are recommended: Gordy's Elementary History 
 of the United States (65 cts.), Thorpe's School History of the 
 United States (80 cts.), Channing's First Lessons in United 
 States History (60 cts.), Montgomery's Beginner's American 
 History (60 cts.), Morris's Primary History of the United States 
 (60 cts.), Tappan's Our Country's Story (65 cts.), Montgom- 
 ery's Elementary American History (75 cts.), Blaisdell's Story 
 of American History (60 cts.), Barnes's Elementary History 
 of the United States (60 cts.), and Eggleston's First Book 
 in American History (60 cts.). 
 
 3. Elementary Books for Supplementary Reading 
 
 Teachers and pupils should also have quick reference to a 
 few inexpensive supplementary reading books from, which 
 topics may be read by the pupil, or from which may be read 
 sparingly passages mdicated by the teacher. Read the desig- 
 nated works, not as a whole, but by topics or by selec- 
 tions. 
 
 The following books are recommended for supplementary 
 reading in connection with this book. They have been 
 written by competent people and in an interesting style. If 
 wisely used they will do much to awaken and maintain a 
 lively interest in American history. 
 
 McMurry's Pioneer History Stories, three books (40 cts. 
 each). 
 
 First Book. Pioneers on Land and Sea. 
 
 Second Book. Pioneers of the Mississippi Valley. 
 
 211 
 
APPENDIX 
 
 Third Book. Pioneers of the Rocky Mountains and 
 the West. 
 
 Hodgdon's First Course in American History, two books 
 (65 cts. each). 
 
 Book I. Discoverers, Explorers, and Colonists. 
 Book II. The National Period. 
 
 Southworth's Builders of Our Country, two books (60 cts. 
 each). 
 
 Blaisdell's Story of American History (60 cts.). 
 
 Blaisdell and Ball's Hero Stories from American History 
 (50 cts.). 
 
 Blaisdell and Ball's Short Stories from American History 
 (40 cts.). 
 
 Blaisdell and Ball's American History Story-Booh (50 
 cts.). 
 
 Tappan's American Hero Stories (55 cts.). 
 
 Tappan's Our Country's Story (65 cts.). 
 
 Montgomery's Beginner's American History (60 cts.). 
 
 Montgomery's Elementary American History (75 cts.). 
 
 Barnes's Elementary History of the United States (60 
 cts.). 
 
 Century Readings in United States History, 6 volumes (50 
 cts. each). 
 
 Dodge's Stories of American History (30 cts.). 
 
 Fassett's Colonial Life in New Hampshire (60 cts.). 
 
 Gordy's Colonial Days (50 cts.). 
 
 Gordy's American Leaders and Heroes (60 cts.). 
 
 Gordy's American Explorers (50 cts.). 
 
 Eggleston's First Book in American History (60 cts.). 
 
 Morris's Primary History of the United States (60 cts.). 
 
 Roosevelt's Stories of the Great West (60 cts.). 
 
 To show how some of the preceding books may be utilized 
 by the teacher or pupil in the study of " Columbus," the 
 
 212 
 
APPENDIX 
 
 first chapter in this book, we give below some of the best 
 passages which may be used in the classroom to illustrate 
 this topic. 
 
 Columbus, the Wool-combers' Boy 
 
 McMurry's Pioneer History Stories, Book I, page 122; 
 Hodgdon's First Course in American History, Book I, p. 20; 
 South worth's Builders of Our Country, Book I, p. 24; Blais- 
 dell's Story of American History, p. 10; Barnes's Elementary 
 History, p. 7; Montgomery's A Beginner's American History, 
 p. 1; Montgomery's Elementary American History, p. 1; 
 Gordy's American Leaders and Heroes, p. 1; Eggleston's 
 First Book in American History, p. 1 ; Tappan's Our Country's 
 Story, p. 1; Tappan's American Hero Stories, p. 1; Morris's 
 Primary History of the United States, p. 9 . 
 
 4, Home Reading 
 
 While engaged in the study of this book pupils should 
 limit their home reading to such books and selections as 
 bear directly on the subject. Under this head teachers may 
 suggest books which belong to the story-book order. Whole- 
 some books of fiction and semifiction may certainly do much 
 to stimulate and hold the attention of young students. Thus, 
 Churchill's Richard Carvel and Cooper's Pilot furnish stirring 
 scenes in the career of Paul Jones. Read selections from 
 Cooper's The Spy for an account of a stirring period of the 
 Revolution and from Beecher's Norwood for a graphic de- 
 scription of the Battle of Gettysburg. In the home reading, 
 as in all other collateral reading, the teacher should exercise 
 a careful supervision. 
 
 Stories based on historical facts, which may help to 
 
 213 
 
APPENDIX 
 
 make more vivid to young pupils of to-day the perils and 
 hardships endured by their forefathers in the settlement of 
 this country, may be found in two series by Mary P. Wells 
 Smith. The four books of the first series, " The Young Puri- 
 tan Series,'' are The Young Puritans of Old Hadley ($1.25), 
 The Young Puritans in King Philip's War ($1.25), The Young 
 Puritans in Captivity ($1.25), The Young and Old Puritans 
 of Hatfield ($1.25). The four books of the second series, 
 " The Old Deerfield Series," are The Boy Captive of Old 
 Deerfield ($1.25), The Boy Captive in Canada ($1.25), Boijs of 
 the Border ($1.25), Boys and Girls of Seventy-Seven ($1.25). 
 
 The books in the " Stuart Schuyler Series " by John 
 Preston True are among the most satisfactory historical 
 stories written for young people. The four volumes of the 
 series are Scouting for Washington ($1.50), Morgan's Men 
 ($1.50), On Guard! Against Tory and Tarleton ($1.50), 
 Scouting for Light-Horse Harry ($1.50). 
 
 Selections from the following books may prove instructive 
 and wholesome for home reading in connection with the use 
 of the several books of the historical readers: The Boys' 
 Parkman (60 cts.) ; The Struggle for a Continent (Selections 
 from Parkman) ($1.50); Dr. Charles A. Eastman's Smoky 
 Day's Wigwam Evenings (Indian Stories Retold) (60 cts.); 
 Gettemy's True Story of Paul Revere ($1.50) ; " Young Heroes 
 of the Navy Series " ($1.00 each) : Farragut; Paul Jones; The 
 Hero of Lake Erie (Perry); The Hero of Manila (Dewey). 
 Coffin's Boys of '76 ($2.00) ; Boys of '61 ($2.00) ; Old Times in 
 the Colonies ($2.00). Brooks's Century Book of the American 
 Colonies ($1.50) ; Brooks's Century Book of the American Revo- 
 lution ($1.50). 
 
 The work in history should be enlivened by reading occa- 
 sionally, before the class or the school, poems which bear 
 directly on the general topic under consideration. For in- 
 
 214 
 
APPENDIX 
 
 stance, in the appropriate chapters of these historical readers 
 Finch's poem, " Nathan Hale," Simms's " Ballad of King's 
 Mountain," Longfellow's " Paul Revere's Ride," Long- 
 fellow's " The Skeleton in Armor," and " The Courtship of 
 Miles Standish," Joaquim Miller's " Columbus," Thackeray's 
 " Pocahontas," Mrs. Hemans's " Landing of the Pilgrims," 
 Whittier's " Lexington," Bryant's " The Twenty-second of 
 February," Whitman's " Captain! My Captain! " (Death 
 of Lincoln), Holmes's " Old Ironsides," " Freedom, our 
 Queen," " God Save the Flag," and " The Battle of Bunker 
 Hill " may be useful for home reading, school declamation, 
 or reading in concert. 
 
 5. Hints on the Use of a Notebook 
 
 Teacher and pupil should appreciate the scope and the use- 
 fulness of a notebook. This may be a blank book of a con- 
 venient size, of at least forty-eight pages. In it brief notes 
 should be written carefully, with ink, as the several chapters 
 of this book are read or studied. 
 
 Make brief notes of the various books read in whole or in 
 part; of topics not treated in this book but discussed in the 
 class, such as " The Treason of Benedict Arnold," " Old 
 Ironsides," " The Visit of Lafayette," '' Nathan Hale, the 
 Patriot Spy," and " Israel Putnam." 
 
 This notebook should be illustrated with inexpensive re- 
 productions (bought for about one cent each) of famous 
 pictures illustrating important events in American history. 
 Catalogues giving the titles, cost, and other details are fre- 
 quently advertised. 
 
 Pupils should become familiar with and use in their note- 
 books such reproductions as Stuart's " Washington "; Faed's 
 "Washington at Trenton"; Trumbull's "The Surrender 
 
 215 
 
APPENDIX 
 
 of Cornwallis " and " Signing the Declaration of Inde- 
 pendence"; Benjamin West's '' Penn's Treaty"; Leutze's 
 ''Washington Crossing the Delaware"; Vanderlyn's "The 
 Landing of Columbus"; and Johnson's "Old Ironsides." 
 Many other historical subjects will suggest themselves. 
 
 Portraits, maps, facsimiles of documents and autographs, 
 etc., etc., are easily obtained from publishers' catalogues, 
 guidebooks, advertising pages, and secondhand textbooks. 
 
 All this illustrative material should be neatly pasted in the 
 notebook at the proper place, with plenty of space for mar- 
 gins. The book will be a pleasant reminder of school days. 
 
 216 
 
THE PRONUNCIATION OF PROPER NAMES 
 
 ^sop, e'sop 
 Alabama, al-a-bah'ma 
 Albemarle, arbe-marl 
 Alexander, al-eg-zan'der 
 Allegheny, are-ga-ny 
 Allerton, al'er-tun 
 Amesbury, aims'ber-y 
 Arabia, a-ra'bi-a 
 Arlington, ar'ling-tun 
 Armistead, ar'mis-ted 
 
 B 
 
 Bahama, ba-ha'ma 
 Baltimore, borti-more 
 Bermuda, ber-mu'da 
 Bimini, bee'mi-nee 
 Braddock, brad'uk 
 Buford, bu'ford 
 Bunyan, bun'yan 
 
 Cabot, kab'ut 
 California, kal-i-for'ni-a 
 Carolina, kar-o-li'na 
 Charleston, charls'tun 
 Cherokee, cher-o-ke' 
 Chesapeake, ches'a-peek 
 Chicago, shi-kah'go 
 Chippewa, chip'e-wah 
 Chittendon, chit'ten-dun 
 Christopher, kris'to-fer 
 
 Columbus, ko-lum'bus 
 Concord, cong'kord 
 Connecticut, kon-net'i-kut 
 Craigie, krag'y 
 Crimea, kri-me'a 
 Cumberland, kum'ber-land 
 
 D 
 
 Decatur, de-ka'tur 
 Dorothy, dor'o-thy 
 Duquesne, doo-kan' 
 
 E 
 
 Eau Claire, o klar' 
 Eleanor, era-nor 
 Ethan, e'than 
 Ewell, u'el {u as in use) 
 
 F 
 
 Ferdinand, fer'di-nand 
 Francisco, fran-sis'ko 
 
 G 
 
 Gettysburg, get'iz-burg 
 Gist, jist 
 
 H 
 Haverhill, ha'ver-il 
 
 I 
 
 Illinois, il-i-noi' 
 Indiana, in-di-an'a 
 Isabella, iz-a-beFa 
 Isaiah, i-za'yah 
 
 217 
 
THE PRONUNCIATION OF PROPER NAMES 
 
 Kentucky, ken-tuk'y 
 
 L 
 
 Labrador, lab-ra-dor' 
 Lexington, lek'sing-tun 
 
 M 
 Madison, mad'i-sun 
 Massachusetts, 
 
 mas-a-choo'sets 
 Massasoit, Mas'-a-soit 
 McHenry, mak-hen'ry 
 Merrimac, mer'i-mak 
 Minnesota, min-e-so'ta 
 Mississippi, mis-is-sip'y 
 Munroe, mun-ro' 
 
 N 
 Narragansett, nar-a-gan'set 
 Nolichucky, nori-chuk-y 
 
 O 
 
 Orleans, or'le-anz 
 
 P 
 
 Panama, pan-a-mah' 
 Plymouth, plim'uth 
 Pocahontas, po-ka-hon'tas 
 Ponce de Leon, pon'tha da 
 
 la-on', or pons de le'un 
 Porto Rico, por'to re'ko 
 Potomac, po-to'mak 
 Powhatan, pow-ha-tan' 
 Provincetown, 
 
 prov'ins-town 
 
 Raleigh, raw'ly 
 Revere, re-ver' 
 Reynolds, ren'ulz 
 Roanoke, ro'a-noke 
 Robertson, rob'ert-sun 
 Roxbury, rox'ber-y 
 Russian, rush'an 
 
 Sacramento, sak-ra-men'to 
 St. Louis, saint loo'is 
 Samoset, sam'o-set 
 Sebastian, se-bas'chan 
 Sevier, se-ver' 
 Shawnee, shaw-ne' 
 Shenandoah, shen-an-do'a 
 Sheridan, sher'i-dan 
 Somerset, sum'er-set 
 Somerville, sum'er-vil 
 Spaniard, span'yard 
 Squanto, skwon'to 
 Susquehanna, 
 sus-kwe-han'a 
 
 Tecumseh, te-kum'seh 
 Tennessee, ten-es-se' 
 Thames, temz 
 Tippecanoe, tip-e-ca-noo' 
 
 W 
 Watauga, wah-tah'ga 
 
 RD 
 
 5 ^4 
 
 218 
 

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