now submitted to the public, have been no exception Not only had the history of the Indians to this rule. who occupied the valley of Hudson's river never been is

written, but the incidental references to them, in the histories of nations more prominent at a later period

treating

them

as

mere fragmentary bands without

organization or political position among the aboriginal nations being regarded as erroneous^ the inquiry

involved the rejection, to a very great extent, of the conclusions of others, and the investigation and ana-

To lyzation of original sources of information. extract the truth and embody it in consistent narrative, has involved no

little

labor and research, and the

careful weighing of words ;

and, although the results

PREFACE.

iv

may not be stated in the clearest terms or the most flowing rhetoric, nor entirely without error, they are nevertheless believed to fully sustain the conclusion

question have a history which enti them to a high rank in the annals of aboriginal

that the tribes in tles

.

nations, and which assigns to them native abilities as

distinguished, eloquence as pure, bravery and prowess as unquestionable, as was possessed by those who, pre

served for a greater time in their national integrity by their remoteness from

became of more

civilization,

esteem in their relations to the government but less noble in their purposes. It has been the object of the author to trace the his

tory of the Indians from the earliest period; to show their original position in the family of nations, and that