Ohio History Journal

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EDITORIALANA

EDITORIALANA.

HISTORY OF THE MAUMEE RIVER BASIN.

There has just appeared from the press of Bowen & Slocum, Indian-

apolis and Toledo, a "History of the Maumee River Basin," from the

earliest account to its organization into counties. The author is Dr. Charles

Elihu Slocum, a life member of the Ohio State Archeological and Histor-

ical Society; he has contributed many interesting and valuable articles to

its Quarterly, and for many years has been an indefatigable and enthusi-

astic student of early Ohio history. The work, as its name indicates, pre-

sumably deals with only the northwestern part of the state, one of the

richest sections in historic lore, but Dr. Slocum's book, which contains

some 650 pages of nearly 500 words to the page, naturally and at times

necessarily deals with facts and events pertinent to the history of the

entire state. This book is, therefore, to a very great degree, a history of

Ohio. Indeed, both from its local limitation and its treatment of certain

phases general to the whole state, it becomes not only valuable but is

really an indispensable addition to the historical bibliography of Ohio.

The interest of this book, therefore, is a general one as well as special.

Dr. Slocum with untiring zeal has gone largely to the initial sources

for his information, namely, the original documents, as far as accessible,

in the libraries of Canada, England and the United States. This gives a

double value to his work. He has begun at the very beginning, his open-

ing chapter being upon the geology of the Maume River basin, a most

scholarly summary of the geological and topographical phases of the

portion of the state in question. He discusses the earliest evidences

of prehistoric man, following it, of course, with the narratives of the first

explorers, namely the French and the British.

The long and complicated contests between the French and the

British for the possession of this part of the Northwest Territory are

entertainingly related. Dr. Slocum has made a comprehensive and devoted

study of the character and history of the American Indian, particularly of

the races and tribes of the American savages which occupied at various

times the Ohio country. He has with much faithfulness and painstaking

told of their character, mode of life, warfare, and their various relation-

ships with the French, English and the Americans. Dr. Slocum through-

out the entire book insists upon designating the "American Indian" as the

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