History, authenticated and systematically compiled, that deals directly with pioneer life of the great northwest territory, is as charming as the most beautiful romance and as fascinating as any picture ever drawn with the facile pen Of fiction. The historian, in the development Of a field that invites his thought and inspires his pen, unearths facts that lie buried beneath the dust of ages, which shine forth as the light Of truth reveals the story of their being with a delightful brilliancy that the recital Of fanciful tales cannot impart. The story Of the growth and development of the boundless territory of which Vincennes was the capital will begin at a period when the land scape was a gloomy and impenetrable wilderness, whose tranquility was broken only by the cries of savage men and still more savage beasts, when the dark and dense woods rang with the melody of feathered songsters and caught the rhythmic rippling of many waters, and end with the brilliant achievements Of today, which the twentieth century has wrought, ever revering the memory of those men whose hearts Of steel and muscles of iron, whose indomitable courage and nobility Of purpose impelled them to invade that hostile land and blaze the way for the higher civilization and its attendant blessings which we now enjoy.