Men of
New
France
lived
as the
Indians

lived

Long years

of war

the explorations of Joliet and La Salle the French in Canada sent trappers, missionaries, and soldiers into the new territory. The trappers lived on friendly terms with the Indians. They took shelter in the Indian wigwam and sat at the Indian camp fire. Together they searched the forest for game, and paddled up and down the rivers and lakes in the Indian canoes. They joined in the Indian sports, lived as the Indians lived, and often married the Indian maidens.

The lives of the missionaries who went to preach among the Indians were full of self-sacrifice. They had great difficulties to overcome. The Indians were ignorant and hard to teach, but they treated the missionaries with respect and loved them for their kind deeds.

From the mouth of the St. Lawrence to the Gulf of Mexico the soldiers of New France built many forts. Their chief danger was from the Iroquois Indians, who sided with the English in the long years of war. Many times their settlements were destroyed, their forts burned. But they were courageous and determined. They went on with their work of establishing New France in America, fighting the English and the Indians, until 1759. Then Wolfe captured Quebec and New France became English territory.

SUGGESTIONS INTENDED TO HELP THE PUPIL

The Leading Facts. I. La Salle was sent to complete the exploration of the Mississippi. 2. La Salle made his way to the Gulf of Mexico and later built the fort at Starved Rock. 3. The French sent trappers, missionaries, and soldiers into New France to strengthen it against the English. 4. The French trappers lived on intimate terms with the Indians. 5. With the fall of Quebec, England won New France.

Study Questions. I. Why was La Salle not satisfied

merely to get rich? 2. Describe the first voyage on the Lakes. 3. Find on the map the places named, from Mackinac to Fort Crèvecœur. 4. How did La Salle reach the Mississippi? 5. Picture Tonti's fort on Starved Rock. 6. Tell the story of the fate of La Salle. 7. What Indian tribe sided with the English? 8. What was the effect of the fall of Quebec?

Suggested Readings. LA SALLE: Wright, Children's Stories in American History, 316-330; Pratt, Later Colonial Period, I-28.

GEORGE WASHINGTON, THE FIRST GENERAL
AND FIRST PRESIDENT OF THE
UNITED STATES

THE "FATHER OF HIS COUNTRY"

ington's birthday

63. George Washington as a Boy. When Washington was born, February 22, 1732, in the old colony of Virginia, Washthe early settlements had grown into towns, and planters had prospered. His father's house stood upon a gentle and birthhill slope which ran down to the lazily flowing Potomac. place Across the river one could see the wooded Maryland shore, broken with a few great farms and plantations.

Washington's father owned more than one plantation, and had many negro slaves. He was also a partner in some iron mines, and once had been captain of a ship carrying iron ore to London. It was in London that he The had fallen in love with Mary Ball, called, on account of of Washher beauty, the "Rose of Epping Forest." She, too, was ington a Virginian, and she married Augustine Washington, and became the greatly revered mother of George.

mother

When George was but three years old his parents moved to the plantation on the Rappahannock. Across School the river, in the old town of Fredericksburg, George went ericksto a school taught by the church sexton. Both teachers burg

in Fred

The yearly

ship from London

Mary

Washington

The eldest

and schools were scarce in Virginia then because the people lived miles apart on their great plantations.

In Washington's day the plantations were usually located on the rivers or bays. The rivers were the best roadways in those old times. Besides, the planter was glad

to have the yearly

Here on the site of the farmhouse, a slope on the river bank, ship from London

stands the first monument erected to Washington, the bricks
from the great chimney forming its foundation

stop at his door. The coming of the ship brought happy days to the young people, for it often brought furniture for the house and fine clothes for the family. Sometimes, too, it brought back some long-absent son or daughter, or letters from relatives in the old English home. Then there were the stories such as only sailors can tell.

When all the stores of tobacco and grain had been loaded, once more the great ship spread her wings and sailed away. Then many a Virginia boy longed to go on board and sail away, too.

George's father died and left him, at the age of eleven, to the care of his mother. Mary Washington was a wise, firm mother, and always held the love and admiration of her children.

According to the custom of those old Virginia days, the eldest son, Lawrence Washington, received the beautiful plantation on the Potomac, which he named Mount Virginia Vernon in honor of Admiral Vernon, an English naval

son in

officer under whom he had fought in the West Indies.

To George fell a smaller plantation on the Rappahannock. He could hardly hope to go to England to study, but went to a school near his birthplace. Here he studied hard, mastering mathematics, and business papers of all sorts. The book into which he copied business letters, deeds, wills, and bills of sale and exchange shows how careful he was and how he mastered everything he undertook.

George

studied

hard and

hard

At school, George was a spirited leader in all outdoor played sports. He outran, outjumped, as well as outwrestled all his comrades. He could throw farther than any of them. The story is told that he once threw a stone across the Rappahannock, and that at another time he threw a stone from the valley below to the top of the Natural Bridge, a distance of more than two hundred feet.

Washington was

captain when the boys played at war. Every boy among them expected to be a soldier some day. George listened to the stories told by his brother Lawrence, who had been a captain in the West Indies.

As a boy George Washington also

learned many useful things outside of school. came a skillful horseback rider, for every

man

plantation had fine riding horses. People lived so far apart
that they had to ride horseback when they visited each
other and when they went to church or to
town. Whether George rode a wild colt to
"break" it, or whether he rode with his
neighbors through woods and fields, jumping
fences or swimming streams, or in a wild chase
after the fox, he always kept his seat.

Even while a boy Washington was learnA woods- ing the ways of a woodsman. With only a gun and a dog for companions, he made long trips into the deep, dark Virginia forests, where no road or path showed the way. He could cross rivers without bridge or boat, could build a shelter at night, could trap, and shoot, and cook over the fire by the side of which he slept. All this knowledge WASHINGTON'S was soon put to use by Washington.

Washington wanted to be a

sailor

WASHINGTON AS A WOODSMAN

SURVEYING INSTRUMENTS

When George was fourteen it was decided that he might "go to sea." No doubt he dreamed of the time when he should be a seaman, or perhaps an officer on one of the king's great war ships. But when all was ready, he gave up his plans to please his mother and went back to school. He now studied surveying, and was soon able to mark off the boundaries of farms and lay out roads.