Excerpt from A Condensed Geography and History of the Western States, or the Mississippi Valley, Vol. 1 of 2 Something more than half the compass of this work is original, in the strictest sense of the word, the remarks and details being the fruit of his own observation or reflection. What has been suggested by the reading and observation of those, who have pre ceded him in labors of this kind, will be generally found, he thinks, . To have been assimilated, to use a medical term, and to have received in his mind the moulding of his own manner. But, touching the matter obtained from other books, he claims no other merit, than that of being a laborious and faithful compiler. In some instances, where the thoughts could not be better, or more briefly expressed, the words of the original authors may have been used. He has referred to at least thirty volumes, and to those, who might feel disposed to suggest, that he has made a book from the labors of others, he would beg leave to remark, that, if they shall be pleased to think, that they have found the substance of all these volumes in this work, he shall consider it the highest encomium, they can pass upon it. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.