Winsor, Justin:
Narrative and Critical History of America. 8 Vols. Houghton, Mifflin & Co., Boston. 1889. Vol. VI. pp. 637, 642, 653, 667, 669, 671 and 681. Vol. VIII. pp. 439.
Handbook of the American Revolution. pp. 206-208. 12 mo. Boston. 1880.
AN INDIAN CIVILIZATION AND ITS
DESTRUCTION.
By Colonel S. P. Moulthrop.
No nearer approach to what may be called civilization, if the term may be applied to a people who left no record, other than the legendary lore transmitted from father to son, may be found than the Iroquoian Confederacy, whose form of government was maintained for a greater length of time than that of any republic which had previously or has since existed.
Their location, according to their claim, was upon the highest part of the Continent, from whence flowed the Mohawk, Hudson, Genesee, Delaware, Susquehanna, Ohio and the St. Lawrence rivers, going in all directions to the sea. The intersection of lakes and streams, separated only by short portages, the continuous valleys being divided by no mountain barriers, offered unequaled facilities for intercommunication.
Their custom of settling on both sides of a river or encircling a lake made the tribal boundaries well defined.