PREFACE 
_ this text I have traced the history of our country’s growth 
from its small and rude beginnings to its present grand pro- 
portions. In the treatment I have kept before my mind an 
ever-growing nation, and I have tried to tell the story in such 
a way that the pupil may follow as with the eye each successive 
advance in that wave of civilization which has always been 
moving toward the West. With the opening of the national 
period the motion of this wave became swift and strong. Be- 
tween the close of the Revolution and the middle of the nine- 
teenth century American civilization forced its way from the 
Alleghany Mountains to the Pacific coast. Almost within the 
bounds of a single long life a region half as large as Europe was 
cleared of savages and wild beasts and made the home of a 
peaceful and highly civilized race. 
The vast importance of this Westward Movement has led me 
to give it special prominence. In order to give a correct picture 
of our country’s growth I have found it necessary fo follow the 
upbuilding of the West and Southwest step by step, State by 
State; and I have thought it wise to be liberal in the treatment 
of this Western development, for no more imposing movement 
has been witnessed by man, and there is no more inspiring sub- 
ject of classroom work. ; 
For the assistance of the teacher in review work I have placed