A vast tract of land lying east of the Mississippi River, south of the Great Lakes, and north of Florida was ceded to the United States by the British in the Treaty of Paris which ended the Revolutionary War. However, the British were slow to evacuate the area and continued to encourage the Indians to thwart American settlement of the region. It was not until the end of the War of 1812, which was fought largely in this region, that the United States gained complete control of the area. This work provides a history of the northern part of this region from the early French explorations down through the War of 1812, but with emphasis on the period from the Revolutionary War through 1814.