[Illustration THE DEARBORN MONUMENT. _Frontispiece._] American Historic Towns HISTORIC TOWNS OF THE WESTERN STATES Edited by LYMAN P. POWELL Illustrated G.P. PUTNAM'S SONS NEW YORK & LONDON The Knickerbocker Press 1901 COPYRIGHT, October, 1901 BY G.P. PUTNAM'S SONS The Knickerbocker Press, New York [Illustration] PREFACE In presenting to the reading public this fourth volume in the series of _Historic Towns_, a volume which brings the series to a close, it is in order for the editor to call attention to the necessarily large measure of liberty accorded to the contributors in their treatment of the records of the several towns. With several of his co-laborers the editor has on one point or another found himself at variance. Examples of such difference of conclusions are presented in the references to the Mormons and to the Mound-builders. The editor bears in mind, however, the essential difference between editorial responsibilities and those belonging to the writers of the papers. It was his duty to choose as contributors not writers who necessarily share his own view, but those who are most fairly representative of the towns described, who possess the necessary familiarity with the historic records, and whose narratives would be assured of an appreciative and sympathetic reception from their fellow-townsmen,--men who love their town "with love far-brought From out the storied Past, and used Within the Present." In the studies of Western history made by the editor during the past ten years, two historians have been his inspiration: Francis Parkman, of blessed memory, revered by all who love good literature and good history; and Theodore Roosevelt, now by the will of God President of the United States, and a trustworthy and inspiring writer of our nation's history long before he took his place among its distinguished makers. In offering to the public this final volume of _American Historic Towns_, the editor ventures to hope that by thus focalizing and localizing Western history, the publishers, authors, and editor are contributing somewhat to the popular knowledge of and interest in the history of the Great West which Parkman and Roosevelt first made possible.