American Journeys: Eyewitness Accounts of Early American Exploration and Settlement

American Journeys is both a fascinating and valuable resource for educators and researchers of indigenous studies, particularly first contact between indigenous peoples in America and European explorers.  This online digital library is a collaborative project of the Wisconsin Historical Society and National History Day.

The digital library contains more than 18,000 pages of eyewitness accounts of North American exploration, from the sagas of Vikings in Canada in AD1000 to the diaries of mountain men in the Rockies 800 years later.

What is most intriguing is that these texts reveal the exact insights of explorers, Indians, missionaries, traders and settlers as they lived through the founding moments of American history.  I found the digital objects to be an astounding digitization effort as I can just view, search, print, or download more than 150 rare books, original manuscripts, and classic travel narratives, directly from the library and archives of the Wisconsin Historical Society.

What I enjoyed most about this website is the fact that it shows the story of European-Indigenous/Native/Aboriginal contact from different viewpoints — that of settler and receiver.

Some of the more interesting digital documents in their original form are:

Voyage Made by M. John Hawkins Esquire, 1565

Catlin’s North American Indian Portfolio

Wabanip’s Speech to Assembled Iroquois Chiefs, April 30, 1798

Joseph Brant’s Speech to British Government Concerning Indian Land Claims, Niagara, October 22, 1796

Moravian Journals Relating to Central New York, 1745-66

Trial of the Indians of Acoma, 1598

Account of Florida, 1566-1568