Lakeside classics

"On the night of February 27, 1917, when the Laconia was two hundred miles off the coast of Ireland, the Gibbons' "hunch" was fulfilled. The Laconia was torpedoed and sunk. After a perilous night in a small boat on the open sea, Gibbons was rescued and brought into Queenstown. He opened the cables and flashed to America the most powerful call to arms to the American people. It shook the country. It was the testimony of an eye witness and it convinced the Imperial German government, beyond all reasonable doubt, of the wilful and malicious murder of American citizens. The Gibbons story furnished the proof of the overt act and it was unofficially admitted at Washington that it was the determining factor in sending America into the war one month later" -- Foreword.

According to the editor, George Rogers Clark’s conquest of Illinois country during the American Revolution, “…was the factor chiefly responsible for giving the Old Northwest to the new-born American nation in the treaty of 1783.” Thanks to Clark, the Great Lakes States are not part of Canada today. If the U.S. had not won the Old Northwest, it seems much less likely that the U.S. would have had the opportunity for the Louisiana Purchase. Clark’s original memoir is very difficult to read. In this edition the editor of the State Historical Society of Wisconsin, Milo Quaife, rewrote the memoir and added notes to make it more accessible. He also included an Introduction that explains the historical background for Clark’s campaign.