1From George Washington to Thomas Jefferson, 10 July 1779 (Washington Papers)
...a French Canadian trader who served as a British scout and militia captain. Captured at Vincennes in late winter 1779, he remained a prisoner in Virginia until exchanged in 1781. After the war, La Mothe remained in the Great Lakes region and served as an Indian interpreter (see
’s original instructions, which declared the northern boundary of the U.S. on the Great Lakes and the western boundary on the Mississippi River to be
3From George Washington to Thomas Jefferson, 29 March 1784 (Washington Papers)
...the wilds of Pennsylvania, GW was firmly committed to take immediate action for making the Potomac fully navigable as a part of a larger project to connect it by other streams and short portages to the Ohio River and the Great Lakes. See particularly
4To Thomas Jefferson from James Madison, 17 October 1784 (Jefferson Papers)
...one, did I then say to you, it is that of humanity, it is therefore peculiarly yours; remain neutral at least, and let the brave Americans take care of their independence and liberty: Your Father over the great lake will take them by the hand, the white birds will soon cover their shores, the great ...of your fathers as have crossed the great lake. In selling your lands take care you do not...
5Abigail Adams to Thomas Jefferson, 20 December 1785 (Adams Papers)
had presented to Carmarthen. The last sentence refers to the lack of any progress in the larger disputes between the two nations—Britain’s retention of forts on the American shores of the Great Lakes; America’s resistance to paying debts owed to British merchants; and America’s desire for a commercial treaty—to which
6To Thomas Jefferson from Aaron Burr, 6 April 1798 (Jefferson Papers)
as a soldier during the American Revolution and as an envoy to tribes in the Great Lakes region (
7To Thomas Jefferson from Robert R. Livingston, 7 January 1801 (Jefferson Papers)
If I might venture a conjecture it would be that they were amphibious & that the bogs in which they are found are the last remains of the great lakes they formerly freequented. there are many reasons to conclude that the whole country above the highlands &
8Henry Dearborn’s Report on the War Department, [12 May 1801] (Jefferson Papers)
on the Great Lakes, a brig called the
9To Thomas Jefferson from Charles Willson Peale, 11 October 1801 (Jefferson Papers)
When we take a view of the mountains through which the north River passes, the Idea naturally occurs, that probably once those waters were damed up by those Mountains, and thuse formed a great Lake from thence to the Shawangunk mountain, such I find has been the oppinion of many.
10To Thomas Jefferson from Elkanah Watson, 1 June 1802 (Jefferson Papers)
...Franklin’s nephew, Jonathan Williams. Watson settled in Albany in 1789. He owned farms, was a banker, promoted agricultural fairs, wool production, and turnpike construction, and advocated the construction of a canal from Albany to the Great Lakes (