Great Epochs in American History, Vol. I | Page 3

globe, men
began first to see that America was no part of Asia. In further proof
they sought to find a passage into the Pacific from the north, as a
complement to Magellan's passage from the south. Such an attempt was
first made by the Spaniards under Vasquez d'Ayllon, four years after
the voyage of Magellan; that is, in 1524. Ayllon was hoping to find this

passage when he put in at Hampton Roads, just as Hudson hoped to
find it, eighty-five years afterward, when he entered the harbor of New
York--Hudson, who in a later voyage, sought it once more in Hudson
Bay, and perished miserably there, set adrift in an open boat and
abandoned by his own mutinous sailors.
F.W.H.

CONTENTS
VOL. I--VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY AND EARLY
EXPLORATIONS
PREFACE
INTRODUCTION. By the Editor
DISCOVERIES BEFORE COLUMBUS
I. Men from Asia and from Norway. By Justin Winsor II. How the
Norwegians Came to Vinland III. The First European Child IV. Other
Pre-Columbian Voyages. By Henry Wheaton
THE DISCOVERY BY COLUMBUS:
I. As Described by Washington Irving II. As Described by Columbus
Himself
THE BULL OF POPE ALEXANDER VI PARTITIONING
AMERICA
THE DISCOVERY OF THE MAINLAND BY THE CABOTS:
I. The Account Given by John A. Doyle II. Peter Martyr's Account
THE VOYAGES OF VESPUCIUS. Vespucius' Own Account
A BATTLE WITH THE INDIANS. As Described by Vespucius

THE FIRST ACCOUNT OF AMERICA PRINTED IN ENGLISH
THE DISCOVERY OF FLORIDA BY PONCE DE LEON. Parkman's
Account
THE DISCOVERY OF THE PACIFIC BY BALBOA. By Manuel Jose
Quintana
THE VOYAGE OF MAGELLAN TO THE PACIFIC. By John Fiske
THE DISCOVERY OF NEW YORK HARBOR BY VERAZZANO.
Verazzano's Own Account
CARTIER'S EXPLORATION OF THE ST. LAWRENCE:
I. The Account Given by John A. Doyle II. Cartier's Own Account
SEARCHES FOR THE "SEVEN CITIES OF CIBOLA." By Reuben
Gold Thwaites
CABEZA DE VACA'S JOURNEY TO THE SOUTH-WEST. De
Vaca's Own Account
THE EXPEDITION OF CORONADO TO THE SOUTH-WEST.
Coronado's Own Account
THE DISCOVERY OF THE MISSISSIPPI BY DE SOTO. Parkman's
Account
THE DEATH OF DE SOTO. By One of De Soto's Companions
DRAKE'S VISIT TO CALIFORNIA. By One of Drake's Companions
HUDSON'S DISCOVERY OF THE HUDSON RIVER. By Robert Juet,
Hudson's Secretary
CHAMPLAIN'S BATTLE WITH THE IROQUOIS ON LAKE
CHAMPLAIN. By Champlain Himself

MARQUETTE'S DISCOVERY OF THE MISSISSIPPI. Marquette's
Own Account
THE DEATH OF MARQUETTE. By Father Claude Dablon
THE DISCOVERY OF NIAGARA FALLS. By Father Louis Hennepin
LA SALLE'S VOYAGE TO THE MOUTH OF THE MISSISSIPPI. By
Francis Parkman

VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY AND EARLY EXPLORATIONS
1000 A.D.--1682
DISCOVERIES BEFORE COLUMBUS
I
THE MEN FROM ASIA AND FROM NORWAY[1]
BY JUSTIN WINSOR
There is not a race of eastern Asia--Siberian, Tatar, Chinese, Japanese,
Malay, with the Polynesians--which has not been claimed as
discoverers, intending or accidental, of American shores, or as
progenitors, more or less perfect or remote, of American peoples; and
there is no good reason why any one of them may not have done all
that is claimed. The historical evidence, however, is not such as is
based on documentary proofs of indisputable character, and the recitals
advanced are often far from precise enough to be convincing in details,
if their general authenticity is allowed.
Nevertheless, it is much more than barely probable that the ice of
Bering Straits or the line of the Aleutian Islands was the pathway of
successive immigrations, on occasions perhaps far apart, or maybe near
together; and there is hardly a stronger demonstration of such a
connection between the two continents than the physical resemblances

of the peoples now living on the opposite sides of the Pacific Ocean in
these upper latitudes, with the similarity of the flora which environs
them on either shore.
It is quite as conceivable that the great northern current, setting east
athwart the Pacific, should from time to time have carried along
disabled vessels, and stranded them on the shores of California and
farther north leading to the infusion of Asiatic blood among whatever
there may have been antecedent or autochthonous in the coast peoples.
It is certainly in this way possible that the Chinese or Japanese may
have helped populate the western slopes of the American continent.
There is no improbability even of the Malays of southeastern Asia
extending step by step to the Polynesian Islands, and among them and
beyond them, till the shores of a new world finally received the impress
of their footsteps and of their ethnic characteristics. We may very likely
recognize not proofs, but indications, along the shores of South
America, that its original people constituted such a stock or were
increased by it.
As respects the possible early connections of America on the side of
Europe, there is an equally extensive array of claims, and they have
been set forth, first and last, with more persistency than