Reproduction of the original: History of the Indians of North and South America by S.G. Goodrich

Excerpt from History of the Indians of North and South America When America was first discovered, it was found to be inhabited by a race of men different from any already known. They were called Indians, from the West Indies, where they were first seen, and which Columbus, according to the common opinion of that age, sup posed to be a part of the East Indies. On exploring the coasts and the interior of the vast continent, the same singular people, in different varieties, were every where discovered. Their general conformation and features, character, habits, and customs were too evidently alike not to render it proper to class them under the same common name; and yet there were sufficient diversities, in these respects, to allow of grouping them in minor divisions, as families or tribes. These frequently took their names from the parts of the country where they lived. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

Goodrich (1793-1860) was an American publisher and author who wrote under the name of Peter Parley. In 1828 he began publishing an illustrated annual, the Token, to which he was a frequent contributor in prose and verse, and in 1841 established Merry's Museum which he edited until 1854. In 1827 he started his series of books written as Peter Parley embracing geography, biography, history, science and miscellaneous tales and whilst he was sole author of only a few of the titles, in his autobiography of 1857 he claimed to be author and editor of 170 volumes with sales of 7 million. Goodrich was also active in Whig politics, serving as a member of the state Senate in 1837. This work published in 1844 contains four illustrations.