At the time this book was originally written (1830), the Northwest was the upper Missisippi Valley. I originally read this book because the author had lived among the Native American Indians and knew their culture. This was before the true nature of the European White man had become evident to the Indians and the Indians treated the White man as equals. But, in his introduction, even though he blasts other authors for their shallow representation of the Indian, he automatically assumes the Indians are not as good as White people and treats them as such in the book. Frequently though, the Indian looks more honorable than the White man in the ten stories. Despite the author's bias, a picture of the Indian's culture does come through. A good read for Indian and White culture at the time