The fertile lands, vast forests, and many lakes and rivers of the midwestern United States beckoned these settlers: Antoine Cadillac and Jean du Sable, founders of Detroit and Chicago; Charles Langlade and Julien Dubuque, first settlers in Wisconsin and Iowa; Revolutionary War heroes George Rogers Clark and Rufus Putnam, who opened the way for settlers in Indiana and Ohio; and Josiah and Abigail Snelling, the first family of Minnesota. The early days of North and South Dakota are also briefly covered.