The American explorer and writer Jonathan Carver (1710-1780) was one of the most famous travelers and travel writers of the 18th century.

Jonathan Carver was born on April 13, 1710, in Weymouth, Mass. The family moved to Canterbury, Conn., when Jonathan was a child. He entered military service in the French and Indian War as a sergeant and was wounded in 1757 in the horrible siege of Ft. William Henry, which became synonymous on the frontier with "atrocity." Two years later Carver was promoted to lieutenant and was raised to captain of a Massachusetts regiment the following year. Gen. Thomas Gage, particularly, thought highly of Carver's military ability.

When the French and Indian War ended, Carver began the travels which made him famous in America and Europe. He started from Boston and made his way to the British frontier post of Mackinac, where the commandant, Robert Rogers (of Rogers' Rangers fame...