The Rütli or Grütli prairie overlooking Lake Uri symbolises the founding of the Swiss Confederation. The first three cantons of (Waldstätten) Uri, Schwyz and Unterwald rejected Habsburg rule and signed a mutual assistance pact or Rütli Oath, which gave birth to the Helvetian Confederation (called Swiss from 1350 onwards). The more-or-less mythical crossbowman William Tell became its national hero.