Narrative of an expedition through the upper Mississippi to Itasca Lake, the actual source of this river : embracing an exploratory trip through the St. Croix and Burntwood (or Broule) Rivers, in 1832, under the direction of Henry R. Schoolcraft.
Material type: TextPublisher: New-York : Published by Harper & Brothers, No. 82 Cliff Street, 1834Description: 307, [1] pages, 3 unnumbered leaves of plates : plates, maps (some folded) ; 22 cmContent type:- text
- unmediated
- volume
- Mississippi River -- Discovery and exploration
- Saint Croix River (Wis. and Minn.)
- Ojibwa Indians
- Dakota Indians
- Minnesota -- Description and travel
- United States -- Discovery and exploration
- Indians of North America -- Government relations
- Natural history -- Minnesota
- Ojibwa language
- United States -- Description and travel
- Natural history -- United States
- Also available in digital form on the Library of Congress Web site.
Item type | Home library | Collection | Shelving location | Call number | Materials specified | Status | Date due | Barcode | Item holds | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Not for Loan | Main Library | North Dakota Collection | Archives - No Loan | 917.7 S372 | Archives | 33111010558142 |
This is an account by Henry Rowe Schoolcraft (1793-1864) of his discovery of the Mississippi River's source, Lake Itasca, in 1832. Schoolcraft was an Indian agent for the region, and he assembled an expeditionary party of thirty, including Ozawindib (an Ojibway guide and interpreter), an army officer, a surgeon, a geologist, and interpreter, and a missionary. They set out with instructions from Secretary of War Lewis Cass to effect a permanent peace among the region's Native Americans, persuade them to be vaccinated against smallpox, acquire demographic and scientific information, and establish definitively the origin of the Mississippi. Expedition Through the Upper Mississippi contains anecdotes and observations about the beliefs, customs, and history of the Chippewa [Ojibway] as well as the Sioux [Dakota], the Fox [Mesquakie], the Sauk, the Menominee, the Mandans, and various other Native American groups. The narrative proceeds chronologically along the route the expedition followed, with detailed descriptions of geographical features. This volume also includes a short account of a trip along the St. Croix and Burntwood (Brule) River, and has an appendix containing statistical and linguistic data, a list of shells collected by Schoolcraft in the West and Northwestern territories, official reports, a speech by six Chippewa chiefs about the war delivered at Michilimackinac in July 1833, and a discussion of the Upper Mississippi's lead mining country.
Also available in digital form on the Library of Congress Web site.
Includes bibliographical references.
Appendix I: Natural history. List of shells collected by Mr. Schoolcraft, in the Western and Northwestern Territory / by William Cooper ; Localities of minerals observed in the Northwest in 1831 and 1832 / by Henry R. Schoolcraft ; Localities of plants collected in the Northwestern Expeditions of 1831 and 1832 / by Douglass Houghton, M.D. -- Appendix II: Indian language. Lectures on the Chippewa substantive ; A vocabulary of words and phrases in the Chippewa language -- Appendix III: Official reports. Letter to Elbert Herring announcing the return of the expedition ; Letter to Gov. George B. Porter on the Sauc disturbances ; Letter to E. Herring transmitting a report on vaccination ; Letter to E. Herring transmitting a report on population and trade ; Statistical tables of the Indian population ... ; Letter to E. Herring transmitting a report on the political state of the Indians on the U. Mississippi ; Dr. Houghton's report on vaccination / Douglass Houghton ; Letter to E. Herring transmitting plan and estimates for the Expedition of 1832 ; Instructions from the Office of Indian Affairs / Elbert Herring ; Letter to Gen. Joseph M. Street ; Letter from the Secretary of War transmitting, in obedience to a resolution of the House of Representatives of the 24th ultimo, information in relation to an expedition of Henry R. Schoolcraft into the Indian country ; Documents transmitted to the House of Representatives, in compliance with a resolution of February 24, 1832 ; Speech of six Chippewa chiefs on the Sioux War, delivered at Michilimackinac, in July 1833 ; Remarks on the lead mine country on the Upper Mississippi.