Blaney, Capt. An Excursion through the United States and [pg 215] Canada during the years 1822-23. By an English Gentleman. London: Baldwin, Cradock, and Joy, 1824. 16mo. 511 pp.
Pages 156-92 tell of the author's trip across Illinois. He visited Albion and then went to St. Louis overland. The descriptions of Birkbeck's settlement, the difficulties of prairie travel, and of the frontier life encountered are much above the average of travelers' reports.
Bonner, T. D. Life and Adventures of James P. Beckwourth, Mountaineer, Scout, and Pioneer, and Chief of the Crow Nation of Indians. Written from his own Dictation. New York: Harper & Bros., 1858. 16mo. 535 pp.
The book deals almost entirely with the region west of the Mississippi, but in 1820 Beckwourth visited Galena. He went from St. Louis with a party led by Col. R. M. Johnson, the object of the party being to gain a mining concession from the Sauk Indians.
Brannan, John (Editor). Official Letters of the military and naval Officers of the United States, during the War with Great Britain in the Years 1812, 13, 14, & 15. Washington: Way & Gideon, 1823. 510 pp.
A valuable collection. Printed without comment. Pages 84-5 give Capt. Heald's official report of the massacre at Fort Dearborn, August 15, 1812. The report is in a letter to Thos. H. Cushing, Adjutant General, written from Pittsburg, October 23, 1812.
Brodhead, Col. Daniel. A Letter from Brodhead to Gen. Washington referring to La Balme's Expedition.
In The olden Time, II., 390-91.
Butricke, George. Affairs at Fort Chartres, 1768-1781. Albany: J. Munsell, 1864. 10 pp.
Reprinted from Historical Magazine, VIII., No, 8. Valuable. Several letters written by Geo. Butricke, then stationed at Fort Chartres. Contains interesting notes on Indians, Spaniards, and British. Tells of epidemic.