A vast deal may be accomplished for the furtherance of the objects of the society, which will otherwise remain undone, by standing committees who should be appointed by the council from its members.
Biographies, narratives and reminiscences of the early missionaries, fur-traders, voyageurs, government agents, explorers and old settlers, might now, with organized and well directed effort, be easily obtained (while the opportunities for such work are rapidly diminishing,) and would be of incalculable interest to the future historian and antiquary.
Although much has been written on the subject of the Indian tribes who have lived within the limits of the state, yet it is a fruitful field that is by no means exhausted.
Much remains to be done in the department of geology and mineralogy, in collecting specimens and properly classifying and arranging them.
The Natural History Department might become an interesting feature of the society if we had the means to enable us to employ a suitable person to procure and prepare specimens of the beasts and birds found within the borders of our state. This will soon become a labor attended with great difficulty and expense as the advance of settlements and the exterminating policy of the hunter and trapper will speedily cause many of the fur-bearing animals and rarer varieties of birds to disappear.
A very fine collection of the birds of Minnesota was not long since taken east and sold, which would have been secured for our society but for the lack of means.
Our sphere of usefulness is circumscribed by our poverty. If the legislature could be induced to increase the annual appropriation, we might publish our “Collections” annually, as we have an accumulation of interesting matter in manuscript, which we desire to put in more enduring and available form, and we are continually receiving favors from sister societies which we would be glad to reciprocate. We would like also to bind some of the newspapers which have been accumulating on our hands, to purchase books for the library, and to extend historical research into departments yet unfathomed.
All of which is respectfully submitted,
CHARLES E. MAYO, Secretary.