CONSTANTINE BELTRAMI.
[By A. J. Hill, of St. Paul; at the request of the Minnesota Historical Society.]
§ 1. INTRODUCTORY.
Though narratives of the fortunes of early explorers of a country cannot, in general, throw any light upon its history, apart from their travels in the region itself, yet such recitals or biographies may still be useful in enabling us to form juster opinions of the accounts given by the travelers of their discoveries, from the knowledge afforded as to character, attainments and position.
Of the subject of this article, till within a few years, nothing was known to us, Minnesotians, beyond the little to be gleaned from his own books of travel and from the narrative of the expedition of Major Long; and even these works are so out of date that the name of Beltrami is unfamiliar to our ears. His life is like the bridge in the vision of Mirza—we see but the middle of it—the beginning and end are hid in obscurity. The recent publication, in Italy, of biographical notices of this traveler, has furnished the means of supplying the deficiency of information concerning him; and at the request of the Historical Society of Minnesota, the present memoir has been compiled, as a fitting contribution to its “Collections.”
§ 2. PUBLISHED KNOWLEDGE OF BELTRAMI BEFORE HIS DEATH.
No doubt, at the time our traveler visited the United States, more or less was said concerning him in the journals of the day; and that he was violently assailed by writers of that time is shown in his own books; but such accounts, appearing in fleeting papers, are now entirely inaccessible, and indeed would be of but little interest or value if they could be found.
Hitherto, therefore, our knowledge of Beltrami was derived from three books only, which were:
1. A work, published by himself at New Orleans in 1824, entitled “La Decouverte des Sources du Mississippi et de la Riviere Sanglante,” one vol., 8vo pp. 328. 2. “Keating’s Narrative of Long’s Expedition to the Sources of the St. Peter’s River, &c.,” Philadelphia, 1824; and 3. “A Pilgrimage in Europe and America, leading to the Discovery of the Sources of the Mississippi and Bloody River, with a description of the whole course of the former, and of the Ohio. By J. C. Beltrami, Esq., formerly judge of a royal court in the ex-kingdom of Italy.” London, 1828; 2 volumes. 8vo., pp. 1093.
The first of these is a narrative simply of his tour in the west, from Pittsburg to the head waters of the Mississippi, and thence to New Orleans, written in French, and in the form of letters addressed to a friend, the Countess Compagnoni born Passeri. Major Long’s book contains but one or two references to Beltrami, and those of a depreciating character. The exact nature of the disagreement between the two gentlemen is not known, nor would it be right to exhume and display it, if it could be done. All familiar with the history of “expeditions” must have noticed how often coolness or rupture have occurred between leading men of such parties, arising from arrogance, jealousy, or incompatibility of temper. The “Pilgrimage” of Beltrami gives an account of his European travels previous to his coming to the United States, and then embodies his former work which he seems merely to have translated into English, without other alterations than a few verbal changes.