The Minnesota Historical Society was organized in 1849, and began the publication of its Annals in 1850, completing a volume in 1856. This volume was reissued in 1872 as vol. i. of its Collections, and includes papers on the origin of the name of Minnesota and the early nomenclature of the region, and papers by Mr. Neill on the French Voyageurs, the early Indian trade and traders,[540] and early notices of the Dakotas. In vol. ii. Mr. Neill has a paper on “The Early French Forts and Footprints in the Valley of the Upper Mississippi;”[541] and Mr. A. J. Hill has examined the geography of Perrot so far as it relates to Minnesota territory. In vol. iii. there is a bibliography of the State; in vol. iv., a History of St. Paul, by John Fletcher Williams, which but briefly touches the period of exploration. The State Historical Society of Minnesota lost a considerable part of its collections in the fire of March 11, 1881, which burned the State capitol,—as detailed in its Report for 1883.
The principal and sufficient account of the State’s history is Edward D. Neill’s History of Minnesota from the Earliest French Explorations, Philadelphia, 1858, which in 1883 reached an improved fifth edition, and is supplemented by his Minnesota Explorers and Pioneers, 1659-1858, published in 1881. In 1858 an edition was also issued, of one hundred copies, on large paper, illustrated with forty-five quarto steel plates, engraved from paintings chiefly by Captain Seth Eastman, U. S. Army.
The Historical Society of Iowa was founded in 1857, and began the publication of its Annals in 1863. The principal account of the State is C. R. Tuttle and D. S. Durrie’s Illustrated History of Iowa, Chicago, 1876.
There are a few more general works to be noted: John W. Monette’s History of the Discovery and Settlement of the Valley of the Mississippi, New York, 1846-1848;[542] S. P. Hildreth’s Pioneer History of the Ohio Valley, Cincinnati, 1848, which but cursorily touches the French period; James H. Perkins’s Annals of the West, Cincinnati, 1846, which brought ripe scholarship to the task at a time before the scholar could have the benefit of much information now accessible;[543] Adolphus M. Hart’s History of the Discovery of the Valley of the Mississippi, Cincinnati, 1852,—a slight sketch, as we now should deem it, but followed soon after by a more scholarly treatment in J. G. Shea’s Discovery and Exploration of the Mississippi Valley, New York, 1852, to which a sequel, Early Voyages up and down the Mississippi, was published in 1861, containing the voyages of Cavelier, Saint Cosme, Le Sueur, Gravier, and Guignas, during the last years of the century; George Gale’s Upper Mississippi, Chicago, 1867,—a topical treatment of the subject; and Rufus Blanchard’s Discovery and Conquests of the Northwest, Chicago, 1880—the latest general survey of the subject. Poole’s Index to Periodical Literature, under the names of these several States, can often be usefully consulted.
THE ROUTES OF EARLY FRENCH EXPLORATIONS.
This sketch follows a modern map given by Parkman. There is a similar route-map given in the Bulletin de la Soc. de Géog., November, 1880, accompanying a paper by M. J. Thoulet. In the above sketch the portages are marked by dotted lines.
