Joseph N. Nicollet on the plains and prairies: The expeditions of 1838-39, with journals, letters, and notes on the Dakota Indians (Publications of ... Society) by J. N Nicollet

by Joseph N. Nicollet

In 1838 and 1839 French scientist Joseph N. Nicollet led two expeditions into the land between the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers. His findings were published in the first authentic map of the region, a document that influenced mapmakers in the United States for generations. This book contains translations of journals, letters, and notes produced during those expeditions, which visited landmarks like the Pipestone Quarry in Minnesota and Fort Pierre, the Coteau des Prairies, and Devil's Lake in the Dakotas. Nicollet met often with Dakota people in the region, and his observations are a valuable record of their way of life.

Genres: History

294 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1976

Reviews

[Don · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was browsing the Native American section at a used bookstore and just happened across a pristine hardcover of this book. I really thought it would serve more as a reference work but I decided to sit down and just read through the introduction. As I turned pages the more I was intrigued by Nicollet's expeditions through Minnesota, North and South Dakota.

For those who don't know of Joseph Nicollet - he was a French explorer, geographer, astronomer and mathematician who worked at the Paris Observatory but was forced to emigrate to the US due to political changes in France. Nicollet's name is highly celebrated in the upper Midwest with so many namings in his honor - Nicollet Mall, Nicollet Island, Nicollet (MN), Nicollet streets and avenues all over MN, SD, ND, etc.

This particular book written by the historians Martha and Edmund Bray who translated and rigorously researched Nicollet's explorations of the northern regions between the Mississippi River in MN over to the Missouri River in the Dakotas. The core of the book are Nicollet's firsthand journals of what was happening during those 1838 and 1839 explorations. He details the flora and fauna, geography, geology, meteorology along with his experiences with the native Sioux and Lakota tribes.

Some of the details that fall out of these journals is astounding - from the current state of the Native Americans (being forced west, losing their lands and bison, decimated by tuberculosis), some of their customs and food sources, the descriptions of the lands around WSW MN and E Dakotas...there are just gems of information scattered throughout. I know some might find reading something like this very boring but I thought it was truly fascinating.

I found myself with my tablet in hand constantly following their journey on Google Maps to see where they started (Fort Snelling), the rivers and lakes they encountered, and some of the currently marked historical sites (such as Pipestone, MN - which was so fascinating as both a geological formation but also a very important native area).

I'm so lucky to have found this pristine hardcover copy of this book (published by the MN Historical Society) - the quality of the pages and printing are probably the best I have in our entire book collection. I know it was reprinted in paperback - but, if you feel you want to read this I would suggest finding a hardcover copy from the original 1976 publishing date - it will be well worth it. This is keeper forever. 4.5 stars!

[Blake · Rating 4 out of 5]

These incomplete records are a bit dry in places, but nonetheless offer some of the best firsthand information I've seen on what it was like to travel across the prairies and up barely-charted rivers in the late 1830s, and confirms all the fanfare w/r/t Nicollet having been a brilliant, empathetic, savant-like explorer, and further that it's to our great loss that he died young, his primary professional goal unfinished. It's also full of interesting tidbits on Sleepy Eyes, Reinville, Sibley, and various other major figures of the region in N's time.

I also really want to go to Pipestone Quarry now, check out his carved name, and buy a pipestone calumet, if they're available from an authentic Native source. Maybe this summer I'll ride my Harley out that way.

[John Benson · Rating 3 out of 5]

The bulk of this book covers Joseph N. Nicollet's travels in Minnesota and the Dakotas in 1838 and 1839. The 1838 trips include a trip from Fort Snelling to Pipestone; a trip down the Minnesota and Blue Earth Rivers and exploring the country south of the Twin Cities and over to Spirit Lake in Iowa. The 1839 journals are about his trip up the Missouri River to Pierre, SD and then overland to Devils Lake, ND. While the writing mainly details the physical geography of the places he travels and are not super exciting to read, they do give a good picture of this land before European settlement took place. While many of these trips would now only take a few hours to make, these travels on canoe and horse over unbroken land usually took weeks or months. I know all of these areas well and it was good to get a sense of these places almost 175 years ago. Unlike so many European explorers of the time, Joseph N. Nicollet was a person who accepted people as they were, whether European or native. The journals, which the Brays translated well from the French and which include copious notes on the present names of these places, brings out an interesting portrait of this place before it was changed by settlement.

[Arlan Swanson · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was interesting to ride along with Nicollet as he explored the region in which I live. It added depth to my understanding of the northern plains and the changes that have occurred.