Scenes and Adventures in the Semi-alpine Region of the Ozark Mountains of Missouri and Arkansas

by Henry Rowe Schoolcraft

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274 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1820

About the author

Henry Rowe Schoolcraft (March 28, 1793 – December 10, 1864) was an American geographer, geologist, and ethnologist, noted for his early studies of Native American cultures, as well as for his 1832 expedition to the source of the Mississippi River. He is also noted for his major six-volume study of American Indians in the 1850s.

He served as a United States Indian agent for a period beginning in 1822 in Michigan, where he married Jane Johnston, mixed-race daughter of a prominent Scotch-Irish fur trader and Ojibwa mother, herself a daughter of Ojibwa war chief Waubojeeg. She taught him the Ojibwe language and much about her maternal culture. They had several children, two of whom survived past childhood. She is now recognized as the first Native American literary writer in the United States.

In 1846 the widower Schoolcraft was commissioned by Congress for a major study, known as Indian Tribes of the United States, which was published in six volumes from 1851 to 1857. He married again in 1847, to Mary Howard, from a slaveholding family in South Carolina. In 1860 she published the bestselling The Black Gauntlet, an anti-Uncle Tom's Cabin novel.

Reviews

[Richard Pierce · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of the most interesting books that I have read dealing with the exploration of the frontier west of the Mississippi in the early 1800's. I was familiar with the area which he explored so that only added to the interest. While reading the book, I always wondered how he was able to find the headwaters of the 'Great North Fork' of the White river in Missouri. Then one day I saw a map of the rivers of Missouri and it became quite evident how you could do it without a map. Still, it was a remarkable adventure and well worth reading.

[SavvyShopper · Rating 5 out of 5]

Historically interesting and well written, survives the years well

Author told of geographical and many other features of the area. The geography went far beyond my understanding, his other commentary and the experiences he told of were easily imagined for interest/excitement from his easy-reading descriptions.