The Historical Society of Wisconsin was founded in 1849, and reorganized in 1854. It has devoted itself to forming a large library, and has published nine volumes of _Collections_, etc. (Joseph Sabin in _American Bibliopolist_, vi. 158; Field, _Indian Bibliography_, no. 1,688). Mr. D. S. Durrie published a bibliography of Wisconsin in _Historical Magazine_, xvi. 29, and a tract on the _Early Outposts of Wisconsin_ in 1873. A paper on the “First Page of the History of Wisconsin” is in the _American Antiquarian_, April, 1878. The principal histories of the State are I. A. Lapham’s _Wisconsin_, Milwaukee, 1846, which lightly touches the earliest period; William R. Smith’s Wisconsin (vol. i., historical; vol. ii., not published; vol. iii., documentary, translating in part the _Jesuit Relations_ from the set in Harvard College Library), Madison, 1854; and Charles R. Tuttle’s _Illustrated History of Wisconsin_, Madison and Boston, 1875. * * * * * 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. * * * * *