Opening the text

Summary Narrative of an Exploratory Expedition to the Sources of the Mississippi River, in 1820: Resumed and Completed, by the Discovery of its Origin in Itasca Lake, in 1832Schoolcraft, Henry Rowe

History

Summary Narrative of an Exploratory Expedition to the Sources of the Mississippi River, in 1820: Resumed and Completed, by the Discovery of its Origin in Itasca Lake, in 1832

Name: Summary Narrative of an Exploratory Expedition to the Sources of the Mississippi River, in 1820: Resumed and Completed, by the Discovery of its Origin in Itasca Lake, in 1832
Author: Schoolcraft, Henry Rowe

Schoolcraft, Henry Rowe

Great Lakes (North America); Mississippi River -- Sources; Northwest, Old -- Description and travel

LAKE HURON.--Notices of this sheet of water have been given in our
outward voyage. It appears rather as the junction of separate lakes
which have had their basins fretted into one another, than as one
original lake. Michigan is connected with it through the Straits of
Michilimackinac. The Georgian Bay, north of the Manatouline chain, seems
quite distinct. The Saganaw Bay is an element of another kind. The
Manitouline chain separates the calcareous and granitic region, and its
numerous trap and basaltic islands towards the north shore, of which
there are many thousands, denote that it has been the scene of
geological disturbance of an extraordinary kind.

ULTERIOR CONCLUSIONS.--In taking these several views of the geological
structure of the Northwest--of the Lake Superior basin, and of the
valleys of the St. Louis River--the region about the Upper Mississippi,
its striking change at the Falls of St. Anthony--and the valleys of the
Wisconsin and Fox Rivers, and the basins of Lakes Michigan and Huron, I
am aware of the temerity of my task. Allowance must, however, be made
for the rapidity of my transit over regions where the question was often
the safety and personal subsistence of the party. A very large and
diversified area was passed over in a short time. At no place was it
possible to make elaborate observations. A thousand inconveniences were
felt, but they were felt as the pressure of so many small causes
impeding the execution of a great enterprise. A sketch has been made,
which, it is hoped, will reveal something of the physical history and
lineaments of the country. These glimpses at wild scenes, heretofore hid
from the curious eye of man, have been made, at all points, with the
utmost avidity. I have courted every opportunity to accumulate facts,
and I owe much to the distinguished civilian who has led the party so
successfully through scenes of toil and danger, not always unexpected,
but always met in a calm, bold, and proper spirit, which has served to
inspire confidence in all; to him, and to each one of my associates, I
owe much on the score of comity and personal amenity and forbearance;
and I have been made to feel, in the remotest solitudes, how easy it is
to execute a duty when all conspire to facilitate it.

The views herein expressed are generalized in two geological maps
(hereto prefixed), which, it is believed, will help to fix the facts in
the mind. They exhibit the facts noticed, in connection with the theory
established by them, and by all my observations, of the construction of
this part of the continent.

The mineralogy of the regions visited is condensed in the following
summary, drawn from my notes, which, it is believed, constitutes an
appropriate conclusion to this report.

Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.

Opening the text

Summary Narrative of an Exploratory Expedition to the Sources of the Mississippi River, in 1820: Resumed and Completed, by the Discovery of its Origin in Itasca Lake, in 1832Schoolcraft, Henry Rowe

History

Summary Narrative of an Exploratory Expedition to the Sources of the Mississippi River, in 1820: Resumed and Completed, by the Discovery of its Origin in Itasca Lake, in 1832

Schoolcraft, Henry Rowe

Great Lakes (North America); Mississippi River -- Sources; Northwest, Old -- Description and travel

LAKE HURON.--Notices of this sheet of water have been given in our
outward voyage. It appears rather as the junction of separate lakes
which have had their basins fretted into one another, than as one
original lake. Michigan is connected with it through the Straits of
Michilimackinac. The Georgian Bay, north of the Manatouline chain, seems
quite distinct. The Saganaw Bay is an element of another kind. The
Manitouline chain separates the calcareous and granitic region, and its
numerous trap and basaltic islands towards the north shore, of which
there are many thousands, denote that it has been the scene of
geological disturbance of an extraordinary kind.

ULTERIOR CONCLUSIONS.--In taking these several views of the geological
structure of the Northwest--of the Lake Superior basin, and of the
valleys of the St. Louis River--the region about the Upper Mississippi,
its striking change at the Falls of St. Anthony--and the valleys of the
Wisconsin and Fox Rivers, and the basins of Lakes Michigan and Huron, I
am aware of the temerity of my task. Allowance must, however, be made
for the rapidity of my transit over regions where the question was often
the safety and personal subsistence of the party. A very large and
diversified area was passed over in a short time. At no place was it
possible to make elaborate observations. A thousand inconveniences were
felt, but they were felt as the pressure of so many small causes
impeding the execution of a great enterprise. A sketch has been made,
which, it is hoped, will reveal something of the physical history and
lineaments of the country. These glimpses at wild scenes, heretofore hid
from the curious eye of man, have been made, at all points, with the
utmost avidity. I have courted every opportunity to accumulate facts,
and I owe much to the distinguished civilian who has led the party so
successfully through scenes of toil and danger, not always unexpected,
but always met in a calm, bold, and proper spirit, which has served to
inspire confidence in all; to him, and to each one of my associates, I
owe much on the score of comity and personal amenity and forbearance;
and I have been made to feel, in the remotest solitudes, how easy it is
to execute a duty when all conspire to facilitate it.

The views herein expressed are generalized in two geological maps
(hereto prefixed), which, it is believed, will help to fix the facts in
the mind. They exhibit the facts noticed, in connection with the theory
established by them, and by all my observations, of the construction of
this part of the continent.

The mineralogy of the regions visited is condensed in the following
summary, drawn from my notes, which, it is believed, constitutes an
appropriate conclusion to this report.

Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.

Summary Narrative of an Exploratory Expedition to the Sources of the Mississippi River, in 1820: Resumed and Completed, by the Discovery of its Origin in Itasca Lake, in 1832

Summary Narrative of an Exploratory Expedition to the Sources of the Mississippi River, in 1820: Resumed and Completed, by the Discovery of its Origin in Itasca Lake, in 1832

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