The Northern Expeditions of Stephen H. Long: The Journals of 1817 and 1823 and Related Documents

This book presents journals, by Stephen Long and James Colhoun, and other documents related to two government-sponsored mapping expeditions through the Midwestern U.S. and the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario. The second of these two expeditions, conducted in 1823, included travel by canoe and horseback up the Minnesota River to Big Stone Lake. The accounts include descriptions of the river (width, rapids, islands, and banks), surrounding lands (vegetation, forests, prairie, and Coteau de Prairie), wildlife, major tributaries, geology, and native villages and inhabitants. An informative introductory section by the editors prefaces the primary documents, and a map depicting Long's two routes is included.