Joseph N. Nicollet on the Plains and Prairies: The Expeditions of 1838-39 with Journals, Letters, and Notes on the Dakota Indians.

Drawing from documents associated with two government-sponsored expeditions conducted by French astronomer and cartographer Joseph Nicollet, this book contains an account of experiences on the Minnesota River in the summer of 1838. It includes descriptions of local geology, water conditions (especially turbidity and rapids), major tributaries (Yellow Medicine, Redwood, and Cottonwood rivers), and the lands surrounding the river. The book's flyleaves provide an historical map of the region, which includes the 'St. Peter River,' the name by which the Minnesota was known in 1838.