A Canoe Voyage up the Minnay Sotar: With an account of the lead and Cooper Deposits in Wisconsin; of the Gold Region in the Cherokee County; and Sketches of Popular Manners

Originally published in 1847, this first of two volumes presents the observations of an English geologist from his 1835 and 1837 U.S. expeditions. Featherstonhaugh's 1835 journey included a canoe voyage along the length of the Minnesota River from Fort Snelling to Big Stone Lake and back. His writings include detailed descriptions of the river (width, turbidity, rapids, sandbars, and Big Stone Lake) and its valley (vegetation, wildlife, prairie and forest, tributaries, and rock formations); comments on native inhabitants and the consequences of their interactions with white men; an investigation of the Blue Earth River, the site of Le Sueur's infamous copper mine; reports of prairie fires and their impact; and observations of the Coteau de Prairie.