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

Kane, Lucile
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.
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Stephen Long
James Calhoun
Expedition
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The Man with the Red Umbrella: Giacomo Constantino Beltrami in America

Miceli, Augusto P
This book presents the travels and experiences of Giacomo Beltrami in the U.S. in the nineteenth century. Among his many journeys, this Italian soldier, scholar, and world traveler accompanied Major Stephen Long on an 1823 expedition up the St. Peter's (Minnesota) River from Fort Snelling to its source. Beltrami's glowing descriptions of the river valley and his observations of its Indian inhabitants are presented in this volume.
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Giacomo Beltrami
Stephen Long
Fort Snelling
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Early Days at Fort Snelling

Collections of the Minnesota Historical Society
Drawing primarily from accounts in an 1852 book on pioneer women, this article explores life at Fort Snelling during the first several years following its establishment in 1819. Viewed from the perspective military officers' wives, descriptions cover such topics as climate and weather, food, housing, encounters with Indians, and the building of the fort.
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Pioneer Women
Fort Snelling
Minnesota Historical Society
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The Minnesota: Forgotten River

Jones, Evan
Part of the "Rivers of America" series, this book explores such aspects of the Minnesota River as its glacial history, early native inhabitants, French and English exploration, steamboat travel, the founding of towns, agricultural settlement, and the Sioux Uprising of 1862. Presented in an anecdotal style, the focus of the book is primarily on historical figures (e.g., explorers, Indians, and politicians) and social, economic, cultural, and military events that occurred along the river.
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Rivers of America
Glacial History
Sioux Uprising of 1862
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The Dakota or Sioux in Minnesota As They Were in 1834

Pond, Samuel W
Originally published in 1908, this book was written by a missionary who worked in Dakota settlements in the Minnesota River Valley near Fort Snelling, at Lac Qui Parle, an near Fort Ridgely. Pond's observations encompass a wide range of social and cultural aspects, including tools and weapons, hunting, agriculture, government, language and writing, music, religion, feasts and dances, the condition of women, and medicinal practices.
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Dakota
Sioux
Fort Snelling
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Minnesota's Major Historic Sites: A Guide

Holmquist, June Drenning
This book consists of descriptions of 45 historic sites in Minnesota, including several located in the Minnesota River Valley: Fort Snelling, Lac Qui Parle Mission, Traverse des Sioux Treaty site, Lower and Upper Sioux Agencies, and Fort Ridegly. Each entry includes maps, drawings, and photographs.
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Minnesota River Valley
Historic Sites
Photographs
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Joseph N. Nicollet on the Plains and Prairies: The Expeditions of 1838-39 with Journals, Letters, and Notes on the Dakota Indians.

Bray , Edmund
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.
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Joseph Nicollet
Plains
Prairies
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Southwestern Minnesota Archaeology: 12, 000 Years in the Prairie Lake Region

Afinson, Scott F
This book explores the cultures of the inhabitants of southwestern Minnesota's Prairie Lake region, which encompasses the upper Minnesota River Valley, prior to European exploration. The author discusses the Prairie Lake environment, including glacial geology, hydrology, climate, paleoecology, vegetation, and fauna. Subsequent chapters cover the early prehistoric, middle prehistoric and late prehistoric archaeological periods. And extensive bibliography is appended.
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Minnesota Prairie Lake Region
Prairie Environment
Southwestern Minnesota
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The Prehistoric Peoples of Minnesota

Johnson, Elden
This book provides a basic overview of Minnesota's prehistory, examining the ancestors of modern American Indian tribes. It is organized by major archaeological cultural traditions: Paleoindian, Eastern Archaic, Woodland, and Mississippian. Maps and photos of archaeological artifacts supplement the text.
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American Indian Ancestry
Archaeological Cultural Traditions
Minnesota's Prehistory
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What This Awl Means: Feminist Archaeology at a Wahpeton Dakota Village

Spector, Janet D
This book highlights the activities and experiences of Dakota women at Little Rapids, a nineteenth-century Eastern Sioux planting village along the lower Minnesota River near Minneapolis. The author uses an individual artifact from the site, a carved antler awl handle, to tell the larger story. Numerous drawings and photographs illustrate the text, listing of artifacts and animal and plant remains are appended, and a source list is provided.
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Dakota
Eastern Sioux
Little Rapids
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