HISTORICAL SKETCH. 67 



1836, Nicollet.] 



Trail lake, with a smaller one flowing into it from the northwest. North- 

 west from Chapeau lake, and between its two affluents from the northwest 

 is "Paradise Prairie." A "trading house" is represented at lied Wing's 

 village, at the foot of lake Pepin. Lieut. Lea's brief general notes pertain 

 wholly to the region south of Minnesota, though his return ti-ail passes 

 through our southern counties. 



JEAN N. NICOLLET. 



From 1836 to 1843, Mr. Jean N. Nicollet prosecuted the geographical 

 exploration of the upper Mississippi. He died while his report, intended to 

 show the result of his labors, was undergoing print and revision.* It is 

 accompanied by a map, which, up to that time, was the most complete and 

 correct of the upper Mississippi region. It covered not only the whole ot 

 Minnesota but also Iowa, about one-half of Missouri and much of Dakota, 

 Wisconsin and Illinois. It has been pronounced by high authority! "one of 

 the greatest contributions ever made to American geography.'' That part 

 of his map covering Minnesota, where the greater part of his time was spent, 

 and where he brought out the most interesting and matured results, is 

 reproduced in plate-page No. 7. He not only expresses the names ol 

 streams and lakes, but gives the first representation of the striking topo- 

 graphical features of the western and northern portions of the state. Without 

 any just idea of the origin of the immense "erratic deposite" which charac- 

 terizes the western and northern part of the state, he has, with tolerable 

 correctness, delineated the course of a series of knolls and hills, made up of 

 drift, under the names, Plateau du Coteau des Prairies, Coteait du Grand Bois. 

 HiyJit of Land, Missabay Hif/htx, which extend through Minnesota and mark 

 the continuous limit of the ice-sheet at the time of the last glacial epoch. 

 He aims to locate correctly, by astronomical observations, the numerous 

 streams and lakes, and the main geographical features of the state, filling 

 in by eye-sketching, and by pacing, the intermediate objects. His methods, 

 allowing for the imperfection of his appliances, and the meagerness of his 

 outfit and supplies, were established on the same principles as the most 

 approved geodetic surveys of the present day. It would, perhaps, have been 



* Report intended to illustrate a Map of the Hydrographical Basin of the Upper Mississippi river, made by J. N. Nicollet, 

 while in employ under the Bureau of the Corps of Topographical Engineers. Feb. 16, 1H1, Washington. Senate docu- 

 ment No. 237. 26th Congress, 2d Session. 



tGen. G. K. Warren, Pac. R. R. Reports. Vol. XL, p. 41. 



