XU PREFACE. 



small hand-sledges, and, by great energy and perseverance, 

 reached, at successive periods, Sandy Lake, Leach Lake, and 

 Upper Ked Cedar Lake, on the third great plateau at the sources 

 of the Mississippi. On the opening of the river, he began his 

 descent, and returned to his starting-point, at Bellefontaine, on the 

 30th of April, 1806, having been absent a little less than nine 

 months. On his visiting the country above the point where the 

 climate arrested his advance, the whole region was found to be 

 clothed in a mantle of snow. On his journe}^, the deer, elk, 

 buffalo, and wolf, were found on the prairies — the waters were 

 inhabited by wild fowl ; as he acted the part of hunter, and, to 

 some extent, guide, these furnished abundant employ for his effi- 

 cient sportsman-like propensities. Of its distinctive zoology, 

 minerals, plants, and other physical desiderata, it was not in his 

 power, had he been ever so well prepared, to make observations. 

 Even for the topography, above the latitude of about 40°, he was 

 dependent, essentially, on the information furnished by the factors 

 of the Northwest British Fur Company, who, at that period^ occu- 

 pied the country.* This information was readily given, and en- 

 abled him, with general accuracy, to present the maps and descrip- 

 tions which accompany his account of the region. He was, 

 however, misled in placing the source of the river in Turtle 

 Lake, and in the topography of the region south and west of that 

 point. 



Pike's account of his expedition did not issue from the press 

 till 1810. The narrative of the expedition of Lewis and Clark 

 was still longer delayed — owing to the melancholy death of 

 Lewis — and was not given till 181-1; a period of political com- 

 motion by no means favorable to literary matters. It was, how- 

 ever, at once hailed as a valuable and standard accession to 



* The surrender of the lake country by Great Britian, in 1796, at the close of 

 ■what is known as General Wayne's war, extended to Michilimackiuac, the remotest 

 British garrison. The region northwest of this post -was occupied by numerous 

 tribes of Indians, who continued to be supplied with goods by British traders till 

 after the close of the war of 1812. In 1816, Congress passed an act confining the 

 trade to American citizens. Under this state of affairs, the Northwest Company of 

 Montreal sold out their trading-posts and fixtures, northwest of Michiliniackinac, 

 to Mr. John Jacob Astor, of New York, who, from an account of one of his active 

 factors, invested about $300,000 per annum in merchandise adapted to the Indian 

 habits. 



