92 Trans. Acad. Sci. of St. Louis. 



stirred up interest in natural history from one end of 

 the land to the other, and after his settlement in the west 

 he was readily accessible to scientists and travelers. 



Schoolcraft was a geologist, who did considerable spe- 

 cial work in mineralogy, then an almost unknown science 

 in the United States, and studied the phenomena of 

 meteorology. He was a great traveler, always on er- 

 rands of scientific interest, an enthusiastic student of 

 archaeology, and was particularly known as an investi- 

 gator and standard authority in all that pertained to the 

 ethnology of the North American Indian. 



In 1817 he decided to study the topography, geology 

 and mineralogy of the Mississippi Valley, as well as its 

 ethnology. This offered great opportunities on account 

 of its curious mounds, its antiquities and existing Indian 

 tribes. The localities he explored were principally in 

 Missouri, and Schoolcraft's name is indelibly linked with 

 the natural history of this state. From Pittsburg he 

 journeyed down the Ohio river to its mouth and up the 

 Mississippi to St. Louis, traveling at the rate of five or 

 six miles a day. While the men poled the barges he ex- 

 plored the country west of the Mississippi, which is noted 

 for its mines. It took him about three weeks to reach 

 Herculaneum, and for the remaining thirty miles to St. 

 Louis he tramped through the woods and over the hills, 

 noting in his journal every peculiar topographical fea- 

 ture. Schoolcraft was greatly pleased with St. Louis, 

 being particularly interested in the private museum of 

 Governor Clark. 



He did not stay very long in the city, but moved to 

 Potosi, which he made the center of his investigations in 

 the mining regions of that district. Having made a very 

 minute mineralogical study of the region, and wishing 

 to ascertain its geological connection with the Ozarks 

 and neighboring mountains, he explored the southwest- 

 ern part of Missouri and Arkansas. 



After 1811 no scientific expeditions penetrated the Far 



