350 T/h' Alli<ri<<lli (iiohx/isf. Di-cMiilMT, 1>-',U 
ploivd lliroiljili the leadership of :i l''ieiieliiii;iii. iiiul the t'chit of 
Frt'iic'h spirit niid eiitefpi'ise which chiifMctei'i/.ed the early exploni- 
tioii of that portion east of the Mississippi, would have lieeii ex- 
tended unbroken to the Pacific^ shores. 
.^Ir. Xicollet. meantime, sxrew restless and repaired fi'e([uently 
to St. Mary's coUego. Baltimore. He was not in condition to re 
(luce to shape the materials tor his report, which were varied and 
intercstini:. involvino; much information concerning the aliorig- 
ines. .Ml'. SiUlev says that he knows that Mr. Xicollet con- 
templated, when his materials should l)e elaborated, a work of 
several volumes, relating to the geology, topography and geo- 
graphical position of what is now Minnesota, and discussing 
many interesting topics connected with the Indian li-ibes, and with 
the mound-liuilders. The only j)ulilication which resulted from 
this mass of material, was that small volume which was printed 
by orde'r of the Senate, dated Fel). 1 G. 1841. descriptive of his 
map. and put)lislic(l in 1S4I). The short report which accom- 
panies the map was being printed. He was revising it, as it was 
returnecl to him for the purpose. l)ut he never saw its completion 
in printetl sliajx'. lie die(l in the fall of 184;>. and the ••Intro- 
duction" was left incomi)lete. Col. Abert, to whom the report is 
addi'essed. adds this exi)lanatorv note, dated Sept. lo. 184;): 
Thus far Mr. Xicollet bad written of his introduction, when death put 
au end to his labors, and before he had been able to revise his report, 
which had been returned to him for that purpose, and also to add the 
astronomical observations upon which his calculations were founded. 
Tliese observations form jiarts of his journals whicli are to be deposited 
in the Buieau of tlie (X)ri)S of Toi)ographical Engineers. 
Lieut. Warren speaks of having consulted these journals in 
1857. when com[)iling a general map of the western territories 
for the Pacihc Railroad surveys. He distinguishes the map of 
Nicollet, which is now a very rare and valuable document, as 
••one of the gii'atest cont i-ibutions ever made to American geog- 
raphy. ' 
Xicollet was ratliei' an astrononuM' and geographer than a geolo- 
gist, yet he made (then) important contributions to the small fund 
of geological knowh'dge winch was possessed of the Xortiiwest, 
ami he laid out in the form of his general map, a basis for future 
geological examination better than any enjoyed l)y the central and 
southern states of the >Iississippi basin. His map :ind short ex- 
