2 The American Geologist. Jau. isoo 
bury, Vermont. When the attention of this country was 
drawn to the resources of the Mississippi valley, he accepted 
the offer of DeWitt Clinton, at the age of twenty-four, to 
engage in an exploration of the country west of the "Great 
River," spending two years in the territory now comprising 
the states of Missouri and Arkansas, publishing on his return 
two treatises which brought his capabilities as a geologist and 
geographer before the public ; and his services were called for 
as geologist and mineralogist to the expedition of Lewis Cass 
from Detroit, Mich., 1820, to the sources of the Mississippi. 
Leaving New York city by stage March 5th, 1820, visiting 
Niagara from Buffalo with a horse and buggy, embarking for 
Detroit on the steamer Walk-in-the-Water, he arrived at his 
destination on May 8th. The Cass expedition, with School- 
craft as a scientific attache, left Detroit May 24th, 1820, and 
by an extraordinary canoe voyage, memorable in the history 
of the Northwest, proceeded through the great lakes to the 
west end of lake Superior, up the St. Louis river, portaging to 
the Mississippi, and up the great river to Cass lake, thence 
down the river by way of Fort Snelling, visiting Carver's cave, 
proceeding to Prairie du Chien, across the territory of Wiscon- 
sin, arriving at Detroit September 23rd. 
During this extraordinary canoe voyage, Mr. Schoolcraft 
made daily observations of geologic formations and mine- 
ralogic deposits through the entire region traversed, including 
the copper mines of lake Superior, the lead mines at Galena 
and the clay deposits at Milwaukee, making a detailed report 
to the secretary of war, accompanied by charts of all his obser- 
vations. 
The Cass expedition failed to discover the great basin at the 
headwaters of the Mississippi. However, the peculiar capabil- 
ities of Mr. Schoolcraft, indicated by his scientific report to 
the authorities at Washington, placed his services in demand, 
and in 1830, as United States superintendent of Indian affairs 
\ for Michigan, residing at Sault De Ste. Marie, he received in- 
structions from the Department at Washington to visit the 
Northwest in charge of an expedition ostensibly for confer- 
ences with the Indians, but in reality to determine the true 
source of the Mississippi. 
Not until 1832 did the Schoolcraft expedition make its final 
and successful start accompanied by the Rev. W. T. Boutwell, 
