Schoolcraft, Henry Rowe

Schoolcraft, Henry Rowe
born March 28, 1793, Albany county, N.Y., U.S.
died Dec. 10, 1864, Washington, D.C.

U.S. explorer and ethnologist.

He served as topographer on an expedition to the Lake Superior region (1820), then married a woman who was part Ojibwa and became an Indian agent. In 1832 he discovered the source of the Mississippi River at Lake Itaska, Minn. A treaty he concluded with the Ojibwa in 1836 ceded much of their land in northern Michigan to the U.S. Schoolcraft's six-volume Indian Tribes of the United States (1851–57) was a pioneering, though flawed, work.

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▪ American explorer and ethnologist
born March 28, 1793, Albany County, N.Y., U.S.
died Dec. 10, 1864, Washington, D.C.

      American explorer and ethnologist noted for his discovery of the source of the Mississippi River and for his writings on the Native peoples of the North American Plains.

      Schoolcraft's initial contact with the frontier came during a mineralogical trip through present Missouri and Arkansas (1817–18). He next served as topographer on an expedition to the upper Mississippi and Lake Superior region (1820) and published a journal of his travels in 1821. His experience among Native Americans led to his appointment as a federal agent to the indigenous peoples of the Lake Superior region. There in 1822 he married a woman who was part Ojibwa, and her people became the subject of his special study. In 1832 he again explored the upper reaches of the Mississippi River and located its source at Lake Itasca in present Minnesota. His Narrative of an Expedition . . . to Itasca Lake . . . (1834) was reissued, with an account of the 1820 expedition, in Summary Narrative (1855).

      As superintendent of Indian affairs for Michigan (1836–41), Schoolcraft concluded a treaty with the Ojibwa (1836) in which the tribe ceded much of northern Michigan to the United States. Schoolcraft's chief contribution to ethnology is to be found in his Historical and Statistical Information Respecting the History, Condition, and Prospects of the Indian Tribes of the United States, 6 vol. (1851–57). F. Nichols' Index to Schoolcraft's “Indian Tribes of the United States” (1954) greatly enhanced the value of the original volumes. Another important work was Schoolcraft's Algic Researches (1839; 1856 ed., The Myth of Hiawatha), the basis of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's Song of Hiawatha.

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Universalium. 2010.

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  • Schoolcraft,Henry Rowe — School·craft (sko͞olʹkrăft ), Henry Rowe. 1793 1864. American geologist, ethnologist, and explorer who discovered the source of the Mississippi River (1832). * * * …   Universalium

  • Schoolcraft, Henry Rowe — (28 mar. 1793, condado de Albany, N.Y., EE.UU.–10 dic. 1864, Washington, D.C.). Explorador y etnólogo estadounidense. Se desempeñó como topógrafo en una expedición a la región del lago Superior (1820); posteriormente se casó con una mestiza… …   Enciclopedia Universal

  • SCHOOLCRAFT, HENRY ROWE —    a noted American ethnologist, born in New York State; at 24 was geologist to an exploring expedition undertaken by General Cass to Lake Superior and the Upper Mississippi; married the educated daughter of an Ojibway chief; founded the… …   The Nuttall Encyclopaedia

  • Henry Rowe Schoolcraft — (* 28. März 1793 in Watervliet, Guilderland, Albany County, New York; † 10. Dezember 1864 in Washington D. C.) war ein US amerikanischer Entdecker und Ethnologe, der bekannt dafür wurde die Quelle des Mississippi River im Jahre 1832 gefunden zu… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Henry Rowe Schoolcraft — Pour les articles homonymes, voir Schoolcraft. Henry Rowe Schoolcraft Henry Rowe Schoolcraft (28 mars 1793 à Guilderland–10 décembre  …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Henry Rowe Schoolcraft — noun United States geologist and ethnologist and explorer who discovered the source of the Mississippi River (1793 1864) • Syn: ↑Schoolcraft • Instance Hypernyms: ↑geologist, ↑ethnologist, ↑explorer, ↑adventurer …   Useful english dictionary

  • Henry Schoolcraft — Henry Rowe Schoolcraft Henry Rowe Schoolcraft Henry Rowe Schoolcraft (28 mars 1793–10 décembre 1864) était un géographe, géologue, et ethnologue américain, fameux pour ses études de la culture des peuples premiers d Amérique, ainsi que sa… …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Henry Schoolcraft — Henry Rowe Schoolcraft Henry Rowe Schoolcraft (* 28. März 1793 in Watervliet, Guilderland, Albany County, New York; † 10. Dezember 1864 in Washington D. C.) war ein US amerikanischer Entdecker und Ethnologe, der bek …   Deutsch Wikipedia

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