The Encyclopedia Americana (1920)/Möllhausen, Baldwin

MÖLLHAUSEN, mėl'how'zĕn, Baldwin, German traveler and novelist: b. Bonn, 27 Jan. 1825; d. Berlin, 28 May 1905. He studied agriculture in Pommerania, then went (1850) to North America, joining (1851) Duke Paul of Würtemberg and his party in the Rocky Mountains. He was wounded by Indians but, after five months, navigated the Mississippi to New Orleans. He became topographer and draughtsman, at the instigation of Alexander von Humboldt, for an American scientific expedition to the Far West, returning (1854), via San Francisco and the Isthmus of Panama, to Germany, where he was appointed custodian of libraries in Potsdam. He made another trip (1857-58) to North America exploring central Colorado. He wrote ‘Tagebuch einer Reise vom Mississippi nach den Küsten der Südsee’ (Leipzig 1858) and ‘Reisen in die Felsengebirge Nordamerikas’ (ib. 1861). Of his novels most relate to adventure in America. Noteworthy are ‘Die Halbindianer’ (1861); ‘Der Flüchtling’ (1862); ‘Der Mayordomo’ (1863); ‘Das Mormonenmädchen’ (1864; 3d ed., 1871); ‘Reliquien’ (1865); ‘Die bieden Jachten’ (1891); ‘Der Spion’ (1893); ‘Das Fegefeuer in Frappes Wigwam’ (1900), etc. A collection of his works was published (1906-13), under title of ‘Illustrierte Romane, Reisen und Abenteuer.’