The New Student's Reference Work/Schoolcraft, Henry Rowe

School′craft, Henry Rowe, an American writer, was born in the state of New York, March 28, 1793. After studying at Union College, he visited the mining-region west of the Mississippi and also acted as geologist in an exploring expedition to Lake Superior and the Upper Mississippi under General Cass. In 1822 he was Indian agent for the tribes about the lakes, and in 1823 married the granddaughter of an Ojibway chief who had been educated in Europe. While Indian agent he made treaties that gave the United States 16,000,000 acres. As a member of the legislature of Michigan Territory, 1828-32, he founded its historical society. An expedition which he commanded in 1832 discovered the sources of the Mississippi. After collecting the statistics of the Six Nations, he was employed by Congress in 1847 to gather all the information possible about the Indian tribes, the result being published in five volumes, costing the government $30,000 a volume. He added a sixth volume to the collection in 1857. His works include narratives of his journeys, namely, Notes on the Iroquois; The Red Race of America; Thirty Years with Indian Tribes and The Indian in His Wigwam. He died at Washington, D. C., on Dec. 10, 1864.