Morse, Jedidiah:

$1,250 · Offered by William Reese Company · No longer available

A REPORT TO THE SECRETARY OF WAR...ON INDIAN AFFAIRS, COMPRISING A NARRATIVE OF A TOUR PERFORMED IN THE SUMMER OF 1820.... In his report to the secretary of war, Morse delivers an account of his journey in 1820 from New Haven through the Great Lakes country to Green Bay, and a brief trip in 1821 to Upper Canada, followed by notes on many Indian tribes. The work consists largely of the appendix, which includes reports and passages from the journal of John Bell of the Long expedition, descriptions of Indian schools, and many speeches by white officials and Indian chiefs. "This is certainly the most complete and exhaustive report of the condition, numbers, names, territory, and general affairs of the Indians, ever made. It affords us the details of almost every particular which we could desire, relating to the accessible tribes, in the territory of the United States, as they existed in the year 1820" - Field. Although Wheat does not note its appearance here, the accompanying map is the same as the map of the United States published the following year in Sidney Morse's atlas of the U.S. As Wheat states, "this beautifully engraved map includes the Oregon country...with no northern boundary shown." The frontispiece is a portrait of the Pawnee brave, Petalesharo, who is often credited with having abolished the practice of human sacrifice among his tribe. An early work by artist Charles Bird King, this same portrait was later reworked for inclusion in McKenney and Hall's History of t

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