Northern Expeditions of Stephen Long

Between 1816 and 1823 Stephen Harriman Long headed five expeditions that traveled 26,000 miles from the Atlantic coast to the Rocky Mountains and from the headwaters of the Canadian River in New Mexico to Lake Winnipeg in Canada. This book deals with two of his northern journeys—the only two for which the explorer's personal journals are known to have survived. The 1817 journal describes Long's trip up the Mississippi River to the Falls of St. Anthony at present-day Minneapolis and back down the river to Fort Belle Fontaine on the Missouri. The 1823 journal covers Long's last major exploration, from Philadelphia west across present-day Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, and Minnesota, and back along fur trade routes in Manitoba and Ontario, through the Great Lakes and newly opened parts of the Erie Canal.

The journals reveal the writer's classical education and scientific knowledge. They also reflect the man himself—efficient, logical, concise, meticulous, persevering—a man cheerful in the face of physical discomfort but intolerant of incompetence or irresponsibility on the part of his men.

Editors Lucile M. Kane, June D. Holmquist, and Carolyn Gilman have each written and published several books and articles on Minnesota’s history.