(Born: Albany County [now Guilderland], New York, U.S.A., 28 March 1793; Died: Washington, D.C., U.S.A., 10 December 1864) American geologist & ethnologist.

Schoolcraft attended Union College and for a time Middlebury College. He became engaged in the family's glass-making business at an early age. However, from 1817 to 1818 he began to explore the mineral regions of southern Missouri and Arkansas. In 1820, he was appointed naturalist to General Lewis Cass' [1782-1866] expedition to the upper Mississippi River and Lake Superior copper country. Schoolcraft then worked as an indian agent for the tribes around Lake Superior from 1822 to 1841. Later he moved to Washington, D.C. where he worked on compiling comprehensive data on Indian Tribes for the Office of Indian Affairs. Schoolcraft was a member of the New York Lycenum of Natural History and a founding member of the American Ethnological Society in 1842.

Besides his mineralogical writings, Schoolcraft had a lifetime interest in studying American Indian tribes, especially tribes in the Great Lakes region. These ethnological writings are what he is best remembered for today.

Biographical references: ABA: I 1426, 142-176, 183-186; II 542, 43-45. • DAB: 16, 456-57 [by W. Hough]. • DSB: 12, 203-05 [by E.N. Shor]. • Elliott, Biographical Index, 1990: 206. • Elliott, Biographical Dictionary, 1979: 228-29. • Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th edition. • Ireland, Index to Scientists, 1962. • Lambrecht & Quenstedt, Catalogus, 1938: 386-7. • National Cyclopedia of American Biography: 5, ??. • Poggendorff: 2, cols. 836-7 & 3, 1208. • Sarjeant, Geologists, 1980: 3, 2070-1. • WBI.

1. English, 1819 [First edition].
A View | Of The | Lead Mines Of Missouri; | Including | Some Observations | On The | Mineralogy, Geology, Geography, | Antiquities, Soil, Climate, Population, | And Productions | Of | Missouri And Arkansaw, | And | Other Sections Of The Western Country. | [tapered rule] | Accompanied By Three Engravings | [tapered rule] | By Henry R. Schoolcraft, | Corresponding Member Of The Lyceum Of Natural History Of | New-York. | [ornate rule] | New-York: | Published By Charles Wiley & Co. No. 3 Wall-Street. | J. Seymour, printer. | [ornate rule] | 1819.

4°: 299 [i.e. 297], [1] p., 3 plates. Numbers 273-274 omitted in paging. Very scarce.

Facsmile reprint, 1972: A view of the lead mines of Missouri. New York, Arno Press, 1972. 299 p., illus.

Bibliographical references: BMC: 4, 1856-57. • NUC. • Sabin, Dictionary, 1868-1936: no. 77881. • Shaw & Shoemaker, American Bibliography, 1958-83: no. 49372.

2. English, 1826? [2nd edition].
A View of the Lead Mines of Missouri ...

4°: ??. Very scarce.

Bibliographical references: Sabin, Dictionary, 1868-1936: no. ??.

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