The journals of Prince Maximilian of Wied rank among the most important firsthand sources documenting the early-nineteenth-century American West. Published in their entirety as an annotated three-volume set, the journals present a complete narrative of Maximilian's expedition across the United States, from Boston almost to the headwaters of the Missouri in the Rocky Mountains, and back. This new concise edition, the only modern condensed version of Maximilian's full account, highlights the expedition's most significant encounters and dramatic events. The German prince and his party arrived in Boston on July 4, 1832. He intended to explore ""the natural face of North America,"" observing and recording firsthand the flora, fauna, and especially the Native peoples of the interior. Accompanying him was the young Swiss artist Karl Bodmer, who would document the journey with sketches and watercolors. Together, the group traveled across the eastern United States and up the Missouri River into present-day Montana, spending the winter of 1833-34 at Fort Clark, an important fur-trading post near the Mandan and Hidatsa villages in what is now North Dakota. The expedition returned downriver to St. Louis the following spring, having spent more than a year in the Upper Missouri frontier wilderness. The two explorers experienced the American frontier just before its transformation by settlers, miners, and industry. Featuring nearly fifty color and black-and-white illustrations - including several of Karl Bodmer's best landscapes and portraits - this succinct record of their expedition invites new audiences to experience an enthralling journey across the early American West.

Few historical chronicles are as informative and eloquent as the journals written by Prince Maximilian of Wied as a record of his journey into the North American interior in 1833-34, following the route Lewis and Clark had taken almost thirty years earlier. Maximilian's memorable descriptions of topography, Native peoples, natural history, and the burgeoning fur trade were further brought to life through the now-familiar watercolors and prints of Karl Bodmer, the young Swiss artist who accompanied him.

The first two volumes of the "North American Journals" recount the prince's journey from Europe to St. Louis, then up the Missouri some 2,500 river miles to the expedition's western endpoint, Fort McKenzie, in what is today Montana. In this third, and final, volume, Maximilian vividly narrates his extended stay at Fort Clark (near today's Bismarck, North Dakota) and his return journey eastward across America and on to his home in Germany. Despite subzero temperatures and a shortage of food at Fort Clark during the winter of 1833-34, Maximilian continued to study and interview the Mandan and Hidatsa Indians who lived nearby, recording descriptions of their social customs, religious rituals, languages, material culture, and art. This handsome, oversize volume not only reproduces the prince's historic document but also features every one of his illustrations--nearly 100 in all, including several in color--from the original journal, along with other watercolors, now housed at Joslyn Art Museum in Omaha, Nebraska.

Publication of these journals, fifty years in the making and complete with extensive annotation, opens the 1830s American West to modern readers in an indispensable scholarly resource and a work of lasting beauty."This book is published with the assistance of the National Historical Publications and Records Commission."

Made famous through the paintings of Swiss artist Karl Bodmer, the North American expedition of German naturalist Prince Maximilian of Wied in 1832-34 was the first scientific exploration of the Missouri River's upper reaches since the epic journey of Lewis and Clark almost thirty years earlier. Maximilian's journal has never been presented fully in English - until now. This collector's-quality, oversized volume, the first of a three-volume set, draws on the Maximilian-Bodmer Collection at Joslyn Art Museum in Omaha, Nebraska.The North American Journals offer an incomparable view of the upper Missouri and its Native peoples at a pivotal moment in the history of the American West. This meticulous account, newly translated with extensive modern annotation, faithfully reproduces Maximilian's 110 drawings and watercolors as well as his own notes, asides, and appendices. Volume I, which covers May 1832 to April 1833, documents Maximilian's voyage to North America and his first encounters with Indians upon reaching the West. This is an essential resource for nineteenth-century western American history and a work of lasting value. This book is published with the assistance of the National Historical Publications and Records Commission.

Few historical chronicles are as informative and eloquent as the journal written by Prince Maximilian of Wied as a record of his journey into the North American interior in 1833, following the route Lewis and Clark had taken almost thirty years earlier. Maximilian's memorable descriptions of topography, Native peoples, and natural history were further brought to life through the now-familiar watercolors and sketches of Karl Bodmer, the young Swiss artist who accompanied him.

The first of the three volumes of the "North American Journals" recounts the prince's journey from Europe to St. Louis--then the edge of the frontier. Volume II vividly narrates his experiences on the upper Missouri and offers an unparalleled view of the region and the peoples native to it. In these pages, we accompany Maximilian as he travels far up the Missouri River to Fort McKenzie, a trading post some 2,500 river miles from St. Louis near what is now Fort Benton, Montana. The handsome, oversize volume not only reproduces this historic document but also features every one of Maximilian's illustrations--more than 200 in all, including nearly 50 in color--from the original journal now housed at Joslyn Art Museum in Omaha, Nebraska.

Maximilian recorded detailed observations of flora, fauna, geology, and climate. From his unique, scientifically trained perspective, he also undertook a serious field study of the cultures and languages of the central and northern Great Plains Indians he encountered. His journal contains important, firsthand descriptions of tribal social customs, religious rituals, material culture, and art, as well as an account of Native interactions with Euro-Americans engaged in the then-burgeoning fur trade.

"This book is published with the assistance of the National Historical Publications and Records Commission."