But whatever degree of interest and originality may have been connected
with his early observations and discoveries in science, geography, or
antiquities, the circumstances which directed his attention to the
Indian tribes--their history, manners and customs, languages, and
general ethnology, have been deemed to lay his strongest claim to public
respect. The long period during which these observations have been
continued to be made, his intimate relations with the tribes, the
favorable circumstances of his position and studies, and the ardor and
assiduity with which he has availed himself of them, have created
expectations in his case which few persons, it is believed, in our
history, have excited.
It is under these circumstances that the following selections from his
running journal are submitted. They form, as it were, a thread
connecting acts through a long period, and are essential to their true
understanding and development. A word may be said respecting the manner
of the record which is thus exhibited:--
The time is fixed by quoting exactly the dates, and the names of persons
are invariably given wherever they could, with propriety, be employed;
often, indeed, in connection with what may be deemed trivial
occurrences; but these were thought essential to the proper relief and
understanding of more important matters.
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