UNPUBLISHED MANUSCRIPT OF A JOURNEY THROUGH THE NORTH WEST TERRITORY.


ELLICOTT, GEORGE. 1760-1832. Autograph Manuscript Signed integrally ("George Ellicott"), titled "Some Account of the North American Indians Extracted from a Journal kept by...," 98 pp recto and verso, 4to (255 x 210 mm), Baltimore, c.1799, housed in two lined notebooks, each with blue wrappers, the second marked "Indians" to upper cover, some toning and shelfwear, but generally very good.GEORGE ELLICOTT'S NARRATIVE OF A JOURNEY FROM BALTIMORE TO SANDUSKY, AND THE VARIOUS NATIVE SETTLEMENTS HE VISITED. In 1798, Ellicott was selected, along with three other men from Baltimore, to travel to the Sandusky Plains on behalf of the Society of Friends' Committee on Indian Affairs. The journey was performed on horseback, he tells us, and its purpose was to acquaint the Quakers with the conditions of the native tribes in the area. Ellicott writes of the journey's challenges from weather and terrain, and of the various tribes he meets along the way, including members of the Wyandot and Delaware.The purpose of the trek was to ascertain whether the Sandusky was a candidate for agricultural development, and if so, to try to convince the natives to adopt an agrarian method. Interestingly, Ellicott's team decided that "Sandusky was not an eligable situation, for 'the introduction of agriculture and some of the useful arts among the Indians.' The first was that their situation was too remote from the white settlements, the second reason was the great plenty of Deer, Bear, and other wild game, and the great facility with which they can supply themselves with sustenance. Thirdly the lage supply of spiritous liquors with which they are furnished by the Canadian Traders they bringing it across Lake Erie to the mouth of Sandusky river...." He suggests a branch of the Big Miami as a more suitable place for settlement. Apparently unpublished.