Gallaher, Ruth A

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Volume 26 | Number 10 Article 2
10-1-1945
J.N. Nicollet Map Maker
Ruth A. Gallaher
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Gallaher, Ruth A. "J.N. Nicollet Map Maker." The Palimpsest 26 (1945), 289-302.
Available at: https://ir.uiowa.edu/palimpsest/vol26/iss10/2
The Palimpsest
E D I T E D  BY R U T H  A. G A L L A H E R  
Vo l . XXVI Is s u e d  in  O c t o b e r  1 9 4 5  N o .  1 0
C O P Y R I G H T  1 9 4 0  B Y  T H E  S T A T E  H I S T O R I C A L  S O C I E T Y  O F  I O W A
J. N. Nicollet Map Maker
When the people of Iowa were considering 
statehood in 1844 there was much discussion both 
here and at Washington as to the boundaries of 
the proposed new State. The constitutional con­
vention adopted what came to be called the Lucas 
boundaries — the Mississippi River on the east, 
the northern boundary of Missouri on the south, 
the Missouri River on the west, and on the north 
a line running from the mouth of the Big Sioux 
River to the “middle of the main channel of the St. 
Peters river, where the Watonwan river (accord­
ing to Nicollet’s map) enters the same” and then 
down the St. Peters River to the Mississippi.
Sectionalism dominated the thinking of many 
Senators and Representatives at that time. More 
free States meant more Senators opposed to slav­
ery; more slave States meant more Senators to 
support the South’s “peculiar institution’’; more 
western States meant greater influence for the 
West as against the original States.
289
290 THE PALIMPSEST
Free-State Congressmen wanted as many 
States as possible carved out of the area north of 
the Missouri Compromise line. For the first State 
in this area they found boundaries to suit their 
plans in a report which had recently been submit­
ted to J. J. Abert, Chief of the Corps of Topo­
graphical Engineers, by the French mathemati­
cian, scientist, and explorer, Joseph Nicolas 
Nicollet. Who was Nicollet? How did he hap­
pen to be listed as an authority on the boundaries 
of Iowa? His story illustrates the threads which 
have connected Europe with America.
There are conflicting statements as to the early 
life of the man who suggested the Nicollet bound­
aries for Iowa and many details needed by a biog­
rapher are missing. Most of the data come from 
the reminiscences of those who knew him and 
memory is unreliable for dates and names. Au­
thorities record that Joseph Nicolas Nicollet was 
born in the Duchy of Savoy on July 24, 1786, al­
though the date 1790 is also given. His parents 
were poor and the little boy herded cows on the 
mountainside. We are also told that he could 
play the flute and the violin and that he learned 
the trade of watchmaker.
But these activities were not to be the horizon of 
the future. A village priest discovered that this 
peasant lad had an unusual mind, taught him to
/. N. NICOLLET M AP M AKER 291
read at the age of twelve, and then secured a 
scholarship for him at the college at Cluses. There 
Nicollet became an expert mathematician and at 
the age of nineteen began teaching at Chambery. 
In 1817 he went to Paris, became a naturalized 
French citizen, and for over a decade carried on 
numerous scientific activities in the French capital. 
He served as secretary and librarian at the Paris 
Observatory. He prepared a statement concern­
ing life expectations which was published in Paris 
in 1818. He had a part in the discovery of two 
comets. He served as astronomical assistant at 
the Bureau des Longitudes and later as professor 
of mathematics at the College of Louis-le-Grand. 
He wrote, or helped to write, a textbook on mathe­
matics for men in the naval and marine service. 
That his work in science was recognized is indi­
cated by the fact that in 1825 he received the 
Cross of the Legion of Honor. Somewhere along 
his busy life he learned English.
Misfortune seems to have sent Nicollet to 
America, as it has sent thousands of other men 
and women to these shores. Along with his repu­
tation as a scientist, Nicollet accumulated some 
wealth. No doubt his position in society required 
money and he attempted to increase his savings by 
speculation on the Bourse, but the outbreak of the 
Revolution of 1830 brought the loss of all his own
292 THE PALIMPSEST
investments and involved a number of his friends 
in the failure. There seem to have been no crim­
inal charges against him, but the situation was un­
pleasant, conditions in France were tense, and 
Nicollet decided to spend some years in America 
studying the work of early French explorers.
No explanation has been found as to the source 
of funds for this work, but in 1832 Nicollet ar­
rived at New Orleans. The handsome and cul­
tured French scientist became a popular guest in 
the homes of French and American families, find­
ing friends along the Mississippi as he moved 
northward. At St. Louis he became acquainted 
with the old French and Spanish families, among 
them the Chouteaus, and he found work in astro­
nomical and geographical observations and sur­
veys along the Red, Arkansas, and Missouri rivers.
But always the mighty Mississippi beckoned 
him to explore its source, and in the summer of 
1836, perhaps financed by his friends, the Chou­
teaus, he arrived at Fort Snelling where he was 
made welcome by the officers stationed there, by 
Major Lawrence Taliaferro of the Indian agency, 
and by Henry H. Sibley, Indian trader at Men- 
dota. He interviewed soldiers, traders, mission­
aries, Indians, and half-breeds concerning the 
country to the north and he sought information as 
to the Indians, their customs, languages, and way
/. N. NICOLLET M AP M AKER 293
of life. Could he visit the Selkirk settlement? 
Could he make a trip to the source of the Missis­
sippi? The answer was always, ‘‘Yes’'. “Well”, 
he replied, “you American beat the dev. Suppose 
I say can I go to h-ell, you say yes.” But Nicollet 
compromised on an expedition to Lake Itasca.
On this expedition he was accompanied by a 
half-breed guide, a Chippewa Indian, and a 
French servant. In making the portage to Lake 
Itasca, Nicollet said, “I carried my sextant on my 
back, in a leather case, thrown over me as a knap­
sack; then my barometer slung over the left shoul­
der; my cloak, thrown over the same shoulder, 
confined the barometer closely against the sextant; 
a portfolio under the arm; a basket in hand, which 
contained my thermometer, chronometer, pocket- 
compass, artificial horizon, tape-line, <Sc., 6c. On 
the right side, a spy-glass, powder-flask, and shot 
bag; and in my hand, a gun or an umbrella, ac­
cording to circumstances.” The umbrella must 
have been as strange to his associates as the sex­
tant. Upon his return he produced with pen and 
ink a beautiful map of the area.
The winter of 1836-1837 was spent at Fort 
Snelling. Nicollet was a frequent visitor in the 
home of Major and Mrs. Taliaferro and in the 
trading house of H. H. Sibley. Intelligent, cour­
teous, and widely traveled, he was a welcome
294 THE PALIMPSEST
guest. During winter evenings he often played 
the violin, while Mrs. Taliaferro accompanied him 
on her piano, a rare luxury on the far frontier.
News of Nicollet’s abilities and interest in fron­
tier surveys had reached the War Department at 
Washington and he was invited to visit the Amer­
ican capital. Joel R. Poinsett, then Secretary of 
War, decided that Nicollet was just the man to 
make an official survey of the unexplored area 
along the course of the Mississippi north to the 
Canadian boundary and west to the headwaters 
of the Missouri and to prepare a much needed 
map of the region. Nicollet accepted, and from 
that time until his death on September 11, 1843, he 
spent his time in expeditions to secure data or in 
Washington at work on his map and report.
An expedition in 1838 took him up the Missis­
sippi along somewhat familiar paths. A second, in 
the summer of 1839, was up the Missouri River on 
the steamboat Antelope. From Fort Pierre the 
party struck north and east to Devil’s Lake in 
what is now North Dakota, and then across to the 
Mississippi. On both expeditions he was accom­
panied by Lieutenant John C. Fremont, assigned 
to this duty by the Secretary of War, by Charles 
Geyer, a German botanist whom Nicollet had em­
ployed at his own expense, by a few friends, and 
by the usual half-breed guides. How much these
/. N. NICOLLET M AP M AKER 295
expeditions cost seems to be lost in the archives of 
the War Department, but an item of $15,126.90 
for "military and geographical surveys west of the 
Mississippi and north of the State of Missouri" 
from September 30, 1839, to September 30, 1840, 
may suggest the expense.
In Washington Nicollet and his assistants 
worked steadily on the map and compiled data 
for the report. During part of this time Nicollet 
and Fremont shared the home of Ferdinand R. 
Hassler, Chief of the United States Coast Survey. 
It was an interesting trio. Hassler, a native of 
Switzerland, had been separated from his wife for 
some years. Fremont, much younger than the 
other two, had not yet met his "Immortal Wife". 
There seems to be no record that Nicollet was ever 
married, although on one occasion, when an Indian 
chief offered his young daughter to the distin­
guished Frenchman as a wife, he explained that he 
already had one wife and that the Great Father 
did not permit him to have two. He added, how­
ever, that his young companion, Fremont, had no 
such alibi, and enjoyed the embarrassment of the 
young officer as he declined the proffered bride 
and gave her the proper presents. At any rate 
Nicollet had no family in America and the three 
men kept bachelors’ hall with the aid of an expen­
sive French chef.
296 THE PALIMPSEST
That Nicollet had some of the French interest 
in cooking is indicated by a story related by Fre­
mont. On one occasion during an expedition some 
Indian guests had been invited to dinner. The 
main dish was a stew made of fat buffalo meat and 
wild rice. The pot~au~feu was served and all be­
gan to eat. At the first bite the Indians laid down 
their spoons and expressed fears that the concoc­
tion was poisoned. The interpreter had to explain 
that the strange taste was due to some cheese 
which Nicollet had added to the other ingredients.
As the years passed Nicollet’s health failed 
steadily. His physique had not been able to with­
stand the hardships his scientific mind had im­
posed on it. Many a night he had spent in astro­
nomical observations after a day of travel or work. 
He occasionally relaxed at St. Mary’s College, 
Baltimore, where his host was John M. J. Chauche, 
then president of the college, and at the home of a 
friend, Dr. J. T. Ducatel.
Always hoping for recovery, Nicollet continued 
his work on the huge map and on a report to ac­
company it which was published under the title 
Report Intended to Illustrate A Map of the Hy~ 
drographical Basin of the Upper Mississippi 
River. It was dated February 16, 1841, but was 
not published until after his death in 1843.
It was this map and this report which were used
/. N. NICOLLET M AP MAKER 297
by those attempting to fix the boundaries of Iowa. 
Nicollet had made specific suggestions concerning 
the division of the upper Mississippi basin into 
States. He suggested that two States be formed 
west of Arkansas and Missouri. Although he 
does not mention the slavery question, these would 
have been slave States under the Missouri Com­
promise. The State of Iowa, according to Nicol­
let’s report, should not extend to the Missouri. 
His boundaries were the parallel of latitude pass­
ing through the mouth of the Mankato or Blue 
Earth River on the north, the Mississippi River on 
the east, the northern boundary of Missouri on the 
south, and on the west a certain meridian line 
running between the 17th and the 18th degrees of 
longitude ”. This longitude was based on Wash­
ington, not Greenwich. Nicollet also suggested 
that a State could be laid out west of Iowa along 
both sides of the Missouri River, and north of 
Iowa there was still enough land for a State.
The western boundary proposed by Nicollet for 
Iowa lay approximately along the watershed be­
tween the tributaries of the Mississippi and Mis­
souri rivers. Nicollet explained it as follows: 
“As the population would be composed of emi­
grants from all parts of the civilized world, by not 
extending the boundary so as to estrange one por­
tion of the people from the other, on account of a
298 THE PALIMPSEST
difference of origin, or a different course of trade, 
they would be brought to live contentedly under 
the same laws and usages; whilst the uniform di­
rection of the waters, together with the similarity 
of climate, soil, resources, and avenues to market, 
are well calculated to give to the inhabitants of 
this State a homogeneity of character and interest 
highly conducive to their well-being, both morally 
and politically."
Why Nicollet feared that the settlers on the 
Mississippi slope would differ from those along 
the Missouri River is not clear. He may have 
been influenced by the situation in St. Louis, where 
he had been impressed by the difference between 
the old settlers of French and Spanish extraction 
and the Americans who had come in after the 
transfer of Louisiana to the United States. The 
Missourians", as he called the inhabitants left 
behind by the Spanish regime, were easy-going, 
honest, without education, and slow to act. The 
Americans were energetic and shrewd.
In this connection Nicollet told the story of a 
Missourian" who wanted to purchase a slave. 
He consulted a Kentucky slave dealer and agreed 
to purchase one of the negroes. The dealer ex­
plained that the price of this slave was five hun­
dred dollars but that the buyer had one year’s 
credit on the purchase. The "Missourian", think-
r' T ^ -  f V  W .T P ?-'-;
/. TV. NICOLLET M AP M AKER 299
ing of the danger of being in debt, replied, Td 
rather pay you six hundred dollars at once, and be 
done with it.” The merchant, no doubt aston­
ished, replied, ‘Very well, anything to accommo­
date you.”
But the minds of the lawmakers in Washington 
were not concerned with the racial backgrounds 
and characteristics of possible Iowa settlers. 
Slavery and anti-slavery men watched jealously 
the shaping of States to come. When the Iowa 
constitution of 1844 was submitted to Congress in 
1845 Representative Alexander Duncan of Ohio 
introduced an amendment to the act admitting 
Iowa and Florida, making the western boundary a 
line running due south from the mouth of the Blue 
Earth River. He presented as support of this line 
a copy of Nicollet’s map and declared that Iowa 
would still have about 39,400 square miles and, he 
claimed, be larger than Ohio.
As finally fixed by the act of Congress adopted 
on March 3, 1845, the western boundary was to be 
a meridian line seventeen degrees and thirty min­
utes west of the meridian of Washington. This 
was slightly west of the Duncan line but it could 
be said to follow Nicollet’s suggestion that the line 
run “between the 17th and the 18th degrees of 
longitude”.
The amended boundaries found little favor in
300 THE PALIMPSEST
Iowa; settlers had no fear of friction between those 
on the Mississippi and those along the Missouri. 
Nor were Iowans willing to accept a smaller area 
in order that more free States or more western 
States could be formed. They wanted a river-to- 
river State and they twice rejected the constitu­
tion of 1844 because they were determined not to 
accept the boundaries specified by Congress, even 
though they were told that they might have to re­
main out of the Union. This was no idle threat. 
Slave State Congressmen were not anxious for the 
admission of Iowa, another free State; anti-slavery 
men insisted on more States in the north; some 
Congressmen wished to strengthen the voting 
power of the West. But Congress had learned 
that the settlers knew what they wanted and 
would have it and in the end Iowa won the Mis­
souri River as her western boundary.
In the meantime the man who had laid out the 
rejected boundaries was dead at the age of fifty- 
seven. Although he lived in the United States 
only eleven years Nicollet left his name in the his­
tory of the Upper Mississippi. There has, how­
ever, been confusion as to his given name. In 
many of the reminiscences concerning him, even 
those by his friends such as Lawrence Taliaferro 
and Henry H. Sibley, he is called Jean Nicolas 
Nicollet. Possibly he v/as confused with the
/. N. NICOLLET M AP MAKER 301
earlier French explorer, Jean Nicolet. He seems 
to have signed his name J. N. Nicollet, but even 
this was not proof against error, for the title page 
of his famous report bears the name I. N. Nicollet, 
no doubt the result of a typographical error.
Although Nicollet apparently did not become a 
citizen of the United States, he was punctilious in 
his loyalty to the country he served. On one of 
his expeditions he was invited to a council with 
some Chippewa Indians. Early that morning he 
was informed by one of his guides that the Indians 
had raised the flag of England beside that of the 
United States. Nicollet suspected that the Indians 
wished to praise the British and disparage the 
Americans. He immediately sent word that he 
was ‘not provided with a forked tongue” and 
that two flags could not protect the same country. 
He could attend the meeting under the American 
flag alone. The Indian chief removed the British 
flag and apologized.
One of Nicollet's cherished ambitions was to be 
elected a member of the French Academy of Sci­
ence. His scientific work in France and in Amer­
ica made him eligible for this honor and his name 
was presented for election. But the debacle of 
1830 was still fresh in the minds of some of his 
former associates and a black ball ended his hopes 
of recognition in this field.
302 THE PALIMPSEST
But Joseph Nicolas Nicollet seems to have been 
a universal favorite among the Americans he met. 
Urbane, polished, brilliant, witty, musical, and af­
fable, astronomer, mathematician, geologist, and 
cartographer, he was sought as a friend by many 
Americans of high rank. He was a Catholic and 
was welcomed by leaders of the church. Few men 
seem to have been less adapted to the rigors of 
frontier life. A portrait reveals that he had hand­
some almost femininely beautiful features. It is 
not surprising that he cared nothing for hunting 
and that he was not interested in horses or dogs. 
He accepted the hardships of life beyond the fron­
tier because of his interest in science. A collection 
of his papers, lost for years after his death, was 
turned over to the Library of Congress in 1921; 
his map and report are buried in government docu­
ments of a hundred years ago. But the centennial 
of the State of Iowa recalls the story of the French 
scientist who mapped the Upper Mississippi and, 
except for the persistence of Iowa pioneers, might 
have prescribed the boundaries of Iowa.
Ruth  A. G allaher


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