Joseph Nicollet

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Joseph Nicollet : biography

July 24, 1786 – September 11, 1843

Third expedition

In his third expedition, guided by Louison Freniere, Nicollet retained the assistance from Fremont and was joined for part of his journey by the Jesuit Missionary Pierre-Jean De Smet. De Smet used skills learned from Nicollet to make his own maps of the Missouri River basin. On this and on his second expedition, Nicollet was joined by botanist Charles Geyer, who took extensive notes cataloging the area’s native plants. This third and final expedition was also government funded and took Nicollet northwest from Iowa along the Missouri River toward Fort Pierre, South Dakota. Nicollet’s efforts were hampered by the sinking of the Steamboat Pirate in April 1839, which was carrying supplies for his expedition. The second leg of this expedition set out from Fort Pierre for Devil’s Lake, North Dakota on July 11, 1839. From there, Nicollet travelled back across the Coteau des Prairies to Fort Snelling.

Legacy

On September 11, 1839, Nicollet returned to Washington, D.C. where he worked on consolidating the information collected during the expeditions. He fully intended to return to Minnesota to continue his work, but failing health led to his death in Washington in 1843. Later that year, a book containing much of his work, Map of the Hydrographical Basin of the Upper Mississippi, was published. The maps in the book were highly accurate and covered a region more than half the size of Europe. Nicollet’s were also among the first in the world to depict elevation by hachuring and are among the only sources for original Native American place names in the region. Many of Nicollet’s sketches and journals from his expeditions are housed at the Library of Congress, the Smithsonian Institution, and the National Archives.

Nicollet’s name is applied to several places in the region he explored, including Nicollet Island, Nicollet Avenue in Minneapolis, Nicollet County and the city of Nicollet, all located in Minnesota.

Nicollet Tower

The Joseph N. Nicollet Tower and Interpretive Center, a monument to Nicollet and his work, was constructed in 1991 in Sisseton, South Dakota, near the path Nicollet took from Devil’s Lake back to Fort Snelling on his final expedition. Banker and Sisseton resident Harold Torness became fascinated with Nicollet’s story and work after reading Joseph N. Nicollet on the Plains and Prairies, a translation of Nicollet’s journals, and raised $335,000 from just seven local donors in order to build the monument. The tower is constructed primarily of Douglas-fir from Idaho, with concrete pillars and steel bolts and supports. It is 80 feet tall at its peak, and there are 96 steps to the top observation platform. Six counties in three states (South Dakota, North Dakota, and Minnesota) can be seen from the top, where there is a view of the Laurentian Divide, the Coteau des Prairies and the ancient glacial valley that Nicollet mapped. The Interpretive Center was constructed at the same time as the tower. Both the tower and the Interpretive Center were designed by Clarence Herges and were built by Kyburz-Calrson Construction. The Interpretive Center houses 2,400 square feet of classroom space and exhibits, including Nicollet’s map and a mural of Nicollet’s meeting with Wanata, chief of the Yankton Dakota.

Early life and education

Nicollet was born in Cluses, Savoy, France. He was very bright, showing aptitude in mathematics and astronomy that earned him a scholarship to the Jesuit college in Chambéry and led him to begin teaching mathematics at age 19. In 1817, he was appointed as a professor and astronomer at the Paris Observatory and worked with scientist and mathematician Pierre-Simon Laplace. While working at the observatory, Nicollet discovered a comet and built a reputation as an expert in astronomy and physical geography. Afterward, he worked as a mathematics professor at the Collège Louis-le-Grand during the 1820s.