clining race; nor should it fail to admonish us of the immense importance of improving, in every possible point of view, that vast inheritance which it was their peculiar misfortune to undervalue and neglect.

The Honorable the Legislative Council will pardon the freedom of these reflections, which the occasion elicits, if it does not justify and demand, whilst I have the honor to remain, as heretofore, their very obedient and respectful servant, and yours,

WM. B. CONWAY,

Secretary of the Territory.

Mr. Lewis of the Committee on Territories reported that the seal submitted by the Secretary had been examined and that its devices were "admirably adapted and appropriate". At the same time he proposed a resolution that the seal should be adopted by the Council as the Great Seal of the Territory of Iowa.

3

On Mr. Hempstead's motion the report was accepted and the resolution adopted. Mr. Wallace, Secretary of the Council, was then despatched to the House of Representatives to read the resolution and present the seal, with impressions upon wax and paper. Later Mr. Nowlin offered a resolution that the Council and House of Representatives of the Territory of Iowa should officially adopt the seal. This resolution apparently met with no immediate favor, because at a later time the Council informed the House of Representatives that its Committee on the Judiciary had found the seal "executed with much elegance and classic taste," and absolutely necessary to carry on Territorial business.* Although the legislative journals contain no record of the adoption of the seal, the resolution must have passed both houses of the legislature, for it certainly received the approval of Governor Robert Lucas."

5

3 Journal of the Legislative Council, 1838-1839, p. 48.

Journal of the House of Representatives, 1838–1839, pp. 44, 47, 58.

Annals of Iowa, Vol. I-V, p. 266.

Laws of the Territory of Iowa, 1838-1839, p. 516.

VOL. XII-9

A die of the original Territorial seal may be found in possession of The State Historical Society of Iowa. It may be noted in this connection that the seals of the State University of Iowa and of The State Historical Society of Iowa are modeled largely upon the seal of the Territory of Iowa.

THE SEAL OF THE STATE OF IOWA

On December 9, 1846, Mr. Leffingwell introduced into the House of Representatives as one of the first matters for its consideration a joint resolution to authorize the Secretary of State to procure a State seal. The Senate refused to accede to the wishes of the lower house, but offered a substitute. Before this measure was passed by the General Assembly and approved by the Governor, State officers had been specially empowered to use the Territorial seal until a State seal was provided.10

The Secretary of State received authority11 to purchase for the sum of forty dollars a seal "two inches in diameter, upon which shall be engraved the following device, surrounded by the words, 'The Great Seal of the State of Iowa' - a sheaf and a field of standing wheat, with a sickle and other farming utensils, on the left side near the bottom; a lead furnace and pile of pig lead, on the right side; the citizen soldier, with a plow in his rear, supporting the American flag and liberty cap with his right hand, and his gun with his left, in the center and near the bottom; the Mississippi river in the rear of the whole, with the steamer Iowa under way; an eagle near the upper edge, holding in his

7 See Annals of Iowa, Vol. I-V, p. 287, for an impression of the seal.

8 Journal of the House of Representatives, 1846-1847, pp. 49, 68, 410, 416. Journal of the Senate, 1846-1847, pp. 43, 48, 287.

10 Laws of Iowa, 1846-1847, p. 32.

11 Laws of Iowa, 1846-1847, p. 164.

beak a scroll, with the following inscription upon it: Our liberties we prize, and our rights we will maintain.”

There is in the rooms of The State Historical Society of Iowa a small rectangular wooden plate labeled "The First Seal of Iowa". It was probably designed as a model for the official circular seal described in the legislative act.12

12 An impression of the State seal can be found in the Annals of Iowa, Vol. I-V, p. 287.

SOME PUBLICATIONS

Chicago and the Old Northwest 1673-1835. By MILO MILTON QUAIFE, PH. D. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press. 1913. Pp. vii, 480. Portraits, plates, maps. Price, $4.00 net. This large volume, which is the most satisfactory treatment of the subject which has appeared thus far, is of interest to Iowans not only because of its contents but also because of the fact that the author is a native of Chickasaw County in this State.

The Chicago portage, Chicago in the seventeenth century, the Fox wars, Chicago in the Revolution, the fight for the Northwest, the founding of Fort Dearborn, nine years of garrison life, the Indian Utopia, the outbreak of war, the battle and defeat at Fort Dearborn, the fate of the survivors, the new Fort Dearborn, the Indian trade, war and the plague, and the vanishing of the red man are the topics treated in the fifteen chapters of the book. In addition there are appendices containing important documents relating to the Fort Dearborn massacre. In chapter three (pp. 70-75) there is an account of a French expedition in 1734-1735 against the Fox Indians living on the Des Moines River in the Iowa country - an event which has hitherto been described only in the original documents as published in the Wisconsin Historical Collections.

The book is written in a scholarly manner, with copious footnote references to sources and explanations of obscure points. Especially has the author rendered a service in bringing the story of the Fort Dearborn massacre out from the haze of myth and tradition which has gathered around that event.

Collections of the State Historical Society of Wisconsin. Volume XX. Edited by REUBEN GOLD THWAITES. Madison: State Historical Society of Wisconsin. 1911. Pp. xxi, 497. Portraits, plates. The greater part of this volume is devoted to documents relative to the fur trade in Wisconsin, 1812-1825; while the remaining pages contain the journal of Michel Curot, a Wisconsin

fur trader, from July 28, 1803 to June 16, 1804. The romantic story of the fur trade in the Mississippi Valley still remains to be written, but documents such as these will be of priceless value to the writer who some day will take up the great task.

While the documents here printed relate primarily to the fur trade in the State of Wisconsin, they incidentally contain material bearing on trade in the Iowa country and in surrounding portions of the Mississippi Valley. A perusal of the documents gives the reader an intimate view of the lives of the early traders: government regulations and supervision, methods of carrying on the trade, hardships, difficulties of transportation, the factory system, profits of the trade, and many other features. The late Dr. Thwaites rendered a great service in gathering this valuable material from scattered and inaccessible sources and making it available to the student.

Proceedings of the Mississippi Valley Historical Association. Volume VI. Edited by BENJAMIN F. SHAMBAUGH. Cedar Rapids: The Torch Press. 1913. Pp. 435. The proceedings (including papers and addresses) of the Association at the mid-winter meeting at Boston in December, 1912, and the yearly meeting at Omaha in May, 1913, are printed in this volume. A number of the papers are of special interest from the standpoint of Iowa history. In a paper on the Economic Factors in the Acquisition of Louisiana Louis Pelzer points out the part which commercial interests played in bringing about the Louisiana Purchase. The Economic Basis of the Greenback Movement in Iowa and Wisconsin, by Clyde O. Ruggles, touches upon a phase of Iowa political history. In another paper Forest C. Ensign, who for several years was High School Inspector in Iowa, presents An Inspector's Observation of High School History Teaching.

Five timely articles are to be found in The American Economic Review for December, namely: The Security Holdings of National Banks, by Jacob H. Hollander; The Cost of Government in Minnesota, by Edward Van Dyke Robinson; The Express Charges Pre