From some of the higher points we could look out over wastes of deep snow as far as the eye could reach. Trees there were none, save the natural groves and belts of timber along the streams. In the distance these were deep dark blue in color. They always carried a suggestion of shelter, and possible comfort, even in the stormiest weather, for it was there that the lone traveler would find snug nooks and thickets which broke the force of the fierce winter blasts. The log cabin of the ever-hospitable and kind-hearted settler, where the wayfarer was always welcome, was certain to be nestled about them. The changes which have come over all that region have been such that a traveler of pioneer days would recognize few if any of the localities with which he was then familiar. The prairie is dotted with handsome frame houses, the rude shed made of aspen poles and prairie hay has given place to commodious barns now "bursting with plenty" and long lines of trees, or thick groves, have broken up the vast spaces which were then so white and dreary in winter. And even the blizzards and snows, strangely enough, are things of the past.

ORIGIN OF THE NAME OF IOWA.

N the January number of "THE IOWA HISTORICAL RECORD," I have just read a highly interesting article from the pen of our old and cherished friend, Hon. T. S. Parvin, on the public life of the much lamented Hon. Joseph Williams, of Iowa, and the fact that most of the statements, and incidents therein,contained, were once familiar to me, and called forth recollections of bygone days well nigh forgotten, made the reading of the article, doubly interesting to me. It is not too much for me to say, that but for the industrious pen

of Mr. Parvin, many very valuable and interesting incidents connected with the early history of Iowa, and of her public men would have been forgotten and lost forever, and I am not the only one among her old pioneers, who have expressed the wish that before he leaves us for that other shore, he will compile his vast accumulation of facts connected with that history into volumes, that posterity may have a knowledge before them of the men who laid the foundation of our civilization on this soil. In his article above referred to, Mr. Parvin states, "By an act of the Legislature of Michigan, sitting at that time in the city of Detroit, and approved October 9th, 1829, all the territory south of the Wisconsin river, west of Lake Michigan, north of the boundary of Illinois, and east of the Mississippi river was created into a new county called 'Iowa,' and its seat of justice fixed at Mineral Point,” and he further refers to an opinion once given by the writer of this in these words: "This is the first time we meet with the word Iowa as applied to a tract of country and south of the Wisconsin river, and it is more than probable that this, and subsequent acts of said Territory in organizing the counties of Dubuque and Des Moines west of the Mississippi river, together with their attachment to this 'Iowa' county east of the river for judicial purposes suggested the name of Iowa,' for the new Territory created in July, 1838, west of the great river."

These observations were made some years ago, in a lecture delivered by myself before the Old Law Makers' Union at Des Moines, on the subject of the early jurisprudence of Iowa, but it was not until last summer that it occurred to me to follow the matter up for two reasons: First, to know something about the name, and the man who builded more than he knew, when he suggested the name "Iowa," for the new county in 1829, and second, to learn if possible, the true meaning of the word “ Iowa,” and in obedience to these thoughts, I addressed a letter to the Secretary of State, of Michigan, to which he very kindly and promptly replied as follows:

LANSING, MICH, July 23, 1895.

SAMUEL MURDOCK, Esq.,

Elkader, Iowa.

DEAR SIR: I have searched the records of this department very carefully and have written on enclosed sheets everything I can find pertaining to the desired information.

I hope it may be of use to you. You will see that Wm. Brown, of Wayne county, is the member that introduced the bill.

Yours very truly,

Is a name derived from an Indian tribe, the Kiowas; the Kiowas were so called by the Illinois Indians because they were "across the river."

LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL.

The third Legislative Council and the second session was held at the Council House in the city of Detroit, on September 7th, 1829. Adjourned November 5th, 1829.

ABRAM EDWARDS, President.

JOHN P. SHELDON, SAMUEL SATTERLEE, SENECA ALLEN, Clerks.

WM. MELDRUN, Sergeant-at-Arms.

HENRY R. SCHOOLCRAFT, ROBERT IRWIN, JR., Members from Brown, Chippewa and Crawford and Michilmacinac Counties.

JOHN STOCKTON, from Macomb and St. Clair.

WARREN DUROCHER, WOLCOTT LAWRENCE, CHAS. NOBLE, from Monroe. THOMAS J. DRAKE, STEPHEN V. R. TROWBRIDGE, from O.ıkland,

HENRY RUMSEY, from Washtenav.

WM. BROWN, HENRY CONNER, ABRAM EDWARDS, JOHN MCDONNEL, from Wayne County.

On Monday, September 14, 1829, Mr. Wm. Brown presented the petition. of R. P. Guyard and other inhabitants of Mineral Point praying that a new county may be laid off in the country adjacent, and that the county seat thereof may be established at Mineral Point. Read and referred to the Committee on Territorial Affairs, after which it was placed before the committee on enrollment.

Mr. Schoolcraft from the committee of enrollment reported as correctly enrolled the bill entitled, "An act to organize the county of Iowa, and for other purposes and the President signed the same.

The above is copied from the Journal of the said session of 1829.

Taken from the biography of Mr. Brown found in a book entitled, “Michigan Biographies, 1888,” pp. 132–3, found in the Michigan State Library:

"Wm. Brown a member of the third and fourth Legislative Councils, from Wayne county, 1829-1832, was a physician by profession, but no, information is obtainable as to his nativity or the time of his death.”

The records, however, show him to have been a man of marked prominence in the local councils.

He was a trustee of the corporation of Detroit in 1805, was one of the signers of the protest against the British Gene al Proctor's order of expedition in 1813; a director of the newly organized bank of Michigan in 1818; County Commissioner in 1820, and Trustee of the University in 1821. Politically he was doubtless in sympathy with the prevailing sentiment of the time.

This record explains itself and in addition shows that Henry Rowe Schoolcraft was a member of that Legislative Council, and at the time Mr. Brown had the petition of the citizens of Mineral Point referred to the Committee on Territorial Affairs, Mr. Schoolcraft was the chairman of the Committee on Enrollment, and reported the bill as correctly enrolled. What few sketches we have of the life of this eminent scholar, Henry R. Schoolcraft, show us that he was born in Albany county, New York, March 28th, 1793, and in 1817-18 we trace him through a journey to the west where he collects a valuable cabinet of mineralogical specimens, and in 1819 he publishes "A view of the Lead Mines of Missouri," followed by "Scenes and Adventures in the Semi Alpine Region of the Ozark Mountains." In 1820 we find him as the geologist of the exploring expedition to the west under General Cass. In 1821 we find him a Commissioner to treat with the Indians at Chicago, and in 1822 he is appointed Indian agent for the tribes in the North West Territory. From 1828 to 1832 we find him a member of the Legislative Council of the Territory of Michigan, and as the above record shows, on the 9th day of October, 1829, reporting the Iowa county bill as correctly enrolled, and to sum up his public career in a few words, we find him for more than thirty years constantly upon the frontier mingling with all of the great Indian tribes of the North West, studying their languages, observing their manners and customs, and making treaties with them, and his writings on the subject of the Indians of the continent now form a library of itself, and above all others for authority on every subject relating to that extinct race and it is apparent from this record,

that from the presentation of the Mineral Point petition, unti] the subject of it became a law, none others save Mr. Brown and Mr. Schoolcraft had charge of the bill, and from all of the facts here related, it is certain that Mr. Schoolcraft suggested the word "Iowa" for the name of the new county, and that he then knew the true definition of the word.

Nor is this all, for we find him again in Washington in 1838, as Superintendent of Indian affairs, and at the very time the bill was introduced into Congress creating the Territory of Iowa, and there is no doubt but what he here again suggested the name for the new Territory, neither is there any doubt but what he understood the true meaning of the word, and that the meaning is that which is given by Mr. Gardner in the above record, as the "People across the river."

This view will take from the word "Iowa," some of its poetry, but the truth must prevail.

SAMUEL MURDOCK.

THE SERGEANT FLOYD MEMORIAL.

N the 20th of last August memorial ceremonies were held at Sioux City commemorative of the death of Sergeant Charles Floyd, a member of the Lewis and Clark expedition of 1805 to the Pacific, but who died the year before, during the organization of the expeditionary party, near Sioux City.

The chief address at these ceremonies was made by Dr. Elliott Coues, the historian of the expedition, and from a statement by him before his address was delivered, published in the Sioux City Journal, we reprint the following account of those who took part in that famous early exploration:

I have been examining Floyd's skull, but am bound to say that it shows very little. I have examined hundreds of skulls