Travels in North America, 1832–1834: A Concise Edition of the Journals of Prince Maximilian of Wied by Prince Maximilian Alexander Philipp

Abstract

Reviewed by: Travels in North America, 1832–1834: A Concise Edition of the Journals of Prince Maximilian of Wied by Prince Maximilian Alexander Philipp Harlan Hague, Professor of History, Retired Travels in North America, 1832–1834: A Concise Edition of the Journals of Prince Maximilian of Wied. By Prince Maximilian Alexander Philipp. Edited by Marsha V. Gallagher. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 2017. vii + 546 pp. Illustrations, editorial notes, bibliography, list of flora and fauna, cast of characters, index. $34.95 cloth. Maximilian's journals are an essential source for those who wish to understand the Great Plains and its inhabitants at early contact. From the outset, the German prince was particularly interested in American Indians. On the very first day of his arrival in Boston, he searched in vain for "the original American race, the Indians." He was disappointed to find nothing about Indians and little of natural history in the town's bookshops. From Boston, Maximilian visited New York, Philadelphia, and Bethlehem in Pennsylvania and stayed the winter at New Harmony. Everywhere, he made excursions into the countryside, satisfying his interest in the natural attractions of the locale. From New Harmony, he traveled to St. Louis, where he began his epochal journey to the western Great Plains. The journals continue from Maximilian's return to St. Louis through his journey back East and to his home in Germany. Maximilian was an obsessive journalist, and we are the beneficiaries. His day-by-day journal is the best account we have of a voyage up the Missouri. He traveled in relative comfort on the steamboats Yellow Stone and Assiniboine. He ate well and slept in a cabin. Traveling on a keelboat at the end, he was assigned one of the two beds. He ate less well during his stays at the forts, but did not complain. He described Indians—their appearance, clothing, and homes—in minute detail. All flora and fauna interested him, from bison to bullfrogs, from cottonwoods to daisies. His descriptions and sketches were complemented by the magnificent watercolors and drawings of Karl Bodmer, who produced arguably the best images of early Plains Indians and their surroundings. Contrary to the perception that most Americans have of Plains Indians, Maximilian's contacts with them were peaceful. The Indians were just as curious about the visitors as Maximilian and his retinue were about them. The friendly relations with Indians would persist until the last half of the century, when whites threatened the Indians' lands and their way of life. Maximilian was a man of his time and a compulsive collector. After waxing eloquently about the beauty of a particularly interesting bird, he shot it. He found a piece of petrified wood most intriguing, so he smashed it and pocketed some fragments. In another age, he likely would have been a conservationist. Indeed, he was aware of the folly of waste amid seeming plenty. When buffalo hunters took only choice bits of meat from their kills, he complained that they "kill everything they can reach and thereby destroy their own future." The date was 1833. Editor Marsha V. Gallagher has produced a volume that must be on the bookshelf of anyone who wishes to comprehend the Great Plains in its pristine state. Maximilian would approve. [End Page 434] Copyright © 2018 The Center for Great Plains Studies and The University of Nebraska Press