option of a trip to the Falls of St.
Anthony as the "Fashionable Tour".[439] Primitive life and unspoiled
landscapes could be seen from the comfortable decks of the steamboat.
The objective point of these trips was the Falls of St. Anthony, but it
was at Fort Snelling that the passengers were dropped. Only because of
the necessity of bringing supplies to the troops at the post did the
steamboats make the journey. It is in the writings of these visitors
that there have been preserved many pictures of life in and about Fort
Snelling. Moreover, these visits from the outside world brought pleasure
and satisfaction to the smaller world about the fort.

In the month of May, 1823, occurred an event which was epochal, not only
in regard to the commercial development of the Northwest, but also in
respect to the growth of the upper Mississippi as a Mecca for
travellers. The steamboat "Virginia", one hundred and twenty feet long
with a twenty foot beam, commanded by Captain Crawford, left St. Louis
with supplies for Fort Snelling; on the tenth of May it was
received by the soldiers at the fort with a salute of cannon and by the
assembled Indians with awe and consternation.[440] "I know not what
impression the first sight of the Phoenician vessels might make on the
inhabitants of the coasts of Greece," wrote one who was a passenger on
that eventful voyage, "or the Triremi of the Romans on the natives of
Iberia, Gaul, or Britain; but I am sure it could not be stronger than
that which I saw on the countenances of these savages at the arrival of
our steam-boat."[441]

The man who wrote these words was J. C. Beltrami, an Italian refugee,
who for political reasons had fled from his native land. In 1823 he met
Major Taliaferro at Pittsburgh and requested permission to accompany him
to the Falls of St. Anthony. This was granted, and in company with the
Indian agent he arrived at Fort Snelling on the first steamboat to brave
the current of the upper Mississippi.[442] Here for almost two months he
was entertained by the officials at the post, visiting the Indian bands,
attending their councils, writing letters to "My Dear Countess",[443]
and conversing with Mrs. Snelling who alone could speak French with
him.[444] He was on the point of setting out overland for Council Bluffs
when another party arrived at the post.

In the list of the exploring expeditions which traversed the region
about the head of Lake Superior, by far the most importa