Person: Nicollet, Jean-Nicolas
Joseph Nicolas Nicollet was a French cartographer, astronomer and mathematician known for his expeditions to map the USA.
Mathematical Profile (Excerpt):
- In 1805, at the age of nineteen, Nicollet became an assistant teacher of mathematics in Chambery.
- Nicollet rapidly made a fine reputation for himself both as a teacher and as a mathematical astronomer at the Observatory, receiving the Legion of Honour for his excellent work.
- Nicollet was ruined financially and, perhaps equally as bad in his eyes, he felt his mathematical skills would no longer be respected.
- Although the stock market crash was the main reason for Nicollet setting out for the United States, there were other more minor reasons.
- Nicollet had lost his patron when Laplace died in 1827 and he had quarrelled with François Arago who was becoming an increasingly important figure at the Observatory.
- In 1832 Nicollet sailed to North America and went first to Washington where he met those members of the government who were interested in carrying out scientific surveys.
- Immediately Nicollet began scientific work with the French born and educated Augustine Verot, Professor of Mathematics and Natural Philosophy in St Mary's College, Baltimore, the first Roman Catholic seminary to be established in the United States.
- Ferdinand Rudolph Hassler was conducting the United States Coast Survey and he agreed to support Nicollet's explorations.
- Nicollet did not spend longer than necessary in Washington for he wanted to plan his scientific work and to do this he needed to travel.
- Some certainly did so and reported their results to Nicollet who published them along with his own observations.
- There are two important aspects of Nicollet's travels.
- Firstly there was the great scientific value that someone as skilful and highly trained as Nicollet could produce.
- Nicollet quotes from a speech by their chief, Flat Mouth, who begged him to interest the king of France in their regard because "The French were the first to discover us." Such devotion to the French may explain why these Indians proved so ready to tell Nicollet the facts and significance of many customs indigenous to their native culture.
- Nicollet was at Fort Snelling, Minnesota by October 1836 and he remained there until the summer of 1837.
- It was the Nicollet expedition, which was sent to the Northwest by the United States government to explore and map the vast region between the upper Mississippi and the Missouri.
- The leader of the party was the French explorer, Joseph N Nicollet, and his assistant was John C Frémont, then an unknown young lieutenant.
- Among the Nicollet Papers in the Library of Congress is an account in the explorer's own handwriting of the departure from Traverse des Sioux ....
- Again John Frémont was his assistant but of course today Frémont is better known than Nicollet; Frémont went on to lead major expeditions, and was the first candidate for the Republican Party for President of the United States.
- Nicollet made an astronomical observation at his encampment, on the Coteau du Missouri, Yanktonan Indian country on 6 July 1839.
- From this point, Nicollet and his companions set out for Devil's Lake, a region of confrontation between the Sioux and combined Chippewas and Metis allied to the Hudson's Bay Company post in the lower Red River valley.
Born 29 July 1786, Cluses, Savoy, France. Died 11 September 1843, Washington, D.C., USA.
View full biography at MacTutor
Tags relevant for this person:
Astronomy
Thank you to the contributors under CC BY-SA 4.0! 
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- non-Github:
- @J-J-O'Connor
- @E-F-Robertson
References
Adapted from other CC BY-SA 4.0 Sources:
- O’Connor, John J; Robertson, Edmund F: MacTutor History of Mathematics Archive
