ALEXIS BAILLY:

An Inventory of His Papers at the Minnesota Historical Society

Manuscripts Collection

OVERVIEW


	Creator:	Bailly, Alexis, 1798-1861, creator.
	Title:	Alexis Bailly papers.
	Dates:	1821-1898.
	Language:	Materials in English, French.
	Abstract:	Original, copied and microfilmed correspondence and financial records (1821-1868) of Bailly, an American Fur Company agent at St. Peter's (Mendota), 1820-1835, and later at Wabasha, giving details of trade with the Dakota Indians and of the lives of traders and early white settlers. Includes references to Bailly's cattle drive (1821) from Fort Snelling to the Selkirk Colony on the Red River, and to Minnesota politics when Bailly was a member of the first territorial legislature (1849).
	Quantity:	3.0 cubic feet (4 boxes including 69 volumes; 2 oversize items in partial box) and 3 microfilm reels.
	Location:	See Detailed Description for shelf locations.

Alexis Bailly was born in 1798 at St. Joseph's, near the Canadian shore of Lake Huron. He was of French and Ottawa Indian heritage. He received an education at Montreal, and then engaged in fur trade. In August, 1821 he drove cattle from Fort Snelling to the Red River settlement. In 1828 he settled in Prairie du Chien. In 1833 he removed to Mendota, Minnesota and three years later to Wabasha. He was a member of the first Territorial Legislature; married a daughter of Jean Baptiste Faribault and later Julia Cory of New York state. He died in 1861 at Wabasha, Minnesota.

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SCOPE AND CONTENTS

The volumes (1821-1851) include personal memoranda; business and personal accounts; daybooks kept at St. Peter's, Wabasha, and Prairie du Chien; records of the American Fur Company's Western Outfit (1834-1848); a traders' credit book; Indian credit and account books; ledgers; inventories; and outward invoice books. Another volume (1884-1898) contains a daily record of river traffic under a bridge, probably at La Crescent, Minn.

Among the many correspondents are William A. Aitken, Benjamin F. Baker, Bernard W. Brisbois, Joseph R. Brown, James D. Doty, Hercules L. Dousman, Jean B. Faribault, Joseph Laframboise, James H. Lockwood, Henry M. Rice, Joseph Rolette, Samuel C. Stambaugh, and Lawrence Taliaferro. An index to authors of documents and a calendar to the papers are also included.

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ADMINISTRATIVE INFORMATION

Availability:

The collection is open for research use.

Access Conditions:

Original documents in this collection remain open to use due to the poor condition of the microfilm reproduction.

Preferred Citation:

[Indicate the cited item and/or series here]. Alexis Bailly Papers. Minnesota Historical Society.

See the Chicago Manual of Style for additional examples.

Microfilm Production:

St. Paul, Minnesota: Minnesota Historical Society, circa 1940-1960.

Microfilm available for sale or interlibrary loan from the Minnesota Historical Society.

Location of Originals:

Includes copies of originals in State Historical Society of Wisconsin, Madison, and loaned by various individuals.

Accession Information:

Accession numbers: 2070; 2548; 3057; 3247; 3273; 4540; 5421; 5807; 5901; 6746; 6838; 7057; 11,359; 11,387; 13,223; 13,582

Processing Information:

Catalog ID number: 990017174150104294

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DETAILED DESCRIPTION


Location
147.L.10.3		Calendar to the papers, undated.


Location	Box
123.A.3.1B	1	Author index to correspondence, 1971.


		Correspondence, undated, 1821-1868. 9 folders.


		Bills from the House files of the Minnesota Territorial Legislature, 1849.


		Bills from the Council files of the Minnesota Territorial Legislature, 1849.


		Correspondence, undated and 1821-1868. 13 folders. Photostatic copies.


		Family bible records and genealogical data.


		Volume 1. Index.


		Volume 2. Personal memorandum book, 1823.


		Volume 3. Personal memorandum book, 1823-1826.


		Volume 4. Personal memorandum book, 1829-1833.


		Volume 5. Personal memorandum book, 1830.


		Volume 6. Personal memorandum book, 1832-1834.


		Volume 7. Daybook, September 1825-March 1826.
			Kept at St. Peter's.


		Volume 8. Daybook, December 1826-May 1827.
			Kept at St. Peter's.


		Volume 9. Daybook, December 1830-September 1831.
			Kept at St. Peter's.


		Volume 10. Daybook, 1830-1848.
			Includes personal accounts and records of the American Fur Company Western Outfit (1834-1848).


		Volume 11. Traders credit book, July 1827-January 1828.


		Volume 12. Indian credit book, 1829.


		Volume 13. Indian credit book, 1830.
			Kept by Louis Provencalle.


		Volume 14. Indian credit book: St. Peter's Outfit, 1831-1832.


Location	Box
123.A.3.2F	2	Volume 15. Indian credit book: Bailly and Brown, 1832.


		Volume 16. Indian credit book, 1845-1846.


		Volume 17. Indian credit book: Wabashaw's band, 1849-1850.


		Volume 18. Ledger, 1825-1835.
			Includes personal accounts (1829-1835).


		Volume 19. Ledger, 1827-1829.
			Includes index. Also includes traders' inventories (1827-1829).


		Volume 20. Ledger, 1828-1830.


		Volume 21. Ledger, 1830-1831.


		Volume 22. Ledger, 1836-1838.
			Includes personal accounts.


		Volume 23. Outward invoice book, No. I, 1826-1829.


		Volume 24. Outward invoice book, No. II, 1829.


		Volume 25. Inventory book: Alexis Bailly and Company, 1832-1833.


		Volume 26. Bridge record, April 1884-October 1898.
			Lists vessels going up and down river; probably kept at La Crescent, Minnesota.


		Volume 27. Memorandum book, undated.


		Volume 28. Memorandum book, 1836.


		Volume 29. Memorandum book, March 2, 1849-May 1851.


		Volume 30. Miscellaneous account book: Crooked River Outfit, 1832-1836.


		Volume 31. Miscellaneous account book, 1832.


		Volume 32. Daybook, September 13-October 23, 1827.
			Kept at St. Peter's.


		Volume 33. Daybook, November 22, 1827-May 15, 1828.
			Kept at St. Peter's.


		Volume 34. Daybook, July 17-September 9, 1828.
			Kept at St. Peter's.


Location	Box
123.A.2.4F-2	3	Volume 35. Daybook, November 9, 1828-January 8, 1829.
			Kept at St. Peter's.


		Volume 36. Daybook, September 24-November 14, 1830.
			Kept at St. Peter's.


		Volume 37. Daybook, January 10, 1833-July 9, 1834.
			Kept at St. Peter's.


		Volume 38. Daybook, October 26-November 25, 1833.
			Kept at St. Peter's.


		Volume 39. Daybook, October 26, 1843-January 13, 1844.
			Kept at St. Peter's.


		Volume 40. Daybook, July 22, 1845-January 3, 1846.
			Kept at St. Peter's.


		Volume 41. Indian credit book, undated.


		Volume 42. Indian credit book, undated.


		Volume 43. Indian credit book: J.B. Dallam outfit, circa 1830s.


		Volume 44. Indian credit book, undated.


		Volume 45. Indian credit book, circa 1827.


		Volume 46. Indian credit book, 1827.


Location	Box
123.A.3.2F	2	Volume 47. Indian credit book, June 1828.


		Volume 48. Indian credit book, 1844.


		Volume 49. Indian credit book, 1844-1845.


		Volume 50. Indian credit book, 1845-1847.


		Volume 51. Indian credit book, 1846-1848.


		Volume 52. Ledger, 1834.


		Volume 53. Ledger and Daybook, December 1839-November 1843.
			Daybook (December 17, 1840-November 1843) kept at Prairie du Chien and Wabasha.


		Volume 54. Invoice, October 14, 1829-July 25, 1831.


		Volume 55. Invoice, 1832-1834.


		Volume 56. Indian account book, undated.


		Volume 57. Indian account book, 1826-1827.


		Volume 58. Daybook, 1826-1827.


		Volume 59. Indian credit book, 1832. 1 volume and 1 folder.


		Volume 60. Outward invoice book, 1832-1833.


		Volume 61. Account book, 1843-1844.


		Volume 62. Indian credit book, 1846-1848.


		Volume 63. Account book: Alexis Bailly, June 26, 1826-June 12, 1827.
			Includes private accounts (1827).


		Volume 64. Account book: Alexis Bailly, 1827.
			Lists goods sold to Indians, in French.


		Volume 65. Account book: Alexis Bailly, 1828.
			Lists goods sold to Indians, in French.


		Volume 66. Account book: Alexis Bailly, 1830-1831. 1 volume and 1 folder.
			Lists goods sold to Indians, in French.


		Volume 67. Ledger: Alexis and Henry Bailly, 1853-1854. Photocopy.
			Kept by Alexis and Henry G. Bailly and includes land accounts, many of them town lot purchases in Hastings, Minnesota. Also includes an account of lumber sold on commission for Henry H. Sibley; and a letter of explanation concerning the volume's contents by William G. LeDuc, Hastings, October 29, 1910.


Location	Box
123.A.2.4F-2	3	Volume 68. Account book, 1831-1834, 1851.
			Kept by Bailly as American Fur Company representative. Includes accounts with such well-known traders as Alexander Faribault, Joseph R. Brown, Philander Prescott, and Jean Baptiste Faribault. Also contains records of the July 1851 distribution of rations to Dakota Chiefs, including Sleepy Eye, Little Crow, Red Iron, and Grey Iron. The latter are written in pencil in the back of the volume.


		Volume 69. Indian credit book: Bailly Outfit, 1833.
			Includes information about supplies and equipment, a "Recapitulation of Balances Due by the Chippeways," and a "List of Indian Act. of Balances due Outfit 1832 with Articles Loaned Them Not Returned."


Location
105.F.4.1	Oversize materials:
		Certificate of appointment as Register of Probate for Crawford County, October 7, 1824.
			Signed at Detroit by Lewis Cass, Governor of Michigan Territory.
		Articles of contract and agreement between Joseph Rolette and Alexis Bailly, September 2, 1825.
			Signed at Prairie du Chien, Michigan Territory.


Location	Reel
M689	1	Microfilm:
			Correspondence and related material, undated, 1821-1849.
				Includes Territory of Minnesota bills (1849); ledgers and credit books; certificate of appointment of Bailly to Register of Probate for Crawford County, Michigan Territory; and articles of contract and agreement between Bailly and Joseph Rolette.
Location	Reel
M689	2		Credit and account books, ledgers and related material, undated, 1820s-1884.
Location	Reel
M689	3		Credit and account books, ledgers and related material, undated, 1820s-1840s.

CATALOG HEADINGS

This collection is indexed under the following headings in the catalog of the Minnesota Historical Society. Researchers desiring materials about related topics, persons or places should search the catalog using these headings.

Topics:: Fur trade -- Minnesota.; Names, Dakota.

Persons:: Aitken, William Alexander, 1787-1851.; Bailly family.; Bailly, Alexis, 1798-1861.; Baker, Benjamin F., -1840.; Brisbois, Bernard W.; Faribault, Jean Baptiste, 1774-1860.; LaFramboise, Joseph, 1832-1910.; Lockwood, James H.; Rolette, Joseph, 1820-1871.; Taliaferro, Lawrence, 1794-1871.

Organizations:: American Fur Company.; Minnesota -- Legislative Assembly.

Places:: Fort Snelling (Minn.); Mendota (Minn.); Mississippi River -- Navigation.; Wabasha (Minn.)

Document Types:: Account books.; Bills (legislative records) -- Minnesota.

Occupations:: Indian agents -- Minnesota.

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ALEXIS BAILLY:

OVERVIEW

BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE

SCOPE AND CONTENTS

ADMINISTRATIVE INFORMATION

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

CATALOG HEADINGS