This volume (Vol. 5 in the “Collections of the Minnesota Historical Society”) contains three documents. The first is a memoir of William W. Warren by J. Fletcher Williams, the second is “History of the Ojibways, Based upon Traditions and Oral Statements” by Warren, and the third is “History of the Ojibways, and their Connection with Fur Traders, based upon Official and Other Records” by Edward D. Neill.

William Whipple Warren (1825 -1853) was the son of an American fur trader and a Metis mother; part French-Canadian and part Ojibway. William grew up among Ojibway on the Chippewa River in Wisconsin and became fluent in the language. He was sent east for several years for schooling, but upon his return to Wisconsin he re-established ties to the Ojibway and began collecting stories that were told around campfires.