This personal diary documents events both significant and mundane in the life of Colonel Josiah Snelling, commanding officer at Fort Snelling from 1821-1825, and again from 1825-1827 before his death in 1828. The majority of the journal's entries encompass the spring and summer of 1827. They are supplemented by miscellaneous entries and memos dated 1825-1828. Among them are a speech by the Ojibwe chief Strong Earth, a statement of conditions for a duel, ledgers of debts Snelling paid and incurred, a reference to the re-burial of Snelling's deceased daughter, Elizabeth, and a few detachment orders.
