Giacomo Constantino Beltrami

Giacomo Costantino Beltrami (1779 in Bergamo – January 6, 1855 in Filottrano) was an Italian jurist, author, and explorer, best known for claiming to have discovered the headwaters of the Mississippi River in 1823 while on a trip through much of the United States (later expeditions determined a different source, however). Beltrami County in Minnesota is named for him. He had an extensive network of notable figures for friends and acquaintances, such as members of the powerful Medici family.

Beltrami was the 16th of 17 children, born in the city of Bergamo in the northern Italian region of Lombardy. His exact birth date is unknown because a fire in the area destroyed baptismal records in 1793. He apparently had a fair amount of schooling in literature, law, and other subjects before leaving to become a soldier for the Cisalpine Republic in 1797. The republic was an extension of France at the time, and Beltrami worked his way into the Napoleonic government after becoming a Mason. Years later, when the Marche region again came under purview of the papal government, he was questioned for his activities.

Count Beltrami was married to the sister of Count Bastogi famous for the railway Count Bastogi had in turn married into the anglo english russian family of Henry Savage Yeames British Consul-General see Bremmer on Russia page 498 Vol 2 Henry Yeames married Wilhelmina von Rahl daughter of Baron von Rahl of Hesse-Cassel banker to the Tsar see recollections of William Frederick Yeames R.A. by m h stephen smith

In 1809, Beltrami became the friend of Giulia Spada dei Medici. When she died at the age of 39 in 1820, he put together a collection of different writings in her honor. He was distraught by her death, and this, combined with pressures about his background during French occupation, led him to begin traveling. He visited a number of different cities in Europe, reaching Liverpool, England in 1822. From there, he set out to the United States on a voyage that proved to be very treacherous. He finally arrived in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania after more than two months on the ocean in December 1822 or January 1823.

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