Early Life and Education
Schoolcraft was born in Guilderland, Albany County, New York, the son of Lawrence Schoolcraft and Anne Barbara (Rowe) Schoolcraft. He entered Union College at age fifteen and later attended Middlebury College. He was especially interested in geology and mineralogy.
His father was a glassmaker, and Henry initially studied and worked in the same industry. Schoolcraft wrote his first paper on the topic, Vitreology (1817). After working in several glass works in New York, Vermont and New Hampshire, the young Schoolcraft left the family business at age twenty-five to explore the western frontier.
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