In 1846, the College of Geneva conferred on him the degree of LL.D.
While the interests of learning and science thus occupied his private hours, the state of Indian affairs on the western frontiers called for continued exertions, and journeys, and expeditions through remote regions.

The introduction of a fast accumulating population into the Mississippi Valley, and the great lake basins, continually subjected the Indian tribes to causes of uneasiness, and to a species of reflection, of which they had had no examples in the long centuries of their hunter state.
In 1825, 1826, and 1827, he attended convocations of the tribes at very remote points, which imposed the necessity of passing through forests, wildernesses, and wild portages, where none but the healthy, the robust, the fearless, and the enterprising can go.
In 1831, circumstances inclined the tribes on the Upper Mississippi to hostilities and extensive combinations.

He was directed by the Government to conduct an expedition through the country lying south and west of Lake Superior, reaching from its banks, which have from the earliest dates been the fastnesses of numerous warlike tribes.

This he accomplished satisfactorily, visiting the leading chiefs, and counseling them to the policy of peace.
In 1832, the Sauks and Foxes resolved to re-occupy lands which they had previously relinquished in the Rock River Valley.

This brought them into collision with the citizens and militia of Illinois.