The contributions of Peter Stephen DuPonceau and John Pickering to American linguistics in the early nineteenth century are reviewed and discussed. Despite their probable status as amateurs in the study of American Indian languages and their very limited fieldwork, they made some significant contributions to the general field of language studies in their time and to the general intellectual climate of the era. Their most lasting impact on later generations of scholars appears to be through their analyses of American Indian languages, particularly in their efforts at language typology. Forty-eight references are listed. (MSE)