The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1894-11-29

ding through an unbrOken wilderness,
and camping at SchOolcraft island ia
the lake he made thorough exploration
Of the vicinity Lake Itasca is a peauti-
full sheet Of water in the very heart Of
the pTimeval forest and some 4, 40 feet
above the sea level. The whole Itascan
basin. comprising some 81 square miles,
has been set apart as a public park by
the state Of Minnesota, and game and
timber are both protected from depreda-
tons. The lake is about three miles
long, is shaped like the head Of an elk
and was once called Elk lake by the In
dams. DR.. Coues found where the era
died Achilles entered the lake and fol-
lowed the stream until it was so narrow
he could step across it.
Lake Itasca was discovered about
1903 by William Morrison, a fur trader
who was little interested ia the sub
lect. In 1882 Henry r. SchOOlcraft, the
historian, and his party were guided to
the lake by an Indian, and Schoolcraft
named it Lake Itasca from parts of the
Latin words Veritas caput. - signifying
in very. poor Latin the sstrue head Of
the Mississippi. Schoolcraft and his
party were satisfied that they had found
the true source of the great river, but
four years later the French explorer, J.
n. NicolIet, found the small stream
which he called the Graded Achilles
and which he declared was the real in
FAINT Mississippi He also mapped the
entire Itascan basin with such accuracy
that the observations of subsequent ex-
plorers merely confirmed every report
he made concerning the region. One
Of the oldest facts concerning the source
Of the great river is that the MISSISSIPPI
pi flows due north for so miles be-
ward the gulf Of Mexico, some ?. 555
miles distant.
Not many years ago another complete
survey of the Itascan region was made
by Hon. J. V. Brewer under the aus
pieces Of the Minnesota State Historical
society, and through the efforts Of the
society the state was induced to preserve
the interesting region in its natural
state 10y. reserving it for a state park.
The whole subject, - says DR.. Coues,
s'was befogged and thrown into dis
pute by a certain Captain CIazier,
who, apparently for no other purpose
than to advertise himself, publish
ed his alleged discovery of q new and
true source Of the Mississippi. By re-
ducing the size of Lake 1tasca, ignor-
ing Nicollet's Graded Achilles, magni-
flying a small side lake, which he called
Lake Glazier. and by stretching out one
Of the feeders of the latter he produced
a distorted map which actually imposed
on the Royal Geographical Society of
Great Britain Ny recent Investigations
have verified the observations Of Nicol-
let and Brewer, and / walked along the
bed Of the stream termed the infant
Mississippi by Captain GIazier and
walked dry shod, for the stream was
dried up =
DR.. Coucs' statements carry decided
weight for the reason that he ranks high
among the scientists Of the United
States. He was born IN Portsmouth, N.
H, Sept. 3, 1912, and was graduated
from Colum bian university an A B. in
1851 and an NJ. D. in 1868 He then
served a year in hospital work in Wash
ington- He was appointed an assistant
surgeon IN the United States army, and
while on duty in Arizona made valuable
researches concerning the natural histo-
~ of the region In 1878 he did valua-
bic work as surgeon and naturalist Of
the United States northern boundary
survey commission, and IN 1875 he was
secretary and naturalist Of the geological
and geographical survey of the terrific
ries- He was elected to the National
Academy of Sciences in 1877 and be-
longs to nearly all the important scien-
tific societies of the United States and
Europe. He has written many books on
ornithology, zoology and kindred sub
iects, contributed 40, 600 words and six
years work to the Century Dictionary
and Of late years has been an enthusi-
asfIe f1posonhiSt