The Madison daily leader. [volume] (Madison, S.D.) 1890-current, 1894-11-24

ding through an unDrOken wilderness,
and camping at Schoolcraft island in
the lake he made o thorough exploration
Of the vicinity. Lake Itasca is . beauti-
full sheet Of water in the very heart Of
the primeval forest and some 1,47O feet
above the sea level. The whole Ttascan
basin, comprising some 50 square miles,
has been set apart as a public park by
the state of Minnesota, and game and
timber are both protected from depreda-
tions. 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 Ora
died Achilles entered the lake and fol-
lowed the stream until ID was SO narrow
he could step across 1t.
Lake Itasca was discovered about
1903 by William Morrison, o fur trader
who was little interested in the sub
ject. In 1889 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 ''true head'' of
the Mississippi. Schoolcraft and bis
party were satisfied that they had found
the true source of the great river, but
four years later the French explorer, J.
n. Nicollet, 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 Mississip-
pi flows due north for 80 miles be-
fore beginning its grand rush south to-
ward the gulf of Mexico, some 2, 800
miles distant.
Not many years ago another complete
survey of the Itascan region was made
by Hon. ]. v. Brewer under the ans
pices 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 by reserving Ii for q state park.
"The whole subject, - says DR.. Coues,
''was befogged and thrown into dis
pute by a certain Captain Glazier,
who, apparently for no other purpose
than TO advertise himself, publish
ed his alleged discovery of a new and
true source of the Mississippi. BY %
ducing the size of Lake Itasca, ignor-
ing Nicollet's Graded Achilles, magni-
flying a small side lake, which he called
Lake Glazier. and by stretching ont D
Of the feeders Of the latter he produced
q distorted map which actually imposed
ON the Royal Geographical Society Of
Great Britain. Myrecent Investigations
have verified the observations of Nicol-
let and Brewer, and ! walked along the
bed of the stream termed the infant
Mississippi by Captain Glazier and
walked dry shod, for the stream was
dried mp"
DR.. Cones statements carry decided
weight for the reason that he ranks high
among the scientists of the United
States. he was born in Portsmouth, N.
a., Sept. 8, 1912, and wa graduated
from Columbian university an A. ID. In
1851 and an N. D. in 1858. He then
served . 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-
y of the region. In 1878 he did valua-
BILE work M surgeon and naturalist Of
the United States northern boundary
survey commission. and In 1876 he was
secretary and naturalist of the geological
and geographical survey OF the territo-
ries. He was elected TO the National
Academy OF Sciences i'm 1877 and be-
longs to nearly all the important scien-
tito societies Of the United States and
Europe. He has written many books ON
ornithology. zoology and kindred sub
jeCts. contributed 40. 600 words and six
years work 20 the Century Dictionary
and OF late years has been IN enthusi-
astic ~theosophist.