The representative. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1893-1901, 1894-11-07

true source. Evidently, however, he heard
from the Indians about Lake 1tasca. for he
mapped 1T with approximate accuracy,
though he was never there, and did rot
imagine that the father of the waters
Sprang from thence.
Lake 1tasca was redScovered in 1855,
when Schoolcraft, accompanied by Lieut..
Allen, I. S. A., the Rev. Mr. Boutwell, ana
others, guided to the lake by emp
peWa Indian, named Oza Wlndlb, other-
wise known as Yellow Head. On this occa-
sion Lake Itasca received its present name,
which was made up of the parts of the
words. Neritas Caput'-si2nifylng the true
head of the river. The Latin was bad, for
it ought to have been 'Verum Caput. The
lake had previously been known by the
French name of Lac Ia Bche, meaning
Elk Lake. This was merely translation
of the Chippewa 'Omeshkee Sogiagon. l
have already spoken of the shape OF the
lake as resembling an Elks antlers
"Schoolcraft was very fond of such YER
bal jugglery as he used in forming the
| name of Lake Itasca. An island in Cass
lake he named Colaspi island, the designa-
ton being made up of the names of School
craft, Cass and Pike. The name he gave
to Lake Shiba was composed of the initials
Of Schoolcraft, Houghton, Johnson, Bout
we'll and Allen. The j of Johnson was
made to serve as l.
"Schoocraft's party made hurried ex-
animation of Lake Itasca, and, being salts
| fled that they had found the true source OF
the Mississippi, left in few hours. Not
again until 1886 did any scientific man visit
the spot This was a Frenchman, J. N.
Nicollet, who tried to ascertain the source
of the feeders of Lake Itasca. Exploring
northward, he reached the springs from
which the infant river takes its rise. 1t
should be understood that the Mississippi
runs from it's source directly northward
for distance of 80 miles before turning
n nrt 0f fish
ing southwark. To the baby stream before
it enters Lake Ilasca Nicollet gave the
poetic name of Graded Achilles" He es-
tabshed its source in connection with
three small lakes, since named the Upper,
Middle ana Lower Nicollet lakes-that is
to say, he found that the little river ran
through two of these small lakes and con-
nected with the third. This explorer
mapped the whole of the Itascan BASIN
and determined the attitude longitude and
altitude with such accuracy that subse-
| quent surveys have only confirmed and
| ampliiied his observations.
'Of late years several eXamina tons have
| been made of the sources of the MISSISSIPPI
| BY far the most complete and accurate sur
Vey was accomplished by j. Y. Brewer ulI-
der the auspices of the Minnesota State
| Historical Society. Through the efforts Of
| the society and of Mr.. Brewer, the 30
| square miles Of which l have already
| spoken were reserved by the state for a
park.
GLAZIER'S GI.ARING MISTAKE.
THE whole subject of which l have been
speaking was befogged and thrown into dis
pute recently by certain Capt. Glazier
who, apparently for no other purpose than
to advertise himself published his alleged
discovery of a ana true source of the
Mississippi. BY reaching the size of Lake
Itasca. ignoring Nicollet's Graded Achilles
magnifying a small 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. Many of the errors thus originated
have crept into the standard maps of the
| United States.
My recent Investigations have verified
| in the mnutest particulars the observa-
| tons of Nicoliet and Brewer 1t may
| fairly be said that there is nothing fur
! Their to be learned about the true source
| Of the Father of Waters. l speak in ac-
cordance with accepted geographical dis
| tinctions AS a matter of essential fact,
| the true Upper Mississippi is the river
| called the Missouri. The stream that flows
| from Lake Itasca is merely a tributary.
| l ought not to forget to mention that /
| walked along the bed of the stream termed
| by Capt. Glazier the infant Mississippi for
| a considerable distance dryshod. The little
| brook was dried up. Late measurements
| have reduced the length of the Mississippi
| from 3,14 to 1855 miles.
| The geogra ply of today is full Of errors.
| The school children of the next generation
| will scarcely hear of Mount St. Elias, which
| has hitherto been excepted as the highest
| mountain on this continent. That error
| was exploded by the recent surveys. The
| African. Lake NyanZa, which was ina gined
| to be larger than Lake Superior and alto
| gether the biggest lake in the world, has
| been reduced by fresh discovery to a COM
| paratively small size One of the funniest
| delusions was that entertained by early
| explorers, who, for 100 years after Column
| bus, believed that North America was a
! group of islands, through which it was
| possible to get to China. For two centuries
| after the discovery of America navigators
| were bent getting through the continent
| in boats. When they found the great
| lakes they We're sure that North America
| was archipelago This chimera-the
| hoped-for discovery of the imaginary north
| west passa ge-was the main incentive to
| exploration in early days."-Rene Bache, in
| ST Louis obe-Democrat.