The National tribune., 1898-11-17

Two great watersheds, or points Whenc'
khe waters flow in all directions plainly in
dictate the Typographical features of the NORTH
american continent. They are rs wide apar
BIN their physical aspects as they are in dis
sance. The one is small area around the
Slead of the Mississippi, the other an equally
limited region around the sources of the Mis-
souri and Columbia Rivers.
The first is low, fat country or place
with gently-undulating surface, covered
with small, clear lakes, the shores of which
sare bordered by forests of oak and elm trees.
sChence flow the ST Louis River, which puts
Fnto the eastern end of Lake Superior and
finally into the Gulf of st. Lawrence; the
mississippi, which pears into the Gulf OF
sMexico, and the Red River of the North,
(which empties into Lake Winnipeg and
ahence int the Arctic Sea.
= The second of the watersheds lies in the
amidst of the Rocky Mountains and on the
high table lands which separate the ranges.
Thence flow the Saskatchewan, the Missouri
land the Yellowstone, the Rio Grande, the
colorado of the West and the Columbia.
Probably a circle with radius of so miles at
she outside would intersect some tributary OF
each of these great rivers.
As these points were brought within our
territorial limits by the purchase of Louisiana
early in Mr. JefferSon's first term there arose
naturally strong interest ia the character
extent and value Of the vast domain we had
sust acquired. and OF its inhabitants both red
and white. TIVE large expeditions were sent
at once by the Government to explore this
country and report upen il.
The first expedition was under the COM
tnand of Capt. Meriwether Lewis, of the
l,o3
also of the Army. This expedition, known
as that of Lewis aud Clarke was directed up
;he Missouri River to its sources and thence
;Dy way of the Columbia River to the Pacific
Ocean. crossing il their journey the second
Df the great watersheds have indicated.
AN INTEREsTING ENTERPRISE
It may be safely said that the expedition of
Lewis and Clarke il by far the greatest and
most interesting ever sent out by the Govern
ment on this continent, and the intelligent
and graphic report of it made by the officers
syho conducted il has never been approached
much less e9uallej. by any reports of per-
sons engaged in like explorations since that
..Iae
"a seems pity that 80 valuable work
snould have SO far gone cut of print in these
ate wears that it is rare to come upon it
anywhere except in same large public library.
cet for valuable information, given in most
Interesting way, and with adventures narrated
with viyacity and point, it would be hard to
1Bd its superior.
The second of these expeditions was just
TO explore the sources Of the Mississippi. with
much the same instructions as those given to
Lewis and Clarke. 1t was commanded by
Lieut.. ZebuleR n. Pike, of the Army. lie
left st. Louis in keel beat on Aug. 3, 1895,
ID lei. L. I
on Feb. ], 1895 This ks considered the main
source of the Mississippi though he says the
Winnipic River puts into this lake where he
struck it, and has its source in Red Cedar
Lake, about Eve leagues distant.
1t is not easy now to identify these two
small lakes, and it may prsbesly be safely |
said that neither of them is the actual source |
of the Mississippi. 1t was left for Mr. Heary |
Scbeolcrsft and Lieut.. Allen, Of the Army |
TO determine this question by their expedi- |
tien in 1882, with that express object in view. |
They fixed upon what they named Itasca Lake |
$50 called from the Latin words 'veritas |
caput." trus head as the actual head of the /
Mississippi, and so it has remained ever |
since, If we except an absurd claim put forth |
about 1881 by Capt. Glazier, who asserts !
that he had discovered small lake (men-
toned over and over again by explorers be-
fore his day, which he called Glazier Lake,
and which he maintained is somewhat higher |
than Itasca, and discharges its waters into
Itasca. His claim excited some Indignation |
In Minnesota, and was fully and ably dis
cusscd and overthrown in a report made to
the Historical Society by the Hon. James III. |
Baker.
THE TRADERS
Pixies account of this expedition up the |
Mississippi is extremely interesting, though |
he seems to have been more concerned about |
the Indian tribes he met with. and about the |
English and French traders who abounded on |
the Upper Mississippi and its tributaries, the |
legacies OF the successive Governments that
had owned those regions.
IN those early days boundaries between |
Nations On this continent were not very |
definitely marked on the ground, though |
they might be in treaties, and it was many
years before conflicting claims, mainly |
English, could be finally adjusted by the |
United States. The Hudson's Bay Company
for many years possessed great privileges in |
that region under its charter, and actually |
ruled that country with despotic power and |
solely IN Its own peeuniary interests. Their
trading posts covered the whole country |
north of ST. Paul, and embraced the waters |
Of Lake Superior and the sources of the |
Mississippi as well as the entire course of
the Red River Of the North.
The French traders occupied mainly the |
trading stations south Of the Falls of ST. |
Anthony. To announce 10 those concerned
the transfer Of all this region to the United |
States and 10 assert the authority of the |
Government and prescribe rules for trade |
and intercourse with the Indian tribes was
one OF Pixies principal duties
The Typographical features Of the country
along the river and the river itself are de- |
scrbed by him with such accuracy that they |
can be easily identified at this day, though
he does not seem to have been much inn
pressed with the remarkable beauty of this |
most beautiful of the American rivers. |
Prom the mouth Of the Missouri 10 its source
III Itasca Lake the Mississippi is a limpid
stream three-fourths of mile wide at its
confluence with the Missouri, and 200
miles above the Gulf of Mexico, running
through'a charmingly diversified region of
hill and valley and rocky cliff lined with
forests of oak and maple and rich in grass
and wild flowers.
THE EXPLORERS MISTAKE.
The early explorers made the mistake of
calling the great river which empties into
the Gulf of Mexico the Mississippi. Below
the mouth of the Missouri the river has none
of the characteristics of the Mississippi
above that point. 1t is, On the contrary.
only no IS ., =