Sword and Pen / Ventures and Adventures of Willard Glazier

Lake Glazier.

"The new-found source of the Mississippi is a sparkling little gem of a lake, situated above and beyond Lake Itasca. It nestles among the pines of an unfrequented and wild region of Northern Minnesota, many miles from the nearest white settlement, and just on the dividing ridge which forms the great watershed of North America. Within a few miles of it can be found lakes and streams, whose waters are tributary to the Red River of the North and the Yellowstone, thus reaching the sea thousands of miles from the mouth of the mighty Mississippi, which flows in a limpid brook from Lake Glazier. This lake, discovered to be the source of one of the greatest rivers of the world, by Captain Willard Glazier, on the Twenty-second of July, 1881, is about two miles in greatest diameter, and would be nearly round in shape but for a single promontory, whose rocky shores give it in outline the form of a heart. The waters of the lake are exceedingly clear and pure, coming from springs, some being at the bottom, but the three most prominent rise a few miles back, in low, wet land enclosed by sand-hills, and flow into the lake in little rills. On the very point of the promontory is a spring whose waters are as cold as ice, and at which the Glazier party slaked their thirst while exploring the shores of the new lake. So lonely is the region around the lake that for fourteen days not even a red-skin was seen, and wearied by the hardships of this rough country, yet with a feeling of having added something to geographical knowledge, the Captain and his party were glad to return to civilization."

"1310 Olive Street,

"Saint Louis, Missouri,

"October 10, 1881.

"To the Editor—Post-Dispatch:

"Lake Itasca has been considered to be the source of the Mississippi for so many years that any man who disputes its title to that honor is looked upon as a radical and one bent upon upsetting all our preconceived geographical ideas. Still it is a fact that Lake Itasca is not the source, and has no greater claim to being called so than has Cass Lake or Lake Bemidji or Lake Pepin. This fact was discovered beyond all doubt by Captain Willard Glazier, who equipped an expedition last July and started for the headwaters of the Mississippi. Reaching Lake Itasca after a journey of great hardship, he camped on Schoolcraft Island, and, using this as a base of operations, he thoroughly explored the lakes and rivers which contribute their waters to the infant Mississippi. The various theories and stories heard from his Indian guides were considered as clues and faithfully followed up until their truth or falsity was ascertained. Success at length crowned his efforts, for a beautiful lake was found above Itasca, and in the direct line of the course of the river below Itasca, which lake proved to be the farthest water—the extreme head of the Mississippi. The lake, which the members of the expedition voted to call Lake Glazier, in honor of their leader, is about two miles in diameter, with clear and beautiful water, fed by springs, and altogether one of the prettiest lakes of its size in Minnesota. The stream which flows from it into Itasca is quite rapid, though so narrow that in some places one can easily jump across it."

"There arrived at the Jetties on the fifteenth a tiny cedar canoe, bearing aloft at the bows a pennant with the inscription Alice, and at the stern a United States flag. Its officers and crew consisted of Captain Willard Glazier, a distinguished writer, and a reportorial companion, Mr. Barrett Channing Paine, of the Saint Paul Pioneer Press, who had come all the way down the Mississippi, from its source, in this frail bark. Great, indeed, was the joy of the voyagers as they glided down to the mouth of the river, and saw the salt spray of the Gulf dash high over the seaward wall of the Jetties. After clambering up by the beacon, and standing gazing at the broad expanse of water, toward which they had been paddling for the last four months, until they were drenched by an unusually heavy wave, the two men again descended slowly, scarcely conscious that their long voyage was finished. Hailing a passing boat, they boarded her, and the light canoe was made fast behind and towed back to Port Eads, where the travellers were most hospitably entertained until the arrival of an inward bound steamship to bring them to New Orleans.

"As this is by far the longest canoe voyage ever made, and extended the whole length of the Great River, some account of the expedition, its aims and incidents, cannot fail to be of interest.

"A representative of the Democrat had the pleasure of meeting Barrett Channing Paine, who accompanied Captain Glazier, and from him learned the following particulars of the voyage:

"Captain Willard Glazier is a serious, soldierly-looking man, and a military author of repute. Among his best known works are 'Soldiers of the Saddle,' 'Capture, Prison-Pen and Escape,' 'Battles for the Union,' 'Heroes of Three Wars,' and 'Peculiarities of American Cities.' The Captain does not look like a man of thoughtless, adventurous disposition, and it seems strange at first that he should have made the voyage in the manner he did; but it looks sensible enough when his reasons are taken into consideration. The Captain made the trip avowedly for the purpose of study and observation, as he did his horseback ride across the continent, from Boston to San Francisco, in 1876. He wished to thoroughly understand the people of the great valley, their social conditions, industries and modes of life. He also expected to obtain much enjoyment from the changing scenery and climate. Had he travelled by steamboat or railway, he would have been whisked through the country in a week or so, and would have had absolutely no opportunity for obtaining an inside view of the condition of affairs. In addition to seeing the country, the Captain designed delivering a lecture prepared specially for the purpose on the 'Pioneers of the Mississippi,' in all the important towns on his route. The lecture treated chiefly of the early explorers—De Soto, Marquette, La Salle, and Hennepin.

"Actuated by these motives, he procured a fine cedar canoe of the Rushton model, which he shipped to Aitkin, the most northerly point on the river reached by rail. He then went forward, himself, to Saint Paul, accompanied by his brother, where he was joined by his present companion, and there made final preparations for the long voyage.

"At Brainerd the party left the line of the Northern Pacific Railroad, and proceeded by wagon over a road, which was hardly more than a trail, to Leech Lake, where the Government has an Indian Agency. The country traversed was exceedingly wild, being almost without inhabitants, and covered with a growth of jack-pines. It being the blueberry season, quite a number of Indians were seen picking that fruit, which grows there in abundance. As a rule the braves lay in the shade, smoking or sleeping, while the squaws and children did the picking. At night they found a stopping-place at Pine River, and the following afternoon arrived at the Agency, where there are two trading-posts and a number of white men.

"Here three birch-bark canoes were purchased, and the services of an equal number of Indian guides procured, one of whom also acted in the capacity of interpreter. All of these were required to reach the source of the river, which was a matter of great difficulty and some danger. Lake Itasca, which was then supposed by most people to be the source of the Mississippi, lay five days' journey away, through an almost impassable wilderness. Indeed, it was well-nigh impossible to find even an Indian who had visited it. But at last one was found in the person of Chenowagesic, a Chippewa brave, who consented to pilot the party to that lake.

"On July seventeenth everything was in readiness, the three birch canoes were launched on Leech Lake, and the voyage had fairly commenced. After crossing Leech Lake the voyagers pushed up the Gabecanazeba River, which was filled with rushes and wild rice. Laboriously paddling through these, they reached another lake, and encamped for the night. Next morning this lake was crossed, and the first real hardship of the expedition confronted them in the shape of a portage. The provisions and luggage were taken out of the canoes and transported on the backs of the Indians across the country, a distance of three miles, through underbrush so thick that they could not see ten feet in advance. Five days were spent in this manner—first paddling across a little lake, and then making a long portage, until at last Lake Itasca was reached, and the party encamped on Schoolcraft Island. By this time the Captain felt convinced from the talk of the guides, particularly of Chenowagesic, the chief guide, whose words were translated to him, that Itasca was not the source of the Great River.

"Determined to ascertain the truth, he proceeded at once to make a thorough exploration of the headwaters of the river, guided in a great measure by Chenowagesic, who had hunted and trapped for years in this region. Various streams joining the infant Mississippi were examined, and found to contain less water than that stream, thus establishing the fact that Itasca is on the main stream. Then a thorough exploration of the shores of the lake itself was made. Several creeks were found to enter it, the chief of which came in at the southern end of the south-western arm of the lake. Itasca, at this point, is filled with bulrushes, through which, with great difficulty, the explorers forced their way, but were rewarded by finding themselves in a clear, swift-running stream, having an average depth of about ten or twelve inches, and a width of about five feet. Up this tortuous stream the canoes were pushed and dragged, and finally the voyagers shot out upon the surface of a beautiful heart-shaped lake, which proved, upon careful exploration, to be the true source of the Father of Waters. After examining the shores, the party landed on a rocky point, and Captain Glazier made a short speech, expressing his confident belief that they had found the true source of the Great River, and added something to the geographical knowledge of the country. He was followed by Mr. Paine, who, after a few introductory remarks, moved that the new lake be called Lake Glazier, in honor of the man by whom it had been discovered. This motion was adopted by the Captain's companions, and after drinking from a spring of ice-cold water which bubbled up at their feet, the party re-embarked. Lake Glazier is about two miles in greatest diameter, with clear, deep waters and wooded shores, being altogether a prettier lake than Itasca and both wider and deeper, to whose honors, as source of the mighty Mississippi, it succeeds.

"Reporter.—Then which way did you proceed?"

"Mr. Paine.—From Lake Glazier the descent of the river began. Below Itasca it runs in a northerly direction for a hundred miles or more, and then swings round to the eastward, finally bending toward the south, which general direction it afterwards maintains. For the first few miles it runs between rich meadows, and the canoeists expected from this that the voyage would be easy and agreeable. Such was not our fortune, however, for we soon found the river to be obstructed by snags, drift-wood and boulders of all sizes. Huge trees had in many places fallen completely across the river. These obstacles were surmounted in different ways. Sometimes the canoes could be pressed down and made to go under the logs; again, they would have to be carried around; sometimes the drift would be removed, and sometimes the canoes would be lifted over. At last they had to be carried across a portage for half a mile, then launched again, until at length the obstructions were passed. Meanwhile, and all through the journey, the mosquitoes hovered around us in clouds, making life a burden, and causing all the members of the expedition to forget their early Christian training.

"Leaving the obstructions behind, we sped smoothly between the waving meadows once more lining the river. But a new hardship now threatened us—our rations gave out entirely, and most of the ammunition having become wet, starvation stared us in the face. To buy anything in that wild country was, of course, impossible. This danger was barely averted by the marksmanship of our leader, and the dexterity of the Indian guides, who would occasionally kill a duck with their paddles. We got down at last to 'hard pan,' and had gone without any breakfast or supper the day we reached Lake Bemidji. Here we were lucky enough to meet an Indian, who had a little flour and pork, and having replenished our larder, we crossed the lake and continued our course down the river.

"A new danger now beset us in the shape of rapids which would occur every few miles, rendering canoe navigation extremely hazardous. Several times holes were stove in the thin birchen canoes, and a number of times we were precipitated into the water, but no one was dangerously hurt, and the guides were very deft in repairing the canoes.

"A half-day's journey from Lake Bemidji is Cass Lake, a fine sheet of water, twenty miles in length by ten wide. The next day, Winnibegoshish, the largest lake of the Mississippi, was reached. It is twenty miles in diameter, and greeted us with a heavy sea, which nearly swamped us as we paddled across the corner to a few scattered wigwams which form the little Indian village on its banks. Two days we were wind-bound, getting away on the morning of the third. That night our camp was invaded by a number of hostile Indians, but, owing to our vigilance, bloodshed was avoided.

"In three days more Pokegama Falls were reached, and we saw the first white man since leaving Leech Lake. Making a portage around the falls, we shot Grand Rapids a few miles below, and slept that night beneath the shelter of a roof. Nothing worthy of mention occurred between this point and Aitkin, which we reached in four days, and at last found ourselves within the bounds of civilization, and bade farewell to our Indian guides. Captain Glazier tried to induce these dusky sons of the forest to accompany him to the Gulf, but the stories they had heard of the alligators and snakes of the Sunny South terrified them, and they refused. A short rest was taken at Aitkin, and then we re-embarked in the pretty modern canoes which awaited us there. The descent of the river in these canoes was easy and pleasant. At all the principal towns the Captain delivered his lecture, 'Pioneers of the Mississippi,' which was listened to with great interest.

"Between Aitkin and Saint Paul numerous and dangerous rapids were met, all of which were shot in safety; and the Falls of Saint Anthony reached without accident. Below Saint Anthony Falls the scenery is very beautiful, high bluffs arising with more or less abruptness from the water's edge.

"Among other points of especial interest along the Upper Mississippi, Lake Pepin occupies the most prominent position after Saint Anthony Falls. Environed by majestic bluffs and with a length of thirty miles it forms a very beautiful sheet of water. But though beautiful it is treacherous, and the winds sweeping down between the high bluffs frequently make navigation on its waters perilous. In the morning when we reached its upper end we found to our dismay that the elements had possession, and the waves ran so high that a number of river steamers had been compelled to tie up and wait for the storm to subside. Captain Glazier, however, having a lecture appointment at Lake City, half way down the lake, determined to keep his appointment despite the weather, and ventured forth regardless of the warning of the river men. It took us all day to paddle a distance of sixteen miles, and many times it seemed that our frail boats would be engulfed by the waves which dashed over them; but the danger was passed in safety.

"From this point things went smoothly until the canoe fleet was just below Winona, when a sudden and violent squall struck the boats and came near sending us to the bottom. Fortunately, this too was weathered, and then the only drawbacks encountered were the continuous and strong headwinds and the seas consequent upon them, which tried our nerves so frequently that they came at length to be naturally expected. While on the Keokuk Rapids the wind blew so strongly that it actually carried the boats up stream, and it was only by the hardest paddling that any downward progress could be made.

"At La Crosse the expedition was reduced in number to the Captain and myself, who proceeded to the Gulf in the Alice. Some days were spent in all the principal towns. On October eighth Saint Louis was reached, and we were welcomed by the various boat-clubs of the city and congratulated on having completed the first great section of the navigable river. On October tenth we re-embarked and pushed on towards the mouth of the river. Everywhere we were received with the greatest cordiality. Cairo, Memphis, Vicksburg, Natchez and Baton Rouge were the chief halting places, but frequently night overtook us near some plantation house, and then we were the guests of the planters, and were entertained with true Southern hospitality.

"Special occasion was taken by Captain Glazier to investigate the cotton and sugar crops, the relations of the white and colored races, and the future possibilities of the South; and with very gratifying results. At last New Orleans was reached.

"As it was so near his journey's end, and as it was his intention to return as soon as he had passed through the Jetties, the Captain determined to pass the city on his downward trip without halting. This was accordingly done, and three days' paddling brought us to Captain Eads' great work. Remaining there a day we returned to the city.

"Thus far Mr. Paine; and thus ended the longest canoe voyage ever made, and one which perhaps entailed more hardships on those who made it than any other on record. Starting from the cold springs at its source Captain Glazier followed the windings of the greatest river on our continent from the pine forests and the wheat lands of the extreme Northern States, through all the varying phases of climate and industries, to the cotton and sugar-cane section of the South; past the orange and banana groves, and on to the broad Gulf. Such a journey is full of interesting and strange experiences, pleasures and hardships intermingled, and has, Captain Glazier thinks, fully repaid the cost in time, money and labor of the undertaking.

"The canoe in which this long voyage was made has been presented by the Captain to the New Orleans Academy of Sciences.

"It may be well to mention that no one else has ever traversed either in canoe, steamboat or otherwise more than two-thirds of the course of the Mississippi; and when it is taken into consideration that the distance is considerably over three thousand miles, and that the upper portion is filled with rapids, logs and other obstructions, it is not to be wondered at."

"'I will not now enter into a detailed account of my explorations on the upper Mississippi, but shall take the earliest opportunity of transmitting to your Secretary a complete narrative of the voyage, which will be issued in book form as soon as the matter can be prepared for publication.

"'Very respectfully yours,

"'Willard Glazier.'

"A special meeting of the Academy of Sciences was held—Dr. J. S. Copes, President, in the chair—for the purpose of receiving from Captain Glazier the handsome cedar canoe Alice, with which he had navigated the Mississippi from Aitkin to the Gulf.

"By invitation, Captain Glazier gave an account of his explorations on the Upper Mississippi, and especially of that section of country beyond Lake Itasca, a body of water which has hitherto been considered the fountain-head of the Great River.

"Dr. Copes, in the name of the Academy, thanked Captain Glazier for his valuable gift, which would be highly prized, and then congratulated him upon his contribution to American geographical knowledge. In the course of his remarks, the learned doctor said that De Soto penetrated the continent of North America in pursuit of gold, and accidentally discovered the Mississippi. Marquette, the zealous missionary, traversed the river from the mouth of the Wisconsin to the mouth of the Arkansas. La Salle pursued his explorations from the mouth of the Illinois to the Gulf, his sole aim seeming to be the conquest of North America in the name of the King of France. Hennepin explored but a small section of the stream, extending from the mouth of the Wisconsin to Saint Anthony Falls; while Willard Glazier had made the discovery of its primal reservoir, and traversed its entire length from source to sea.

"The members of the Academy listened with great interest to Captain Glazier's account of his explorations and discovery, and also to the historical address of the President.

"Dr. J. R. Walker then offered the following resolutions:

"'Resolved, That the thanks of this Academy are due, and are hereby tendered, to Captain Willard Glazier for the donation of his beautiful canoe, Alice, and for the brief narrative of his explorations at the source of the Mississippi River, and of his voyage thence to the Gulf of Mexico.

"'Resolved, That this Academy not only gratefully accepts this handsome gift, but promises to preserve and cherish it as a souvenir of Captain Glazier's high qualities as an explorer and contributor to the increase of American geographical knowledge.'

"Mr. H. Dudley Coleman then moved that a copy of the resolutions be appropriately written and framed, and presented to Captain Glazier; and that a committee of three be appointed to prepare the same.

"The resolutions were unanimously adopted, when Dr. Copes appointed as the committee Messrs. Coleman, Walker, and Blanchard.

"At the conclusion of the meeting, Mr. Coleman escorted Captain Glazier to the Washington Artillery Arsenal, and introduced him to Colonel J. B. Richardson, commanding the battalion, who extended to Captain Glazier the hospitalities of the battalion during his stay in the city."

"Mark Twain wrote that in his Oriental travels he visited the grave of our common ancestor, Adam, and, as a filial mourner, he copiously wept over it. To me the grave of our common ancestress, Eve, would be more worthy of my filial affection, but, instead of weeping over it, I should proudly rejoice by reason of her irrepressible desire for knowledge. She boldly gratified this desire, and thereby lifted Adam up from the indolent, browsing life that he seemed disposed and content to pass in the 'Garden,' and gave birth to that spirit of inquiry and investigation which is developing and elevating their posterity to 'man's pride of place'—'a little lower than the angels'—by keeping them ever discontented with the status quo, and constantly pressing on to the 'mark of their high calling' beneath the blazing legend 'Excelsior.' It is this ceaseless unrest of the spirit, one of the greatest evidences of the soul's immortality, that is continually contracting the boundaries of the unknown in geography and astronomy, in physics and metaphysics, in all their varied departments. Of those pre-eminently illustrating it in geography were Jason and his Argonauts; Columbus, De Gama, and Magellan; De Soto, Marquette, and La Salle; Cabot and Cook; Speke, Baker, Livingstone, and Franklin; and our own Ledyard, Lewis, Clarke, Kane, Hall, and Stanley. And this evening will appear before you another of these irrepressible discontents who would know what is still hidden, at any risk or privation.

"Impelled by this spirit of enterprise, in search of truth, Captain Willard Glazier has discovered, at last, the true source of our grand and peerless river, the 'Father of Waters,' down which he has floated and paddled in frail canoes, a distance of more than three thousand miles, to its mouth in the Gulf of Mexico. One of these canoes is now placed here in your view, and will be presented to-night by its navigator to our Historical Society. "Nearly two hundred years ago La Salle discovered the mouth of the Mississippi, yet only now in this year of grace, 1881, was ascertained its true fountain source.

"This, the latest achievement of Captain Glazier, is only in the natural course of his antecedents. Born as late as 1841, he has already gone through the experiences of the Adamic labors of a tiller of the soil, the hard toils of the student and of the successful teacher; of the dashing and brilliant cavalry officer in the Union army through the whole period of our late war, from its disastrous beginning to its successful ending; of the sufferings of capture and imprisonment in the notorious 'Libby,' and other prisons, and of a daring and perilous escape from their cruel walls; of an adventurous tourist on horseback through the most civilized and savage portions of our continent, beginning with the feet of his horse in the waters of the Atlantic, and ending with their splash in the waters of the Pacific. He delivered lectures along his route wherever a civilized audience could be collected, and suffered capture by the Indians, with all its sensational romance and hideous prospects.

"From the material of these antecedents he has written and published several books of singular interest and national value.

"From this brief sketch we would naturally expect to see a stalwart man, massive and powerful in form and muscle. Our conceptions of men of big deeds is that they are also big. But David was a stripling when he slew Goliath of Gath. Napoleon was characterized by the society ladies of the period of his early career as 'Puss in Boots,' Our own Fremont and Eads would seem at sight capable of only the ordinarily exposed duties of life. Of like physique is the subject of this introduction.

"Ladies and gentlemen, it is now my pleasant privilege to introduce to your acquaintance Captain Willard Glazier as the lecturer for the evening."

"1310 Olive Street,

"Saint Louis, Missouri,

"January 14, 1882.

"Edwin Harrison, Esq.,

"President Missouri Historical Society:

"Dear Sir:—In my recent canoe voyage down the Mississippi it was my good fortune to receive many courtesies at the hands of the press, boat clubs, and citizens of Saint Louis. This, coupled with the fact that you have expressed considerable interest in the result of my explorations, inclines me to present to you the Itasca, one of the canoes used in the expedition, for the museum of your Society, as a memento of my voyage and discovery.

"During this tour of observation, extending from the headwaters of the Mississippi River to the Gulf of Mexico, I had the satisfaction of locating the true source of the mighty stream down which we paddled our canoes to the sea.

"I am not now able to give you a detailed account of my voyage, but shall avail myself of the earliest opportunity to transmit to your Secretary a complete history of it, which will be issued in book form as soon as the material can be put in proper shape for publication.

"Very truly yours,

Willard Glazier."

"Captain Glazier:

"It becomes my pleasant duty to accept, for the Missouri Historical Society, this beautiful canoe, which has itself become historic by reason of the service it has rendered you. It shall be deposited with other treasured relics in our museum.

"I have also to express to you the high appreciation in which the Society holds the valuable contribution to geographical knowledge resulting from your explorations among the headwaters of the Mississippi River, and your discovery of the remotest lake that contributes to the perennial birth of this hydra-headed 'Father of Waters,' whose genesis near the Arctic regions gives it a length of more than three thousand miles to the tropical gulf, to which it bears upon its ample bosom in safety the freightage of an empire.

"I desire, too, to thank you for the interesting lecture just given us upon the achievements of the heroic old explorers, who have, in centuries past, preceded you in investigations of the characteristics of this river. But whilst past investigations have made us familiar with the general character of the stream, and the peculiarities of its many mouths, yet we know very little of its source; and should be gratified, I am sure, if you could give us, this evening, a brief account of the circumstances attending your explorations in that direction, and of the difficulties you had to encounter in the accomplishment of your object."

"Thoroughly convinced that there was yet a field for exploration in the wilds of Northern Minnesota I resolved, in 1876, to attempt a settlement of the vexed question concerning the source of the Mississippi at an early day. Finding the opportunity I sought in 1881 I proceeded to Saint Paul in June of that year accompanied by Pearce Giles, of Camden, New Jersey. Here I was joined by my brother George, of Chicago, and Barrett Channing Paine, then an attaché of the Pioneer Press.

"Having completed arrangements we moved from Saint Paul on the morning of July Fourth with Brainerd as our immediate objective. Short stops were made at Minneapolis, Monticello, Saint Cloud and Little Falls on our way up the river. Brainerd was reached July seventh. This enterprising town is situated near the boundary of the Chippewa Indian Reservation and is the nearest place of consequence to Lake Itasca. Here I again halted to further inform myself concerning the topography of the country; to decide upon the most practicable route to our destination, and to provide such extra supplies of rations and clothing as might be considered adequate to the requirements of our undertaking.

"After consulting our maps I concluded that while Schoolcraft and Nicollet had found Itasca by going up the river through Lakes Winnibegoshish, Cass and Bemidji, a more direct course would be by way of Leech Lake and the Kabekanka River.

"A careful study of the route to Leech Lake, with a few valuable suggestions from Warren Leland, of Brainerd, one of its oldest pioneers, led us to seek conveyance to the former place over what is known in Northern Minnesota as the Government Road. This road stretches for seventy-five miles, through immense pine forests, and the only habitations to be seen from it are the 'half-way houses' erected for the accommodation of teamsters who are engaged in hauling government supplies; and the occasional wigwams of wandering Indians.

"While at the Leech Lake Agency it was our good fortune to meet the post-missionary, Rev. Edwin Benedict; Major A. C. Ruffe, the Indian Agent; Paul Beaulieu, the veteran Government Interpreter; White-Cloud, chief of the Mississippi Indians; Flat-Mouth, head chief of the Chippewas, and others well known at the Agency. Through conversations with these parties I learned that pioneers of that region were of the opinion that the lake located by Schoolcraft was the source of the Mississippi, but that the Indians invariably claimed that the Great River had its origin above and beyond Itasca, in a beautiful lake known to them as Pokegama, signifying the 'place where the waters gather.'

"Beaulieu, who is perhaps the best authority in Minnesota, having lived for more than sixty years within its borders, said that Chenowagesic, who afterwards became my chief guide, was the most intelligent Chippewa of his acquaintance, had made his home for many years in the vicinity of the headwaters of the Mississippi, and that he had always asserted, when maps were shown him, that a lake above Itasca would in time change a feature of those maps and confirm his statement that Lake Itasca could not longer maintain its claim to being the fountain-head of the Great River.

"Three days were spent at Leech Lake, during which time we secured an interpreter, Indian guides and birch bark canoes. Everything being in order we launched our canoes on the morning of July seventeenth. Wishing, as previously explained, to approach Itasca by a different route from that adopted by Schoolcraft and Nicollet who went up the Mississippi from Lake Winnibegoshish, I crossed Leech Lake and ascended the Kabekanka River, thence proceeding in a direct westerly course through twenty-one lakes, alternated by as many portages, reaching Itasca between two and three o'clock on the afternoon of the twenty-first. The region traversed, we were told by the guides, had never before been trodden by white men; and considering the nature of the country it is not to be wondered at, as swamps, floating bogs, and dense undergrowth were encountered throughout the entire journey.

"The work of coasting Itasca for its feeders was begun at an early hour on the morning of the twenty-second. We found the outlets of six small streams, two having well-defined mouths, and four filtering into the lake through bogs. The upper or southern end of the south-western arm of Lake Itasca is heavily margined with reeds and rushes, and it was not without considerable difficulty that we forced our way through this barrier into the larger of the two open streams which enter at this point. This stream, at its mouth, is seven feet wide and about three feet deep.

"Slow and sinuous progress of between two and three hundred yards brought us to a blockade of logs and shallow water. Determined to float in my canoe upon the surface of the lake towards which we were paddling, I directed the guides to remove the obstructions, and continued to urge the canoes rapidly forward, although opposed by a strong and constantly increasing current. On pulling and pushing our way through a network of rushes, similar to that encountered on leaving Lake Itasca, the cheering sight of a tranquil and limpid sheet of water burst upon our view.

"This lake, the Chippewa name of which is Pokegama, is about a mile and a half in its greatest diameter, covers an area of two hundred and fifty acres, and would be nearly an oval in form but for a single promontory, which extends its shores into the lake, so as to give it in outline the appearance of a heart. Its feeders are three small creeks, two of which enter on the right and left of the headland, and have their origin in springs at the foot of sand hills from two to three miles distant. The third stream is but little more than a rivulet of a mile in length, has no clearly defined course, and is the outlet of a small pond or lakelet to the south-westward.

"The latitude of the lake in question is about 47°; its height above the Atlantic Ocean 1,582 feet, and its distance from the Gulf of Mexico 3,184 miles.

"The statement that the lake now very generally accepted by geographers, and educational publishers as the True Source of the Mississippi was so regarded prior to the organization of my expedition cannot be substantiated; for, on the contrary, both press and people throughout Minnesota were ignorant of its existence, so far as we were able to ascertain by diligent inquiry from Saint Paul to Brainerd; and, in fact, I may add that the missionary, Indian agent, and post-trader at Leech Lake knew no other source of the Mississippi than Lake Itasca, except what they had been told by my chief guide, Chenowagesic, and a few other Chippewas in that vicinity. Barrett Channing Paine, fully confirms this statement in his letters to the Brainerd, Minneapolis, and Saint Paul papers of that period. These letters prove most conclusively that the people of Northern Minnesota had no knowledge whatever of the lake beyond Itasca until its existence was announced by me through the medium of the press in 1881.

"If the assumption by some writers that the lake to the south of Itasca had been seen before my visit to that region in 1881 is well grounded, I need only say in reply that it had not been assigned any geographical importance prior to my visit; in other words, it had not been recognized by any one as the true source of the Mississippi.

"When William Morrison, the fur-trader, pitched his tent on Schoolcraft Island in 1804, he evidently did not know that the outlet of the lake on which he looked was a part of the mighty river. Schoolcraft followed, at the head of an expedition twenty-eight years later, and claimed the lake as the source of the Mississippi. It is very generally admitted that Morrison had seen Itasca before Schoolcraft, but no one questioned that the latter was entitled to the credit of discovery, since he was the first to establish the fact that the Mississippi was its outlet. My claim to have definitely located the true source in the lake beyond Itasca stands on precisely the same ground.

"I do not desire to pass a reasonable limit in an effort to insure justice, but having consumed considerable time and money in locating lakes and streams in Northern Minnesota, and having established that the lake to the south of Itasca is the primal reservoir of the Mississippi, I do not feel disposed to allow myself to be thrust aside by those who know comparatively little or nothing of that region.

"Assuming that the statements of my party are incontrovertible concerning the lake which we claim as the True Source of the Great River, it follows naturally:

"I. That Lake Itasca cannot longer be recognized as the fountain-head of the Mississippi, for the reason that it is the custom, agreeably to the definition of geographers, to fix upon the remotest water, and a lake if possible, as the source of a river.

"II. That the lake to the south of Itasca, and connected therewith by a perennial stream, is the primal reservoir or True Source of the Mississippi; that it was not so considered prior to the visit of my expedition in 1881; and that my party was the first to locate its feeders correctly, and discover its true relation to the Great River.

"III. That Schoolcraft could not have seen the lake located by me, else he would have assigned it its true character in the narrative of his expedition.

"IV. That Nicollet, who followed Schoolcraft, could not have been aware of its existence, as he gives it no place upon his maps, or description in the accounts of his explorations.

"V. That the lake known as Pokegama by the Chippewas was not christened 'Glazier' by me, or through my instrumentality, but was so named by my companions, in opposition to my wish that it should retain its Indian appellation.

"Finally, whatever the verdict may be upon the merits of my claim to have been the first to locate the source of the Mississippi River and publish it to the world, if any person had seen this lake prior to 1881 it was certainly not known to the white residents of Northern Minnesota, or to the Indian tribes in the vicinity of its headwaters. Lake Itasca was still recognized as the fountain-head, was so placed upon maps, and taught as such in all the schools of the country.

"I simply claim to have established the fact that there is a beautiful lake above and beyond Itasca—wider and deeper than that lake—with woodland shores—with three constantly flowing streams for its feeders—and in every way worthy of the position it occupies as the primal reservoir or true source of the Father of Waters.

"Willard Glazier.

Syracuse, New York, December, 1886."