Source of the Mississippi.
Most of our geographers and map-makers now assert, and publish the fact to the world, that Lake Itasca is not the source of the Mississippi, and in proof of their belief have assigned that distinction to another smaller body of water to the south of Itasca, and named Lake Glazier, in honor of Capt. Willard Glazier, the discoverer. This enterprising soldier and popular writer, in July, 1881, organized and led an expedition to the head-waters of the Mississippi, traversing the rough and almost impassable country of the Chippewas to the west of Leech Lake, a wild section of Minnesota, which, it is believed, had never before been trodden by the white man. The members of the expedition were furnished with canoes and commissariat at the expense of the leader, whose ultimate object was the descent of the great river from its source to the Gulf of Mexico. This feat was finally accomplished, but we have now to do only with the important discovery made by the intrepid voyagers after their arrival at Lake Itasca. This lake, as is well known to every schoolboy, was discovered by Schoolcraft in 1832, and has always been held to be the source of the Mississippi. But Captain Glazier, from much study of the matter, had an inkling that the source lay further to the south, and his Indian guide, Che-no-way-ge-sic, whose hunting-ground is in the immediate vicinity, confirmed this conjecture by emphatically assuring him that another lake did exist to the south of Itasca, and was connected therewith by a respectable stream, which was, in fact, the infant Mississippi falling into that lake. Hence it followed that Itasca could not be the source of the Mississippi. This confirmation determined Glazier to extend his explorations. He ascended the stream, and, with the assistance of his guides, pushed his canoe through the reeds and rushes and other obstructions, into a beautiful and placid lake nestling among the umbrageous pines, and never, until now, known to exist. This lake he discovered to be the final fountain head of the Father of Waters, and the name of the discoverer was at once fixed upon by his companions as its appropriate designation. Lake Glazier, now recognized as the true source of the Mississippi, is about two miles in diameter and nearly circular in shape. Its southern shore is rocky and the water as clear as crystal. So lonely is the region around the lake that for fourteen days not even an Indian was seen, with the exception of the guides. The latitude of Lake Glazier was found to be 47° 13′ 25″, and its height above the Atlantic Ocean 1,576 feet. The reason why the precise locality of the fountain head of the river has been so long enveloped in obscurity, may be found in the fact that it is in a remote and unfrequented region of country, and entirely out of the usual route of the fur-traders. The party, on leaving the newly-discovered lake, descended the river and finally, as before hinted, after a voyage of 3,184 miles—the longest canoe voyage on record—paddled out into the Gulf of Mexico, having occupied 138 days in the journey.—San Francisco Bulletin.