Search for the Mississippi's Source
SEARCH FOR
THE MISSISSIPPI'S SOURCE
The romantic 19th century quest for the source of the Mississippi river
brought many explorers -- among them Zebulon Pike, Lewis Cass, and
Giacomb Belframi -- to northern Minnesota. The search ended when Ojibwe
chief Ozawindib guided Henry Rowe Schoolcraft to Lake Itasca in 1832.
Sent by the United States government to help negotiate a treaty between
the Dakota and Ojibwe, Schoolcraft used the opportunity to explore the
Mississippi's headwaters area. The expedition, numbering 30, left Sault
Ste. Marie in early June and travelled by way of the St. Louis River
and Savanna Portage to Sandy Lake, then up the Mississippi to Cass
Lake. From there Ozawindib guided them to Lake Bemidji and up the
Schoolcraft River, and over a portage to the river's source.
Sorely tried by "voracious long-billed and dyspeptic musketoes" and
portages knee-deep in mud, the little band caught their first glimpse
of the lake on July 13. It was known to the Indians and traders as
"Omushkos" or "Lac la Biche," both meaning Elk Lake, but Schoolcraft
renamed it "Itasca" from a combination of the Latin words for "truth"
and "head." veritas caput.
Although public interest focused on the long-
sought source, the Schoolcraft expedition
also collected valuable scientific information
inspected fur posts, vaccinated 2,000 Ojibwe
against small pox, and achieved an internal peace treaty.
ERECTED BY THE MINNESOTA HISTORICAL SOCIETY
1990