STORY OF ITASCA STATE PARK. 45 



virgin pine, a good sample of the forests which once covered the 

 Lake States region and played a star part in the development of 

 the whole country. 



Source of Mississippi. The lakes and springs forming the 

 source of the Mississippi are all included in the park, and the first 

 trace of a distinct stream which can really be called the Father of 

 Waters flows from the north end of it. Tt is only sentiment that 

 makes these features worth ]:)reserving, but it is a sentiment well 

 worth the trouble. 



Accessibility. Ample provision has been made by the legisla- 

 ture to foster this sentiment and make the points of interest acces- 

 sible to the public. 



Nezi> Lodge. In the center of the park, a magnificent two story 

 log lodge has been built and well furnished as a headquarters for 

 the superintendent and for the accommodation of visitors. A good 

 road from Park Rapids to Bemidji passes by the door of the lodge, 

 and a stage line from Park Rapids to the postoffice of Lake Itasca 

 furnishes a daily mail service and daily means of entrance and 

 egress. 



Old Lodge. Three miles farther north on the same road, also 

 on the shore of the lake and one mile from the north boundary of 

 the reserve, is the old lodge, an eleven room house, now uninhab- 

 ited, the first building put up for the superintendent and for the ac- 

 commodation of guests. 



Game Preserve. Hunting of every kind has been prohibited 

 in the park ever since its establishment, and all kinds of game 

 have prospered and multiplied under the protection. It is the 

 one accessible place in the state where it is possible to see many 

 grouse and quail, deer, beaver and an occasional moose in their 

 natural habitat as they were found throughout the country in days 

 gone by. 



Danger from Fire. Such are the provisions that have been 

 made for the preservation of the forests aroimd the headwaters 

 of the Mississippi. But are they really preservative measures? 

 They make these points of interest accessible to the public, but they 

 do not provide for the real preservation of them. The pro- 

 tection of the forest from fire, the arch enemy cf the pine woods, 

 which has destroyed thousands of acres of pine timber, has been 

 left entirely to chance. One fire started through carelessness in the 

 adjoining woods might, and is only too apt to, sw^eep all the forest 

 away in a day and leave the now beautiful lake an unsightly puddle 

 in the midst of a barren countrv. Several generations of careful 



