THE FOREST WHERE THE MISSISSIPPI BEGINS 



739 



A LARGE, DESERTED BEAVER HOUSE IN A DRAINED POND ON NICOLLET CREEK. THE POND WAS MADE ABOUT 



1906 AND WAS ABANDONED AND DRAINED ABOUT 1910. THE PHOTOGRAPH WAS TAKEN IN 1911. IT IS NOW A RICH 



BUT ROUGH BEAVER MEADOW, FROM WHICH HEAVY CHOPS OF WILD HAY ARE CUT ANNUALLY. 



It is a curious fact that the exact source of the 

 Mississippi has been known for less than a century. 

 The honor of having discovered and described to the 

 world the source belongs to Henry R. Schoolcraft, who 

 first saw Lake Itasca in May, 1832. In Schoolcraft's 

 party was Rev. William T. Boutwell, who invented on 

 the spot the name which has become accepted gener- 

 ally for the source of the river. Rev. Boutwell made 

 the name from the two Latin words, "Veritas caput," 

 the true head, by taking three syllables out of the 

 two Latin words. 



The lake was, of course, well known to the French 

 trappers and to the Chippewa Indians, who occupied 

 the forest country of Northern Minnesota. The French 

 called it Lac la Biche, and to the Indians it was known 

 as Elk Lake. Lake Itasca has the shape of a wish- 

 bone, with two arms pointing south and one pointing 

 north. Its total length is about three miles and it 

 varies in width from about an eighth of a mile to a 

 little more than a mile. It is one of thousands of 

 glacial lakes and it varies in depth from a few feet 

 to about forty feet. 



Where Beavers Dam the Mississippi 



The river starts from the north arm, first flowing 

 north and then east for about 150 miles, before it 

 starts on its long course southward. It emerges from 

 the lake as a small stream about twenty feet wide and 

 deep enough to carry a canoe or rowboat at stages of 



high water. But in midsummer it is often merely a 

 small rambling creek, with too little water to float 

 even a canoe or rowboat. It is small enough that from 

 time to time, the beavers, who are now agaih very 

 numerous in the Itasca forest, build a dam across the 

 infant Mississippi. 



There have been many disputes as to whether Lake 

 Itasca is the real source of the Mississippi. There is no 

 use of reviving this old question. For all practical 

 purposes Lake Itasca is the source of our great river, 

 but it is true that there are several small streams and 

 lakes which drain into Lake Itasca. But these streams 

 are so small that in dry seasons they are either mere 

 tiny brooklets, or run dry altogether. 



It may be of some interest to give an account of, at 

 least, one of these so-called ultimate sources. The 

 largest of them, going up stream, begins with Cham- 

 bers Creek, which carries the overflow from a more 

 southerly lake, now known as Elk Lake, into Lake 

 Itasca. Chambers Creek is only about a quarter of a 

 mile long. In seasons of high water, I have several 

 times pushed a rowboat up its course, from Lake 

 Itasca into Elk Lake. In periods of low water the 

 creek consists of a number of separate pools with 

 very little running water connecting them, but it is 

 never entirely dry. 



Elk Lake itself is a fine lake of clear water, and 

 deeper than Itasca. lOn its east side, it is bordered by 

 high banks, which are covered with fine groves of 



