2J^<) ///' Aim riril II ( ti iilnijist. .N..v.iiil.i'r, IWU 
li'\»'l> ill tlif licM uitli tin- Inllowiiiti rt-.Milt. to nsccrtaiii I'lcxatioiis 
:il«»vt' tlu' >»';\ : 
KKET. 
(iulf of Mexico 0.0 
Citv of St. I.ouis, above the sea 384 . 8 
City of St. Paul (!80 Tt 
Above falls of St. Authony (Minneapolis) 782.0 
Below Pokogama Falls 1,248.0 
Winnibigoshish lake 1,292. H 
Cass lake ] ,:502 . 8 
Itasca lake 1,470.7 
Tlu' ollicial rcjjorts of the rnitcd States government give the 
elevations to and including Cass lake, and an actual line of levels 
across the country from the railroad system of this state to Itasca 
lake, run l)y nic in ISS'.l. demonstrated its actual elevation alutve 
the sea at its outlet, 'i'hc railway levels connect with the goxcrn- 
uient levels. 
With the distances and elevations thus ascertained, my survey 
of the ultimate source of the Mississippi river commenced in 
March. ISSil. upon the frozen surface of Ttasca lake, at the centre 
of the channel of the ri\'er. at its di hniii/nin . fi-om the extreme 
north end of the lake. 
At a iH'mote age the Itasca liasin was the bed of one lake, now 
extinct, which I deem it a i)rivilege to designate as lake^ T'pliam. 
and from this one lake, of unknown ages. l»y erosion, the waters 
probably having been increase<l by copious jjrecipitation. cut their 
Avay through the ice formation and alluvial stratum to a natural 
condition of the live!- l»ed. as it now exists, immediately l»elow 
Itasca lake. This j)rocess of nature, the Avaters passing to lower 
levels, has given us nearly one hundred lakes and lakelets within 
the Itasca basin, systematically dividetl aptirt. each of a different 
elevation, up the inner tlanks of the llautenrde 'i'erre. surround- 
ing the whole, fioni The suniiiiits of which the waters are returned 
to the oceans, through lludsons liay and the gulf of .Mexico, the 
Ita.sca l)asin itself being about se\-eii miles long and ti\t' in width. 
and sidtsidiarv to the main liasin of the .Mississippi. 
The formation of Itasca lake is a small Itody of water at and 
around Schoolcraft Island, and three long, nairow arms projecting 
— one to the southeast, one to the southwest and one to the nol'tli 
— from the last of which the .^iississipJ)i passes out from the lake. 
From the southeast and southwest I'xtremities of the lake, pictur- 
es(pie valleys extend, denominated .Mary valley ami Nicollet \al- 
lev. respectively, and up these \allevs numerous laki's «'xist. each 
