Sull I'Ci- nf tJir M/ss/s>;.\j>j>/ Ii/l'ir. I> lOil'tr. yl 
naiuc tor this l):)ily of wntcr. :ic([ui('s('iMl in liy Icuisliitivc eiuict- 
iiU'Ut. and KIk cri-ck ttikcs its name from the lake. Xo one of 
the several hnjoks tlowinu' into Elk lake are of any <>;reat import- 
ance, and all of them weie completely closed with ice in Majcli. 
1SS!I. and all of them were dry in Auunst of the same year. 
(geographic disc'overies at and above Itasca lake prior to my 
snrvey in ISSO, of authentic record, worthy of consideration and 
helief. are as follows: 
AVilliam Mori ison, first of wliite men 180m 
H. U. Schoolcraft, Itasca lake lS:j2 
Jean N. Nicollet, Five inlets , 18:^0 
Julius Chambers, *Hlk lake and creek 1S7'J 
E. S. Ilall, government survej' IST") 
Hopewell Ohirk, special survey l^SfJ 
Ttasca lake is at the lowest depression of the l)asin and Hern- 
ando de Soto. Morrison and numerous othei' lakes are at the sum- 
mit of the l)asin. and the water pressure from the lakes above 
Itasca, the whole beiuii; exclusively su})plied by precipitation, 
causes a contributary inflow into Ttasca lake, which is increased 
<jr decreas(>il from time to time. accordini>- to the(piantity of rain- 
fall or duration of drouuht. as either may prevail. 
One peculi:ir siiiniticance is demonsti'ated by the fact that Itasca 
lake has a Hood plain of but little more than thi'ee feet in eleva- 
tion above the natural suiface of the lake. 'I'he Hood plains of 
the lakes higher up are ten. tifteen ami twenty fei't. Thus, while 
Ttasca lake is always supplied and sometimes rises during drv 
weather, the lakes at the summit dry down rapidly to a lesser 
surface area, depending upon rainfall to resnpply them. huiMUg 
the summei' of iS'.MI. co|)ions rainfall caused lake Itasca to rise a 
foot or more ai)ove Klk lake, and Klk creek flowed int-o. instead 
of out from. ViWi lake. The outflow of lake I'epin. through 
which the .Mississippi takes its course, is controlled b\- the inflow, 
and lake Itasca presents a striking similai'ity. 
Infinitesimal deductions are necessaiily <lrauii. iiowevcr. from 
ascei'tained fads in oilier to discover the location of the ultimate 
source. Itasca lake lies at the pit of the basin and i-eceives the 
waters discharged into it from summits surrounding it. which in 
retui'n pass out into the channel below, foi'uiing iIh' main wat<'r 
cotirse of our country, to the gulf. ('onse(pient inferences may 
(*Klk l&kc and cn-i-k, discovered l>y Mr. Chaiubers in 18i-2, are constituted of \vat<Ts 
•erroneously claimed to linve ben discovep'd in li^Si by the person referred to in yonr 
'■.ininiinication.) 
