In reference to the question as to which stream we should look to for the
right source of the Mississippi, the following article has been prepared
by Col. Charles Whittlesey—a man well known to the reading public, not
only by his explorations and contributions to the stock of knowledge
concerning the geology and physical geography of the North West, but
by his writings on the earthworks and other relics of the aboriginal
inhabitants of the same region:
“CLEVELAND, O., March 28, 1866.
“Turtle Lake, at the head of Turtle River, which discharges
into Cass Lake, is the most northerly of the waters of the
Mississippi. Mr. Schoolcraft claims that Itasca Lake and its
tributaries constitute the true source of the Great River,
because these streams are further from the mouth than any
other. Whether this, if true, is a correct mode of fixing the
head waters of rivers, I must be allowed to doubt. It seems to
me that the _largest_ branch forms the river, and the heads of
that branch constitute the sources.
“When I was on the upper waters of the Mississippi, in
September 1848, I compared the quantity of water flowing
from Lake Winnibigoshish with that from Leech Lake, as far
as observations without gauging enabled me to do it. At that
time I judged the discharge from the Leech Lake branch to be
three times as much as from Lake Winnibigoshish, and one of
our voyageurs, who was raised in the region, said it generally
discharged twice as much. The distance from the junction of the
Leech Lake branch, below Winnibigoshish, to the most distant
sources of the various branches, does not appear to me to be
materially different. Among the hundreds of small streams
converging into, and passing through nearly as many lakes,
there cannot be said to be a main or separate river above this
junction. From this point, the Mississippi assumes its proper
characteristics, as one stream, to the gulf of Mexico; but
above it, the branches are excessively numerous. Below the
junction, it is two chains wide, with a broad regular current,
having the same imposing features which it retains to its
mouth. The furthest streams that discharge into Leech Lake rise
to the south, interlocking with the waters of Pine River; but,
if we can rely upon our maps—of a region as yet unsurveyed—the
development of these branches, including the lakes through
which they pass, equals in length the Itasca branch.
“Our missionaries at Cass Lake said the Turtle River discharged
more water than Bemidji River, which enters Cass Lake from
Itasca Lake.”