ful
lake. This lake is about two miles long by a mile and a half broad,
and its shape is that of a heart. The shores are beautifully
wooded, and its waters are deep and clear. On its one promontory
our party landed. After exploring its shores, and first slaking our
thirst at a spring of ice-cold water which bubbled up near by, we
were marshalled in line, and Captain Glazier made a few remarks
pertinent to the discovery of the _true source_ of the Father of
Waters. After this six volleys were fired in honor of the occasion,
and then the question of a name for the new lake arose. This being
left for the party to decide, I addressed my companions, and after
alluding to the time, money and energy expended by the leader of
the expedition, proposed that it be named LAKE GLAZIER in his
honor. This proposition was received with applause and carried by
acclamation, and it was further decided that the name and date
should be blazed on a pine tree which stood conspicuously on the
point. After this we re-embarked in our canoes and returned to the
Island."

* * * * *

In the following letter Channing Paine gives a further account of the
discovery of the head of the Great River:

"Douglas House,
"_Aitkin, Minnesota_,
"August 11, 1881.

"_To the Editor--Saint Louis Globe-Democrat:_

"Lake Itasca, for many years, has been regarded, both by
geographical societies and map-makers, as well as by the public
generally, as the source of the grandest of rivers--the mighty
Mississippi. But geographical knowledge, like all other knowledge,
is of little consequence if it is not progressive, and in its
history we have seen the firmly-rooted beliefs of centuries torn up
and tossed aside by the explorations and reasoning of intrepid
travellers, who, respecting truth and facts more than mere theory,
have accepted nothing without proof, merely because others have so
accepted it. This is the ground occupied by Captain Willard Glazier
in his explorations in search of the source of the Mississippi.

"Starting for the headwaters of this great river in July last, he
learned that the dense forests which surround the