direction of the United States government, made a slight geological
survey of the Minnesota valley, and on his return to England he wrote a
book which reflected unjustly upon the gentlemen he met in Minnesota;
but not much was thought of it, because until recently such has been the
English custom.

SCHOOLCRAFT AND THE SOURCE OF THE MISSISSIPPI.

In 1832 the United States sent an embassy, composed of thirty men, under
Henry R. Schoolcraft, then Indian Agent at Sault Ste. Marie, to visit
the Indians of the Northwest, and, when advisable, to make treaties with
them. They had a guard of soldiers, a physician, an interpreter, and the
Rev. William T. Boutwell, a missionary at Leech Lake. They were supplied
with a large outfit of provisions, tobacco and trinkets, which were
conveyed in a bateau. They travelled in several large bark canoes. They
went to Fond du Lac, thence up the St. Louis river, portaged round the
falls, thence to the nearest point to Sandy lake, thence up the
Mississippi to Leech lake. While there, they learned from the Indians
that Cass lake, which for some time had been reputed to be the source of
the Mississippi, was not the real source, and they determined to solve
the problem of where the real source was to be found, and what it was.

I may say here that, in 1819, Gen. Lewis Cass, then governor of the
Territory of Michigan, had led an exploring party to the upper waters of
the Mississippi, somewhat similar to the one I am now speaking of, Mr.
Henry R. Schoolcraft being one of them. When they reached what is now
Cass lake, in the Mississippi river, they decided that it was the source
of the great river, and it was named Cass lake, in honor of the
governor, and was believed to be such source until the arrival of
Schoolcraft's party in 1832.

After a search, an inlet was found into Cass lake, flowing from the
west, and they pursued it until the lake now called "Itasca" was
reached. Five of the party, Lieutenant Allen, Schoolcraft, Dr.
Houghton, Interpreter Johnson and Mr. Boutwell, explored the lake
thoroughly, and finding no inlet, decided it must be the true source of
the river. Mr. Schoolcraft, being desirous of giving the lake a name
that would indicate its position as the true head of the river, and at
the same time be euphonious in sound, endeavored to produce one, but
being unable to satisfy himself, turned it over to Mr. Boutwell, who,
being a good Latin scholar, wrote down two Latin word