"To the Editor—Post-Dispatch:
"Lake Itasca has been considered to be the source of the Mississippi for so many years that any man who disputes its title to that honor is looked upon as a radical and one bent upon upsetting all our preconceived geographical ideas. Still it is a fact that Lake Itasca is not the source, and has no greater claim to being called so than has Cass Lake or Lake Bemidji or Lake Pepin. This fact was discovered beyond all doubt by Captain Willard Glazier, who equipped an expedition last July and started for the headwaters of the Mississippi. Reaching Lake Itasca after a journey of great hardship, he camped on Schoolcraft Island, and, using this as a base of operations, he thoroughly explored the lakes and rivers which contribute their waters to the infant Mississippi. The various theories and stories heard from his Indian guides were considered as clues and faithfully followed up until their truth or falsity was ascertained. Success at length crowned his efforts, for a beautiful lake was found above Itasca, and in the direct line of the course of the river below Itasca, which lake proved to be the farthest water—the extreme head of the Mississippi. The lake, which the members of the expedition voted to call Lake Glazier, in honor of their leader, is about two miles in diameter, with clear and beautiful water, fed by springs, and altogether one of the prettiest lakes of its size in Minnesota. The stream which flows from it into Itasca is quite rapid, though so narrow that in some places one can easily jump across it."
The following account of an interview with Mr. Paine is extracted from the New Orleans Democrat of November twentieth, 1881:
"There arrived at the Jetties on the fifteenth a tiny cedar canoe, bearing aloft at the bows a pennant with the inscription Alice, and at the stern a United States flag. Its officers and crew consisted of Captain Willard Glazier, a distinguished writer, and a reportorial companion, Mr. Barrett Channing Paine, of the Saint Paul Pioneer Press, who had come all the way down the Mississippi, from its source, in this frail bark. Great, indeed, was the joy of the voyagers as they glided down to the mouth of the river, and saw the salt spray of the Gulf dash high over the seaward wall of the Jetties. After clambering up by the beacon, and standing gazing at the broad expanse of water, toward which they had been paddling for the last four months, until they were drenched by an unusually heavy wave, the two men again descended slowly, scarcely conscious that their long voyage was finished. Hailing a passing boat, they boarded her, and the light canoe was made fast behind and towed back to Port Eads, where the travellers were most hospitably entertained until the arrival of an inward bound steamship to bring them to New Orleans.
"As this is by far the longest canoe voyage ever made, and extended the whole length of the Great River, some account of the expedition, its aims and incidents, cannot fail to be of interest.
"A representative of the Democrat had the pleasure of meeting Barrett Channing Paine, who accompanied Captain Glazier, and from him learned the following particulars of the voyage:
"Captain Willard Glazier is a serious, soldierly-looking man, and a military author of repute. Among his best known works are 'Soldiers of the Saddle,' 'Capture, Prison-Pen and Escape,' 'Battles for the Union,' 'Heroes of Three Wars,' and 'Peculiarities of American Cities.' The Captain does not look like a man of thoughtless, adventurous disposition, and it seems strange at first that he should have made the voyage in the manner he did; but it looks sensible enough when his reasons are taken into consideration. The Captain made the trip avowedly for the purpose of study and observation, as he did his horseback ride across the continent, from Boston to San Francisco, in 1876. He wished to thoroughly understand the people of the great valley, their social conditions, industries and modes of life. He also expected to obtain much enjoyment from the changing scenery and climate. Had he travelled by steamboat or railway, he would have been whisked through the country in a week or so, and would have had absolutely no opportunity for obtaining an inside view of the condition of affairs. In addition to seeing the country, the Captain designed delivering a lecture prepared specially for the purpose on the 'Pioneers of the Mississippi,' in all the important towns on his route. The lecture treated chiefly of the early explorers—De Soto, Marquette, La Salle, and Hennepin.
"Actuated by these motives, he procured a fine cedar canoe of the Rushton model, which he shipped to Aitkin, the most northerly point on the river reached by rail. He then went forward, himself, to Saint Paul, accompanied by his brother, where he was joined by his present companion, and there made final preparations for the long voyage.
"At Brainerd the party left the line of the Northern Pacific Railroad, and proceeded by wagon over a road, which was hardly more than a trail, to Leech Lake, where the Government has an Indian Agency. The country traversed was exceedingly wild, being almost without inhabitants, and covered with a growth of jack-pines. It being the blueberry season, quite a number of Indians were seen picking that fruit, which grows there in abundance. As a rule the braves lay in the shade, smoking or sleeping, while the squaws and children did the picking. At night they found a stopping-place at Pine River, and the following afternoon arrived at the Agency, where there are two trading-posts and a number of white men.
"Here three birch-bark canoes were purchased, and the services of an equal number of Indian guides procured, one of whom also acted in the capacity of interpreter. All of these were required to reach the source of the river, which was a matter of great difficulty and some danger. Lake Itasca, which was then supposed by most people to be the source of the Mississippi, lay five days' journey away, through an almost impassable wilderness. Indeed, it was well-nigh impossible to find even an Indian who had visited it. But at last one was found in the person of Chenowagesic, a Chippewa brave, who consented to pilot the party to that lake.