"'I will not now enter into a detailed account of my explorations on the upper Mississippi, but shall take the earliest opportunity of transmitting to your Secretary a complete narrative of the voyage, which will be issued in book form as soon as the matter can be prepared for publication.
"'Very respectfully yours,
"'Willard Glazier.'
"A special meeting of the Academy of Sciences was held—Dr. J. S. Copes, President, in the chair—for the purpose of receiving from Captain Glazier the handsome cedar canoe Alice, with which he had navigated the Mississippi from Aitkin to the Gulf.
"By invitation, Captain Glazier gave an account of his explorations on the Upper Mississippi, and especially of that section of country beyond Lake Itasca, a body of water which has hitherto been considered the fountain-head of the Great River.
"Dr. Copes, in the name of the Academy, thanked Captain Glazier for his valuable gift, which would be highly prized, and then congratulated him upon his contribution to American geographical knowledge. In the course of his remarks, the learned doctor said that De Soto penetrated the continent of North America in pursuit of gold, and accidentally discovered the Mississippi. Marquette, the zealous missionary, traversed the river from the mouth of the Wisconsin to the mouth of the Arkansas. La Salle pursued his explorations from the mouth of the Illinois to the Gulf, his sole aim seeming to be the conquest of North America in the name of the King of France. Hennepin explored but a small section of the stream, extending from the mouth of the Wisconsin to Saint Anthony Falls; while Willard Glazier had made the discovery of its primal reservoir, and traversed its entire length from source to sea.
"The members of the Academy listened with great interest to Captain Glazier's account of his explorations and discovery, and also to the historical address of the President.
"Dr. J. R. Walker then offered the following resolutions:
"'Resolved, That the thanks of this Academy are due, and are hereby tendered, to Captain Willard Glazier for the donation of his beautiful canoe, Alice, and for the brief narrative of his explorations at the source of the Mississippi River, and of his voyage thence to the Gulf of Mexico.
"'Resolved, That this Academy not only gratefully accepts this handsome gift, but promises to preserve and cherish it as a souvenir of Captain Glazier's high qualities as an explorer and contributor to the increase of American geographical knowledge.'