Despite all the Indian ruins and the abiding native communities, plaques around Lake Itasca proclaim that Henry Rowe Schoolcraft discovered the source of the Mississippi River in July 1832. For the Indian people who have lived here so many thousands of years, Lake Itasca was obviously not "lost" or "undiscovered" before 1832. They knew it well, albeit under another name. Schoolcraft "discovered" the source of the Mississippi only because an Ojibwa chief guided him and his small expedition to the site.
( Jack Weatherford )
[ Native Roots: How the Indians ]
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