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523:. The rocks are used by tourists for walking across the Mississippi River. This outlet channel underwent restoration work in October of 2020. The channel was reshaped direct water away from the shoreline, reducing erosive effects. The Minnesota DNR stabilized the shoreline with a combination of boulders and natural vegetation. Although the path of the stepping stones were reshaped, the underlying dam was unchanged.
494:
102:
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543:'s Itasca Biological Station and Laboratories campus, which offers spring and summer courses and field research work year-round. The campus was established in 1909. Some of these buildings date from the 1930s and 40s, while others, including the largest building the Biome Center, were built more recently. The current Director of the biological station is Jonathan Schilling.
412:(Sidelake Lake and Sidelake River), respectively. In 1887 Williard Glazier promoted a campaign to consider Elk Lake, which he called Glazier Lake, as the true source of the Mississippi. Its longest tributary originates at Little Elk Lake, which is 100 ft (30 m) higher in elevation and 11 km upstream from the Lake Itasca outflow, at
472:, a land surveyor and president of the Minnesota Historical Society, after spending five months exploring the lakes, claimed that the lakes and streams further south of Lake Itasca were not the true source of the Mississippi because they were "too small". Modern explorers and geographers, however, have used the tiniest trickles of water to
546:
The Lake Itasca region claims a unique location, not only at the headwaters of the
Mississippi River and amidst 25% of the old growth forest of Minnesota, but also at the juncture of the three great habitats of North America: the Great Plains, the Deciduous Forest of the south, and the Coniferous
484:, and other rivers. Brower was to campaign aggressively to save the lake from logging. On April 21, 1891, the Minnesota Legislature officially made it a state park by a margin of one vote. Brower is now called the "Father of Lake Itasca" and the visitor center is named in his honor.
532:
403:
The western arm of the lake is fed by two streams on its south end. Nicollet Creek starts in a nearby spring. Another small stream leads into Itasca from Elk Lake, which in turn is fed by two other streams. The Ojibwa called Elk Lake and the stream
634:. The other definition acknowledges "somewhat arbitrary decisions" and places the Mississippi's sources at Lake Itasca, which is publicly accepted as the source of the Mississippi, identified as such by a late 1800s surveyor
775:
519:, to create a more "pleasant experience" for visitors. The project included the draining of the surrounding swamp, the digging of a new channel, and the installation of a man-made rock
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Henry
Schoolcraft identified Lake Itasca as the river's primary source in 1832. He had been part of a previous expedition in 1820 led by
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829:"The True Utmost Reaches of the Missouri: Were Lewis and Clark Wrong When They Identified the Source of This Great River?"
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you can walk on the rocks and over the shallow stream that actually is the headwaters of the great
Mississippi River.
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The unique geography of the Lake Itasca region has found its way onto the classical music concert stage. Composer
960:
463:
388:. There are several tributaries that flow (most or all of the year) into the lake, one of which, by most modern
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368:("true head "). It is one of several examples of pseudo-Native American place names created by Schoolcraft.
341:. It has an average depth of 20 to 35 feet (5 to 10 m) and is 1,475 feet (450 m) above sea level.
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205:
709:"The Geological and Natural History Survey of Minnesota. The fifteenth annual report for the year 1886"
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was the first person to discover the lake and identified it as the source of the
Mississippi in 1804.
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622:. By the stricter definition, the Mississippi would share its source with its longest tributary, the
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459:(which is downstream from Itasca) as the source of the river. There exists a dissenting claim that
352:(Elk Lake). The first European explorers in the area were French Canadian and they named the lake
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Itasca
Biological Station and Laboratories, College of Biological Sciences (February 20, 2015).
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321:, approximately 1.8 square miles (470 hectares; 1,200 acres) in area. It is located in
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Who discovered Itasca Lake? : letter of Wm. Morrison, an early Indian trader
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of the
Mississippi as it emerges from the lake was bulldozed in the 1930s by the
978:"Widened by erosion, iconic Mississippi headwaters to undergo restoration work"
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356:(Doe Lake, often mistranslated as Elk Lake). The name was later changed by
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Forest of the north. Remnants of all three may be observed in the park.
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The primary source of the
Mississippi River on the edge of Lake Itasca
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1081:"Ferde Grofé 'Mississippi Suite': A Journey Down Memory Lane"
18:
Lake in
Clearwater County, northern Minnesota, United States
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You can walk across the headwaters, by bridge or on stones
827:
Nell, Donald F.; Demetriades, Anthony (July–August 2005).
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recognizes two contrasting definitions of a river's
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562:who reside there in his popular classical epic the
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780:Minnesota Place Names: A Geographical Encyclopedia
384:which flows 2,340 mi (3,770 km) to the
142:
740:Native American Placenames of the United States
505:Rayleigh scattering over Lake Itasca, June 2023
360:to "Itasca", coined from a combination of the
743:. University of Oklahoma Press. p. 188.
8:
956:Mississippi Headwaters; Itasca State Park MN
921:"A Trip North to the Mississippi Headwaters"
29:
702:
700:
807:
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329:, in the Headwaters area of north-central
20:
1059:Minnesota Department of Natural Resources
1139:Civilian Conservation Corps in Minnesota
486:
931:from the original on October 17, 2020.
664:
607:
1124:Lakes of Clearwater County, Minnesota
814:"Largest Rivers in the United States"
200:Nicolet Creek, Elk Lake outlet stream
7:
491:View of Lake Itasca taken July 2015
101:
71:
1144:Glacial lakes of the United States
816:. United States Geological Survey.
497:Sunset over Lake Itasca, July 2018
443:and in the Mississippi watershed.
14:
237:1.8 sq mi (4.7 km)
1079:Burns, Alex (October 15, 2021).
1052:"Nature Vegetation of Minnesota"
278:
100:
93:
70:
63:
46:
1027:"Meet Jonathan | Schilling Lab"
711:. Minnesota Geological Survey.
673:"Minnesota Pronunciation Guide"
616:United States Geological Survey
554:depicted the birthplace of the
372:Source of the Mississippi River
333:, and is notable for being the
248:
240:
232:
1134:Lakes of the Mississippi River
1:
651:on the discovery of Elk Lake.
122:
114:Show map of the United States
870:Minnesota Historical Society
784:Minnesota Historical Society
812:Kammerer, J.C. (May 1990).
517:Civilian Conservation Corps
245:20–35 ft (6–11 m)
1160:
858:Morrison, William (1872).
253:1,475 ft (450 m)
1007:. University of Minnesota
961:Prairie Public Television
895:"Minnesota DNR Park Info"
527:Common ground for science
57:
45:
28:
737:Bright, William (2004).
707:Winchell, N. H. (1887).
539:The lake is home to the
535:Lake Itasca and Elk Lake
578:List of Minnesota lakes
541:University of Minnesota
536:
508:
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498:
455:that had named nearby
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963:. February 20, 2013.
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406:Bekegamaag-zaaga'igan
350:Omashkoozo-zaaga'igan
348:name for the lake is
165:47.21806°N 95.20722°W
84:Show map of Minnesota
31:Omashkoozo-zaaga'igan
1031:schillinglab.umn.edu
984:. September 6, 2020
881:Library of Congress
839:on January 18, 2012
647:See the article on
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325:, in south-eastern
170:47.21806; -95.20722
161: /
1129:Lakes of Minnesota
790:on January 8, 2011
537:
509:
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476:the source of the
453:General Lewis Cass
376:It is the primary
267:Schoolcraft Island
925:Explore Minnesota
750:978-0-8061-3598-4
565:Mississippi Suite
556:Mississippi River
431:47.158°N 95.224°W
382:Mississippi River
358:Henry Schoolcraft
339:Mississippi River
327:Clearwater County
323:Itasca State Park
271:
270:
250:Surface elevation
213:Mississippi River
132:Clearwater County
128:Itasca State Park
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1085:Classicalexburns
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897:. Archived from
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835:. Archived from
833:Montana Outdoors
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681:. Archived from
678:Associated Press
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464:William Morrison
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1005:"About Itasca"
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366:veritas caput
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317:) is a small
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242:Average depth
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225:United States
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1088:. Retrieved
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1074:
1062:. Retrieved
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1034:. Retrieved
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1021:
1011:November 25,
1009:. Retrieved
998:
986:. Retrieved
981:
972:
964:
955:
946:Ghostarchive
944:Archived at
940:
932:
924:
915:
905:February 11,
903:. Retrieved
899:the original
889:
879:– via
873:. Retrieved
860:
853:
843:November 11,
841:. Retrieved
837:the original
832:
822:
792:. Retrieved
788:the original
779:
766:
754:. Retrieved
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720:. Retrieved
687:. Retrieved
683:the original
676:
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510:
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409:
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398:Amazon River
375:
365:
353:
349:
343:
319:glacial lake
273:
272:
234:Surface area
15:
1109:Lake Itasca
875:February 6,
717:11299/56247
552:Ferde Grofé
434: /
390:definitions
354:Lac Labiche
274:Lake Itasca
168: /
143:Coordinates
108:Lake Itasca
78:Lake Itasca
24:Lake Itasca
1118:Categories
794:August 14,
659:References
461:fur trader
422:95°13′26″W
419:47°09′29″N
394:Nile River
156:95°12′26″W
153:47°13′05″N
474:determine
457:Cass Lake
335:headwater
331:Minnesota
982:MPR News
948:and the
929:Archived
866:St. Paul
624:Missouri
572:See also
558:and the
124:Location
1090:May 10,
1064:May 10,
1036:May 10,
756:May 10,
722:May 10,
689:July 4,
632:Montana
513:channel
447:History
380:of the
364:phrase
337:of the
263:Islands
187:Glacial
747:
636:Brower
620:source
596:(1929)
594:Itasca
592:USCGC
587:(1907)
585:Itasca
521:rapids
478:Amazon
378:source
346:Ojibwe
38:Ojibwe
34:
1055:(PDF)
626:, at
602:Notes
583:USRC
362:Latin
220:Basin
1092:2023
1066:2023
1038:2023
1013:2020
990:2024
907:2007
877:2021
845:2009
796:2007
758:2023
745:ISBN
724:2023
691:2011
614:The
511:The
482:Nile
408:and
396:and
344:The
312:TASS
310:eye-
182:Type
713:hdl
630:in
314:-kə
1120::
1083:.
1057:.
1029:.
980:.
959:.
952::
927:.
923:.
868::
864:.
831:.
804:^
782:.
778:.
774:.
699:^
675:.
568:.
480:,
283:aɪ
134:,
130:,
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1068:.
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992:.
909:.
883:.
847:.
798:.
760:.
726:.
715::
693:.
638:.
304:/
301:ə
298:k
295:s
292:æ
289:t
286:ˈ
280:/
276:(
40:)
36:(
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
