1884 Glazier Map 'Rediscovering' the Source of the Mississippi, Minnesota

This is an impressive c. 1887 Willard Glazier map of northern central Minnesota in the vicinity of Leech Lake and Lake Itasca. The map records Willard W. Glazier's claims to have discovered the 'true' source of the Mississippi River at Elk Lake, which he attempts to rename 'Lake Glazier'. Glazier's claims contain an element of truth, and this map has merit, despite his 'discoveries' being universally derided by the geographical establishment due largely to distaste for his bombastic and abrasive personal character.

A Closer Look

Coverage is loosely centered on Cass Lake but embraces Leech Lake, Lake Winnibigoshish, Lake Bemidji, and Lake Itasca - thus tracing Glazier's exploratory route in red. Although Henry Schoolcraft (1793 - 1864) identified Lake Itasca as the river's primary source in 1832, there remained general consideration that there may be a further source. Joseph Nicolette, for example, traveling with John Fremont in the 1830s, further identified nearby Nicolette Creek as the 'start' of the great river. Glazier is here attempting something similar. Elk / Glazier Lake is situated just south of Lake Itasca. It is one of Lake Itasca's many feeder lakes, but geologists have long since determined that neither Elk Lake nor any of the other minor feeder lakes are large enough to constitute a 'source' for the Mississippi. An enchanting illustration of the lake as a woodland paradise appears in the upper right.

Glazier's voyage, with his brother George and friend Barrett Channing Paine, began in Brainerd, Minnesota. They intended to follow the Mississippi from 'Source to Sea'. The trio followed the government road to Leech Lake, from which, on July 17, 1881, they set off in a canoe, following various lakes, streams, and the De Soto River westward to Lake Itasca, where they set up camp on an island on July 21. From there, the group traveled south, where, after some exploration, Glazier determined that Elk Lake (Glazier) was the Mississippi's source. His return took him on a wide arc north of Lake Itasca along the Mississippi to Lake Bemidji, Cass Lake, and Winnibegoshish. There, on July 28-29, the team rested at a Chippewa Village before navigating down the Mississippi to the Gulf of Mexico, which they reached on November 15, 1881.

To support his claims, and perhaps intentionally mirroring Schoolcraft's Ojibwe guide O-zaw-wan-dib (fl. 1797 - 1832), Glazier invokes his own 'Indian Guide' Che-No-Wa-Ge-Sic, of whom he writes,

… a council was held, and my object stated to them. They were requested to delineate maps of the country, and to furnish an interpreter, guides and canoes. Che-no-wa-ge-sic said: 'My brother, the country you are going to visit is my hunting ground. I have hunted there many years, and planted corn on the shores of Lake Itasca. My father, now an old man, remembers the first white chief who came to look for the source of the Great River. But, my brother, no white man has yet seen the head of the Father of Waters. I will myself furnish the maps you have called for, and will guide you onward.

Glazier promoted his discovery through two books, Down the Great River; Embracing an Account of the Discovery of the True Source of the Mississippi (1887) and Headwaters of the Mississippi comprising biographical sketches of early and recent explorers of the great river, and a full account of the discovery and location of its true source in a lake beyond Itasca (1894). Glazier's claims were nonetheless universally derided and rejected by the geographical establishment, who, led by statesman James Heaton Baker (1829 - 1913), pronounced him stupid, pretentious, shameful, bombastic, a fraud, a liar, a plagiarist, a 'tourist', a 'literary thief', a 'falsifier of history', a 'quack explorer', a 'charlatan adventurer', and 'a merry fellow on a jolly outing'.

But was he? Certainly, Glazier was pretentious and bombastic, but in essence, he was right. Elk Lake is the largest of Lake Itasca's feeder lakes and is closer to the 'source' of the Mississippi than Itasca. James H. Baker ultimately concludes that Lake Itasca 'is the first great gathering place and reservoir of the headwaters', but not necessarily the 'source'. A close look at the criticism directed towards Glazier suggests more of a personal and professional distaste than a concrete criticism of his 'discoveries'. Glazier's shameless self-promotion, lazy explorer's ethic, and lack of scientific credentials earned him more enemies than any falsity in his claims. In essence, in the opinion of the establishment, Glazier didn't work hard enough or have the credentials to make a great discovery. In Baker's influential words, earlier explorers like Schoolcraft and Nicolette 'toiled weeks and months with all the privations incident to an untrodden wilderness', while Glazier's team reached the source in days … 'doubtless in a sleeping car.'

Publication History and Census

This map was prepared by Willard Worchester Glazier and engraved by Rand McNally. The date of publication is unclear, but it must have been separately issued around 1884, predating the 1887 publication of Glazier's account. The map is referenced in a letter sent by Glazier to Charles Patrick Daly (1816 - 1899), President of the American Geographical Society, promoting his discovery. (ALS from Glazier to Daly, June 16, 1884, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee). The map is rare, but we note holdings at the Buffalo and Erie County Public Library, Harvard University, Minnesota Historical Society, University of California-Berkeley, Wisconsin Historical Society, and Yale University.