Sword and Pen Part 49

"Boston, August 6, 1886."

We insert here an interesting letter from Paul Beaulieu, Interpreter to the United States Indian Agency, White Earth, Minnesota. Mr. Beaulieu is a very intelligent half-breed, about sixty years of age, and has lived nearly all his life in the neighborhood of the headwaters of the Mississippi. His testimony, therefore, upon a subject with which he must necessarily be familiar, will have due weight with the inquiring reader:

"U. S. Indian Service,

"_White Earth Agency, Minnesota_,

"May 25, 1884.

"_Dear Sir_:--I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the sixteenth instant. In reply, I would respectfully state that according to the ideas of the people of this section of country, for a score of years past, in alluding to Lake Itasca, which is known only as Elk Lake by the original inhabitants of this country, was never by them considered as the head or source of the Father of Running Waters, or May-see-see-be, as it is by them named. I have received a map showing the route of exploration of Captain Willard Glazier in 1881, and being well acquainted with his chief guide, Chenowagesic, who has made the section of country explored by Captain Glazier his home for many years in the past, and who has proved the truth of his often repeated a.s.sertion, when maps were shown him, that a smaller lake above Lake Itasca would in time change a feature of those maps, and proclaim to the world that Lake Itasca cannot longer maintain its claim as being the fountain head of Ke-chee-see-be, or Great River, which is called May-see-see-be, by the Chippewas. The map as delineated by Captain Glazier's guide, Chenowagesic, and published by the Glazier party, is correct; and it is plain to us who know the lay of this whole country (I mean by _us_, the Chippewa tribe in particular, also the recent explorers for pine) that LAKE GLAZIER is located at the right place, and is the last lake on the longest stream of the several rivers at the head of the great Mississippi.

"With respect, yours truly,

"Paul Beaulieu,

"_U. S. Indian Interpreter_."

An eastern correspondent addressed the following communication to the Saint Paul _Dispatch_, in which he claims that the discovery of the true source of the Mississippi should be credited to Captain Glazier:

"_To the Editor--Saint Paul Dispatch_:

"Having been a resident of Minnesota in 1855, I wish to say a word about Captain Glazier and his discovery. Minnesota, at the time of my residence there, was thinly settled. Minneapolis and Saint Anthony were both straggling villages. Saint Paul could boast of something like 10,000 population. The nearest railroad point to the latter city was one hundred and thirty miles distant. In winter Burbank's Northwestern Express carried the mails and the very few pa.s.sengers that could muster courage to make the toilsome journey; and well do I remember my trip over this route. I know that, at that time, there was a question with the Sioux, Chippewas and many pioneers as to Lake Itasca being the source of the Great River.

There was a settled opinion that something would be found beyond that would eventually prove to be the source of that stream. I believe Captain Glazier to have been actuated by a desire to establish the truth of this problem. Interested parties may seek to withhold from him his rightful due as a discoverer, but notwithstanding these attempts, in some schools in this region, LAKE GLAZIER is taught as the true source of the Mississippi. To attempt to discredit one who took front rank for the preservation of the Union, and who suffered in many rebel prisons, is altogether unworthy of the parties who are making themselves conspicuous in the matter.

"J. C. Crane.

"West Millbury, Ma.s.sachusetts, January, 1887."

Letter from Mr. John Lovell, geographer and historian, and one of the leading educational publishers of the Dominion of Canada:

"Captain Willard Glazier:

"_Dear Sir_:--I owe you an apology for not having earlier acknowledged your courtesy in sending me a copy of your remarkably interesting work 'Down the Great River.' Owing to illness and a variety of calls on my time, I had not an opportunity ere this of finis.h.i.+ng the reading of it. I have no hesitation in saying that it is most interesting and instructive, especially where you so ably summarize the results of former expeditions, and where you describe in animated language the aim, course, and outcome of your own explorations. You have had an experience which has fallen to the lot of few travellers, and, in certifying the source of the Father of Waters, have rendered a great service to the cause of geographical discovery. The account of your voyage from the newly discovered Source to the Gulf of Mexico gave me much pleasure and information. The patience and endurance of the brave fellows who were with you, considering the distance, in canoes, is worthy of praise. Your own able management of the expedition is worthy of all commendation and of substantial and immediate thanks from the good men of your own wonderful country.

"Again I sincerely thank you for your handsome and most acceptable present.

"With sincere respect, I remain, dear sir,

"Yours faithfully,

"John Lovell.

"Montreal, October 17, 1887."

The following letter will speak for itself. Mr. Gus. H. Beaulieu, of White Earth, Minnesota, Deputy United States Marshal for the district, is an educated half-breed, and cousin of Paul Beaulieu. His home is on the Chippewa Indian Reservation, within sixty miles of the source of the Mississippi. In this letter he presents the Indian theory as to the comparative volume of water in the two lakes--GLAZIER and Itasca:

"Captain Willard Glazier:

"_Dear Sir_:--I have been somewhat interested in your discussion regarding the source of the Mississippi. Even had you never proclaimed to the world your discoveries, from information received by me from Indians and old mixed-blood Indian voyageurs, there would have always been a doubt existing with me as to whether Itasca was the head of the Mississippi.

"Henry Beaulieu, a brother of Paul Beaulieu, always maintained that LAKE GLAZIER was the true source of the Mississippi. I remember that, after his return from Itasca with Mr. Chambers of the New York _Herald_, I think in 1872, he said that Winnibegos.h.i.+sh or Ca.s.s Lake might as well be called the source of the Mississippi as Itasca. Other mixed-blood have repeatedly stated the same thing. I mention this to show you what the general opinion is among Indians and those of mixed blood.

"Chenowagesic's theory concerning the head of the Mississippi is this: That while Itasca presents a larger surface than LAKE GLAZIER, it does not contain as much water as the latter. He arrives at this conclusion from the fact that Itasca freezes over two or three weeks before LAKE GLAZIER. This, he says, is a sure sign that the latter lake is the deeper of the two, and contains more water. His arguments in favor of LAKE GLAZIER are rather novel, and, as a matter of course, are taken from an Indian's standpoint.

"Yours truly,

"Gus. H. Beaulieu.

"White Earth, Minnesota, December 17, 1887."

IV. PUBLIC OPINION IN MINNESOTA.

The evidence here presented in support of LAKE GLAZIER, is, in our judgment, most conclusive; we may add, overwhelming. Many of the most prominent citizens of the State in which the Great River takes its rise volunteer their endors.e.m.e.nt of a claim, of the merits of which, they must necessarily be better informed than persons living at a remote distance from the head of the river. State authorities, including the Governor and his staff; senators and representatives, many of whom have resided from twenty to forty years in Minnesota; pioneers, clergymen, and school-teachers, with many of the leading citizens; editors, school-superintendents, professional men, and others, strongly affirm that Lake Itasca is not the source of the Mississippi, but that the lake to the south of it, definitely located by Captain Glazier, is the primal reservoir or _true source_ of the Father of Waters. These witnesses, moreover, unequivocally a.s.sert that the credit of the discovery should be awarded to the man who made it, notwithstanding the groundless opposition of a few cavillers who have never themselves visited within many hundred miles a region they affect to be so marvelously familiar with.

_From His Excellency, A. R. McGill, Governor of Minnesota_:

"Captain Glazier's claim to be the discoverer of the true source of the Mississippi seems reasonable, to say the least. I have been a resident of Minnesota twenty-six years, and never until Captain Glazier's expedition, heard the claim of Itasca being the source of the Great River seriously questioned."

_From Hon. Horace Austin, Ex-Governor_:

"I think that it would be a very proper thing to do under the circ.u.mstances that Captain Glazier's services should be recognized by the pa.s.sage of a bill by the Legislature giving his name to the lake which is the real source of the Mississippi."

_From Hon. W. H. Gale, Ex-Lieutenant-Governor, Winona_:

"I have been a resident of Minnesota for more than twenty-eight years, and I believe it was the generally accepted opinion of the people of this State that Lake Itasca was the source of the Mississippi River, until after the expedition of Captain Willard Glazier, and his publication to the world that another lake south of Lake Itasca was the true source, to which lake has been given the name of LAKE GLAZIER. This is now generally recognized as the _true source_ and head of the Mississippi, and Captain Glazier as the man who first made known that fact to the world."

_From F. W. Seeley, Adjutant-General_.