Sword and Pen Part 56

"I will avail myself of Captain Glazier's discovery by showing the True Source of the Mississippi on future editions of my maps of the United States."

_From George H. Benedict & Co., Map, Wood and Photo-Engravers, Chicago:_

"LAKE GLAZIER is now acknowledged to be the True Source of the Mississippi, and in the course of time will appear as such on all maps."

_From John S. Kendall, President of the National School Furnishing Company of Chicago:_

"_Chicago_, October 6, 1887.

"Captain Willard Glazier:

"_Dear Sir:_--Your book 'Down the Great River' has been received and read with interest. I am glad to see the entire narrative in book form. There is no doubt about your expedition having added largely to our rather limited stock of information regarding the country around the headwaters of the Great River. I deem it a graceful and fitting compliment to give your name to the lake south of Itasca.

"Thanking you for the book, which I have placed in my library.

"Yours very respectfully,

"John S. Kendall."

_From Frederick Warne & Company, Publishers, London:_

"Pray accept our very cordial thanks. The alteration in the source of your great river has been noted, and we shall gladly avail ourselves of the information to make the correction in our atlases."

_From Thos. Nelson & Sons, Edinburgh and New York:_

"The correction as to the True Source of the Mississippi will be made as opportunity occurs, when issuing new editions of our publications."

_From Herr A. Hartleben, one of the leading Publishers of Germany:_

"I congratulate Captain Glazier on his important discovery of the source of the Mississippi River, and shall have great pleasure in bringing the subject to the notice of our Geographical Society."

_From Appleton's Annual Encyclopedia--1885:_

"Lake Itasca, which has been distinguished as the head of the Mississippi for fifty years, must, it seems, yield that distinction to a smaller lake about a mile and a half in length by a mile in width, lying further south, discovered by Captain Willard Glazier in, 1881, and named for him 'Lake Glazier.'"

_From American Supplement to the Encyclopedia Britannica:_

"The Mississippi has its source in LAKE GLAZIER, south of Lake Itasca, Minnesota, 47 34' N. lat, 95 2' W. long. The greatest width of this lake is a mile and a half, and it is deeper than Itasca, with which it is connected by a shallow stream about six feet wide."

VI. NOTICES OF THE PRESS.

The Press, as the most important indication and expression of public opinion, has been almost unanimous, since 1881, in sustaining Captain Glazier's claim, more especially the Press of Minnesota; while the majority of the leading papers of the East have p.r.o.nounced strongly in his favor. We can insert here only a few notices, taken chiefly from the journals of the Northwest.

_Saint Paul Dispatch._

"Captain Glazier has just published the record of his experiences in his undertaking to establish that the true source of the Mississippi is not that which geographers have heretofore accepted as such, to wit: Lake Itasca. It is indisputable that Captain Glazier did proceed to a higher point than any reached by previous explorers, and that the body of water located by him and now known as LAKE GLAZIER, is a direct feeder of the generally accredited head of the Mississippi. The _Dispatch_ has always claimed for the writer of this book the honor of being the discoverer of the true source of our Great River. There certainly is a great deal in his work to substantiate his claim, and to sustain the att.i.tude taken by the _Dispatch_.

"...Captain Glazier set out to test the correctness of the generally accepted theories of scholars as to the place of the rise of this Great River; he made the test and found, as we believe, that those theories were not correct. He has given to the world the record of that work, and has done much to perpetuate his own name thereby."

_Minneapolis Spectator._

"'Down the Great River,' by Captain Willard Glazier, gives an account of the discovery of the lake now generally a.s.serted to be the source of the Mississippi; also a description of a canoe voyage during the summer of 1881, from the source to the mouth of the Father of Waters. A journey of over three thousand miles by canoe, and on a single stream, is in itself an arduous and remarkable undertaking, and one seldom, if ever, paralleled. Captain Glazier presents not only reasonable evidence to support his claim as the discoverer of the true source of the Great River, but gives an entertaining and instructive narrative of his researches and adventures, thus affording a graphic history and description of the Mississippi."

_Brainerd Dispatch._

"'Down the Great River,' by Captain Willard Glazier, is an account of the author's voyage in 1881, from the source to the mouth of the Mississippi River in a canoe. It is a very interesting and instructive narrative from beginning to end; the descriptions of the scenery through which the river pa.s.ses being unusually fine. In this volume the Captain presents his claim of having discovered beyond Lake Itasca another lake which is connected with Itasca by a well-defined stream, and consequently is the true source of the Mississippi."

_Northwestern Presbyterian, Minneapolis._

"All who live in the valley of America's greatest river will be especially interested in knowing something of its source, its course, and the cities that line its banks. Since De Soto first discovered the Father of Waters in 1541, many eminent explorers have been a.s.sociated with its history. Marquette, Joliet, La Salle, Hennepin, La Hontan, Charlevoix, Carver, Pike, Ca.s.s, and Beltrami preceded Schoolcraft. The last named discovered a lake which he supposed to be the source, but the Indians and the missionaries said there was a lake beyond. A learned few believed them. It remained for some explorer to make further investigation and publish the truth more widely to the world. This was done by Captain Glazier in 1881, who visited the lake, explored its sh.o.r.es and found it to be wider and deeper than Itasca."

_Winona Republican._

"Captain Glazier, who has won fame as the discoverer of the true source of the Mississippi, has recently published a good-sized volume ent.i.tled 'Down the Great River.' ... Very few persons realize that a man who pa.s.ses from the source of the Mississippi to its mouth experiences a greater variety in scene, in populations, and in climate, than would an explorer going from the source to the mouth of any other river in the world.... The narrative of Captain Glazier is interesting, because it gives a panoramic view of the Mississippi from its source to its mouth, describing the appearance of the river wherever tributaries enter, and noting the character of the Indians, fur-traders, pioneers, frontiersmen, and the agricultural and commercial communities along its course. There is, too, a spice of personal adventure in such a journey, because for the greater part of the trip the Captain was accompanied by only one other person, and the novelty of riding in a canoe over every mile of one of the greatest rivers in the world, in itself gives a peculiar character to the record of the journey. The story is simply the narrative of life in a canoe floating down the Mississippi, supplemented by such historical recollections and reminiscences as have seemed appropriate to one who is an enthusiast in the history of exploration...."

_Minneapolis Star-News._