Chapter XLIX: Appendix: By the (3)

"I recognize the correctness of Captain Glazier's claim, and shall
teach that the source of the Mississippi is LAKE GLAZIER."

* * * * *

_From Rev. L. Abernethy, A. M., D. D., President of
Rutherford College, North Carolina:_

"I am satisfied that LAKE GLAZIER is the true source of the
Mississippi and that Captain Glazier is entitled to the honor of
its discovery."

* * * * *

_From J. L. Smith, Map Publisher, Philadelphia:_

"Having given considerable attention to the merits of the claim
presented by Captain Willard Glazier to have definitely located the
source of the Mississippi, I am of the opinion that the lake to the
south of Itasca should be recognized as the primal reservoir or
true fountain-head of that river, and that Captain Glazier is
entitled to the credit of having been the first to discover this
fact and call public attention to it."

* * * * *

_From G. H. Laughlin, A. M., Ph. D., President of Hiram College, Ohio:_

"Captain Glazier has rendered an invaluable service to the science
of geography. I am glad that the school geographies are being
corrected so as to indicate LAKE GLAZIER as the source of the
Father of Waters."

* * * * *

_From the firm of W. & A. K. Johnston, of Edinburgh, Scotland,
Geographers and Engravers to the Queen:_

"You have the satisfaction of having done a great work in settling
the vexed question of the source of your mighty river. For this,
all interested in geography are indebted to you."

* * * * *

_From Charles Lubrecht, Map Publisher, New York:_

"I shall show LAKE GLAZIER as the source of the Mississippi River
in all future editions of my Maps."

* * * * *

_From M. Dripps, Map Publisher, New York:_

"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 deg. 34' N. lat, 95 deg. 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 pronounced 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 attitude 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 asserted 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 passes 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 associated with its history. Marquette, Joliet, La Salle,
Hennepin, La Hontan, Charlevoix, Carver, Pike, Cass, 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 shores
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 entitled 'Down the Great River.' ... Very few persons
realize that a man who passes 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._

"On the 22d day of July, 1881, the traveler and author, Captain
Willard Glazier, discovered a silvery lake nestled among the
pineries of Northern Minnesota and situate about a mile and a half
to the south of Lake Itasca. He also discovered that a swift
current flowed continuously from his new-found wonder to what was
supposed to be the source of the Father of Waters. The lake is
known to the Indians as _Pokegama_, and when it was reached by the
Glazier party they were much surprised by Chenowagesic, an Indian
chief, who had accompanied them as guide, addressing Captain
Glazier as follows:

"'My brother, I have come with you through many lakes and rivers to
the head of the Father of Waters. The shores of this lake are my
hunting ground. Here I have had my wigwam and planted corn for many
years. When I again roam through these forests, and look on this
lake, source of the Great River, I will look on you.'

"Captain Glazier was induced to explore the true source of the
Mississippi by Indian traditions which he had picked up while
traveling across the continent and which denied Schoolcraft's
theory of Itasca.... Fortified with the idea that Schoolcraft was
in error he set out to discover the true source of the Father of
Waters, and how he succeeded forms the subject of the first five
chapters of his very interesting book. The remainder of the book,
an interesting and instructive volume of nearly five hundred pages,
is devoted to a trip 'down the Great River' to the Gulf of Mexico.
To Captain Glazier is due all the honor and glory of discovering to
modern geographers the true source of our great river."

* * * * *

_Detroit Commercial Advertiser._

"'Down the Great River' is Captain Willard Glazier's interesting
record of his expedition in 1881 in search of the source of the
Mississippi River. It is a very exciting narrative from beginning
to end, is profusely illustrated and will be especially interesting
to students of geography, as well as to all interested in matters
of exploration and discovery. Captain Glazier undoubtedly
accomplished a great work. The source of the Mississippi had ever
been an unsettled question, unsatisfactory attempts at discovery
having been made and various ill-founded claims put forward; but
the subject for the last half century has been constantly agitated.
It remained for Captain Glazier to finish the work begun by De Soto
in 1541, and positively locate the true fountain-head.... That the
lake from which the Great River starts, known by the Indians as
Lake Pokegama, should be re-named LAKE GLAZIER, seems an
appropriate honor for the resolute explorer...."

* * * * *

_La Crosse Republican and Leader._

"'Down the Great River' is the title of a book just issued which
possesses many claims to popular favor. No one on the North
American continent will be at a loss to identify the river by its
title; the Amazon undoubtedly discharges a larger volume of water
into the sea, and the Volga is claimed to be longer. No river in
the Old or New World is surrounded by so many associations, or is
so identified with the memories of discoverers and adventurers,
warrior-priests and saintly soldiers, peaceful pioneers and
devastating armies, as the Mississippi.... For half a century Lake
Itasca has been accepted as the fountain-head of the Great River,
but Captain Glazier having had reasons for doubting the correctness
of that theory, undertook, in 1881, to verify or disprove it, and
the book treats of his adventures on that mission and his
subsequent voyage by canoe down its entire length from its source
to its mouth, a distance of three thousand one hundred and
eighty-four miles.... The voyage, embracing as it does over
seventeen degrees of latitude, furnishes material for the
description of strongly contrasted scenery and greatly diversified
industries, and in depicting these the Captain has the pen of a
ready writer, simple and concise...."

* * * * *

_Michigan Christian Advocate._

"'Down the Great River' is a book of great current interest. It is
packed full of things people ought to know. Not only is there a
full and well-written account of the finding of the true source of
the Mississippi, but a wonderful amount of fact and incident picked
up along its shores from its headwaters clear down to New Orleans
and the Gulf of Mexico."

* * * * *

_Detroit Tribune._

"This interesting work gives an account of the discovery of the
true source of the Mississippi River, by the author. From the first
page to the last the book teems with information and topographical
and geographical data to be found nowhere else. Captain Glazier
carries his readers along with him from the source of the mighty
river down through a stretch of over three thousand miles clear
into the salt waters of the Gulf of Mexico. The author made the
trip in an open canoe, and as he proceeds downwards discourses
pleasantly upon the features of the landscape, the characteristics
of the people and the important towns upon the banks of the Great
River."

* * * * *

_Grand Rapids (Michigan) Leader._

"Lake Itasca has been the accredited head of the Mississippi for
fifty years, and the author's desire to pursue further
investigations into the great north country was due to conflicting
reports published by other navigators and explorers of discoveries
made in that region. He decided to investigate the matter
personally. The author describes in an entertaining manner the
incidents of each day as the journey proceeded towards Lake Itasca.
Here a careful survey of the lake was made for feeders, several of
which were found, and up the largest of which the party forced
their way through a strong barrier of rushes. After a short passage
a body of water was found Which the Indians called Lake _Pokegama_,
but which the Captain's companions named GLAZIER in honor of the
head of the expedition. They then floated down the river in their
canoes to the Gulf, and the events of each day form very
interesting and often thrilling chapters as they are described by
the author."

* * * * *

_New Bedford Standard._

"In 1881 Captain Glazier made a canoe voyage of over three thousand
miles from the headwaters of the Mississippi to the Gulf of Mexico,
and this book gives an interesting account of the voyage, together
with a description of the cities and villages along the river
banks, not omitting important historical events or quaint bits of
legendary lore. While the book is of special value to the young
student of geography and history, it is none the less valuable to
all who are interested in geographical science, particularly in the
question of the source of the Mississippi River...."

* * * * *

_Madisonensis, Madison University, New York._

"Captain Glazier has commanded the attention of educated men
generally by asserting and satisfactorily proving that he has at
last discovered what De Soto, Marquette, La Salle, Schoolcraft, and
other explorers, were unable to find--the true source of the
Mississippi. The journey of exploration is here minutely described,
and the account is enlivened with bright narratives of personal
experiences. The author is an able writer, and a keen critical
observer, and the information collected, pertaining to the people
and country along the course of the Great River, from its
headwaters to the Gulf of Mexico, is of value to every student of
our country's history. The book is more than a mere description of
an expedition--it is an epitomized collection of historical,
geographical and commercial matters interesting to all."

* * * * *

_Hamilton, New York, Republican._

... "The important fact brought out is, that Lake Itasca,
discovered by Schoolcraft in 1832, and by him located as the
fountain-head of the river, has no just claim to that title.
Glazier's expedition has brought public notice to another lake at a
remoter distance from the mouth than Itasca, which is united to the
latter by a constantly flowing stream.... It now seems that the
prominence Itasca has had so long must hereafter be given to LAKE
GLAZIER."

* * * * *

_Davenport Tribune._

"This work embraces an account of the discovery by the author of
the true source of the Mississippi. It is an interesting tale of
how Captain Glazier and his party pursued a voyage in canoes up the
stream which flowed into Itasca, and finally located the real
source of the river in a new lake, which was named by his
companions LAKE GLAZIER. The work is a valuable one and highly
instructive, and should be read by all residents of the Mississippi
Valley."

* * * * *

_Daily Eagle, Grand Rapids, Michigan._

... "It seems most surprising that it should have been reserved for
so recent a date as 1881 to discover the true source of the
greatest river of our continent, especially within the borders of a
territory that has been a State for nearly forty years. But such is
the fact, and to Captain Glazier belongs the honor of the discovery
among white men."

* * * * *

_Telegram-Herald, Grand Rapids, Michigan._

... "Captain Glazier, in his search for the true source of the
Mississippi, has corrected a geographical error of half a century,
and located the fountain-head in a lake above and beyond Lake
Itasca. He discovered this lake on the twenty-second day of July,
1881, Chenowagesic, a Chippewa brave, being his guide. The lake,
out of which flows the infant Mississippi, is about two miles in
its greatest diameter. Its Indian name is _Pokegama_, but Glazier's
companions insisted on naming it after their leader."...

* * * * *

_Akron Daily Beacon._

... "Until Captain Glazier traced back from Lake Itasca the
perennial stream that supplied it from a more distant lake, called
by the Indians _Pokegama_, and beyond which there is no further
supply to the Father of Waters, Itasca was considered its
source.... July twelfth, 1881, Glazier left Brainerd, Minnesota, on
his mission, reaching Leech Lake July seventeenth. Thence the
expedition proceeded westward by little lakes and streams and
portages, until on the twenty-first they camped on Schoolcraft
Island, in Lake Itasca, and then paddling through this lake away,
as supposed, from the Mississippi, and by Eagle Creek, the next day
they found what is now, and will hereafter be known as, LAKE
GLAZIER, the ultimate source of the mighty Mississippi."...

* * * * *

_Youngstown (Ohio) Telegram._

"A pamphlet, entitled the 'True Source of the Mississippi,' by
Pearce Giles, has reached us. It proves very clearly that not Lake
Itasca but LAKE GLAZIER, a lake just to the south of it, is the
true source of the mighty central river. The best part of the
discovery seems to be that Captain Glazier so explored the country
about this lake that there is no possibility of another discovery
of a connecting lake beyond it. One likes to have such matters
settled definitely."

* * * * *

_National Republican, Washington, D. C._

... "The birthplace of the Father of Waters is not Lake Itasca, as
generally received, but LAKE GLAZIER, in its vicinity, which, by a
small stream, flows into Itasca. LAKE GLAZIER, so named from its
discoverer, Captain Willard Glazier, has three feeders, Eagle,
Excelsior, and Deer creeks. This latest geographical claim is
supported by ample testimony from highest and widespread
authorities. The story of adventures during the exploration which
had so important a result, is extremely interesting."

* * * * *

_Dubuque Trade Journal._

"On July twenty-second, 1881, Captain Willard Glazier dispelled the
geographical error of half a century which has placed Lake Itasca
on the maps as the source of the Mississippi. Strange as it may
seem, there is scarcely a wilder region on this continent than
exists in Northern Minnesota, and it has so remained in spite of
the explorations of Beltrami, Schoolcraft, and Nicollet, who,
perhaps, ought to have been a little more exhaustive in their
efforts when on the same depended the designation of the actual
source of a great river. Nevertheless, at the date above mentioned,
Captain Glazier, at the head of a small but indomitable band,
emerged from Lake Itasca, and the birch-bark canoes of the party
were urged against a strong current and a bulwark of rushes,
through a stream seven feet wide and three deep, until the clear
waters of another lake came in view. The greatest diameter of this
new body of water is about two miles, its feeders are traceable to
springs only, and hence it is unquestionably the primal source
whence the Father of Waters starts on his long journey of 3,184
miles to the Gulf of Mexico."...

* * * * *

_Burlington Hawkeye._

"In the summer of 1881, Captain Willard Glazier, well known as a
popular writer, made a remarkable canoe voyage from the source of
the Mississippi down its entire length to the Gulf of Mexico. Prior
to starting on this unprecedented voyage, he organized and led an
expedition to the headwaters of the river in Northern Minnesota,
with a view of setting at rest the vexed question as to the true
source of the mighty river. Captain Glazier and his party left
Saint Paul, duly equipped with canoes and commissariat, July
Fourth, 1881, and arrived at Lake Itasca July twenty-first. Thence,
by the aid of his Indian guides, he penetrated to another lake
beyond Itasca, and connected therewith by a stream which is a
continuation of the Mississippi, and at that point is simply a
narrow creek. The lake thus entered by Captain Glazier he claims to
be the true source of the Father of Waters. LAKE GLAZIER now
appears on the maps as the source of the Great River."

* * * * *

_Saint Paul Times._

... "Captain Glazier's claims are supported emphatically by the
overwhelming testimony of thousands of the most distinguished and
competent authorities in the Northwest. Glazier undoubtedly
expended much time and treasure in investigating not only the
source of the Mississippi, but the geography and history of the
entire river, from its source to the Gulf.... The leading map
publishers have endorsed his claims, and do so in a way that leaves
no doubt that they place implicit confidence in him as a careful
and trustworthy geographer and historian. Rand, McNally & Co., and
George F. Cram, of Chicago; Matthews, Northrup & Co., of Buffalo;
A. S. Barnes & Co., of New York; University Publishing Company, of
New York; W. & A. K. Johnston, of Edinburgh, Scotland; MacMillan &
Co., London and New York; W. M. Bradley & Brother, Philadelphia,
and many others of the leading publishing houses, who have a heavy
personal interest in investigating the accuracy of everything they
publish, acknowledge Captain Glazier's claims by accepting his
views, and reproducing them in their books and maps. The press,
bar, pulpit, and legislature of the State of Minnesota give
unqualified assent through many of their leading members, to the
position of Captain Glazier."

* * * * *

_Chicago Times._

"The most interesting portion of Captain Glazier's 'Down the Great
River' is the beginning, where the author gives the details of an
expedition made in 1881 by himself with five companions, when he
claims, with good grounds, to have fixed the actual, true source of
the Great River. His attention was called in 1876 to the fact that,
though everybody knows the mouth of the stream, there was then much
uncertainty about the source. In 1881 he found time to organize the
expedition named, and crossing the country to Itasca, embarked and
pushed through that lake up a stream flowing into it, and came upon
another considerable body of water fed by three streams originating
in springs at the foot of a curved range of hills some miles
further on. This lake he fixed upon as the true source, and since
his published accounts many geographers and map-workers have
modified their works according to his discoveries. He does not
claim to be the actual discoverer of the lake, as such, but only to
have been the first to discover and establish the fact that it is
the highest link in a chain in which Itasca is another; or, in
other words, the true source of the river. The Indian name of the
lake is _Pokegama_, and this, the author says, he would have
retained, but was overruled by the other five, who insisted on
calling it LAKE GLAZIER. For the particulars of the interesting
story the reader must be referred to the volume itself. Captain
Glazier is an old traveler and a practised writer. The manner of
his journey down the Mississippi enabled him to see well all there
was to see, and he enables his readers to see also."

* * * * *

_Chicago Inter-Ocean._

"Readers of 'Soldiers of the Saddle,' 'Capture, Prison-Pen and
Escape,' and other writings of Captain Glazier will require no
urging to read the entertaining volume 'Down the Great River.' It
is an account of the discovery of the true source of the
Mississippi River, with pictorial and descriptive views of cities,
towns and scenery gathered from a canoe voyage from its head waters
to the Gulf. For fifty years American youth have been taught that
'the Mississippi rises in Lake Itasca,' until Captain Glazier, in
this memorable journey of one hundred and seventeen days in his
canoe, demonstrated the error and mapped the facts so accurately as
to settle the question for all time. Leading geographers and
educational publishers have already made changes in their maps and
given due credit to Captain Glazier and his new lake. To say the
Mississippi rises in LAKE GLAZIER is only doing simple justice to
the intrepid explorer and hero of many battles. The book is
charmingly written, mainly in the form of a diary, and contains
facts of great value, so interwoven with incidents and fine
descriptions and novel adventures as to be as interesting as the
best romance. One could scarcely find better history or finer
descriptions or be more fully impressed with the breadth and length
and grandeur of American possessions than by journeying with
Captain Glazier in his canoe down the grand river of the continent.
The volume is handsomely printed and bound and well illustrated."

* * * * *

_Chicago Evening Journal._

"However the knowledge may affect the world at large that the
source of the mighty Mississippi is other than generations of
geography students have been taught that it was, there is little
doubt left in the reader's mind, after perusing Captain Willard
Glazier's 'Down the Great River,' that we have all been in the
wrong about it, and that this most peerless river was born, not in
Itasca's sparkling springs, but in another wider and deeper lake
that lies still further south and bears the name of its discoverer,
the author of this interesting volume of exploration and adventure.
There is something charming in the simple thought of an expedition
such as the one undertaken by Captain Glazier. Imagine long, silent
days of absolutely unbroken communion with Nature! Slipping along
in a frail canoe, without the sound of an uncongenial human speech,
of clanging bells or grating wheels, through circling hours of
unbroken calm, with only the swish of bending reeds and lapping
waters to break the hush and remind one of a sentient world.
Perhaps the author and his Indian guides occasionally exchanged a
word, or the two white companions and himself indulged in a laugh
that started the rattling echoes of the hills, but there was no
chatter, no twaddle, no dissensions. The narrative reads like a
story. Reading it, one longs to start for LAKE GLAZIER to-morrow,
and thence descending, halt not in his long course until his
faithful canoe slips out into the waters of the Southern Gulf,
three thousand miles away. A man with a soul in him would rather
take such a trip with all its hardships and its perils than go on a
hundred cut-and-dried trips to Europe. The book is handsomely bound
and well illustrated."

* * * * *

_Chicago Herald._

"For half a century or more it has been understood that Lake Itasca
was the source of the Mississippi River, but Captain Willard
Glazier has exploded this theory by a canoe voyage undertaken in
1881. The results of his investigations were given to geographers
at the time and accepted as satisfactory and complete. Maps were at
once changed by the map publishers, and LAKE GLAZIER, a tributary
of Lake Itasca, was set down as the true source of the 'Father of
Waters.' The story of Captain Glazier's adventures is told by him
in a book entitled 'Down the Great River,' which is entertaining as
well as being of importance as a contribution to the geography and
history of this country. Together with two companions and several
guides, Glazier first discovered that the lake now bearing his name
was the true source of the Great River, and then journeyed by canoe
from that point to the mouth of the Mississippi, a distance of
3,184 miles. This trip occupied one hundred and seventeen days and
was attended with various haps and mishaps and numerous adventures
of an exciting character. It is not easy from a mere book
description to realize the extent and importance of such a trip as
that made by Captain Glazier. More than a hundred days of roughing
it along one of the greatest waterways in the world could not fail
to be productive of much that would interest even a casual reader,
and as Captain Glazier is an experienced traveller and a skilled
writer, he has made the most of his opportunities."

* * * * *

_Springfield (Ohio) Times._

"The latest book from the pen of Willard Glazier, the well-known
soldier-author, is entitled 'Down the Great River.' It is a work of
great geographical and historical value, and settles beyond
peradventure the disputed question of the true source of the
Mississippi. Aside from its scientific value, the work is a
charmingly entertaining narrative of the thrilling adventures and
amusing incidents of a canoe trip over the whole length of the
Mississippi from its source in the cold regions of the North to
where it rolls into the ocean over the burning sands of the Gulf
coast. It is highly instructive and interesting in its graphic
descriptions and character sketches, depicting the varied human
nature, local customs, and folk-lore that find habitation along the
banks of the Great River. The book is well worth the perusal of
every one, and an American library without it would be incomplete."

* * * * *

_Ohio State Journal._

"It seems strange that for nearly fifty years up to 1881, no new
thing had been discovered concerning the great Mississippi, whose
source in the vast wilderness of the Northwest was supposed to be
in Lake Itasca. In that year, however, Captain Willard Glazier, an
adventurous spirit, determined to finally solve the mystery of the
source of the 'Father of Waters,' and also to navigate its entire
length from source to sea. Accordingly he traced with infinite
hardship the narrowing stream above Itasca until its true source
was finally reached in what is now known as LAKE GLAZIER. Then,
turning about, he floated down the constantly growing stream until
its mighty volume was emptied into the Gulf of Mexico. Of this
great trip, replete with adventure and abounding in incident, he
has given a most graphic and interesting account under the title of
'Down the Great River.'"

* * * * *

_The Wheeling Intelligencer._

"Captain Glazier's name is familiar to the reading public of
America through his earlier works, 'Soldiers of the Saddle,'
'Capture, Prison-Pen and Escape,' 'Battles for the Union,' 'Heroes
of Three Wars,' 'Peculiarities of American Cities,' and 'Ocean to
Ocean on Horseback.' His latest book, 'Down the Great River,' is
his most important essay in the field of literature, and is in
several respects unique. It is a very interesting account of a
remarkable canoe voyage from the head waters of the Mississippi to
the Gulf; but its importance comes from the fact that, until this
voyage was made, the source of the Mississippi was universally
placed in Lake Itasca, whereas Glazier and his party demonstrated
that a higher basin, now put down in all the new maps and
geographies as LAKE GLAZIER, is really the primary reservoir of the
Mississippi. It seems almost incredible, but is nevertheless true,
that for over forty years previous to 1881, when Captain Glazier
made his discovery, it was accepted as settled that Lake Itasca was
the remotest body of water from the mouth of the Mississippi. The
falsity of this theory, however, has been established and an
important discovery given to the geographical world. No discovery
rivaling this in interest and importance has been made on the
American continent for half a century."

* * * * *

_Philadelphia Public Ledger._

"By the discoveries of Captain Willard Glazier, made in 1881, Lake
Itasca is dislodged from its former eminence as the source of the
Mississippi, the real head-waters of that mighty stream being
traced to LAKE GLAZIER, a distance of 3,184 miles from the Gulf of
Mexico."

* * * * *

_Brooklyn Eagle._

"Captain Glazier's very clear map of the Great River shows the True
Source to be south of Lake Itasca, accepted by Schoolcraft in 1832
as the head-waters in disregard of the stream entering its
southwestern arm.... To Captain Glazier belongs the identification
of the fountain-head of the Mississippi."

* * * * *

_Philadelphia Times._

"Captain Willard Glazier has lately discovered the True Source of
the Mississippi, which is not in Lake Itasca, but in another lake
to the south of it, and succeeds in proving his discovery to the
satisfaction of the most competent judges, to wit, the geographers
and educational publishers of the country. These accept the new
source by placing it on their maps and calling it after its
discoverer, 'Lake Glazier.'"

* * * * *

_New York Observer._

"To Captain Glazier is undoubtedly due the honor of tracing the
Father of Waters, the great American river, up to its real source
in the network of lakes that occupies the central and northern
portion of the State of Minnesota."

* * * * *

_Minneapolis Journal._

"...That what is now known as LAKE GLAZIER is the True Source of
the Mississippi River; and that to Captain Glazier is due the
credit of first placing the fact before the public by accurate
chart and maps, is unquestionably true."

* * * * *

_Philadelphia North American._

"The True Source of the Mississippi is settled beyond controversy.
Glazier's name will hereafter be classed with those of De Soto, La
Salle, and Hennepin, whose names are forever associated with the
Great River which divides the United States."

* * * * *

_Philadelphia Inquirer._

"Several years ago Captain Glazier, while meditating upon the
exploits of De Soto, Marquette, Father Hennepin and La Salle, the
heroic old explorers, who led the way to the Great River of North
America, regretted that, although its mouth was discovered by the
Chevalier La Salle nearly two hundred years ago, there was still
much uncertainty as to its True Source.... The discovery and final
location of the source of the Mississippi has now received general
recognition in this country and Europe, and there certainly seems
to be no doubt of the validity of Captain Glazier's claim. His
account of the discovery is very entertaining reading."