Is This Really The Source of The Mississippi?

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Is this really the source of the Mississippi? is a Minnesota story with a documented core at Itasca State Park, Clearwater County. The sources are named below.

HistoryKind of story
2Named sources
North LakesRegion
Nov 1Checked, 2026

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Is this really the source of the Mississippi?

People say the mighty Mississippi starts as a stream you can wade across. At Lake Itasca it is said to be about 18 feet wide and knee-deep. For decades after 1832 some doubted that this was the true headwaters and thought marshes around the lake hid the real source. The state sent a surveyor to settle it.

What The Record Shows

The Minnesota DNR says the Mississippi begins at Lake Itasca as an 18-foot-wide, knee-deep river, flowing 694 miles within Minnesota. Visitors can wade across about 18 inches deep. The Minnesota Historical Society says that in 1832 Henry Schoolcraft was guided to the Mississippi headwaters and renamed the lake Itasca, combining Latin words for truth and head. For about 50 years skeptics argued that swampy marshes hid the real source. In spring 1889 the society commissioned Jacob Brower to survey the basin, and in 1890 his report reaffirmed Lake Itasca as the source. Itasca State Park was created by a bill signed April 20, 1891, and Brower was appointed first commissioner on May 4, 1891. We did not find any read source naming other claimed sources, so those claims are not included. The DNR page says a 1930s marker gives the river's length as 2,552 miles and notes that the river has since changed.

Sources: Mississippi River Headwaters (Minnesota DNR); Creation of Itasca State Park (MNopedia, Minnesota Historical Society).

A Note

The 1832 expedition had an Ojibwe guide. The Minnesota Historical Society tells that part, and we link to it rather than retell it. Not confirmed: the 1881 claim of a different source.

Its home: Mississippi River Headwaters (Minnesota DNR, Itasca State Park). Official page.

On this site: State Parks Passport, Historic Sites, North Lakes Events.

Looked for and Not Found

Willard Glazier's 1881 claim on an official page

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Frequently Asked Questions

Is the story of Is this really the source of the Mississippi? true?

The Minnesota DNR says the Mississippi begins at Lake Itasca as an 18-foot-wide, knee-deep river, flowing 694 miles within Minnesota.

Is this a legend?

It is a story with a documented core. The facts are listed on this page with their sources.

Where do these facts come from?

From the named sources listed on this page: Mississippi River Headwaters (Minnesota DNR); Creation of Itasca State Park (MNopedia, Minnesota Historical Society).

Sources

Read on November 1, 2026. Stories are for fun; the facts come from these sources. How we check: editorial standards; spot a mistake? tell us.

Cite this page: It's Minnesota, “Is This Really The Source of The Mississippi?”, itsminnesota.com/legends/lake-itasca-mississippi-headwaters/ (updated 2026-11-01). By the It's Minnesota editorial team. Free to quote with attribution and a link to this page; data and tables are licensed CC BY 4.0.