The Explorer You Never Knew Who Changed Minnesota’s History
Most Minnesotans don't know this man's name, but they definitely should.
Henry Rowe Schoolcraft might not be a household name but his expedition into what would one day be Minnesota is the stuff of legend.
26 years before statehood, the area in what is now Minnesota was largely a wilderness. Indigenous Americans had called it "home" for generations and they had long known what had eluded Europeans; the source of the Mississippi River.
Ever since the Louisiana Purchase, the United States had been on a mission to find the source of the most important river on the continent and in 1832, Henry Rowe Schoolcraft from New York did just that.
With the help from an Ojibwe guide named Ozaawindib, Schoolcraft set out from Cass Lake (North Central Minnesota) and traversed the 40 miles to the headwaters of the Mississippi River, which the Ojibwe had named 'Omashkoozo-Zaaga’igan' (Elk Lake). Schoolcraft would rename it 'Lake Itasca', meaning "True Head" in Latin.
Two years later, in 1834, Schoolcraft wrote a narrative about this expedition, which is now preserved in the Library of Congress. You can read that narrative here.
To learn more about Henry Rowe Schoolcraft, check out the YouTube video below.
Story Sources: Henry Rowe Schoolcraft Wiki Page, Library of Congress Website
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