...The Mississippi River starts its 2,340 mi (3,770 km) journey to the Gulf of Mexico at the lake; however, as with most rivers, the exact point cannot be located because there are many small tributaries and marshy areas that drain into the Mississippi watershed. Henry Schoolcraft identified Lake Itasca as the river's source in 1832. He had been part of a previous expedition in 1820 led by General Lewis Cass that had named nearby Cass Lake (which is downstream from Itasca) as the source of the river. The Ojibwe name for "Lake Itasca" was Omashkoozo-zaaga'igan (Elk Lake)Gilfillan, Joseph A. "Minnesota Geographical Names Derived from the Chippewa Language" in The Geological and Natural History Survey of Minnesota: The Fifteenth Annual Report for the Year 1886 (St. Paul: Pioneer Press Company, 1887); this was changed by Schoolcraft to "Itasca"[1], coined from a combination of the Latin words veritas ("truth") and caput ("head").Bright, William (2004). Native American Placenames of the United States. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, pg. 188 It is one of several examples of pseudo-Indian place names created by Schoolcraft. Read full entry

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