The Mighty Mississippi
Humble Beginnings
As we all know, the Mighty Mississippi River is America’s largest river and an extremely important, transportation waterway. However, it had to start somewhere. For the Mississippi River, it starts in Minnesota at Lake Itasca. Take a look at the pictures below. First, on the left, you see the start of the Mississippi, then all the contributing waterways all the way down to the Gulf of Mexico…America??? The right picture zooms in to show the initial flow of the river from Lake Itasca, north to Bemidji, MN, before turning south and heading to the Gulf of Mexico.
Well, believe it or not, if you zoom into the picture even more, you get this…
Yep…the Minor Public Official is standing at the exact point where the Mighty Mississippi River begins. On the left side of the picture is Lake Itasca in Lake Itasca State Park, Minnesota. On the right side of the picture, the initial headwaters of the Mississippi begin their path to the Gulf of Mexico
First Siting
Actually, our first mission siting of the Mississippi River was not the headwaters shown above. Rather, our first siting was on the rural road leading to Itasca Lake State Park. When you drive in the Land of 10,000 Lakes, you expect to encounter many little streams crisscrossing the country side. However, in this case, the little stream was a bit more significant…
Frolicking in the Mississippi
I do not know why the Mississippi headwaters entertained me so much. But, they did. At the very beginning of the Mighty Mississippi, the river is a picturesque little stream that meanders north from Lake Itasca State Park. Knowing that this stream is really the Mississippi River somehow makes playing in the “stream” more fun than it should be…
As I pondered these Mississippi headwaters, I realized that certain very unique situations exist at this point. First, as you see below, there is a foot bridge that spans the Mississippi. With no evidence…but, absolutely NO DOUBT…this is the most inexpensive bridge that spans the Mississippi River anywhere in the USA. Next, the second picture below is the river heading due north towards Bemidji, MS (i.e. the first Mississippi River town). People think the Mississippi River only flows south….not true.
Wrap It Up…with a bit of history
In order to increase the educational value of this post, I give you this tidbit on the origins of the Mississippi River…
The headwaters of the Mississippi River were discovered in 1832. A man by the name of Richard Rowe Schoolcraft led an expedition of 30 men to discover the origins of the Mississippi. Now, to translate that tidbit more accurately… The native American chief of the Ojibwe tribe, Ozawindib, led this group of 30 clueless white men to the origins of the river. Therefore, Mr. Schoolcraft could now claim he discovered this wonderful fact that the natives knew for several hundred years.
I have marveled at the size and majesty of the Mississippi River in my past travels (all pollution issues aside). We have all seen the occasional tragedies when the river basin has flooded. But, that’s not the case up here in the Lake Itasca State Park. Here…the river is cute and friendly. You can walk across the river and frolic in the head waters all you want. The Minor Public Official and I really enjoyed our stop at the headwaters. I enjoyed it so much that I even bought the “I crossed the Mississippi River headwaters” t-shirt. Have a wonderful day. PT
I hope you have enjoyed “The Mighty Mississippi” on Traveling with PugsleyTonks
Here was another highly recommended nature park adventures https://travelingwithpt.com/the-narrows-zion-np/
Here is a live stream at the headwaters from the Minnesota DNR https://www.dnr.state.mn.us/state_parks/itasca/headwaters.html
P.S. Hopefully, you figured out the now, obvious answer to the CHALLENGE…i.e. both pictures are the same Mississippi River.
