"One Of These Ramifications Extends In A Southerly Direction Under The
Name Of Coteau Du Grand Bois; And It Is This Which Separates The
Mississippi Streams From Those Of The Red River Of The North.
"The waters supplied by the north flank of these heights of land
still on the south side of Lake Itasca give origin to the five
creeks of which I have spoken above.
These are the waters which I
consider to be the utmost sources of the Mississippi. Those that flow
from the southern side of the same heights, and empty themselves into
Elbow Lake, are the utmost sources of the Red River of the North; so
that the most remote feeders of Hudson's Bay and the Gulf of Mexico
are closely approximated to each other."
Of the country above Crow Wing, he makes the following observations,
which are not less interesting than instructive: "Over the whole route
which I traversed after leaving Crow Wing River, the country has a
different aspect from that which the banks of the Mississippi above
the falls present. The forests are denser and more varied; the soil,
which is alternately sandy, gravelly, clayey, and loamy, is, generally
speaking, lighter excepting on the shores of some of the larger lakes.
The uplands are covered with white and yellow pines, spruce and birch;
and the wet lowlands by the American larch and the willow. On the
slopes of sandy hills, the American aspen, the canoe birch (white
birch), with a species of birch of dwarfish growth, the alder, and
wild rose, extend to the very margin of the river.
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