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Creation of Itasca State Park

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Black and white photograph of Jacob Brower at the Lake Itasca basin at DeSoto Lake, 1889.

Jacob Brower at the Lake Itasca basin at DeSoto Lake, 1889.

The Itasca forest during the late nineteenth century contained towering pines and numerous lakes. Individuals like surveyor Jacob Brower became captivated by the region and the wildlife that inhabited it. They recognized that the economic potential of northern Minnesota would change its landscape. Their effort to preserve Lake Itasca led them to contend with the lumber industry, public interests, and the politics that weaved between them.

People have long appreciated Lake Itasca’s beauty and resources. Some eight thousand years ago indigenous hunters left spears at a bison kill site in the area. Around 1200 CE the Blackduck people created a village there, eventually leaving remnants of their unique pottery behind. Ojibwe groups have lived in the lake’s vicinity since the 1700s.

The U.S. government slowly began turning their attention to the region after buying Louisiana Territory from France in 1803. In 1832 the Ojibwe leader Ozaawindib brought Henry Schoolcraft to Omushkos Lake and the Mississippi headwaters. Schoolcraft renamed the lake Itasca by combining the Latin words veritas (truth) and caput (head).

Questions about the Mississippi’s source, however, lingered for fifty years. Skeptics believed the dense, swampy marshes around Itasca concealed the true headwaters. The Minnesota Historical Society commissioned Jacob Brower to survey the region in 1889 and end the confusion. Brower’s background as a lawyer, historian, and archeologist aided his task. A year later, when Society members reviewed his report, its content reaffirmed Lake Itasca as the Mississippi’s source.

Meanwhile, economic opportunities attracted others to the forest. Demand for wood products throughout the country powered a tremendous building boom. Aggressive lumber companies sought land access legally and illegally to begin harvesting the large white pines. A treeless landscape took shape in northern Minnesota as thousands of trees were cut and processed in mills throughout the state.

Coinciding with Brower’s survey, an alliance formed to protect the giant Itasca pines that remained. Its members included Brower, Alfred J. Hill, and Joseph A. Wheelock. They forged partnerships and adopted lobbying strategies such as writing letters to newspapers. Their goals included generating support for the great pines, creating a five-by-seven-mile park around Lake Itasca, and managing the area for future generations.

The group’s momentum peaked in early 1891 when Senator John Sanborn introduced these proposals in a bill brought before the Minnesota legislature. A close vote emerged as Senator Charles Crandall led an opposition that favored timber production. After narrowly passing in the Senate, the bill was revised and approved by the House. Governor William Merriam signed it into law on April 20, 1891.

The Itasca law, however, provided few resources. After becoming the park’s first commissioner, Jacob Brower labored for four years without pay or a budget. He focused on reforming the patchwork ownership of land within the park’s boundaries. By 1893 he had secured the transfer of federal lands to the state. Brower then began the complex task of negotiating with railroad and lumber companies. His effort was cut short, though, when the state government dismissed him two years later.

Mary Gibbs’ brief tenure as park commissioner in the spring of 1903 continued Brower’s progressive policy. Just twenty-four years old, she had learned about the challenges facing the park from her father, park commissioner John Gibbs. Logging continued on non-state land with companies using Lake Itasca as a holding area.

That year, a dam outside the park built by the Mississippi Schoolcraft Boom and Improvement Company raised water levels over the shoreline. Worried that pine trees would be damaged, Gibbs contacted company officials. A stalemate ensued when both sides met at the dam. The local sheriff brought a warrant to open the lift. The officials backed down on April 16, but not before tension neared a breaking point. Gibbs’ small victory aside, loggers maintained influence over the park for the next fifteen years.

After the standoff, Itasca did not remain stagnant. In 1905, Douglas Lodge (originally known as the State House) became the park’s first structure for overnight guests. Esteemed state architect Clarence Johnston’s rustic-style designs used natural, local materials that blended into their surroundings. The two-story structure featured shaped logs, a large front balcony, and a massive split-stone fireplace. Several cabins built later followed the same style.

Logging finally ended in Itasca in 1920, ushering in a new era of improved visitor experiences and forest management.

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Brower, Jacob V. Itasca State Park: An Illustrated History. St. Paul: McGill-Warner, 1904.

Dobie, John. The Itasca Story. Minneapolis: Ross and Haines, 1959.

“Father of Waters.” Minneapolis Tribune, October 30, 1894.

“Fight in Prospect.” Saint Paul Daily Globe, September 14, 1891.

Flader, Susan L., ed. The Great Lakes Forest: An Environmental and Social History. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press in Association with the Forest History Society, Inc., Santa Cruz, California, 1983.

Hall, Steve. Itasca: Source of America’s Greatest River. St. Paul: Minnesota Historical Society Press, 1982.

Hart, John Fraser, and Susy Svatek Ziegler. Landscapes of Minnesota: A Geography. St. Paul: Minnesota Historical Society Press, 2008.

Heyman, Rich. “Locating the Mississippi: Landscape, Nature, and National Territoriality at the Mississippi Headwaters.” American Quarterly 62, no. 2 (June 2010): 303–333.

“The Itasca Park Bill.” Minneapolis Tribune, April 12, 1899.

“Itasca State Park: Wonderful Country.” Minneapolis Tribune, July, 16, 1899.

Kline, Benjamin. First Along the River: A Brief History of the U. S. Environmental Movement. San Francisco: Acada Books, 1997.

Larson, Agnes M. The White Pine Industry in Minnesota: A History. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1949.

Lass, William E. Minnesota: A History. New York: W. W. Norton, 1998.

“Little Falls Transcript, Itasca State Park.” Minneapolis Journal, June 19, 1891.

Llewellyn, C. L. “The Fight for Itasca Park.” Western Magazine 27, no. 5 (May 1, 1921): 146–151.

Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, Division of Parks and Recreation. The Itasca Guidebook. St. Paul: Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, 2001.

Morgan, Samuel H. “Citizens and State Parks.” Conservation Volunteer (May/June 1967): 24–35.
https://www.parksandtrails.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/SamMorgan_MNVolunteer196705.pdf

Prehistoric Archaeological Sites in Minnesota State Parks. Minneapolis: Archaeology Laboratory, Department of Anthropology, University of Minnesota, 1974.

“Romantic Spot.” Minneapolis Tribune, August 22, 1892.

Schoolcraft, Henry R. Summary Narrative of an Exploratory Expedition to the Sources of the Mississippi River in 1820: Resumed and Completed by the Discovery of its Origin in Itasca Lake, in 1832. Philadelphia: Lippincott, Grambo, 1855.
https://archive.org/details/summarynarrative00schorich

“State is Raising Pine.” Minneapolis Tribune, July 30, 1902.

“State Park at Lake Itasca.” Minneapolis Tribune, January 13, 1891.

Tester, John R. Minnesota’s Natural Heritage: An Ecological Perspective. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1995.

Williams, Michael. Americans and Their Forests: A Historical Geography. Cambridge, MA: Cambridge University Press, 1990.

Related Images

Black and white photograph of Jacob Brower at the Lake Itasca basin at DeSoto Lake, 1889.
Black and white photograph of Jacob Brower at the Lake Itasca basin at DeSoto Lake, 1889.
Detailed hydrographic chart of the source of the Mississippi River (Lake Itasca) and surrounding area completed by Jacob Brower in 1891.
Detailed hydrographic chart of the source of the Mississippi River (Lake Itasca) and surrounding area completed by Jacob Brower in 1891.
Black and white photograph of Jacob Brower, 1897.
Black and white photograph of Jacob Brower, 1897.
Black and white photograph of Outdoor activities at Itasca State Park, 1898.
Black and white photograph of Outdoor activities at Itasca State Park, 1898.
Black and white photograph of Pine woods at Lake Itasca, 1900.
Black and white photograph of Pine woods at Lake Itasca, 1900.
Black and white portrait of Mary Gibbs, commissioner of Itasca State Park and the first woman in the U.S. to hold the position of park commissioner, 1903.
Black and white portrait of Mary Gibbs, commissioner of Itasca State Park and the first woman in the U.S. to hold the position of park commissioner, 1903.
Black and white photograph of T. & S. Meyer of Park Rapids building Douglas Lodge, 1904.
Black and white photograph of T. & S. Meyer of Park Rapids building Douglas Lodge, 1904.
Black and white photograph of Douglas Lodge, 1913.
Black and white photograph of Douglas Lodge, 1913.
Black and white photograph of a man with string of fish caught in Itasca Lake, c.1915.
Black and white photograph of a man with string of fish caught in Itasca Lake, c.1915.

Turning Point

Governor William Merriam signs the Itasca State Park bill on April 20, 1891, beginning the State of Minnesota’s involvement in land preservation.

Chronology

6000 BCE

Indigenous people inhabit northern Minnesota around Lake Itasca.

1200 CE

The Blackduck people establish a village on the northern shores of Lake Itasca.

1700s

Ojibwe groups move into northern Minnesota, where the Dakota already reside. The Dakota depart for the prairie to the south.

1803

President Thomas Jefferson negotiates the Louisiana Purchase with France. The sale includes land around Lake Itasca.

1832

The Ojibwe leader Ozaawindib brings Henry Schoolcraft to the Mississippi River’s source.

1888

Jacob Brower, John Lyendecker, and William Avery spend time in the Lake Itasca region, becoming captivated by the towering pines and rugged landscape.

1889

Brower and others survey the Itasca basin during the spring for the Minnesota Historical Society. Alfred J. Hill writes a letter to the St. Paul Dispatch that generates public awareness about Itasca.

1890

Joseph A. Wheelock writes a letter in the January 22 edition of the St. Paul Pioneer Press urging public support for establishing Itasca State Park.

March 2, 1891

Senator John B. Sanborn introduces an Itasca bill prepared by Brower. He meets opposition from senators who favor lumber interests.

April 20, 1891

Governor William Merriam signs the Itasca park bill after the House approves it. Initial park boundaries surround Lake Itasca seven miles north and south and five miles east and west.

May 4, 1891

Governor Merriam appoints Brower as the first commissioner of Itasca State Park, a position he holds for four years.

1892

Brower begins land negotiations with the federal government, railroads, and lumber companies.

August 3, 1892

The U.S. Congress approves the transfer of federally owned land within the Itasca State Park boundaries to Minnesota state control.

1895

Brower’s tenure as park commissioner ends.

1903

Mary Gibbs becomes park commissioner after the death of her father, commissioner John Gibbs. She holds the position for two-and-a-half confrontational months.

1905

Douglas Lodge becomes the first park building specifically constructed for overnight guests. It features a rustic-style design that blends into the environment.

1920

Commercial logging ends in Itasca, ushering in a new phase in park management.