In 1832 Henry Rowe Schoolcraft and his native guides
identified Lake Itasca as the headwaters of the Mississippi River. Joseph Nicollet
and his native guides came along in 1836 to map the upper Mississippi and all
the land it drained. Both journeys were troubled by mosquitoes.
Nicollet talks about one particular night in his journals: “Here we were assailed by swarms of mosquitoes,
that came upon us in torrents, causing me to extinguish the light of my
lanterns 3 times whilst I was making my astronomical observations.”
The next morning they were up at 4:30 but slow to depart. “The
night having been very hot and the mosquitoes troublesome, we were exceedingly
overcome, and consequently slow in getting our loads ready”.
Nicollet's map was used for the next 50+ years as the definitive guide to the upper Mississippi. You can look at and zoom Nicollet's beautiful map here.
Nicollet's map was used for the next 50+ years as the definitive guide to the upper Mississippi. You can look at and zoom Nicollet's beautiful map here.
While my adventures are much more modest, I also encountered
the exceedingly troublesome torrents of mosquitoes on my walk in the deep woods
over the weekend. By the middle of June it’s best to leave the bush to
the king of the forest, the lowly mosquito. I’ll be back later.
