The Schoolcraft River is a tributary of the

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson Bay drainage system. From its traditional source of Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota, it fl ...

, approximately 30 mi (48 km) long, in northern

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...

in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

. Although short, it is considered as the first major tributary of the Mississippi, since it is the first river that joins the Mississippi below its source that is nearly the same size as the Mississippi itself. The river is named after

Henry Schoolcraft Henry Rowe Schoolcraft (March 28, 1793 – December 10, 1864) was an American geographer, geologist, and ethnologist, noted for his early studies of Native American cultures, as well as for his 1832 expedition to the source of the Mississippi R ...

, who mapped the region and discovered nearby

Lake Itasca Lake Itasca is a small glacial lake, approximately in area. Located in southeastern Clearwater County, in the Headwaters area of north central Minnesota, it is notable for being the headwater of the Mississippi River. The lake is in Itasca Sta ...

as the source of the Mississippi in 1831. Its name in the

Ojibwe The Ojibwe, Ojibwa, Chippewa, or Saulteaux are an Anishinaabe people in what is currently southern Canada, the northern Midwestern United States, and Northern Plains. According to the U.S. census, in the United States Ojibwe people are one of ...

language Language is a structured system of communication. The structure of a language is its grammar and the free components are its vocabulary. Languages are the primary means by which humans communicate, and may be conveyed through a variety of ...

is ''Ozaawindibe-ziibi'' (Yellow-head River), named after

Ozaawindib ''Ozaawindib'' ("Yellow Head" in English, recorded variously as Oza Windib, O-zaw-wen-dib, O-zaw-wan-dib, Ozawondib, etc.) (Ojibwe) was an early 19th century (fl. 1797-1832) male-bodied warrior. He had several husbands, at times wore attire typic ...

who guided Schoolcraft to the nearby ''Omashkoozo-zaaga'igan'' (Elk Lake), which Schoolcraft then named

. Prior to being named for these early explorers it had been called the "Naiwa River" It rises in Schoolcraft Lake, in central Hubbard County just south of Lake George. It flows NNE through Paul Bunyan State Forest and through Lake Plantagenet . It joins the Mississippi just south of

Bemidji Bemidji ( ) is a city and the county seat of Beltrami County, Minnesota, Beltrami County, in northern Minnesota, United States. The population was 14,574 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. According to 2021 census estimates, the city ...

, just before the Mississippi enters

Lake Bemidji Lake Bemidji is a small glacially-formed lake, approximately in area, in northern Minnesota in the United States. Located less than downstream from the source of the Mississippi River, it both receives and is drained by the Mississippi. Name L ...

. The river is a popular destination for recreational

canoe A canoe is a lightweight narrow water vessel, typically pointed at both ends and open on top, propelled by one or more seated or kneeling paddlers facing the direction of travel and using a single-bladed paddle. In British English, the ter ...

ing, and for recreation fishing of

walleye The walleye (''Sander vitreus'', synonym ''Stizostedion vitreum''), also called the yellow pike or yellow pickerel, is a freshwater perciform fish native to most of Canada and to the Northern United States. It is a North American close relat ...

References

{{authority control Rivers of Minnesota Tributaries of the Mississippi River Rivers of Hubbard County, Minnesota Rivers of Beltrami County, Minnesota

See also

References