A vast number of pine logs are annually
floated down the river and sawed into lumber at the Anoka mills. The
settlers are principally from Maine. By the treaty of 22d February,
1855, with three bands of the Chippewa Indians, an appropriation of
$5000 was set apart for the construction of a road from the mouth of
Rum river to Mille Lac. The road is half completed.
We took an early dinner at Itasca, having come thirty-two miles.
Itasca is quite an unassuming place, and not so pretty as its name.
But I shall always cherish a good-will for the spot, inasmuch as I got
a first-rate dinner there. It was all put upon the table before we sat
down, so that each one could help himself; and as it consisted of very
palatable edibles, each one did help himself quite liberally. We
started on soon afterwards, with a new driver and the third set of
horses; but with the disagreeable consciousness that we had still
before us the largest part of the day's journey. In about three hours
we came to Big Lake, or, as it is sometimes called, Humboldt. The lake
is anything but a big lake, being the size of a common New England
pond.
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