The Schoolcraft River is a tributary of the Mississippi River

Mississippi River

The Mississippi River is the largest river system in North America. Flowing entirely in the United States, this river rises in western Minnesota and meanders slowly southwards for to the Mississippi River Delta at the Gulf of Mexico. With its many tributaries, the Mississippi's watershed drains...

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

Minnesota

Minnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...

 in the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. 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 Schoolcraft

Henry Rowe Schoolcraft was an American geographer, geologist, and ethnologist, noted for his early studies of Native American cultures, as well as for his 1832 discovery of the source of the Mississippi River. He married Jane Johnston, whose parents were Ojibwe and Scots-Irish...

, who mapped the region and discovered nearby Lake Itasca

Lake Itasca

Lake Itasca is a small glacial lake, approximately in area, in the Headwaters area of north central Minnesota. The lake is located in southeastern Clearwater County within Itasca State Park and it has an average depth of 20–35 feet , and is 1,475 ft above sea level.The Ojibwe name for...

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

Ojibwa

The Ojibwe or Chippewa are among the largest groups of Native Americans–First Nations north of Mexico. They are divided between Canada and the United States. In Canada, they are the third-largest population among First Nations, surpassed only by Cree and Inuit...

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

Ozaawindib

Ozaawindib was an Ojibwa warrior who lived in the early 19th century and was described as an egwakwe —what a modern Ojibwa would describe as a niizh manidoowag...

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

Lake Itasca

Lake Itasca is a small glacial lake, approximately in area, in the Headwaters area of north central Minnesota. The lake is located in southeastern Clearwater County within Itasca State Park and it has an average depth of 20–35 feet , and is 1,475 ft above sea level.The Ojibwe name for...

. Prior to being named for these early explorers it had been called the "Naiwa River"

It rises in Schoolcraft Lake, in central Hubbard County

Hubbard County, Minnesota

As of the census of 2000, there were 18,376 people, 7,435 households, and 5,345 families residing in the county. The population density was 20 people per square mile . There were 12,229 housing units at an average density of 13 per square mile...

 just south of Lake George

Lake George, Minnesota

Lake George is an unincorporated community in Hubbard County, Minnesota, United States. Lake George is located along U.S. Route 71 and Minnesota State Highway 200 west of Laporte. Lake George has a post office with ZIP code 56458....

. It flows NNE through Paul Bunyan State Forest

Paul Bunyan State Forest

The Paul Bunyan State Forest is a state forest located in Hubbard and Cass counties in Minnesota. The forest borders the Chippewa National Forest and the Welsh Lake State Forest to the east, and the Mississippi Headwaters State Forest to the northwest...

  and through Plantagenet Lake . It joins the Mississippi just south of Bemidji

Bemidji, Minnesota

Bemidji is a city in Beltrami County, Minnesota, United States. Its population was at 13,431 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Beltrami County. Bemidji is the most major city in North Central Minnesota and the largest commercial center between Grand Forks, North Dakota and Duluth,...

, just before the Mississippi enters Lake Bemidji

Lake Bemidji

Lake Bemidji is a small glacially-formed lake, approximately 11 mi² in area, in northern Minnesota in the United States. Located less than 50 mi downstream from the source of the Mississippi River, it both receives and is drained by the Mississippi.-Geography:The lake is located in southern...

.

The river is a popular destination for recreational canoe

Canoe

A canoe or Canadian canoe is a small narrow boat, typically human-powered, though it may also be powered by sails or small electric or gas motors. Canoes are usually pointed at both bow and stern and are normally open on top, but can be decked over A canoe (North American English) or Canadian...

ing, and for recreation fishing of walleye

Walleye

Walleye is a freshwater perciform fish native to most of Canada and to the northern United States. It is a North American close relative of the European pikeperch...

.