Cass Lake (Minnesota)

Cass Lake
Canoe Tripping by Girl Scouts of Camp Cassaway on Cass Lake, Minnesota. 1962.
Location	Beltrami / Cass counties, Minnesota, United States
Coordinates	47°25′05″N 94°32′21″W / 47.4181°N 94.5392°W / 47.4181; -94.5392Coordinates: 47°25′05″N 94°32′21″W / 47.4181°N 94.5392°W / 47.4181; -94.5392
Primary inflows	Mississippi River / Turtle River / Pike Bay
Primary outflows	Mississippi River
Basin countries	United States
Surface area	15,958 acres (64.58 km2)
Max. depth	120 ft (37 m)
Surface elevation	1,301 ft (397 m)
Islands	Star Island, Potato Islands, Cedar Island, unnamed island
Settlements	Cass Lake

Cass Lake is a glacially-formed lake in north central Minnesota in the United States. It is approximately 10 mi (16 km) long and 7 mi (11 km) wide, located in Cass and Beltrami counties, within the Chippewa National Forest and the Leech Lake Indian Reservation, adjacent to its namesake city of Cass Lake. In the Ojibwe language, it is called Gaa-miskwaawaakokaag (where there are many red cedar), and was known to early explorers and traders in French as Lac du Cedre Rouge, and English as Red Cedar Lake. It is the 11th largest lake in Minnesota, and the 8th largest lake lying entirely within the borders of the state.

The lake contains five islands, including Star Island, Cedar Island, the two Potato Islands, and a small unnamed island. The Mississippi River flows through the lake from west to east. A second major stream, the Turtle River, enters the lake from the north. The lake has a large littoral area, particularly around Cedar Island. Star Island is notable in that it contains the 199 acres (0.81 km²)-sized Lake Windigo, thus forming "a lake within an island within a lake". [1].

In July 1820, an expedition led by General Lewis Cass visited the lake. They were prevented from traveling further upstream by low water, and so designated the lake as the headwaters of the Mississippi because below this point, the river is navigable throughout the ice-free season. In June 1832, Henry Schoolcraft, who had been a member of the 1820 expedition, designated the source of the river as being further upstream at Lake Itasca, the source of the perennial stream. Subsequent to the Cass Expedition of 1820, the lake was renamed Cass Lake in order to distinguish it from Red Cedar Lake (known today as Cedar Lake) in Aitkin County.