Note 16 — Historical Introduction.

The white man’s name, “The Father of Waters,” applied to this river, is a rather grandiloquent paraphrase of the Indian’s “All Water,” but seems to apply only to one feature of its greatness—viz., its size. The Indian name, however, compounded of Missi, whole, and sipi, river, more nearly describes its collective character, as the great irrigating system of this vast region, receiving many tributaries, both great and small.