The romantic 19th century quest for the source of the Mississippi River brought many explorers, including Zebulon Pike, Lewis Cass, and Giacomo Beltrami, to northern Minnesota. The search ended in 1832 when Ojibwe chief Ozawindib guided Henry Rowe Schoolcraft to Lake Itasca. Sent by the United States government to help negotiate a treaty between the Dakota and Ojibwe, Schoolcraft used the opportunity to explore the Mississippi's headwaters area. His expedition of 30 left Sault Ste. Marie in early June and traveled by way of the St. Louis River and Savanna Portage to Sandy Lake, then up the Mississippi to Cass Lake. From there Ozawindib guided them to Lake Bemidji and up the Schoolcraft River, and over a portage to the river's source. After hardships from mosquitoes and knee-deep muddy portages, the party first glimpsed the lake on July 13. Indians and traders had known it as Omushkos or Lac la Biche, both meaning Elk Lake, but Schoolcraft renamed it Itasca from the Latin words veritas and caput, meaning truth and head. Beyond identifying the long-sought source, the Schoolcraft expedition collected valuable scientific information, inspected fur posts, vaccinated 2,000 Ojibwe against smallpox, and achieved an intertribal peace treaty.