Where Two Rivers Meet

Where Two Rivers Meet. Main Street, Crow Wing — Self-Guiding Trail. , At this location two historic rivers come together. The Crow Wing River begins at Akeley, 90 miles to the north, and empties into the Mississippi River here. This confluence of the Crow Wing and Mississippi rivers is 320 river miles from the source, and 2,150 river miles from the mouth of the Mississippi River. The name comes from the Ojibwe, and means Great River. A close look at the opposite shore, or at a map, reveals that there are actually two mouths of the Crow Wing River., There is some argument as to the origin of the name Crow Wing, but most agree that the name of the river, historic village, county and state park, comes from the island formed as the river splits before emptying into the Mississippi. The island has the shape of a wing, and translations of early French accounts end up with the name Crow Wing., Rivers were the main transportation routes in ancient times. The confluence of these two rivers gave travelers access to the Mississippi River valley, the Lake Superior basin and the Red River valley., It is interesting to note that one historical account relays an Ojibwe name for this area, Neen-gi-tah-witi-gway-yang, as translating to The place of separation. This would make sense from the perspective of a river traveler heading north… or perhaps it has a deeper philosophical meaning.