Giacomo Beltrami

Giacomo Costantino Beltrami (1779 – January 6, 1855) was an Italian jurist, author, and explorer, known for claiming to have discovered the headwaters of the Mississippi River in 1823 while on a trip through much of the United States (later expeditions determined a different source). In Minnesota, Beltrami (in Polk County) and Beltrami County are named for him.^[1] He had an extensive network of notable figures for friends and acquaintances, including members of the powerful Medici family.