Itasca County is a county located in the U.S. state of Minnesota. It is named after Lake Itasca, which is in turn a shortened version the Latin words veritas caput, meaning true head, a reference to the source of the Mississippi River. As of 2000, the population was 43,992. Its county seat is Grand Rapids6. Portions of the Bois Forte and Leech Lake Indian reservations are in the county.
The county (originally much larger) was first formed in 1849, upon the creation of Minnesota Territory, from the Minnesota portion of La Pointe County, Wisconsin.
