Rosalie Raia,, age 12, of Bellevuep Neb., for her questions

Why are there so many lakes in Minnesota?

Imagine an icy glacier, one or two miles thick. Its hard fingers would claw into the soft earth and its heavy weight would tear the shoulders from hills and mountains. The region of Minnesota was once attacked by four such icy glaciers. These monstrous mountains of frozen snow came down from the north and receded during the bitter Ice Ages.

It was these glaciers that dug and clawed Minnesota's more than ten thousand lakes. As they retreated, they left the land rich and well watered. This region is also the cradle of three great river systems, the Mississippi, the Red River and the Minnesota. The state was named from the Minnesota river, an Indian name which means the sky tinted waters.