Finally, the Lower Mississippi runs from the junction with the Ohio River to the mouth of the river in the Mississippi River Delta. [36] Although it is the fifth-largest river in the world by volume, this flow is a small fraction of the output of the Amazon, which moves nearly 7 million cubic feet per second (200,000 m3/s) during wet seasons. The head of navigation on the Mississippi is the Coon Rapids Dam in Coon Rapids, Minnesota. It spanned the river between the Rock Island Arsenal in Illinois and Davenport, Iowa. Lake Itasca, MN 4K video. As a result, the image of the twin stacked, wedding cake Mississippi steamer entered into American mythology. [19] The river served first as a barrier, forming borders for New Spain, New France, and the early United States, and then as a vital transportation artery and communications link. The remains of wooden-hulled water craft were exposed in an area of 4.5 acres (1.8 ha) on the bottom of the Mississippi River at West Memphis, Arkansas. 2019: Dec 28, 2018 through Aug 10 2019: The longest known flood of record on the lower Mississippi River! They dated to the late 19th to early 20th centuries. [62], Approximately 50,000 years ago, the Central United States was covered by an inland sea, which was drained by the Mississippi and its tributaries into the Gulf of Mexico—creating large floodplains and extending the continent further to the south in the process. [citation needed], At its source at Lake Itasca, the Mississippi River is about 3 feet (0.91 m) deep. The southernmost extent of this enormous glaciation extended well into the present-day United States and Mississippi basin. Measurements of the length of the Mississippi from Lake Itasca to the Gulf of Mexico vary somewhat, but the United States Geological Survey's number is 2,320 miles (3,730 km). [74][75][76], On May 8, 1541, Spanish explorer Hernando de Soto became the first recorded European to reach the Mississippi River, which he called Río del Espíritu Santo ("River of the Holy Spirit"), in the area of what is now Mississippi. The … Below is a general overview of selected Mississippi bridges that have notable engineering or landmark significance, with their cities or locations. The origin of the dramatic drop is a waterfall preserved adjacent to the lock under an apron of concrete. From its headwaters at Mackavoy Lake to its confluence at the Ottawa River near Fitzroy Harbour, the river drops 200 metres (660 ft) in elevation. The scenic route passes through 10 states and hundreds of river towns. [47][48] In various areas, the river has since shifted, but the state borders have not changed, still following the former bed of the Mississippi River as of their establishment, leaving several small isolated areas of one state across the new river channel, contiguous with the adjacent state. In 2005, the Source to Sea Expedition[88] paddled the Mississippi and Atchafalaya Rivers to benefit the Audubon Society's Upper Mississippi River Campaign. They are sequenced from the Upper Mississippi's source to the Lower Mississippi's mouth. The second-longest river in the U.S. and the fourth longest in the world, the Mississippi River gets its start at Lake Itasca and flows through nine other states, all the way to the Gulf of Mexico. Several important tributaries join the Mississippi in the upper section such as the St. Croix River, the Cannon River, the Iowa River, and the Crow River. These images demonstrate that the plume did not mix with the surrounding sea water immediately. Britain then divided the territory into East and West Florida. The Arapaho name for the river is Beesniicíe. Lake Pepin, a natural lake formed behind the delta of the Chippewa River of Wisconsin as it enters the Upper Mississippi, is more than 2 miles (3.2 km) wide. The Upper Mississippi was treacherous, unpredictable and to make traveling worse, the area was not properly mapped out or surveyed. Smith, Thomas Ruys. [73], The Mississippi was spelled Mississipi or Missisipi during French Louisiana and was also known as the Rivière Saint-Louis. Before 1900, the Mississippi River transported an estimated 440 million short tons (400 million metric tons) of sediment per year from the interior of the United States to coastal Louisiana and the Gulf of Mexico. The height of these bluffs decreases to the south of Dubuque, though they are still significant through Savanna, Illinois. Over geologic time, the Mississippi River has experienced numerous large and small changes to its main course, as well as additions, deletions, and other changes among its numerous tributaries, and the lower Mississippi River has used different pathways as its main channel to the Gulf of Mexico across the delta region. The Union victory ending the Siege of Vicksburg on July 4, 1863, was pivotal to the Union's final victory of the Civil War. The Missouri River, a tributary of the Mississippi River, is about 100 miles longer. The structure was nearly lost during the 1973 flood, but repairs and improvements were made after engineers studied the forces at play. The deepest part of the river is in New Orleans, where it reaches 200 feet (61 m) deep.[45][46]. Two portions of the Mississippi were designated as American Heritage Rivers in 1997: the lower portion around Louisiana and Tennessee, and the upper portion around Iowa, Illinois, Minnesota, Missouri and Wisconsin. The long journey of the Mississippi River ends in Louisiana. The dams make the river deeper and wider but do not stop it. The full version, including a passage from the then unfinished Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and works from other authors, was published by James R. Osgood & Company in 1885. The sport of water skiing was invented on the river in a wide region between Minnesota and Wisconsin known as Lake Pepin. The Middle Mississippi is relatively free-flowing. The lake encompasses an area of about 1.8 square miles in the Itasca State Park. This area is still quite active seismically. The upper section of the Mississippi River is divided into two parts. The Mississippi River is known as the Middle Mississippi from the Upper Mississippi River's confluence with the Missouri River at St. Louis, Missouri, for 190 miles (310 km) to its confluence with the Ohio River at Cairo, Illinois.[26][27]. Milner, George R. "The late prehistoric Cahokia cultural system of the Mississippi River valley: Foundations, florescence, and fragmentation. Beginning just below Saint Paul, Minnesota, and continuing throughout the upper and lower river, the Mississippi is further controlled by thousands of Wing Dikes that moderate the river's flow in order to maintain an open navigation channel and prevent the river from eroding its banks. Below the dam, the river's elevation is 750 feet (230 m). Two weeks after the bridge opened, the steamboat Effie Afton rammed part of the bridge, setting it on fire. The Great River Road is arguably the longest and most important scenic byway in America. Taken as a whole, these 43 dams significantly shape the geography and influence the ecology of the upper river. [21] The FCC also uses it as the dividing line for broadcast call-signs, which begin with W to the east and K to the west, mixing together in media markets along the river. The Mississippi River begins at Lake Itasca in the state of Minnesota. The Mississippi River starts at Lake Itasca clear and clean, and pretty much stays that way as it winds through northern Minnesota's forests and wetlands. This triggered a dispute between Spain and the U.S. on which parts of West Florida Spain had ceded to France in the first place, which would, in turn, decide which parts of West Florida the U.S. had bought from France in the Louisiana Purchase, versus which were unceded Spanish property. 7, near La Crosse, Wisconsin, is more than 4 miles (6.4 km) wide. At 2,350 miles long, it is the third-longest river in North America. Some experts blame urban sprawl for increases in both the risk and frequency of flooding on the Mississippi River. The canal opened in 1877, but the Rock Island Rapids remained an obstacle. Among the fish species in the basin are numerous endemics, as well as relicts such as paddlefish, sturgeon, gar and bowfin. Lock and Dam No. The Hennepin Canal roughly follows the ancient channel of the Mississippi downstream from Rock Island to Hennepin, Illinois. If playback doesn't begin shortly, try restarting your device. Roseman, Curtis C., and Elizabeth M. Roseman. Without considering the tributary Jefferson and Missouri Rivers, the Mississippi begins in northern Minnesota at Lake Itasca. The remaining major Confederate stronghold was on the heights overlooking the river at Vicksburg, Mississippi, and the Union's Vicksburg Campaign (December 1862 to July 1863), and the fall of Port Hudson, completed control of the lower Mississippi River. During the melt, giant glacial rivers found drainage paths into the Mississippi watershed, creating such features as the Minnesota River, James River, and Milk River valleys. Also, due to a meander in the river, a small part of western Kentucky is contiguous with Tennessee, but isolated from the rest of its state. However, in 1800, under duress from Napoleon of France, Spain ceded an undefined portion of West Florida to France in the secret Treaty of San Ildefonso. The Cheyenne, one of the earliest inhabitants of the upper Mississippi River, called it the Máʼxe-éʼometaaʼe (Big Greasy River) in the Cheyenne language. 092 ; 1 : 4.830.000 environ]. Perhaps the most storied of the 10 Mississippi River states, a trip along Louisiana’s segment of the Great River Road is an unforgettable trip. The Rivers and Harbors Act of 1930 authorized the 9-foot (2.7 m) channel project, which called for a navigation channel 9 feet (2.7 m) feet deep and 400 feet (120 m) wide to accommodate multiple-barge tows. A series of 29 locks and dams on the upper Mississippi, most of which were built in the 1930s, is designed primarily to maintain a 9-foot-deep (2.7 m) channel for commercial barge traffic. [102], Because of its size and high species diversity, the Mississippi basin is often divided into subregions. The Mississippi River Basin Drains 31 states and travels through 10 states in the Country. The original Lock and Dam 26 was demolished. Capital: St. Paul. Many of the communities along the Mississippi River are listed below; most have either historic significance or cultural lore connecting them to the river. [100] Diversion of the Mississippi's main channel through Lake Pontchartrain would have consequences similar to an Atchafalaya diversion, but to a lesser extent, since the present river channel would remain in use past Baton Rouge and into the New Orleans area. The Mississippi River begins as a trickle flowing out of Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota. We'll start at the headwaters near Big Stone Lake (1) and continue on to the confluence with the Mississippi River near St. Paul, Minnesota (11). A major flood in 1881 caused it to overtake the lower 10 miles (16 km) of the Kaskaskia River, forming a new Mississippi channel and cutting off the town from the rest of the state. If this facility were to fail during a major flood, there is a strong concern the water would scour and erode the river bottom enough to capture the Mississippi's main channel. Wisconsin Great River Road, Mississippi River, and bluffs. Today, the remaining 2,300 acres (930 ha) island and community of 14 residents is known as an enclave of Illinois and is accessible only from the Missouri side.[43]. The river was a vital source of water for daily use and also for cultivation. From St. Louis to the Ohio River confluence, the Middle Mississippi falls 220 feet (67 m) over 180 miles (290 km) for an average rate of 1.2 feet per mile (23 cm/km). Article 8 of the Treaty of Paris (1783) states, "The navigation of the river Mississippi, from its source to the ocean, shall forever remain free and open to the subjects of Great Britain and the citizens of the United States". The Start of the Mississippi River in Lake Itasca in Northern Minnesota where the Mississippi is born and cut through the center of the Country. The Missouri River will travel more than 2,300 miles before it joins the Mississippi in its namesake state at St. Louis, forming the world’s fourth longest river system as it rolls south to the Gulf of Mexico.Considered the “Center of Life” for the Great Plains, the Missouri has served as t… Until the 1840s only two trips a year to the Twin Cities landings were made by steamboats which suggests it was not very profitable.[82]. It is located in the Itasca National Park and is 450 m (1,475 ft) above sea level. Steamboat captains of the day, fearful of competition from the railroads, considered the new bridge a hazard to navigation. [79] This both accelerated the development, and forever changed the ecology of the Mississippi Valley and the Great Lakes. A period of more isolated communities followed, and agriculture introduced from Mesoamerica based on the Three Sisters (maize, beans and squash) gradually came to dominate. From St. Paul to St. Louis, Missouri, the river elevation falls much more slowly, and is controlled and managed as a series of pools created by 26 locks and dams.[25]. One of the unique features of this section of the river is that it gradually loses its elevation throughout its course which is approximately 180 miles. In all of these cases, the middle of the riverbed at the time the borders were established was used as the line to define the borders between adjacent states. Then, around 500 years ago, the Mississippi meandered into the Red River and overwhelmed it. This occurs because the deposits of silt and sediment begin to clog its channel, raising the river's level and causing it to eventually find a steeper, more direct route to the Gulf of Mexico. River of Dreams : Imagining The Mississippi Before Mark Twain. The remaining 29 dams, beginning in downtown Minneapolis, all contain locks and were constructed to improve commercial navigation of the upper river. This 49-foot (15 m) drop is the largest of all the Mississippi River locks and dams. In the United States, the Mississippi River drains the majority of the area between the crest of the Rocky Mountains and the crest of the Appalachian Mountains, except for various regions drained to Hudson Bay by the Red River of the North; to the Atlantic Ocean by the Great Lakes and the Saint Lawrence River; and to the Gulf of Mexico by the Rio Grande, the Alabama and Tombigbee rivers, the Chattahoochee and Appalachicola rivers, and various smaller coastal waterways along the Gulf. In modern times, the Mississippi River has also played a vital role in the lives of communities around the river. The Mississippi River water rounded the tip of Florida and traveled up the southeast coast to the latitude of Georgia before finally mixing in so thoroughly with the ocean that it could no longer be detected by MODIS. Instead, it stayed intact as it flowed through the Gulf of Mexico, into the Straits of Florida, and entered the Gulf Stream. Ice sheets during the Illinoian Stage, about 300,000 to 132,000 years before present, blocked the Mississippi near Rock Island, Illinois, diverting it to its present channel farther to the west, the current western border of Illinois. The Mississippi is also distinct since it provides habitat to more than 300 different species of fish. Where Does The Mississippi River Begin? Marquette proposed calling it the River of the Immaculate Conception. Steamboat transport remained a viable industry, both in terms of passengers and freight until the end of the first decade of the 20th century. Beginning in the 1970s, the Corps applied hydrological transport models to analyze flood flow and water quality of the Mississippi. Since the 20th century, the Mississippi River has also experienced major pollution and environmental problems – most notably elevated nutrient and chemical levels from agricultural runoff, the primary contributor to the Gulf of Mexico dead zone. All maps, graphics, flags, photos and original descriptions © 2020 worldatlas.com. Among the several Mississippi River system steamboat companies was the noted Anchor Line, which, from 1859 to 1898, operated a luxurious fleet of steamers between St. Louis and New Orleans. Is the Mississippi a ribbon of water in a ditch that starts at Minnesota’s Lake Itasca and ends at the Gulf of Mexico? The last serious European challenge to U.S. control of the river came at the conclusion of War of 1812 when British forces mounted an attack on New Orleans – the attack was repulsed by an American army under the command of General Andrew Jackson. [50] No highway or railroad tunnels cross under the Mississippi River. When measured from its longest stream source (most distant source from the sea), Brower's Spring in Montana, the source of the Missouri River, it has a length of 3,710 miles (5,970 km), making it the fourth longest river in the world after the Nile, Amazon, and Yangtze. The Mississippi River originates as a tiny outlet stream from Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota. He later performed the first water ski jump in 1925 and was pulled along at 80 mph (130 km/h) by a Curtiss flying boat later that year.[101]. In this region, 14 dams were constructed to regulate the amount of water flowing within the river's banks. In 1848, the Illinois and Michigan Canal was built to connect the Mississippi River to Lake Michigan via the Illinois River near Peru, Illinois. [42], The town of Kaskaskia, Illinois once stood on a peninsula at the confluence of the Mississippi and Kaskaskia (Okaw) Rivers. Formed from thick layers of the river's silt deposits, the Mississippi embayment is one of the most fertile regions of the United States; steamboats were widely used in the 19th and early 20th centuries to ship agricultural and industrial goods. ", "Dr. Jeff Masters' WunderBlog : Mississippi River sets all-time flood records; 2nd major spillway opens : Weather Underground", "Floods are a reminder of the Mississippi River's power: John Barry", "Morganza ready for flood | The Advertiser", "Mississippi River flooding in New Orleans area could be massive if Morganza spillway stays closed", "McPhee, The Control of Nature: Atchafalaya", "Invasive Asian carp less than 50 miles from Lake Michigan", Flood management in the Mississippi River, Mississippi River Challenge – annual canoe & kayak event on the Twin Cities stretch, Drafting and ratification of Constitution, Office of the Director of National Intelligence, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Mississippi_River&oldid=995048735, Articles with dead external links from June 2016, Wikipedia indefinitely semi-protected pages, Short description is different from Wikidata, Articles with text in Algonquian languages, Articles with unsourced statements from September 2020, Articles with unsourced statements from January 2018, Articles with unsourced statements from June 2017, Wikipedia articles with SELIBR identifiers, Wikipedia articles with WORLDCATID identifiers, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, The headwaters, 493 miles (793 km) from the source to. The Rock Island Rapids were between Rock Island and Moline, Illinois. Following ongoing U.S. colonization creating facts on the ground, and U.S. military actions, Spain ceded both West Florida and East Florida in their entirety to the United States in the Adams–Onís Treaty of 1819. The water elevation continues to drop steeply as it passes through the gorge carved by the waterfall. The Upper Mississippi River is joined by the Minnesota River at Fort Snelling in the Twin Cities; the St. Croix River near Prescott, Wisconsin; the Cannon River near Red Wing, Minnesota; the Zumbro River at Wabasha, Minnesota; the Black, La Crosse, and Root rivers in La Crosse, Wisconsin; the Wisconsin River at Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin; the Rock River at the Quad Cities; the Iowa River near Wapello, Iowa; the Skunk River south of Burlington, Iowa; and the Des Moines River at Keokuk, Iowa. The Mississippi river starts at Lake Itasca, in the central north of Minnesota. The "Big Freeze" of 1918–19 blocked river traffic north of Memphis, Tennessee, preventing transportation of coal from southern Illinois. The Drive It […] "River", Southband Pawnee", "Carte de la Louisiane, cours du Mississipi et pais voisins... / par Nicolas Bellin... ; Dheulland sculpsit", "Carte de la Louisiane et du cours du Mississipi. In 1862 Union forces coming down the river successfully cleared Confederate defenses at Island Number 10 and Memphis, Tennessee, while Naval forces coming upriver from the Gulf of Mexico captured New Orleans, Louisiana. The main structures are the Birds Point-New Madrid Floodway in Missouri; the Old River Control Structure and the Morganza Spillway in Louisiana, which direct excess water down the west and east sides (respectively) of the Atchafalaya River; and the Bonnet Carré Spillway, also in Louisiana, which directs floodwaters to Lake Pontchartrain (see diagram). The assessment noted the aging navigation and flood control infrastructure along with multiple environmental problems. Since this event was an avulsion, rather than the effect of incremental erosion and deposition, the state line still follows the old channel. in area. A clear channel is needed for the barges and other vessels that make the main stem Mississippi one of the great commercial waterways of the world. The Mississippi is referred to as the Lower Mississippi for nearly a thousand miles from Illinois to the Gulf of Mexico. By Joyce Chepkemoi on November 13 2018 in Environment. Spain also ceded Florida to Britain to regain Cuba, which the British occupied during the war. [52] Earlier projects began as early as 1829 to remove snags, close off secondary channels and excavate rocks and sandbars. The Mississippi River is narrowest at its headwaters— between 20 and 30 feet (6 to 9 meters), accordin… Among the introductions are fish such as Asian carp, including the silver carp that have become infamous for outcompeting native fish and their potentially dangerous jumping behavior. The Mississippi was completely changed by the steamboat era as it transformed into a flourishing tourist trade.[83]. In 1907, Congress authorized a 6-foot-deep (1.8 m) channel project on the Mississippi River, which was not complete when it was abandoned in the late 1920s in favor of the 9-foot-deep (2.7 m) channel project. On average, the Mississippi has only 8% the flow of the Amazon River.[37]. In the 18th century, the river was the primary western boundary of the young United States, and since the country's expansion westward, the Mississippi River has been widely considered a convenient if approximate dividing line between the Eastern, Southern, and Midwestern United States, and the Western United States. The Corps now actively creates and maintains spillways and floodways to divert periodic water surges into backwater channels and lakes, as well as route part of the Mississippi's flow into the Atchafalaya Basin and from there to the Gulf of Mexico, bypassing Baton Rouge and New Orleans. The road crossing highest on the Upper Mississippi is a simple steel culvert, through which the river (locally named "Nicolet Creek") flows north from Lake Nicolet under "Wilderness Road" to the West Arm of Lake Itasca, within Itasca State Park.[49]. Marquette traveled with a Sioux Indian who named it Ne Tongo ("Big river" in Sioux language) in 1673. 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