The word Mississippi itself comes from , the French rendering of the Anishinaabe (Ojibwe or Algonquin) name for the river, (Great River). 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. This is exemplified by the Gateway Arch in St. Louis and the phrase "Trans-Mississippi" as used in the name of the Trans-Mississippi Exposition. It is common to qualify a regionally superlative landmark in relation to it, such as "the highest peak east of the Mississippi" or "the oldest city west of the Mississippi".
Name and significance
Mississippi River
Mississippi River | Name and significance
The word Mississippi itself comes from , the French rendering of the Anishinaabe (Ojibwe or Algonquin) name for the river. The word itself comes from the French rendering of the Anishinaabe name for the river, (Great River). It is common to qualify a regionally superlative landmark in relation to it, such as "the highest peak east of the Mississippi" or "the oldest city west of the Mississippi". It comes from the French rendering of the Anishinaabe (Ojibwe or Algonquin).
when was the last time a hurricane hit tampa bay area
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1921
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which areas did it effected?
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Cuba, Pasco County, Manatee County and Sarasota County.
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who ruled the first place?
user
Communist Party of Cuba
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which ethnic groups immigrated here?
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Afro-Cubans
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what is one of the principles of its communist party?
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It entails democratic and open discussion of policy issues within the party, followed by the requirement of total unity in upholding the agreed policies.
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when was it founded?
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3 October 1965
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what arrangements were made before the 1921 hurricane?
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Storm warnings were issued eastward from mouth of the Mississippi River and along the east coast of Florida.
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which states surround borders the river you just mentioned?
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States of Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, Illinois, Missouri and Kentucky.
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what is the significance of its name?
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The word Mississippi itself comes from , the French rendering of the Anishinaabe (Ojibwe or Algonquin) name for the river, (Great River). 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. This is exemplified by the Gateway Arch in St. Louis and the phrase "Trans-Mississippi" as used in the name of the Trans-Mississippi Exposition. It is common to qualify a regionally superlative landmark in relation to it, such as "the highest peak east of the Mississippi" or "the oldest city west of the Mississippi".
Mississippi River | Name and significance
The state's name is derived from the Mississippi River, which flows along and defines its western boundary. European-American settlers named it after the Ojibwe word "misi-ziibi" ().
Mississippi | Etymology
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.
Mississippi River | Name and significance
The Mississippi River runs through or along 10 states, from Minnesota to Louisiana, and is used to define portions of these states borders, with Wisconsin, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Mississippi along the east side of the river, and Iowa, Missouri, and Arkansas along its west side. Substantial parts of both Minnesota and Louisiana are on either side of the river, although the Mississippi defines part of the boundary of each of these states. 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.
Mississippi River | State boundaries
The Mississippi ranks as the fourth-longest river and fifteenth-largest river by discharge in the world. The river either borders or passes through the states of Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, Illinois, Missouri, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Mississippi, and Louisiana. Native Americans have lived along the Mississippi River and its tributaries for thousands of years. Most were hunter-gatherers, but some, such as the Mound Builders, formed prolific agricultural and urban civilisations. The arrival of Europeans in the 16th century changed the native way of life as first explorers, then settlers, ventured into the basin in increasing numbers. 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.
Mississippi River | Introduction
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. 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.
Mississippi River | State boundaries
The river is believed to be a candidate for the "River Jeffreon" that was referenced in the 1804 Treaty of St. Louis presided over by William Henry Harrison with the Sac and Fox. Zebulon Pike identified this river as the Jeffreon in his August 19 journal entry with the spelling "Jauflione", although no distinction other than "The Jauflione is about 30 yards wide at its mouth, and bears from the Mississippi about S.W." serves to distinguish it from the nearby Fabius Rivers or South River. The island across the Mississippi River from the outlet of these tributary rivers is labeled "Jeffreon" on Pike's map.
North River (Missouri) | History of name
Many of the communities along the Mississippi River are listed below; most have either historic significance or cultural lore connecting them to the river. They are sequenced from the source of the river to its end.
Mississippi River | Communities along the river
The River Jeffreon marked the northern border of Sac and Fox land ceded in Missouri (extending north from the mouth of the Gasconade River on the Missouri River and then down the river to the Mississippi. In the same treaty the tribes ceded much of northern Illinois and southern Wisconsin on the east side of the Mississippi. Several legal cases stemming from the 1804 treaty have identified North River as the River Jeffreon. It derived its current name from its position relative to Palmyra, Missouri. The North River flows north of that town and the South River flows south of it, with the outlets into the Mississippi being shared at times in the past and still within of each other.
North River (Missouri) | History of name
The state is named for the Missouri River, which was named after the indigenous Missouri Indians, a Siouan-language tribe. It is said they were called the "ouemessourita" ("wimihsoorita"), meaning "those who have dugout canoes", by the Miami-Illinois language speakers. This appears to be folk etymology—the Illinois spoke an Algonquian language and the closest approximation that can be made in that of their close neighbors, the Ojibwe, is ""You Ought to Go Downriver & Visit Those People."" This would be an odd occurrence, as the French who first explored and attempted to settle the Mississippi River usually got their translations during that time fairly accurate, often giving things French names that were exact translations of the native tongue(s).
Missouri | Etymology and pronunciation
See also List of rivers of Mississippi.
List of longest rivers in the United States by state | <a href="Mississippi">Mississippi</a>
The origin of the river's name is something of a mystery; although its current spelling may be derived from that of its much larger American cousin, it is most certainly a corruption of a different native name, as the translation 'great water' would not apply to a relatively minor tributary of the Ottawa, definitely the largest river in the area. Instead, the name may originate from ""Mazinaa[bikinigan]-ziibi"", Algonquian for '[painted] image river', referring to the pictographs found on Mazinaw Lake, though this is by no means proven.
Mississippi River (Ontario) | Etymology
USS "Mississippi", named either for the state of Mississippi or the Mississippi River, may refer to:
USS Mississippi | Introduction
Several docks for barges exist along the river. Farm grains, including corn, are transported to the ports of Minneapolis and Saint Paul, and then shipped down the Mississippi River.
Minnesota River | Commercial significance
The Upper Mississippi from below St. Anthony Falls (Minneapolis, Minnesota) downstream to St. Paul, Minnesota is a gorge with high limestone bluffs carved by the waterfall. Upstream of the waterfall the land slopes gently to rivers edge. Downstream of downtown St. Paul the river enters its wide preglacial valley. The states of Minnesota, Wisconsin and Iowa, along with the federal government, have preserved certain areas of the land along this reach of the river. There are three National Park Service sites along the Upper Mississippi River. The Mississippi National River and Recreation Area is the National Park Service site dedicated to protecting and interpreting the Mississippi River itself.
Upper Mississippi River | Characteristics
On "" (1718) by Guillaume Delisle and on "A Map of North America " (1768) by John Blair, the St. Croix River—more specifically what was then known as the east branch of the St. Croix River (known today as the Namekagon River)—is shown as the "Ouasisacadeba", a French representation of the Dakota name for the St. Croix River. On the 1778 Mitchell Map, the river is simply titled "Ouadeba", which represents the Dakota "watpá" meaning "river".
St. Croix River (Wisconsin–Minnesota) | Naming
The Tippecanoe River, White River, Embarras River and Little Wabash River are major tributaries. The river's name comes from a Miami Indian word meaning "water over white stones". The Wabash is the state river of Indiana, and subject of the state song "On the Banks of the Wabash, Far Away" by Paul Dresser. Two counties (in Indiana and Illinois), eight townships in Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio; one Illinois precinct, one city, one town, two colleges, one high school, one canal, one former class I railroad, several bridges and avenues are all named for the river itself while four US Navy warships are either named for the river or the numerous battles that took place on or near it.
Wabash River | Introduction
The river system has always played a pivotal role in the lives of those who inhabit the surrounding area. Several different Native American groups lived in the surrounding area, including the Ojibwa, Winnebago, Fox and Choctaw Indians. The abundance of resources and overall size attracted these individuals to settle near the water. They named the Mississippi River. It was used for assisting with agriculture, gathering fish, and trading with others. The majority of natives to the river area were hunters and gatherers. The largest users of the rivers were the civilization today referred to as the Mound Builders, which created major farming settlements along the rivers.
Mississippi River System | Historical use
The Yazoo River was named by French explorer La Salle in 1682 as "Rivière des Yazous" in reference to the Yazoo tribe living near the river's mouth at its confluence with the Mississippi. The exact meaning of the term is unclear. One long held belief is that it means "river of death". The river is 188 miles (303 km) long and is formed by the confluence of the Tallahatchie and the Yalobusha rivers, where present-day Greenwood developed. The river parallels the Mississippi River in the latter's floodplain for some distance before joining it north of Vicksburg, Mississippi. Natural levees which flank the Mississippi prevent the Yazoo from joining it before Vicksburg.
Yazoo River | History
The name Minnesota comes from the Dakota language phrase, "Mnisota Makoce" which is translated to "land where the waters reflect the sky", as a reference to the many lakes in Minnesota rather than the cloudiness of the actual river. For over a century prior to the organization of the Minnesota Territory in 1849, the name St. Pierre (St. Peter) had been generally applied to the river by French and English explorers and writers. Minnesota River is shown on the 1757 edition of Mitchell Map as "Ouadebameniſsouté ["Watpá Mnísota"] or R. St. Peter". On June 19, 1852, acting upon a request from the Minnesota territorial legislature, the United States Congress decreed the aboriginal name for the river, Minnesota, to be the river’s official name and ordered all agencies of the federal government to use that name when referencing it.
Minnesota River | Introduction
It passes under Route 61 and meanders to the southeast to enter the Mississippi just north of La Grange. The confluence with the Mississippi is at at an elevation of 472 feet. Wyaconda is a name derived from the Dakota language meaning "sacred power".
Wyaconda River | Introduction
The three rivers, west to east, were named by Meriwether Lewis in late July 1805 for President Thomas Jefferson, Secretary of State James Madison, and Treasury Secretary Albert Gallatin which was in the times the genesis of a mild controversy and eventually spawned a modern-day geographical controversyin both cases regarding length comparisons between the Missouri and Mississippi rivers. Today the two confluences are incorporated inside Missouri Headwaters State Park, which is also a U.S. National Historic Landmark. The Lewis and Clark expedition visited the site on July 28, 1805. Meriwether Lewis in his journal entry wrote: One consequence of their decision to designate, map and name the Jeffersonthe largest as a separate tributary river, is that today the Mississippi river can arguably be called longer than the Missouri river because extensive re-channelization of the streambed for hydroelectric power projects has shortened the river while the Mississippi Delta has grown lengthening the rival river.
Three Forks, Montana | History
According to the Geographic Names Information System, the Leaf River has also been known as:
Leaf River (Mississippi) | Variant names
In March 1876, the Mississippi suddenly changed course near the settlement of Reverie, Tennessee, leaving a small part of Tipton County, Tennessee, attached to Arkansas and separated from the rest of Tennessee by the new river channel. Since this event was an avulsion, rather than the effect of incremental erosion and deposition, the state line still follows the old channel. The town of Kaskaskia, Illinois once stood on a peninsula at the confluence of the Mississippi and Kaskaskia (Okaw) Rivers. Founded as a French colonial community, it later became the capital of the Illinois Territory and was the first state capital of Illinois until 1819.
Mississippi River | Historic course changes
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 to its confluence with the Ohio River at Cairo, Illinois. The Middle Mississippi is relatively free-flowing. From St. Louis to the Ohio River confluence, the Middle Mississippi falls over for an average rate of . At its confluence with the Ohio River, the Middle Mississippi is above sea level. Apart from the Missouri and Meramec rivers of Missouri and the Kaskaskia River of Illinois, no major tributaries enter the Middle Mississippi River.
Mississippi River | Middle Mississippi
The Upper Mississippi runs from its headwaters to its confluence with the Missouri River at St. Louis, Missouri. It is divided into two sections: The source of the Upper Mississippi branch is traditionally accepted as Lake Itasca, above sea level in Itasca State Park in Clearwater County, Minnesota. The name "Itasca" was chosen to designate the "true head" of the Mississippi River as a combination of the last four letters of the Latin word for truth () and the first two letters of the Latin word for head (). However, the lake is in turn fed by a number of smaller streams.
Mississippi River | Upper Mississippi
The river was so named on account of the many obstacles in the rivers to canoeists.
Embarrass River (Minnesota) | Introduction
The name was also applied to a nearby river, probably the Obi river.
Paropamisadae | Name
This is a list of rivers in the United States that have names starting with the letter I. For the main page, which includes links to listings by state, see List of rivers in the United States.
List of rivers of the United States: I | Introduction
This is a list of rivers in the United States that have names starting with the letter M. For the main page, which includes links to listings by state, see List of rivers in the United States.
List of rivers of the United States: M | Introduction
This is a list of rivers in the United States that have names starting with the letter Q. For the main page, which includes links to listings by state, see List of rivers in the United States.
List of rivers of the United States: Q | Introduction
The Mississippi is one of the world’s great rivers. It spans of length as measured using its northernmost west fork, the Missouri River, which starts in the Rocky Mountains in Montana, joining the Mississippi proper in the state of Missouri. The Ohio River and Tennessee River are other tributaries on its east, and the Arkansas, Platte and Red River of Texas on the west. The Mississippi itself starts at Lake Itasca in Minnesota, and the river wends its way through the center of the country, forming parts of the boundaries of ten states, dividing east and west, and furthering trade and culture.
Steamboats of the Mississippi | Geography
The refuge is one of only two that spans portions of four states (the other is Silvio O. Conte National Fish and Wildlife Refuge). As of 30 September 2007 the area per state was: Wisconsin: , Iowa: , Minnesota: , Illinois: . The following counties border on or have land within the Upper Mississippi River National Wildlife and Fish Refuge. In each state, the counties are listed from north to south. The lakes and rivers within the refuge area of each county are also listed.
Upper Mississippi River National Wildlife and Fish Refuge | Geography
Therefore, Lewis and Clark concluded that it would be inappropriate for any fork to retain the name "Missouri." Instead, they named the western fork the Jefferson, the middle fork as the Madison, and the eastern fork as the Gallatin, as Meriwether Lewis noted in his journal on July 28, 1805:
Jefferson River | Lewis and Clark Expedition
The river had great significance in the history of the Native Americans, as numerous civilizations formed along its valley. For thousands of years, Native Americans used the river as a major transportation and trading route. Its waters connected communities. In the five centuries before European conquest, the Mississippian culture built numerous regional chiefdoms and major earthwork mounds in the Ohio Valley, such as Angel Mounds near Evansville, Indiana, as well as in the Mississippi Valley and the Southeast. The Osage, Omaha, Ponca and Kaw lived in the Ohio Valley, but under pressure from the Iroquois to the northeast, migrated west of the Mississippi River in the 17th century to territory now defined as Missouri, Arkansas and Oklahoma.
Ohio River | History
This is a list of rivers in the United States that have names starting with the letter J. For the main page, which includes links to listings by state, see List of rivers in the United States.
List of rivers of the United States: J | Introduction
A - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - This is a list of rivers in the United States that have names starting with the letter A. For the main page, which includes links to listings by state, see List of rivers in the United States.
List of rivers of the United States: A | Introduction
Finally, it fades away with the thinning out of the limestone and is hardly traceable across the Mississippi River.
Great Lakes region | Geography
The stream's original name - La Rivière aux Vases - is French meaning "The muddy or swampy River" and referred to quicksand and soggy conditions around the creek, especially crossings.
River aux Vases (Mississippi River tributary) | Etymology
Many people today believe that the river was named after the plains and prairies through which the river flows. But, in the 18th-century French dialect, it was more common to use the word "prairie" to indicate a plain, such as Prairie du Rocher in Illinois and Prairie du Chien in Wisconsin. Also, as noted above, it is more likely that the river was named in reference to the trees rather than the land. The French, like the Native Americans, traveled primarily by waterways rather than overland. The view of the prairie was nearly always blocked by trees. To this day a large number of both maples and sycamores grow along the Des Plaines River.
Des Plaines River | Etymology
Beginning in 1844, successive flooding caused the Mississippi River to slowly encroach east. A major flood in 1881 caused it to overtake the lower of the Kaskaskia River, forming a new Mississippi channel and cutting off the town from the rest of the state. Later flooding destroyed most of the remaining town, including the original State House. Today, the remaining island and community of 14 residents is known as an enclave of Illinois and is accessible only from the Missouri side.
Mississippi River | Historic course changes
The Pigeon River is a river of Minnesota. It is a tributary of the Mississippi River.
Pigeon River (Mississippi River tributary) | Introduction
Many of these processes are important resources that the delta still provides today.
Mississippi River Delta | History
This is a list of rivers in the United States that have names starting with the letter P. For the main page, which includes links to listings by state, see List of rivers in the United States.
List of rivers of the United States: P | Introduction
On some maps from the early 19th century, these rivers are labeled as "North Two Rivers" and "South Two Rivers".
North River (Missouri) | History of name
This is a list of rivers in the United States that have names starting with the letter N. For the main page, which includes links to listings by state, see List of rivers in the United States.
List of rivers of the United States: N | Introduction
The city was a developing center of trade, located on the Mississippi in the central part of the eastern border of the state.
Jane Swisshelm | Activism and newspaper writing
This is a list of rivers in the United States that have names starting with the letter S. For the main page, which includes links to listings by state, see List of rivers in the United States.
List of rivers of the United States: S | Introduction
The Mississippi River is the nominal western boundary of the state, except for locations where the river has changed course. Kaskaskia, Illinois, the first state capital, is now west of the river. The Mississippi, due to a flood, destroyed the old town of Kaskaskia, and occupies what was the lower channel of the Kaskaskia River. A portion of Missouri is east of the river, near Grand Tower, Illinois. Similar "avulsions" are found along the Ohio River border with Kentucky and the Wabash River border with Indiana.
Geography of Illinois | Border anomalies
The board, unable to decide, voted not to approve the name change after passing along the decision to New Hampshire's State Names Authority. A summary by the petitioner, a Wikipedia editor, may be found on the .
Cochecho River | Significance of name
In 1847, the Mississippi Chippewa ceded their lands about the Sauk River to the United States for the purpose of establishing a homeland for the Winnebagoes, who at the time were being removed out of Wisconsin. However, due to continued skirmishes between the Ojibwe (Chippewa) and the Dakota, the Winnebagoes were placed in constant danger. By their request, the United States relocated the Winnebagoes to south-central Minnesota, then to South Dakota and finally Nebraska. Some of the Winnebagoes, however, returned to Wisconsin despite their removal. The river is named after the Sauk tribe, also called the Sac or Meskwaki, some of whom had come to the area (mostly settled by Sioux or Chippewa) after the Black Hawk War; this tribe now has concentrations in Iowa, Kansas, and Oklahoma.
Sauk River (Minnesota) | History
The name most likely is a transfer from the James River located in Virginia. James River Freeway on the city's south side is named after the river.
James River (Missouri) | Name
This is a list of rivers in the United States that have names starting with the letter U. For the main page, which includes links to listings by state, see List of rivers in the United States.
List of rivers of the United States: U | Introduction
"Pascagoula" is a name derived from the Choctaw language meaning "bread people". According to the Geographic Names Information System, the river has also been known as:
Pascagoula River | Name
The Zumbro River is a tributary of the Mississippi River in the Driftless Area of southeastern Minnesota in the United States. It is long from the confluence of its principal tributaries and drains a watershed of . The river's name in English is a change from its French name "Rivière des Embarras" ("Obstruction River") due to its mouth located near Pine Island in the Mississippi River; the pronunciation changed from to . The Dakota name for this river is "Wapka Wazi Oju" (Pines Planted River), having reference to the grove of great white pines at Pine Island.
Zumbro River | Introduction
The name "Tombigbee" comes from Choctaw "/itumbi ikbi/", meaning "box maker, coffin maker", from "/itumbi/", "box, coffin", and "/ikbi/", "maker". The river formed the eastern boundary of the historical Choctaw lands, from the 17th century when they coalesced as a people, to the forced Indian Removal by the United States in the 1830s.
Tombigbee River | Introduction
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 Hennepin Canal roughly follows the ancient channel of the Mississippi downstream from Rock Island to Hennepin, Illinois. South of Hennepin, to Alton, Illinois, the current Illinois River follows the ancient channel used by the Mississippi River before the Illinoian Stage. Timeline of outflow course changes
Mississippi River | Prehistoric courses
Lake Bemidji got its name because "Bemidji" refers to the Mississippi River, and how it flows across the lake from west to east. The word Bemidji means "Lake with crossing waters" and in its native Ojibwe it is "Bemidjigamaag".
Lake Bemidji | Name
Deer Creek's name is an accurate preservation of its native Choctaw name "isi okhina", meaning "deer river".
Deer Creek (Mississippi) | Name
Although the Red River is commonly mistaken for an additional tributary, its water flows separately into the Gulf of Mexico through the Atchafalaya River.
Mississippi River | Lower Mississippi
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to the U.S. state of Missouri: Missouri – U.S. state named for the Missouri River, which was named after the Siouan-language tribe. The Smithsonian Bureau of American Ethnology states that Missouri means "town of the large canoes". Other authorities say the original native American syllables (from which the word came) mean "wooden canoe people", "he of the big canoe", or "river of the big canoes". Located in the Midwestern United States, the state lies on the Mississippi river, which defines its eastern border. The land that is now Missouri was acquired from France as part of the Louisiana Purchase and became known as the Missouri Territory.
Outline of Missouri | Introduction
The Little Mississippi River (Minnesota) is a river of Minnesota.
Little Mississippi River (Minnesota) | Introduction
Its location near the confluence of the Illinois River meant it also handled produce from the agricultural areas. River traffic and trade along the Mississippi were integral to the state's economy, and as the area's first major city, St. Louis expanded greatly after the invention of the steamboat and the increased river trade.
Missouri | History
The river was named after the Methow Native Americans (today part of the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Indian Reservation). The name "Methow" comes from the Okanagan placename "/mətxʷú/", meaning "sunflower (seeds)". The Native American name for the river was "Buttlemuleemauch", meaning "salmon falls river". In 1841 the Wilkes Expedition named the river "Barrier River". Alexander Ross said the native name was Buttle-mule-emauch. In 1811 David Thompson met the tribe living along the river and wrote their name as Smeetheowe. In 1853 George Gibbs called the river Methow or Barrier.
Methow River | History
The East Branch rises southeast of Allenton in Washington County just west of the Niagara Escarpment, and flows north and west through Theresa to the marsh. Leaving the marsh, it meanders southward to the Illinois border ending about 300 miles later at the Mississippi River at the Quad Cities in Illinois and Iowa. During its course it passes through Watertown, collects the Crawfish River in Jefferson, and receives the Bark River at Fort Atkinson. Shortly before merging, the Rock and Crawfish rivers cross Interstate 94. Both rivers flood the nearby land regularly, and lanes on I-94 were temporarily closed in 2008 because of this flooding.
Rock River (Mississippi River tributary) | Introduction
On the upper reaches near the Minnesota-Wisconsin border, the river's floodplain is between 1.5 and 5 kilometers (between 1 and 3 mi) wide. South of St. Louis, Missouri, the alluvial floodplain is approximately 80 kilometers (50 mi) wide. Major tributaries to the Upper Mississippi River include the Missouri, Illinois, Minnesota, St. Croix, Chippewa, Black, Wisconsin, and Kaskaskia Rivers. The Upper Mississippi provides habitat for more than 125 fish species and 30 species of freshwater mussels. Three national wildlife refuges along the river cover a total of 465 square kilometers (285,000 ac). The largest of them, the Upper Mississippi River National Wildlife and Fish Refuge, is over 420 kilometers (260 mi) long, reaching from the Alma, Wisconsin area down to Rock Island, Illinois.
Upper Mississippi River | Ecology
One of the important routes from Lake Superior to the Mississippi River led southward on the Bois Brule River to the Lake Superior/Mississippi River divide. From this point, a portage of approximately two miles passed over the divide to Upper St. Croix Lake (Bois Brule-St. Croix Portage). The route then led southward down the St. Croix to its junction with the Namekagon River. At this point, there were two major alternative routes to the Mississippi River. The most direct route continued southward down the St. Croix River to its junction with the Mississippi River near present-day Hastings, Minnesota. However, this route led through territory held by Sioux Indians who were often at odds with the Ojibwa Indians of the upper St.
Namekagon Portage | Introduction
Mississippi is bordered to the north by Tennessee, to the east by Alabama, to the south by Louisiana and a narrow coast on the Gulf of Mexico; and to the west, across the Mississippi River, by Louisiana and Arkansas. In addition to its namesake, major rivers in Mississippi include the Big Black River, the Pearl River, the Yazoo River, the Pascagoula River, and the Tombigbee River. Major lakes include Ross Barnett Reservoir, Arkabutla, Sardis, and Grenada, with the largest being Sardis Lake. Mississippi is entirely composed of lowlands, the highest point being Woodall Mountain, in the foothills of the Cumberland Mountains, above sea level.
Mississippi | Geography
The rivers may share a common name because early settlers regarded them as a single river that flowed two directions. The rivers may have served as a canoe route between the Illinois River and Wabash River, with a portage through the marshes near Roberts.
Vermilion River (Wabash River tributary) | Introduction
The name of the river is derived from ("wych elm river").
Wietze (Aller) | Geography
The "Big Freeze" of 1918–19 blocked river traffic north of Memphis, Tennessee, preventing transportation of coal from southern Illinois. This resulted in widespread shortages, high prices, and rationing of coal in January and February. In the spring of 1927, the river broke out of its banks in 145 places, during the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 and inundated to a depth of up to . In 1962 and 1963, industrial accidents spilled of soybean oil into the Mississippi and Minnesota rivers. The oil covered the Mississippi River from St. Paul to Lake Pepin, creating an ecological disaster and a demand to control water pollution.
Mississippi River | 20th and 21st centuries
In 1829, there were surveys of the two major obstacles on the upper Mississippi, the Des Moines Rapids and the Rock Island Rapids, where the river was shallow and the riverbed was rock. The Des Moines Rapids were about long and just above the mouth of the Des Moines River at Keokuk, Iowa. The Rock Island Rapids were between Rock Island and Moline, Illinois. Both rapids were considered virtually impassable. In 1848, the Illinois and Michigan Canal was built to connect the Mississippi River to Lake Michigan via the Illinois River near Peru, Illinois. The canal allowed shipping between these important waterways.
Mississippi River | 19th century
The Maquoketa River is a tributary of the Mississippi River, approximately long, in northeastern Iowa in the United States. Its watershed covers within a rural region of rolling hills and farmland southwest of Dubuque. It is not to be confused with the Little Maquoketa River, another distinct direct tributary of the Upper Mississippi River meeting the Big River north of Dubuque. The river and its tributaries mark the border of the Driftless Area of Iowa, with the areas east of it not having been covered by ice during the last ice age. Its name derives from "Maquaw-Autaw", which means "Bear River" in Meskwaki.
Maquoketa River | Introduction
The USGS name for the river is the Monongahela River; there have been numerous alternate names, alternate spellings and misspellings in historical texts.
Monongahela River | Variant names
The bridge's name comes from a large shoal, or rocky rapids, called the Chain of Rocks, which made that stretch of the Mississippi extremely dangerous to navigate. Because of a low-water dam built by the Corps of Engineers in the 1960s, little of the Chain of Rocks is visible today except during extreme low water conditions. After 1940, only a single impediment prevented the maintenance of a safe and reliable navigation channel on the Mississippi River from St. Paul, Minnesota, to New Orleans. This impediment, known as the Chain of Rocks Reach, was a series of rock ledges that began just north of St.
Chain of Rocks Bridge | Name
In the 1870s and 1880s, the Mississippi River inspired two classic books—"Life on the Mississippi" and "Adventures of Huckleberry Finn"—written by native Missourian Samuel Clemens, who used the pseudonym Mark Twain. His stories became staples of Midwestern lore. Twain's hometown of Hannibal, Missouri, is a tourist attraction offering a glimpse into the Midwest of his time.
Midwestern United States | Waterways
This is a list of rivers in the United States that have names starting with the letter T. For the main page, which includes links to listings by state, see List of rivers in the United States.
List of rivers of the United States: T | Introduction
Paul (45 miles to city center). To the delight of local residents and tourists, the Monticello section of the Mississippi River remains unfrozen during winter and attracts hundreds of trumpeter swans, largely due to warm water discharged by the nuclear plant.
Monticello Nuclear Generating Plant | Surrounding population
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to the U.S. state of Mississippi: Mississippi – U.S. state located in the Southern United States, named after the Mississippi River which flows along its western boundary. The capital is Jackson, which is also the state's largest city. The state is heavily forested outside of the Mississippi Delta area, which had been cleared for cotton cultivation in the 19th century.
Outline of Mississippi | Introduction
Near St Cloud, the river gradient increases and a series of rapids occur until the river joins with the Mississippi.
Sauk River (Minnesota) | Water characteristics
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. The earliest bridge across the Mississippi River was built in 1855. It spanned the river in Minneapolis where the current Hennepin Avenue Bridge is located. No highway or railroad tunnels cross under the Mississippi River. The first railroad bridge across the Mississippi was built in 1856. It spanned the river between the Rock Island Arsenal in Illinois and Davenport, Iowa.
Mississippi River | Bridge crossings
This is a list of rivers in the United States that have names starting with the letter E. For the main page, which includes links to listings by state, see List of rivers in the United States.
List of rivers of the United States: E | Introduction
The Rock River is a tributary of the Mississippi River, approximately long, in the U.S. states of Wisconsin and Illinois. The river was known as the Sinnissippi to Sauk and Fox Indians; the name means "rocky waters". The river begins with three separate branches which flow into the Horicon Marsh. The northernmost branch, the West Branch, begins just to the west of the village of Brandon in Fond du Lac County, Wisconsin and flows east and then south to Horicon Marsh. The South Branch rises north of Fox Lake in Dodge County and flows east through Waupun to the marsh.
Rock River (Mississippi River tributary) | Introduction
This is a list of rivers in the United States that have names starting with the letter D. For the main page, which includes links to listings by state, see List of rivers in the United States.
List of rivers of the United States: D | Introduction
The three forks of the river cross the western extension of the Sullivan Line at points between 101 and 102 miles north of the Kansas-Missouri confluence. Through the years, writers have speculated on etymologies other than the Sullivan Line coordinates:
One Hundred and Two River | Origin of name
This is a list of rivers in the United States that have names starting with the letter C. For the main page, which includes links to listings by state, see List of rivers in the United States.
List of rivers of the United States: C | Introduction
The origin of the river's name is unclear. It might refer to St. Francis of Assisi, the founder of the Franciscan order. None of the region's early explorers were Franciscans, however. One possibility is that Jacques Marquette, a Jesuit, named the river when he explored its mouth in 1673. Before his voyage down the Mississippi Marquette had spent some time at the mission of St. Francois Xavier, named for the Jesuit missionary Francis Xavier. The spelling of the river's name shifted from "François" to "Francis" in the early 20th century. A number of place names in the region stem from the river's name, including St.
St. Francis River | Names
The Deer River is a river of Minnesota. It is a tributary of the Mississippi River. Deer River is an English translation of the native Ojibwe-language name.
Deer River (Mississippi River tributary) | Introduction
The Yalobusha River is a river, long, in north-central Mississippi in the United States. It is a principal tributary of the Yazoo River, via which it is part of the watershed of the Mississippi River. The name "Yalobusha" comes from the Choctaw word "yalooboshi", meaning "little tadpole", from "yalooba", "tadpole", and "-ushi", "diminutive". The United States Board on Geographic Names settled on the river's name in 1892. According to the Geographic Names Information System, it has also been known as "Yallabusha" and as the "Yellowbushy River."
Yalobusha River | Introduction
Confluence with the Ohio River (See List of crossings of the Lower Mississippi River)
List of crossings of the Upper Mississippi River | Crossings
This is a list of rivers in the United States that have names starting with the letter B. For the main page, which includes links to listings by state, see List of rivers in the United States.
List of rivers of the United States: B | Introduction
Knutson Dam on the Mississippi River at Cass Lake is named after him.
Harold Knutson | Legacy
French colonists adapted a form of the Illinois language-name for the people: "Wimihsoorita". Their name means "One who has dugout canoes". In their own Siouan language, the Missouri call themselves "Niúachi", also spelled "Niutachi", meaning "People of the River Mouth." The Osage called them the "Waçux¢a," and the Quapaw called them the "Wa-ju'-xd¢ǎ." The state of Missouri and the Missouri River are named for the tribe.
Missouria | Name
This is a list of rivers in the United States that have names starting with the letter R. For the main page, which includes links to listings by state, see List of rivers in the United States.
List of rivers of the United States: R | Introduction
The Great River Road is a collection of state and local roads that follow the course of the Mississippi River through ten states of the United States. They are Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, Illinois, Missouri, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Mississippi and Louisiana. It formerly extended north into Canada, serving the provinces of Ontario and Manitoba. The term "Great River Road" refers both to a series of roadways and to a larger region inside the US and in each state, used for tourism and historic purposes. Some states have designated or identified regions of state interest along the road and use the roads to encompass those regions.
Great River Road | Introduction
This is a list of rivers in the United States that have names starting with the letter F. For the main page, which includes links to listings by state, see List of rivers in the United States.
List of rivers of the United States: F | Introduction
The U.S. Board on Geographic Names made "Winnebago River" the official name in a 1961 decision. It also runs through Mason City, Iowa.
Winnebago River | Introduction
The Fabius River (pronounced "FAY-bee-us") is a tributary of the Mississippi River in northeastern Missouri in the United States. It is formed near its mouth by the confluence of the North Fabius River and the South Fabius River. The North Fabius River also flows through southeastern Iowa. The Middle Fabius River joins the North Fabius upstream of that river's mouth. Each of the three rivers have been subjected to substantial straightening and channelization. According to tradition, the Fabius River is named for the Roman consul Quintus Fabius Maximus Verrucosus. However, the State Historical Society of Missouri suggests Fabius actually was the name of a French pioneer in the area.
Fabius River | Introduction
The name, meaning "River of the Fathers," is of French origin, and was given by locals because a mission of Jesuit Catholic priests resided near the confluence of the river with the Mississippi. The priests were established in 1700 and soon moved south in 1703 to Kaskaskia, probably as a result of conflict with American Indians, roughly 60 years before the founding of St. Louis. There is also a city of the same name, Des Peres, located in west St. Louis County. In preparation for the 1904 World's Fair, the portion of the river that flows through Forest Park was disguised by temporary wooden channels.
River des Peres | History
The name of Apple Creek derives from the French name "Rivière à la Pomme". Since the Shawnee Indians cultivated farms and had a number of villages along this creek, it is probable that the early French travelers and hunters gave the name "Rivière à la Pomme" (later Americanized to "Apple River" or "Apple Creek"), from the apple trees which grew there.
Apple Creek (Mississippi River tributary) | Name