Native Americans have lived along the Mississippi River and its tributaries for thousands of years. Many werehunter-gatherers, but some, such as theMound Builders, formed prolific agricultural and urban civilizations, and some practicedaquaculture. 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.[29] The river served sometimes as a barrier, forming borders forNew Spain,New France, and the early United States, and throughout as a vital transportation artery and communications link. In the 19th century, during the height of the ideology ofmanifest destiny, the Mississippi and several tributaries, most notably its largest, theOhio andMissouri, formed pathways for the western expansion of the United States. The river also became the subject ofAmerican literature, particularly in the writings ofMark Twain.
Formed from thick layers of the river'ssilt deposits, theMississippi embayment, andAmerican Bottom are some 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. During theAmerican Civil War, the Mississippi'sfinal capture byUnion forces markeda turning point to victory for the Union. Because of the substantial growth of cities and the larger ships andbarges that replaced steamboats, the first decades of the 20th century saw the construction of massiveengineering works such aslevees,locks anddams, often built in combination. A major focus of this work has been to prevent the lower Mississippi from shifting into the channel of theAtchafalaya River and bypassingNew Orleans.
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 theGulf of Mexico dead zone.
Name and significance
The word Mississippi itself comes fromMisi zipi, the French rendering of theAnishinaabe (Ojibwe orAlgonquin) name for the river,Misi-ziibi (Great River).[30]
In the 18th century, the river was set by theTreaty of Paris as, for the most part, the western border of the new United States. With theLouisiana Purchase and the country's westward expansion, it became a convenient boundary line between the western and eastern halves of the country.[31][32] This is reflected in theGateway Arch in St. Louis, which was designed to symbolize the opening of the West,[33] and the focus on the "Trans-Mississippi" region in theTrans-Mississippi Exposition.[34]
Regional landmarks are often classified in relation to the river, such as "thehighest peak east of the Mississippi"[35] or "the oldest city west of the Mississippi".[36] TheFCC also uses it as the dividing line forbroadcast call-signs, which begin with W to the east and K to the west, overlapping inmedia markets along the river.
Due to its size and importance, it has been nicknamedThe Mighty Mississippi River or simplyThe Mighty Mississippi.[37]
Divisions
The Mississippi River can be divided into three sections: theUpper Mississippi, the river from its headwaters to the confluence with the Missouri River; the Middle Mississippi, which is downriver from the Missouri to the Ohio River; and theLower Mississippi, which flows from the Ohio to the Gulf of Mexico.
The source of the Mississippi River atLake ItascaThe first bridge (and onlylog bridge) over the Mississippi, about 25 feet south of its source atLake ItascaDe facto head of navigation, St. Anthony Falls, Minneapolis, MinnesotaConfluence of theWisconsin and Mississippi rivers, viewed fromWyalusing State Park in Wisconsin
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 asLake Itasca, 1,475 feet (450 m) above sea level inItasca State Park inClearwater County, Minnesota. The nameItasca 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 (veritas) and the first two letters of the Latin word for head (caput).[38] However, the lake is in turn fed by a number of smaller streams.
From its origin at Lake Itasca toSt. Louis, Missouri, the waterway's flow is moderated by 43 dams. Fourteen of these dams are located aboveMinneapolis in theheadwaters region and serve multiple purposes, including power generation and recreation. The remaining 29 dams, beginning in downtown Minneapolis, all contain locks and were constructed to improve commercial navigation of the upper river. Taken as a whole, these 43 dams significantly shape the geography and influence the ecology of the upper river. Beginning just belowSaint Paul, Minnesota, and continuing throughout the upper and lower river, the Mississippi is further controlled by thousands ofwing dikes that moderate the river's flow in order to maintain an open navigation channel and prevent the river from eroding its banks.
The uppermost lock and dam on the Upper Mississippi River is the Upper St. Anthony Falls Lock and Dam in Minneapolis. Above the dam, the river's elevation is 799 feet (244 m). Below the dam, the river's elevation is 750 feet (230 m). This 49-foot (15 m) drop is the largest of all the Mississippi River locks and dams. The origin of the dramatic drop is a waterfall preserved adjacent to the lock under an apron of concrete.Saint Anthony Falls is the only true waterfall on the entire Mississippi River. The water elevation continues to drop steeply as it passes through thegorge carved by the waterfall.
After the completion of the St. Anthony Falls Lock and Dam in 1963, the river's head of navigation moved upstream, to theCoon Rapids Dam. However, the Locks were closed in 2015 to control the spread of invasiveAsian carp, making Minneapolis once again the site of the head of navigation of the river.[39]
By the time the Upper Mississippi reachesSaint Paul, Minnesota, below Lock and Dam No. 1, it has dropped more than half its original elevation and is 687 feet (209 m) above sea level. 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.[41]
The Upper Mississippi River at its confluence with the Missouri River north of St. Louis
The Upper Mississippi is largely a multi-thread stream with manybars and islands. From its confluence with the St. Croix River downstream toDubuque, Iowa, the river is entrenched, with high bedrock bluffs lying on either side. The height of these bluffs decreases to the south of Dubuque, though they are still significant throughSavanna, Illinois. This topography contrasts strongly with the Lower Mississippi, which is a meandering river in a broad, flat area, only rarely flowing alongside a bluff (as atVicksburg, Mississippi).
Theconfluence of the Mississippi (left) and Ohio (right) rivers atCairo, Illinois, the demarcation between the Middle and the Lower Mississippi River
The Middle Mississippi is relatively free-flowing. 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). At its confluence with the Ohio River, the Middle Mississippi is 315 feet (96 m) above sea level. Apart from the Missouri andMeramec rivers of Missouri and theKaskaskia River of Illinois, no major tributaries enter the Middle Mississippi River.
Lower Mississippi River at Algiers Point in New Orleans
The Mississippi River is called the Lower Mississippi River from its confluence with the Ohio River to its mouth at the Gulf of Mexico, a distance of about 1,000 miles (1,600 km). At the confluence of the Ohio and the Middle Mississippi, the long-term mean discharge of the Ohio at Cairo, Illinois is 281,500 cubic feet per second (7,970 cubic meters per second),[44] while the long-term mean discharge of the Mississippi at Thebes, Illinois (just upriver from Cairo) is 208,200 cu ft/s (5,900 m3/s).[45] Thus, by volume, the main branch of theMississippi River system at Cairo can be considered to be the Ohio River (and theAllegheny River further upstream), rather than the Middle Mississippi.
Deliberate water diversion at theOld River Control Structure inLouisiana allows theAtchafalaya River in Louisiana to be a majordistributary of the Mississippi River, with 30% of the combined flow of the Mississippi and Red Rivers flowing to the Gulf of Mexico by this route, rather than continuing down the Mississippi's current channel pastBaton Rouge andNew Orleans on a longer route to the Gulf.[46][47][48][49] Although theRed River was once an additional tributary, its water now flows separately into the Gulf of Mexico through the Atchafalaya River.[50]
Watershed
Map of the Mississippi River watershedAn animation of the flows along the rivers of the Mississippi watershed
The Mississippi River has the world's fourth-largestdrainage basin ("watershed" or "catchment"). The basin covers more than 1,245,000 square miles (3,220,000 km2), including all or parts of 32 U.S. states and two Canadian provinces. The drainage basin empties into theGulf of Mexico, part of the Atlantic Ocean. The total catchment of the Mississippi River covers nearly 40% of the landmass of the continental United States. The highest point within the watershed is also the highest point of theRocky Mountains,Mount Elbert at 14,440 feet (4,400 m).[51]
Sequence of NASAMODIS images showing the outflow of fresh water from the Mississippi (arrows) into the Gulf of Mexico (2004)
The Mississippi River empties into the Gulf of Mexico about 100 miles (160 km) downstream from New Orleans. Measurements of the length of the Mississippi from Lake Itasca to the Gulf of Mexico vary somewhat, but theUnited States Geological Survey's number is 2,340 miles (3,766 km). The retention time from Lake Itasca to the Gulf is typically about 90 days;[52] while speed varies along the course of the river, this gives an overall average of around 26 mi (42 km) per day, or 1 mi (1.6 km) per hour.
The Mississippi River discharges at an annual average rate of between 200 and 700 thousand cubic feet per second (6,000 and 20,000 m3/s).[53] The Mississippi is the fourteenth largest river in the world by volume. On average, the Mississippi has 8% the flow of theAmazon River,[54]which moves nearly 7 million cubic feet per second (200,000 m3/s) during wet seasons.
Before 1900, the Mississippi River transported an estimated 440 million short tons (400 million metric tons) ofsediment per year from the interior of the United States to coastal Louisiana and the Gulf of Mexico. During the last two decades, this number was only 160 million short tons (145 million metric tons) per year. The reduction insediment transported down the Mississippi River is the result of engineering modification of the Mississippi, Missouri, and Ohio rivers and their tributaries by dams,meander cutoffs, river-training structures, and bank revetments and soilerosion control programs in the areas drained by them.[55]
Mixing with salt water
Denser salt water from the Gulf of Mexico forms asalt wedge along the river bottom near the mouth of the river, while fresh water flows near the surface. In drought years, with less fresh water to push it out, salt water can travel many miles upstream—64 miles (103 km) in 2022—contaminating drinking water supplies and requiring the use ofdesalination. TheUnited States Army Corps of Engineers constructed "saltwater sills" or "underwater levees" to contain this in 1988, 1999, 2012, and 2022. This consists of a large mound of sand spanning the width of the river 55 feet below the surface, allowing fresh water and large cargo ships to pass over.[56]
Fresh river water flowing from the Mississippi into the Gulf of Mexico does not mix into the salt water immediately. The images fromNASA'sMODIS show a large plume of fresh water, which appears as a dark ribbon against the lighter-blue surrounding waters. These images demonstrate that the plume did not mix with the surrounding sea water immediately. Instead, it stayed intact as it flowed through the Gulf of Mexico, into theStraits of Florida, and entered theGulf Stream. The Mississippi River water rounded the tip of Florida and traveled up the southeast coast to the latitude ofGeorgia before finally mixing in so thoroughly with the ocean that it could no longer be detected by MODIS.
Course changes
Reconstructed and historical courses of the Lower Mississippi River (sheet 7/15)[57]
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.
As Pangaea began to break up about 95 million years ago, North America passed over a volcanic "hotspot" in the Earth'smantle (specifically, theBermuda hotspot) that was undergoing a period of intense activity. The upwelling ofmagma from the hotspot forced the further uplift to a height of perhaps 2–3 km of part of theAppalachian-Ouachita range, forming anarch that blocked southbound water flows. The uplifted land quickly eroded and, as North America moved away from the hot spot and as the hotspot's activity declined, the crust beneath the embayment region cooled, contracted and subsided to a depth of 2.6 km, and around 80 million years ago theReelfoot Rift formed atrough that was flooded by theGulf of Mexico. As sea levels dropped, the Mississippi and other rivers extended their courses into theembayment, which gradually became filled with sediment with the Mississippi River at its center.[58][59]
Through a natural process known asavulsion or delta switching, the lower Mississippi River has shifted its final course to the mouth of the Gulf of Mexico every thousand years or so. 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. The abandoned distributaries diminish in volume and form what are known asbayous. This process has, over the past 5,000 years, caused the coastline of south Louisiana to advance toward the Gulf from 15 to 50 miles (24 to 80 km). The currently activedelta lobe is called the Birdfoot Delta, after its shape, or theBalize Delta, afterLa Balize, Louisiana, the first French settlement at the mouth of the Mississippi.
Prehistoric courses
The current form of the Mississippi River basin was largely shaped by theLaurentide Ice Sheet of themost recentIce Age. The southernmost extent of this enormous glaciation extended well into the present-day United States and Mississippi basin. When the ice sheet began to recede, hundreds of feet of rich sediment were deposited, creating the flat and fertile landscape of the Mississippi Valley. During the melt, giant glacial rivers found drainage paths into the Mississippi watershed, creating such features as theMinnesota River,James River, andMilk River valleys. When the ice sheet completely retreated, many of these "temporary" rivers found paths toHudson Bay or the Arctic Ocean, leaving the Mississippi Basin with many features "over-sized" for the existing rivers to have carved in the same time period.
Ice sheets during theIllinoian 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. TheHennepin Canal roughly follows the ancient channel of the Mississippi downstream from Rock Island toHennepin, Illinois. South of Hennepin, toAlton, Illinois, the currentIllinois River follows the ancient channel used by the Mississippi River before the Illinoian Stage.[60][61]
c. 5000 BC: Thelast ice age ended; world sea level became what it is now.
c. 2500 BC:Bayou Teche became the main course of the Mississippi.
c. 800 BC: The Mississippi diverted further east.
c. 200 AD:Bayou Lafourche became the main course of the Mississippi.
c. 1000 AD: The Mississippi's present course took over.
Before c. 1400 AD: TheRed River of the South flowed parallel to the lower Mississippi to the sea
15th century:Turnbull's Bend in the lower Mississippi extended so far west that it captured the Red River of the South. The Red River below the captured section became theAtchafalaya River.
1831:Captain Henry M. Shreve dug a new short course for the Mississippi through the neck of Turnbull's Bend.
1833 to November 1873: TheGreat Raft (a hugelogjam in the Atchafalaya River) was cleared. The Atchafalaya started to capture the Mississippi and to become its new main lower course.
1963: TheOld River Control Structure was completed, controlling how much Mississippi water entered the Atchafalaya.
Historic course changes
Visual guide to Mississippi River nomenclature
In March 1876, the Mississippi suddenly changed course near the settlement ofReverie, Tennessee, leaving a small part ofTipton County, Tennessee, attached toArkansas and separated from the rest ofTennessee by the new river channel. Since this event was anavulsion, rather than the effect of incremental erosion and deposition, the state line still follows the old channel.[63]
The town ofKaskaskia, Illinois once stood on a peninsula at the confluence of the Mississippi andKaskaskia (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. Beginning in 1844, successive flooding caused the Mississippi River to slowly encroach east. 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. Later flooding destroyed most of the remaining town, including the original State House. 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.[64]
New Madrid Seismic Zone
TheNew Madrid Seismic Zone, along the Mississippi River nearNew Madrid, Missouri, between Memphis and St. Louis, is related to anaulacogen (failed rift) that formed at the same time as the Gulf of Mexico. This area is still quite active seismically.Four great earthquakes in 1811 and 1812, estimated at 8 on theRichter magnitude scale, had tremendous local effects in the then sparsely settled area, and were felt in many other places in the Midwestern and eastern U.S. These earthquakes createdReelfoot Lake in Tennessee from the altered landscape near the river.
Length
When measured from its traditional source atLake Itasca, the Mississippi has a length of 2,340 miles (3,766 km). When measured from its longest stream source (most distant source from the sea),Brower's Spring inMontana, the source of theMissouri River, it has a length of 3,710 miles (5,971 km), making it the fourth longest river in the world after theNile,Amazon, andYangtze.[65] When measured by the largest stream source (by water volume), theOhio River, by extension theAllegheny River, would be the source, and the Mississippi would begin inPennsylvania.[66]
Depth
At its source atLake Itasca, the Mississippi River is about 3 feet (0.91 m) deep. The average depth of the Mississippi River between Saint Paul and Saint Louis is between 9 and 12 feet (2.7–3.7 m) deep, the deepest part beingLake Pepin, which averages 20–32 feet (6–10 m) deep and has a maximum depth of 60 feet (18 m). Between where the Missouri River joins the Mississippi at Saint Louis, Missouri, and Cairo, Illinois, the depth averages 30 feet (9 m). Below Cairo, where the Ohio River joins, the depth averages 50–100 feet (15–30 m) deep. The deepest part of the river is in New Orleans, where it reaches 200 feet (61 m) deep.[67][68]
Cultural geography
State boundaries
The Mississippi River runs through or along 10 states, fromMinnesota toLouisiana, and is used to define portions of these states' borders, withWisconsin,Illinois,Kentucky,Tennessee, andMississippi along the east side of the river, andIowa,Missouri, andArkansas 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.[69][70] 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, asmall part of western Kentucky is contiguous with Tennessee but isolated from the rest of its state.
Community of boathouses on the Mississippi River inWinona, MN (2006)The Mississippi River at the Chain of Rocks just north of St. Louis (2005)A low-water dam deepens the pool above theChain of Rocks Lock near St. Louis (2006)
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, withinItasca State Park.[72]
The earliest bridge across the Mississippi River was built in 1855. It spanned the river inMinneapolis where the currentHennepin Avenue Bridge is located.[73] 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 theRock Island Arsenal inIllinois and Davenport, Iowa. Steamboat captains of the day, fearful of competition from the railroads, considered the new bridge a hazard to navigation. Two weeks after the bridge opened, the steamboatEffie Afton rammed part of the bridge, setting it on fire. Legal proceedings ensued, withAbraham Lincoln defending the railroad. The lawsuit went to theSupreme Court of the United States, which ruled in favor of the railroad.[74]
Below is a general overview of selected Mississippi bridges that have notable engineering or landmark significance, with their cities or locations. They are sequenced from the Upper Mississippi's source to the Lower Mississippi's mouth.
Chain of Rocks Bridge – Located on the northern edge of St. Louis, notable for a 22-degree bend occurring at the middle of the crossing, necessary for navigation on the river; formerly used byU.S. Route 66 to cross the Mississippi. Replaced for road traffic in 1966 bya nearby pair of new bridges; now a pedestrian bridge.
Eads Bridge – A combined road and railway bridge, connecting St. Louis andEast St. Louis, Illinois. When completed in 1874, it was the longest arch bridge in the world, with an overall length of 6,442 feet (1,964 m). The three ribbed steel arch spans were considered daring, as was the use of steel as a primary structural material; it was the first such use of true steel in a major bridge project.
Downbound barge rates In late 2022 there was low river levels that caused two backups on theLower Mississippi River that held up over 100 tow boats with 2,000 barge units and caused barge rates to soar[75][76]
Towboat and barges atMemphis, TennesseeShips on the lower part of the Mississippi
A clear channel is needed for thebarges and other vessels that make themain stem Mississippi one of the great commercialwaterways of the world. The task of maintaining a navigation channel is the responsibility of theUnited States Army Corps of Engineers, which was established in 1802.[77] Earlier projects began as early as 1829 to remove snags, close off secondary channels and excavate rocks andsandbars.
Oil tanker on the Lower Mississippi near the Port of New OrleansBarge on the Lower Mississippi River
The upper backwaters of the Mississippi normally freeze over by December, while the main channel freezes over only in the coldest years, historically as far south as St. Louis.[78]
A series of 29locks 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.[79][80] The lakes formed are also used for recreational boating and fishing. The dams make the river deeper and wider but do not stop it. Noflood control is intended. During periods of high flow, the gates, some of which are submersible, are completely opened and the dams simply cease to function. Below St. Louis, the Mississippi is relatively free-flowing, although it is constrained by numerous levees and directed by numerouswing dams. The scope and scale of the levees, built along either side of the river to keep it on its course, has often been compared to theGreat Wall of China.[46]
On the lower Mississippi, fromBaton Rouge to the mouth of the Mississippi, the navigation depth is 45 feet (14 m), allowing container ships and cruise ships to dock at thePort of New Orleans and bulk cargo ships shorter than 150-foot (46 m) air draft that fit under theHuey P. Long Bridge to traverse the Mississippi to Baton Rouge.[81] There is afeasibility study to dredge this portion of the river to 50 feet (15 m) to allowNew Panamax ship depths.[82]
In 1829, there were surveys of the two major obstacles on the upper Mississippi, theDes Moines Rapids and theRock Island Rapids, where the river was shallow and the riverbed was rock. The Des Moines Rapids were about 11 miles (18 km) long and just above the mouth of theDes Moines River at Keokuk, Iowa. The Rock Island Rapids were betweenRock Island andMoline, Illinois. Both rapids were considered virtually impassable.
In 1848, theIllinois and Michigan Canal was built to connect the Mississippi River toLake Michigan via the Illinois River nearPeru, Illinois. The canal allowed shipping between these important waterways. In 1900, the canal was replaced by theChicago Sanitary and Ship Canal. The second canal, in addition to shipping, also allowed Chicago to address specific health issues (typhoid fever,cholera and other waterborne diseases) by sending its waste down the Illinois and Mississippi river systems rather than polluting its water source of Lake Michigan.
Laborers fighting a "crevasse" in a riverfront levee that will flood the adjacent agricultural land if not repaired (Picturesque America, 1872)
The Corps of Engineers recommended the excavation of a 5-foot-deep (1.5 m) channel at the Des Moines Rapids, but work did not begin until after LieutenantRobert E. Lee endorsed the project in 1837. The Corps later also began excavating the Rock Island Rapids. By 1866, it had become evident that excavation was impractical, and it was decided to build a canal around the Des Moines Rapids. The canal opened in 1877, but the Rock Island Rapids remained an obstacle. In 1878, Congress authorized the Corps to establish a 4.5-foot-deep (1.4 m) channel to be obtained by buildingwing dams that direct the river to a narrow channel causing it to cut a deeper channel, by closing secondary channels and by dredging. The channel project was complete when the Moline Lock, which bypassed the Rock Island Rapids, opened in 1907.
To improve navigation between St. Paul, Minnesota, andPrairie du Chien, Wisconsin, the Corps constructed several dams on lakes in the headwaters area, includingLake Winnibigoshish andLake Pokegama. The dams, which were built beginning in the 1880s, stored spring run-off which was released during low water to help maintain channel depth.
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.
Before theGreat Mississippi Flood of 1927, the Corps's primary strategy was to close off as many side channels as possible to increase the flow in the main river. It was thought that the river'svelocity would scour off bottomsediments, deepening the river and decreasing the possibility of flooding. The 1927 flood proved this to be so wrong that communities threatened by the flood began to create their own levee breaks to relieve the force of the rising river.
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.[83][84] This was achieved by a series of locks and dams, and by dredging. Twenty-three new locks and dams were built on the upper Mississippi in the 1930s in addition to the three already in existence.
Formation of the Atchafalaya River and construction of the Old River Control Structure.Project design flood flow capacity for the Mississippi river in thousands of cubic feet per second.[85]
Until the 1950s, there was no dam below Lock and Dam 26 at Alton, Illinois.Chain of Rocks Lock (Lock and Dam No. 27), which consists of a low-water dam and an 8.4-mile-long (13.5 km) canal, was added in 1953, just below the confluence with the Missouri River, primarily to bypass a series of rock ledges at St. Louis. It also serves to protect the St. Louis city water intakes during times of low water.
U.S. government scientists determined in the 1950s that the Mississippi River was starting to switch to the Atchafalaya River channel because of its much steeper path to the Gulf of Mexico. Eventually, the Atchafalaya River would capture the Mississippi River and become its main channel to the Gulf of Mexico, leaving New Orleans on a side channel. As a result, theU.S. Congress authorized a project called theOld River Control Structure, which has prevented the Mississippi River from leaving its current channel that drains into the Gulf via New Orleans.[86]
Because the large scale of high-energy water flow threatened to damage the structure, an auxiliary flow control station was built adjacent to the standing control station. This $300 million project was completed in 1986 by the Corps of Engineers. Beginning in the 1970s, the Corps appliedhydrological transport models to analyze flood flow and water quality of the Mississippi. Dam 26 at Alton, Illinois, which had structural problems, was replaced by the Mel Price Lock and Dam in 1990. The original Lock and Dam 26 was demolished.
Some of the pre-1927 strategy remains in use today, with the Corps actively cutting the necks ofhorseshoe bends, allowing the water to move faster and reducing flood heights.[88]
History
Approximately 50,000 years ago, theCentral United States was covered by an inland sea, which was drained by the Mississippi and its tributaries into the Gulf of Mexico—creating largefloodplains and extending the continent further to the south in the process. The soil in areas such as Louisiana was thereafter found to be very rich.[89]
A network of trade routes referred to as theHopewell interaction sphere was active along the waterways between about 200 and 500 AD, spreading common cultural practices over the entire area between the Gulf of Mexico and the Great Lakes. A period of more isolated communities followed, and agriculture introduced fromMesoamerica based on theThree Sisters (maize,beans and squash) gradually came to dominate. After around 800 AD there arose an advanced agricultural society today referred to as theMississippian culture, with evidence of highlystratifiedcomplexchiefdoms and largepopulation centers.
The most prominent of these, now calledCahokia, was occupied between about 600 and 1400 AD[91] and at its peak numbered between 8,000 and 40,000 inhabitants, larger than London, England of that time. At the time of first contact with Europeans, Cahokia and many other Mississippian cities had dispersed, andarchaeological finds attest to increased social stress.[92][93][94]
The wordMississippi itself comes fromMessipi, the French rendering of theAnishinaabe (Ojibwe or Algonquin) name for the river,Misi-ziibi (Great River).[95][96] TheOjibwe called Lake ItascaOmashkoozo-zaaga'igan (Elk Lake) and the river flowing out of itOmashkoozo-ziibi (Elk River). After flowing intoLake Bemidji, the Ojibwe called the riverBemijigamaag-ziibi (River from the Traversing Lake). After flowing intoCass Lake, the name of the river changes toGaa-miskwaawaakokaag-ziibi (Red Cedar River) and then out ofLake Winnibigoshish asWiinibiigoonzhish-ziibi (Miserable Wretched Dirty Water River),Gichi-ziibi (Big River) after the confluence with theLeech Lake River, then finally asMisi-ziibi (Great River) after the confluence with theCrow Wing River.[97] After the expeditions byGiacomo Beltrami andHenry Schoolcraft, the longest stream above the juncture of the Crow Wing River andGichi-ziibi was named "Mississippi River". TheMississippi River Band of Chippewa Indians, known as theGichi-ziibiwininiwag, are named after the stretch of the Mississippi River known as theGichi-ziibi. TheCheyenne, one of the earliest inhabitants of the upper Mississippi River, called it theMáʼxe-éʼometaaʼe (Big Greasy River) in theCheyenne language. TheArapaho name for the river isBeesniicíe.[98] ThePawnee name isKickaátit.[99]
The Mississippi was spelled Mississipi or Missisipi during French Louisiana and was also known as the Rivière Saint-Louis.[100][101][102]
In 1519 Spanish explorerAlonso Álvarez de Pineda became the first recorded European to reach the Mississippi River, followed byHernando de Soto who reached the river on May 8, 1541, and called itRío del Espíritu Santo ("River of the Holy Spirit"), in the area of what is now Mississippi.[103] In Spanish, the river is calledRío Mississippi.[104]
WhenLouis Jolliet explored the Mississippi Valley in the 17th century, natives guided him to a quicker way to return to French Canada via the Illinois River. When he found theChicago Portage, he remarked that a canal of "only half aleague" (less than 2 miles or 3 kilometers) would join the Mississippi and the Great Lakes.[105] In 1848, thecontinental divide separating the waters of the Great Lakes and the Mississippi Valley was breached by theIllinois and Michigan canal via theChicago River.[106] This both accelerated the development, and forever changed the ecology of the Mississippi Valley and the Great Lakes.
In 1718, about 100 miles (160 km) upriver, New Orleans was established along the river crescent byJean-Baptiste Le Moyne, Sieur de Bienville, with construction patterned after the 1711 resettlement on Mobile Bay ofMobile, the capital of French Louisiana at the time.
In 1727,Étienne Perier begins work, using enslaved African laborers, on the firstlevees on the Mississippi River.
Article 8 of theTreaty 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". With this treaty, which ended theAmerican Revolutionary War, Britain also ceded West Florida back to Spain to regainthe Bahamas, which Spain had occupied during the war. Initial disputes around the ensuing claims of the U.S. and Spain were resolved when Spain was pressured into signingPinckney's Treaty in 1795. However, in 1800, under duress from Napoleon of France, Spain ceded an undefined portion of West Florida to France in the secretTreaty of San Ildefonso. The United States then secured effective control of the river when it bought theLouisiana Territory from France in theLouisiana Purchase of 1803. 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 decide which parts of West Florida the U.S. had bought from France in the Louisiana Purchase, versus which were unceded Spanish property. Due to ongoing U.S. colonization creating facts on the ground, and U.S. military actions, Spain ceded both West and East Florida in their entirety to the United States in theAdams–Onís Treaty of 1819.
The United States used a motley crew to defend the mouth of the Mississippi River in 1815; forces included Tennessee and Kentucky militiamen, free men of color, French Creoles, Choctaw Indians, slave-trading privateers based out of Galveston, and Mississippi plantation slaves recruited to dig earthworks for "Line Jackson"
The last serious European challenge to U.S. control of the river came at the conclusion of theWar of 1812, when British forces mounted an attack onNew Orleans just 15 days after the signing of theTreaty of Ghent. The attackwas repulsed by an American army under the command of GeneralAndrew Jackson.
In theTreaty of 1818, the U.S. and Great Britain agreed to fix the border running from theLake of the Woods to theRocky Mountains along the49th parallel north. In effect, the U.S. ceded the northwestern extremity of the Mississippi basin to the British in exchange for the southern portion of theRed River basin.
So many settlers traveled westward through the Mississippi river basin, as well as settled in it, thatZadok Cramer wrote a guidebook calledThe Navigator, detailing the features, dangers, and navigable waterways of the area. It was so popular that he updated and expanded it through 12 editions over 25 years.
Shiftingsand bars made early navigation difficult.
Mark Twain's book,Life on the Mississippi, covered thesteamboat commerce, which took place from 1830 to 1870, before more modern ships replaced the steamer.Harper's Weekly first published the book as a seven-partserial in 1875.James R. Osgood & Company published the full version, including a passage from the then unfinishedAdventures of Huckleberry Finn and works from other authors, in 1885.
The first steamboat to travel the full length of the Lower Mississippi from the Ohio River to New Orleans was theNew Orleans in December 1811. Its maiden voyage occurred during the series ofNew Madrid earthquakes in 1811–12. The Upper Mississippi was treacherous, unpredictable and to make traveling worse, the area was not properly mapped out or surveyed. Until the 1840s, only two trips a year to the Twin Cities landings were made by steamboats, which suggests it was not very profitable.[109] The Secretary of War,Charles M. Conrad in 1851 authorized a scientific study of the river in order to prevent flooding primarily.[110] The report was first published in 1861[111] under the title, "Report upon the Physics and Hydraulics of the Mississippi River" and was the most extensive river study undertaken in the world at that time.[112]
Steamboat transport remained a viable industry, both in terms of passengers and freight, until the end of the first decade of the 20th century. Among the several Mississippi River system steamboat companies was the notedAnchor Line, which, from 1859 to 1898, operated a luxurious fleet of steamers between St. Louis and New Orleans.
Italian explorer Giacomo Beltrami wrote about his journey on theVirginia, which was the first steamboat to make it to Fort St. Anthony in Minnesota. He referred to his voyage as a promenade that was once a journey on the Mississippi. The steamboat era changed the economic and political life of the Mississippi, as well as of travel itself. The Mississippi was completely changed by the steamboat era as it transformed into a flourishing tourist trade.[113]
Control of the river was a strategic objective of both sides in theAmerican Civil War, forming a part of the U.S.Anaconda Plan. In 1862,Union forces coming down the river successfully cleared Confederate defenses atIsland Number 10 andMemphis, Tennessee, while Naval forces coming upriver from the Gulf of Mexico capturedNew Orleans, Louisiana. One of the last major Confederate strongholds was on the heights overlooking the river atVicksburg, Mississippi; the Union'sVicksburg Campaign (December 1862 – July 1863), and the fall ofPort Hudson, completed control of the lower Mississippi River. The Union victory ended theSiege of Vicksburg on July 4, 1863, and was pivotal to the Union's final victory of the Civil War.[114]
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.[115]
In the spring of 1927, the river broke out of its banks in 145 places, during theGreat Mississippi Flood of 1927 and inundated 27,000 sq mi (70,000 km2) to a depth of up to 30 feet (9.1 m).
In 1930,Fred Newton was the first person to swim the length of the river, from Minneapolis to New Orleans. The journey took 176 days and covered 1,836 miles.[116][117]
In 1962 and 1963, industrial accidents spilled 3.5 million US gallons (13,000 m3) ofsoybean oil into the Mississippi andMinnesota rivers. The oil covered the Mississippi River from St. Paul to Lake Pepin, creating an ecological disaster and a demand to controlwater pollution.[118]
On October 20, 1976, the automobile ferry,MV George Prince, was struck by a ship traveling upstream as the ferry attempted to cross fromDestrehan, Louisiana, toLuling, Louisiana. Seventy-eight passengers and crew died; only eighteen survived the accident.
In 1988, the water level of the Mississippi fell to 10 feet (3.0 m) below zero on the Memphis gauge. 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. They dated to the late 19th to early 20th centuries. The State of Arkansas, the Arkansas Archeological Survey, and the Arkansas Archeological Society responded with a two-month data recovery effort. The fieldwork received national media attention as good news in the middle of a drought.[119]
TheGreat Flood of 1993 was another significant flood, primarily affecting the Mississippi above its confluence with the Ohio River at Cairo, Illinois.
Two portions of the Mississippi were designated asAmerican Heritage Rivers in 1997: the lower portion around Louisiana and Tennessee, and the upper portion around Iowa, Illinois, Minnesota, Missouri and Wisconsin. The Nature Conservancy's project called "America's Rivershed Initiative" announced a 'report card' assessment of the entire basin in October 2015 and gave the grade of D+. The assessment noted the aging navigation and flood control infrastructure along with multiple environmental problems.[120]
Campsite at the river in Arkansas
In 2002,Slovenian long-distance swimmerMartin Strel swam the entire length of the river, from Minnesota to Louisiana, over the course of 68 days. In 2005, the Source to Sea Expedition[121] paddled the Mississippi andAtchafalaya Rivers to benefit the Audubon Society's Upper Mississippi River Campaign.[122][123]
Future
Geologists believe that the lower Mississippi could take a new course to the Gulf. Either of two new routes—through theAtchafalaya Basin or throughLake Pontchartrain—might become the Mississippi's main channel if flood-control structures are overtopped or heavily damaged during a severe flood.[124][125][126][127][128]
Failure of theOld River Control Structure, theMorganza Spillway, or nearby levees would likely re-route the main channel of the Mississippi through Louisiana'sAtchafalaya Basin and down theAtchafalaya River to reach the Gulf of Mexico south ofMorgan City in southernLouisiana. This route provides a more direct path to theGulf of Mexico than the present Mississippi River channel throughBaton Rouge andNew Orleans.[126] While the risk of such a diversion is present during any major flood event, such a change has so far been prevented by active human intervention involving the construction, maintenance, and operation of various levees, spillways, and other control structures by theU.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
The Old River Control Structure complex. View is to theeast-southeast, looking downriver on the Mississippi, with the three dams across channels of theAtchafalaya River to the right of the Mississippi.Concordia Parish, Louisiana is in the foreground, on the right, andWilkinson County, Mississippi, is in the background, across the Mississippi on the left.
The Old River Control Structure, between the present Mississippi River channel and the Atchafalaya Basin, sits at the normal water elevation and is ordinarily used to divert 30% of the Mississippi flow to the Atchafalaya River. There is a steep drop here away from the Mississippi's main channel into the Atchafalaya Basin. If this facility were to fail during a major flood, there is a strong concern the water wouldscour and erode the river bottom enough to capture the Mississippi's main channel. The structure was nearly lost during the1973 flood, but repairs and improvements were made after engineers studied the forces at play. In particular, the Corps of Engineers made many improvements and constructed additional facilities for routing water through the vicinity. These additional facilities give the Corps much more flexibility and potential flow capacity than they had in 1973, which further reduces the risk of a catastrophic failure in this area during other major floods, such as that of2011.
Because theMorganza Spillway is slightly higher and well back from the river, it is normally dry on both sides.[129] Even if it failed at the crest during a severe flood, the floodwaters would have to erode to normal water levels before the Mississippi could permanently jump channel at this location.[130][131] During the 2011 floods, the Corps of Engineers opened the Morganza Spillway to 1/4 of its capacity to allow 150,000 cubic feet per second (4,200 m3/s) of water to flood the Morganza and Atchafalaya floodways and continue directly to the Gulf of Mexico, bypassing Baton Rouge and New Orleans.[132] In addition to reducing the Mississippi River crest downstream, this diversion reduced the chances of a channel change by reducing stress on the other elements of the control system.[133]
Some geologists have noted that the possibility for course change into the Atchafalaya also exists in the area immediately north of the Old River Control Structure. Army Corps of Engineers geologist Fred Smith once stated, "The Mississippi wants to go west. 1973 was a forty-year flood. The big one lies out there somewhere—when the structures can't release all the floodwaters and the levee is going to have to give way. That is when the river's going to jump its banks and try to break through."[134]
Another possible course change for the Mississippi River is a diversion intoLake Pontchartrain nearNew Orleans. This route is controlled by theBonnet Carré Spillway, built to reduce flooding in New Orleans. This spillway and an imperfect natural levee about 12–20 ft (3.7–6.1 m) high are all that prevents the Mississippi from taking a new, shorter course through Lake Pontchartrain to the Gulf of Mexico.[135] 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 sport ofwater skiing was invented on the river in a wide region between Minnesota and Wisconsin known asLake Pepin.[136]Ralph Samuelson ofLake City, Minnesota, created and refined his skiing technique in late June and early July 1922. He later performed the first water ski jump in 1925 and was pulled along at 80 mph (130 km/h) by a Curtissflying boat later that year.[136]
There are sevenNational Park Service sites along the Mississippi River. TheMississippi National River and Recreation Area is the National Park Service site dedicated to protecting and interpreting the Mississippi River itself. The other six National Park Service sites along the river are (listed from north to south):
The Mississippi basin is home to a highly diverse aquaticfauna and has been called the "mother fauna" of North American freshwater.[137]
Fish
About 375 fish species are known from the Mississippi basin, far exceeding other North Hemisphere river basins exclusively within temperate/subtropical regions,[137] except theYangtze.[138] Within the Mississippi basin, streams that have their source in the Appalachian andOzark highlands contain especially many species. Among the fish species in the basin are numerousendemics, as well asrelicts such aspaddlefish,sturgeon,gar andbowfin.[137]
A large number of reptiles are native to the river channels and basin, includingAmerican alligators, several species of turtle, aquatic amphibians,[141] andcambaridae crayfish, are native to the Mississippi basin.[142]
In addition, approximately 40% of themigratory birds in the US use the Mississippi River corridor during the Spring and Fall migrations; 60% of all migratory birds inNorth America (326 species) use the river basin as their flyway.[143]
^TheUnited States Geological Survey recognizes two contrasting definitions of a river'ssource.[9] By the stricter definition, the Mississippi would share its source with its longest tributary, the Missouri, atBrower's Spring in Montana. The other definition acknowledges "somewhat arbitrary decisions" and places the Mississippi's source at Lake Itasca, which is publicly accepted as the source,[9] and which had been identified as such byBrower himself.[16] However, the river continues for several miles upstream from Lake Itasca toNicolet Lake and its feeder stream.
^The largest riverine basin, the Mississippi basin is the second-largestdrainage system inNorth America after theHudson Bay drainage system, although Hudson Bay may rather be considered an arm of the ocean.
References
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^The Upper Mississippi River Basin: A Portrait of the Father of Waters As Seen by the Upper Mississippi River Comprehensive Basin Study. Chicago, Ill.: Army Corps of Engineers, North Central Division, 1972.
^Heilbron, Bertha L. "Father of Waters: Four Centuries of the Mississippi".American Heritage, vol. 2, no. 1 (Autumn 1950): 40–43.
^Hirschfelder, Arlene B. (2012).The Extraordinary Book of Native American Lists. Paulette Fairbanks Molin. Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press, Inc. p. 260.ISBN978-0-8108-7710-8.OCLC794706782.
^Rodriguez, Junius P. (2003)."Jay–Gardoqui Negotiations (1785–1786)". In Rodriguez, Junius P. (ed.).The Louisiana Purchase: A Historical and Geographical Encyclopedia. Santa Barbara, California: ABC-CLIO.ISBN978-1-57607-188-5.Archived from the original on August 16, 2023. RetrievedAugust 16, 2023 – via Google Books.
^Schroeder, Walter (2006)."Mississippi River". In Cayton, Andrew R. L.; Sisson, Richard; Zacher, Chris (eds.).The American Midwest: An Interpretive Encyclopedia. Bloomington, Indiana: Indiana University Press. pp. 164–165.ISBN9780253003492.Archived from the original on August 16, 2023. RetrievedAugust 16, 2023 – via Google Books.
^"Gateway Arch 'Biography' Reveals Complex History Of An American Icon".Weekend Edition Saturday.National Public Radio. May 25, 2013.
^2001 U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Upper Mississippi River Navigation Chart
^Middle Mississippi River Regional Corridor: Collaborative Planning Study (July 2007 update). St. Louis, MO: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, St. Louis District. 2007. p. 28.
^Frits van der Leeden, Fred L. Troise, David Keith Todd:The Water Encyclopedia, 2nd edition, p. 126, Chelsea, Mich. (Lewis Publishers), 1990,ISBN0-87371-120-3
^abMcPhee, John (February 23, 1987)."The Control of Nature: Atchafalaya".The New Yorker.Archived from the original on May 13, 2011. RetrievedMay 12, 2011. Republished inMcPhee, John (1989).The Control of Nature. Farrar, Straus and Giroux. p. 272.ISBN0-374-12890-1.
^Angert, Joe and Isaac."Old River Control".The Mighty Mississippi River. Archived fromthe original on May 15, 2009. RetrievedMay 12, 2011. Includes map and pictures.
^"Hydrologie du bassin de l'Amazone"(PDF).Grands Bassins Fluviaux, Paris (in French). November 22–24, 1993.Archived(PDF) from the original on October 7, 2016. RetrievedJanuary 11, 2012.
^Meade, R. H., and J. A. Moody, 1984,Causes for the decline of suspended-sediment discharge in the Mississippi River system, 1940–2007 Hydrology Processes vol. 24, pp. 35–49.
^Knopp, Lisa (2012).What the River carries: Encounters with the Mississippi, Missouri, and Platte. Columbia, Missouri: University of Missouri Press. p. 74.ISBN978-0-8262-1974-9.
^Mississippi River Water Quality and the Clean Water Act: Progress, Challenges, and Opportunities. National Academies Press, 2008, ISBN 9780309177818, pp.27–29Archived April 18, 2023, at theWayback Machine
^Costello, Mary Charlotte (2002).Climbing the Mississippi River Bridge by Bridge. Vol. Two: Minnesota. Cambridge, Minnesota: Adventure Publications.ISBN0-9644518-2-4.
^"Mississippi River".USGS: Status and trends of the nation's biological resources. Archived fromthe original on September 27, 2006. RetrievedFebruary 3, 2007.
^Nicks, Oran W., ed. (1970).This Island Earth.NASA. p. 137.
^Richerson, P.J.; Boyd, R.; Bettinger, R.L. (2001). "Was Agriculture Impossible During the Pleistocene but Mandatory during the Holocene? A Climate Change Hypothesis".American Antiquity.66 (3):387–411.doi:10.2307/2694241.JSTOR2694241.S2CID163474968.
^Pauketat, Timothy R. (1998). "Refiguring the Archaeology of Greater Cahokia".Journal of Archaeological Research.6 (1):45–89.doi:10.1023/A:1022839329522.S2CID195219118.
^Gilfillan, Joseph A., "Minnesota Geographical Names Derived from the Chippewa Language" inThe Geological and Natural History Survey of Minnesota: The Fifteenth Annual Report for the Year 1886 (St. Paul: Pioneer Press Company, 1887)
^Roseman, Curtis C., and Elizabeth M. Roseman. Grand Excursions on the Upper Mississippi River : Places, Landscapes, And Regional Identity After 1854. Iowa City: University Of Iowa Press, 2004.
^Humphreys, A. A. (Andrew Atkinson), 1810-1883. Report upon the physics and hydraulics of the Mississippi river; upon the protection of the alluvial region against overflow; and upon the deepening of the mouths ... Submitted to the Bureau of Topographical Engineers, War Department, 1861. Prepared by Captain A.A. Humphreys and Lieut. H.L. Abbot. Philadelphia, J.B. Lippincott & Co., 1861. xxiv, 17-456, cxlvi p. xx fold. pl. (incl. maps, diagrs.) tables. 34 cm. TC425.M6 H6.Library of Congress website Retrieved 4 May 2025.
^Humphreys, A. A., et al. Report upon the Physics and Hydraulics of the Mississippi River : Upon the Protection of the Alluvial Region against Overflow, and upon the Deepening of the Mouths : Based upon Surveys and Investigations Made under the Acts of Congress Directing the Topographical and Hydrographical Survey of the Delta of the Mississippi River, with Such Investigations as Might Lead to Determine the Most Practicable Plan for Securing It from Inundation, and the Best Mode of Deepening the Channels at the Mouths of the River. Government Printing Office, 1867.The Internet Archive website Retrieved 4 May 2025.
^Smith, Thomas Ruys. River of Dreams : Imagining The Mississippi Before Mark Twain. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 2007.
^Tomblin, Barbara (2016).The Civil War on the Mississippi: Union Sailors, Gunboat Captains, and the Campaign to Control the River. Lexington, Kentucky: University Press of Kentucky. pp. 281–290.ISBN978-0-8131-6703-9.
^"Mississippi River Basin Receives D+ in First-Ever Report Card" (Press Release). U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Mississippi Valley Division. October 14, 2015. Retrieved November 7, 2015.US Army Corps of Engineers website
^ab"The Beginning". USA Water Ski.org. 2009. Archived fromthe original on September 27, 2013. RetrievedJuly 30, 2009.
^abcMatthews, W.J. (1998).Patterns in Freshwater Fish Ecology. Springer. pp. 5, 236.ISBN978-1-4615-4066-3.
^Ye, S.; Li, Z.; Liu, J.; Zhang, T.; Xie, S. (2011). "Distribution, Endemism and Conservation Status of Fishes in the Yangtze River Basin, China".Ecosystems Biodiversity. BoD – Books on Demand. pp. 41–66.ISBN978-953-307-417-7.
^Hobbs, H.H. Jr. (1989). "An Illustrated Checklist of the American Crayfishes (Decapoda, Astacidae, Cambaridae, Parastacidae)".Smithsonian Contributions to Zoology.480 (480):1–236.doi:10.5479/si.00810282.480.
Ambrose, Stephen.The Mississippi and the Making of a Nation: From the Louisiana Purchase to Today (National Geographical Society, 2002) heavily illustrated
Botkin, Benjamin Albert.A Treasury of Mississippi River folklore: stories, ballads & traditions of the mid-American river country (1984).
Carlander, Harriet Bell.A history of fish and fishing in the upper Mississippi River (PhD Diss. Iowa State College, 1954)onlineArchived April 30, 2015, at theWayback Machine (PDF)
Daniel, Pete.Deep'n as it come: The 1927 Mississippi River flood (University of Arkansas Press, 1977)
Fremling, Calvin R.Immortal river: the Upper Mississippi in ancient and modern times (U. of Wisconsin Press, 2005), popular history
Knox, James C. The Mississippi River System. In Avijit Gupta, ed., Large Rivers: Geomorphology and Management. 2nd Ed. Hoboken, N.J.: Wiley-Blackwell, pp. 205–252. ISBN 9781119412601
Milner, George R. "The late prehistoric Cahokia cultural system of the Mississippi River valley: Foundations, florescence, and fragmentation."Journal of World Prehistory (1990) 4#1 pp: 1–43.
Morris, Christopher.The Big Muddy: An Environmental History of the Mississippi and Its Peoples From Hernando de Soto to Hurricane Katrina (Oxford University Press; 2012) 300 pages; links drought, disease, and flooding to the impact of centuries of increasingly intense human manipulation of the river.
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