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The river system, especially the Mississippi River, was used by Union armies as a means of invading and was host to several large battles during the U.S. Civil War. Mark Twain is regarded as having a large impact on molding U.S. literature into what it is today because of his profound works on adventures and life on the rivers. [20]
Discovery of the Mississippi by De Soto A.D. 1541 by William Henry Powell depicts Hernando de Soto and Spanish Conquistadores seeing the Mississippi River for the first time. Map of the French settlements (blue) in North America in 1750, before the French and Indian War (1754 to 1763). c. 1681 map of Marquette and Jolliet's 1673 expedition.
The Mississippi River Delta is the 7th largest river delta on Earth and is an important coastal region for the United States, containing more than 2.7 million acres (4,200 sq mi; 11,000 km 2) of coastal wetlands and 37% of the estuarine marsh in the conterminous U.S. [1] The coastal area is the nation's largest drainage basin and drains about ...
The Mississippi River System is connected to the Illinois Waterway, which continues to the Great Lakes Waterway and then to the Saint Lawrence Seaway. The Lower Mississippi River from Baton Rouge to the Gulf of Mexico allows ocean shipping to connect with the barge traffic, thereby making this segment vital to both the domestic and foreign ...
The Mississippi River was an important military highway that bordered ten states, roughly equally divided between Union and Confederate loyalties. Both sides soon realised that control of the river was a crucial strategic priority. Confederate general Braxton Bragg said "The river is of more importance to us than all the country together."
After the development of railroads, passenger traffic gradually switched to this faster form of transportation, but steamboats continued to serve Mississippi River commerce into the early 20th century. A small number of steamboats are still used for tourist excursions in the 21st century.
The shifting river delta at the mouth of the Mississippi on the Gulf Coast lies some 300 miles south of this area in Louisiana, and is referred to as the Mississippi River Delta. Rather, the Mississippi Delta is part of an alluvial plain, created by regular flooding of the Mississippi and Yazoo rivers over thousands of years. The climate is ...
The Lower Mississippi River is the portion of the Mississippi River downstream of Cairo, Illinois. From the confluence of the Ohio River and the Middle Mississippi River at Cairo, the Lower flows just under 1000 miles (1600 km) to the Gulf of Mexico. [1] It is the most heavily travelled component of the Mississippi River System. [2]