52 | Viking Explorer Society News
PHOTOS:
©
ISTOCK
F
rom the headwaters in Minnesota to
its delta in the Gulf of Mexico, the
Mississippi River stretches for
3,766km and winds through
America's heartland.
The river was formed when the last ice age
ended, about 10,000 years ago. Water from
the melting ice sheet gathered in a vast
network of north-to-south channels that
carved out the Mississippi Valley.
History
Native Americans have lived along the
Mississippi's banks for thousands of years.
First to use the river for commerce, the earliest
Native Americans established a network of
trade routes; later, large population centres,
including a metropolis across from present-
day St. Louis called Cahokia, were formed.
And it was the Algonquian-speaking people
who named the river: Misi-ziibi, roughly
translated as the "Great River" or
"Father of waters".
American history is bound with the
Mississippi. When the Revolutionary War
ended, the river became the new nation's
western border. That changed in 1803, when
the Louisiana Purchase ceded control of the
river – and the lands west of it – to the United
States. New communities formed, supported
by paddle-wheel steamboats that facilitated
commerce and transportation. Control of this
valuable resource was critical for both sides
during the Civil War.
Logistics
Controlling the waterways that make up the
Mississippi has challenged government
leaders and the Army Corps of Engineers for
more than 100 years. A system of 29 locks and
dams in the Upper Mississippi help facilitate
barge traffic and regulate water levels. And on
the more heavily trafficked Lower Mississippi,
the river is restrained by levees and dikes
to help control seasonal flooding.
Magic
MISSISSIPPI
Take a look at some of the highlights that line the iconic
Mississippi waterway.
Relax and soak up
the views in the
Explorers' Lounge
