Mississippi River

"Mississippi Valley" and "The Mississippi" redirect here. For other uses, see Mississippi Valley (disambiguation), Mississippi (disambiguation), and Mississippi River (disambiguation).

Mississippi River
The Mississippi River in Iowa
Mississippi River basin
Map
EtymologyOjibwe Misi-ziibi, meaning "Great River"
Nickname(s)"Old Man River," "Father of Waters"[1][2][3]
Location
CountryUnited States
StateMinnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, Illinois, Missouri, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Mississippi, Louisiana
CitiesSaint Cloud, MN, Minneapolis, MN, St. Paul, MN, La Crosse, WI, Quad Cities, IA/IL, St. Louis, MO, Memphis, TN, Greenville, MS, Vicksburg, MS, Baton Rouge, LA, New Orleans, LA
Physical characteristics
SourceLake Itasca (traditional)[a]
 • locationItasca State Park, Clearwater County, MN
 • coordinates47°14′23″N 95°12′27″W / 47.23972°N 95.20750°W / 47.23972; -95.20750
 • elevation1,475 ft (450 m)
MouthGulf of Mexico
 • location
Pilottown, Plaquemines Parish, LA
 • coordinates
29°09′04″N 89°15′12″W / 29.15111°N 89.25333°W / 29.15111; -89.25333
 • elevation
0 ft (0 m)
Length2,340 mi (3,770 km)
Basin size1,151,000 sq mi (2,980,000 km2)
Discharge 
 • locationNone (Summative representation of catchment: View source); max and min at Baton Rouge, LA[4]
 • average593,000 cu ft/s (16,800 m3/s)[4]
 • minimum159,000 cu ft/s (4,500 m3/s)
 • maximum3,065,000 cu ft/s (86,800 m3/s)
Discharge 
 • locationVicksburg[5]
 • average768,075 cu ft/s (21,749.5 m3/s) (2009–2020 water years)
 • minimum144,000 cu ft/s (4,100 m3/s)
 • maximum2,340,000 cu ft/s (66,000 m3/s)
Discharge 
 • locationSt. Louis[6]
 • average168,000 cu ft/s (4,800 m3/s)[6]
Basin features
Tributaries 
 • leftSt. Croix River, Wisconsin River, Rock River, Illinois River, Kaskaskia River, Ohio River, Yazoo River, Big Black River
 • rightMinnesota River, Iowa River, Des Moines River, Missouri River, St. Francis River, White River, Arkansas River, Red River

The Mississippi River[b] is the primary river of the largest drainage basin in the United States.[c][15][16] From its traditional source of Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota, it flows generally south for 2,340 miles (3,766 km)[16] to the Mississippi River Delta in the Gulf of Mexico. With its many tributaries, the Mississippi's watershed drains all or parts of 32 U.S. states and two Canadian provinces between the Rocky and Appalachian mountains.[17] The river either borders or passes through the states of Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, Illinois, Missouri, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Mississippi, and Louisiana.[18][19] The main stem is entirely within the United States; the total drainage basin is 1,151,000 sq mi (2,980,000 km2), of which only about one percent is in Canada. The Mississippi ranks as the world's tenth-largest river by discharge flow, and the largest in North America.

Native Americans have lived along the Mississippi River and its tributaries for thousands of years. Many were hunter-gatherers, but some, such as the Mound Builders, formed prolific agricultural and urban civilizations, and some practiced aquaculture. 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.[20] The river served sometimes as a barrier, forming borders for New 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 of manifest destiny, the Mississippi and several tributaries, most notably its largest, the Ohio and Missouri, formed pathways for the western expansion of the United States. The river also became the subject of American literature, particularly in the writings of Mark Twain.

Formed from thick layers of the river's silt deposits, the Mississippi embayment is one of the most fertile regions of the United States; steamboats were widely used in the 19th and early 20th centuries to ship agricultural and industrial goods. During the American Civil War, the Mississippi's capture by Union forces marked a turning point towards victory, due to the river's strategic importance to the Confederate war effort. Because of the substantial growth of cities and the larger ships and barges that replaced steamboats, the first decades of the 20th century saw the construction of massive engineering works such as levees, locks and dams, often built in combination. A major focus of this work has been to prevent the lower Mississippi from shifting into the channel of the Atchafalaya River and bypassing New 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 the Gulf of Mexico dead zone.

  1. ^ James L. Shaffer and John T. Tigges. The Mississippi River: Father of Waters. Chicago, Ill.: Arcadia Pub., 2000.
  2. ^ 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.
  3. ^ Heilbron, Bertha L. "Father of Waters: Four Centuries of the Mississippi". American Heritage, vol. 2, no. 1 (Autumn 1950): 40–43.
  4. ^ a b c d Kammerer, J.C. (May 1990). "Largest Rivers in the United States". U.S. Geological Survey. Archived from the original on June 30, 2017. Retrieved February 22, 2011.
  5. ^ "USGS 07289000 Mississippi River at Vicksburg, MS". United States Geological Survey. Archived from the original on October 5, 2021. Retrieved October 6, 2021.
  6. ^ a b Median of the 14,610 daily streamflows recorded by the USGS for the period 1967–2006.
  7. ^ "The True Utmost Reaches of the Missouri". MT.gov. Archived from the original on January 18, 2012. Retrieved February 19, 2024.
  8. ^ Hirschfelder, Arlene B. (2012). The Extraordinary Book of Native American Lists. Paulette Fairbanks Molin. Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press, Inc. p. 260. ISBN 978-0-8108-7710-8. OCLC 794706782.
  9. ^ "AISRI Dictionary Database Search". Archived from the original on May 10, 2017. Retrieved June 16, 2016.
  10. ^ "Myaamia Dictionary Search". Archived from the original on August 28, 2016. Retrieved August 19, 2016.
  11. ^ "English – Cheyenne". Archived from the original on September 11, 2016. Retrieved August 19, 2016.
  12. ^ "English – Kiowa". Archived from the original on July 13, 2016. Retrieved August 19, 2016.
  13. ^ "XML File of Arapaho Place Names". Archived from the original on September 19, 2016. Retrieved June 16, 2016.
  14. ^ "Southband Pawnee Dictionary". Archived from the original on January 17, 2013. Retrieved May 26, 2012.
  15. ^ United States Geological Survey Hydrological Unit Code: 08-09-01-00- Lower Mississippi-New Orleans Watershed
  16. ^ a b "Lengths of the major rivers". United States Geological Survey. Archived from the original on March 5, 2009. Retrieved March 14, 2009.
  17. ^ "Mississippi River Facts – Mississippi National River and Recreation Area (U.S. National Park Service)". www.nps.gov. Archived from the original on November 17, 2018. Retrieved November 16, 2018.
  18. ^ "United States Geography: Rivers". www.ducksters.com. Archived from the original on April 28, 2019. Retrieved June 30, 2017.
  19. ^ "The 10 States That Border the Mississippi". ThoughtCo. Archived from the original on September 7, 2017. Retrieved June 30, 2017.
  20. ^ "Mississippi (river US) facts, information, pictures | Encyclopedia.com articles about Mississippi (river US)". www.encyclopedia.com. Archived from the original on June 18, 2017. Retrieved June 30, 2017.


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