Facts about the Mississippi River

1. 07

   Lock and Dam 26 near Alton, Illinois handles approximately 500 million tons of cargo annually, making it one of the busiest inland waterway locks in North America.

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2. 06

   Sediment deposits from the Mississippi River create the Mississippi Delta, which advances into the Gulf of Mexico at approximately 100 feet per year, though coastal erosion currently offsets this growth.

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3. 05

   Native Americans, particularly the Mississippian culture, built Cahokia Mounds near present-day St. Louis between 1100 and 1350 CE, with the largest earthwork reaching 100 feet tall and covering 14 acres at its base.

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4. 04

   During the Civil War, control of the Mississippi River was strategically vital, and Union General Ulysses S. Grant's 1863 Vicksburg Campaign secured Federal dominance over the entire waterway.

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5. 03

   Steamboats transported over 4 million bales of cotton annually down the Mississippi River during the 1850s, making it the world's busiest commercial waterway at that time.

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6. 02

   In 1927, the Great Mississippi Flood covered 26,000 square miles and caused an estimated 246 deaths across Louisiana, Mississippi, and Arkansas.

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7. 01

   Approximately 2,340 miles long, the Mississippi River drains 31 U.S. states and discharges roughly 593,000 cubic feet of water per second into the Gulf of Mexico.

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