Geologists believe the Mississippi has existed for two hundred million years. Native Americans discovered it approximately 19,000 years ago. Hernando de Soto, in the spring of 1541, was the first European to discover the river.
The history of white inhabitants along the Mississippi begins with the voyage of Louis JOLLIET and Father Jacques MARQUETTE and their entry into the river on June 17, 1673. Louis Hennepin, a Franciscan friar, later managed a phonetic spelling of "Meschasipi" on his maps. In 1703 William Delisle, a French cartographer, changed the spelling to the word we recognize today. The source of the mighty waterway was not known until Henry Rowe SCHOOLCRAFT discovered it flowing from Lake Itasca in 1832.
The Mississippi created a barrier to expansion westward in the early years of American colonization. Development of the Mississippi River Valley was also halted by battles between England and France for control of the area. In 1798 the Mississippi Territory was created by Congress. The LOUISIANA PURCHASE in 1803 opened the river and lands west to settlement.STEAMBOATS opened the river commerce to high class travel through the middle of the 19th century. Today COMMERCIAL FISHING and CLAM HUNTING remain valuable industries.
Control of the Mississippi was of vital concern to both the North and South during the CIVIL WAR. Disruption of river commerce out of Dubuque ended with the fall of Vicksburg on July 4, 1863. This decisive battle led to Union control of the Mississippi and isolation for the forces of the Confederacy west of the river.
Growth of RAILROADS led to a decline in the use of the Mississippi for the LUMBER INDUSTRY. Great fleets of barges revitalized river commerce. Most of the bulk cargo of the Midwest is now carried on the river.ICE HARBOR by the U.S. Corps of Engineers in 1844 with a cost of $7,500.
The federal government, founding the Mississippi River Commission in 1879, created a seven-member group of engineers interested in navigational improvement and flood control. A four-and-one-half-foot channel project was begun in 1878. The depth of the channel was to be maintained by clearing the channel and constructing wing dams. Finding the depth of the channel insufficient, a second project was initiated in 1907 that called for a six-foot channel maintained by the construction of additional wing dams.LOCKS between Minneapolis, Minnesota, and the Gulf of Mexico. The creation of the new river system submerged an estimated 125,000 acres of land, converted a free-flowing stream into a series of marshes and standing pools, altered the populations of some types of aquatic life such as clams, and dramatically increased urban growth along the river.
In 1917 the first federal flood control acts were passed. Hundreds of millions of new dollars poured into the system after disastrous flooding in 1927. Dubuque's FLOOD WALL cost $10.8 million. Despite preventive measures, unexpected floods continue to be a problem today. A severe drought in 1988, a reverse situation, led barges to be stranded with tons of cargo until new channels could be dredged.