In the 18th century, the river was the primary western boundary of the young United States, and since the country's expansion westward, the Mississippi River has been widely considered a convenient if approximate dividing line between the Eastern, Southern, and Midwestern United States, and the Western United States. South of Hennepin, to Alton, Illinois, the current Illinois River follows the ancient channel used by the Mississippi River before the Illinoian Stage. The first part is referred to as the headwaters, and in this region, the river flows for about 493 miles from Lake Itasca to Saint Anthony Falls. "Mississippi River Basin Receives D+ in First-Ever Report Card" (Press Release). In the United States, the Mississippi River drains the majority of the area between the crest of the Rocky Mountains and the crest of the Appalachian Mountains, except for various regions drained to Hudson Bay by the Red River of the North; to the Atlantic Ocean by the Great Lakes and the Saint Lawrence River; and to the Gulf of Mexico by the Rio Grande, the Alabama and Tombigbee rivers, the Chattahoochee and Appalachicola rivers, and various smaller coastal waterways along the Gulf. Or is it a watershed - and does the Mississippi therefore start anywhere rain or c. 800 BC: The Mississippi diverted further east. Measurements of the length of the Mississippi from Lake Itasca to the Gulf of Mexico vary somewhat, but the United States Geological Survey's number is 2,320 miles (3,730 km). Between Saint Louis, Missouri, where the Missouri River joins and Cairo, Illinois, the depth averages 30 feet (9 m). In 1962 and 1963, industrial accidents spilled 3.5 million US gallons (13,000 m3) of soybean oil into the Mississippi and Minnesota rivers. The total catchment of the Mississippi River covers nearly 40% of the landmass of the continental United States. [57][58] This was achieved by a series of locks and dams, and by dredging. What is the Mississippi? A major flood in 1881 caused it to overtake the lower 10 miles (16 km) of the Kaskaskia River, forming a new Mississippi channel and cutting off the town from the rest of the state. The Union victory ending the Siege of Vicksburg on July 4, 1863, was pivotal to the Union's final victory of the Civil War. Steamers worked the entire route from the trickles of Montana, to the Ohio River; down the Missouri and Tennessee, to the main channel of the Mississippi. Its largest city is Memphis, Tennessee.The name "Mississippi" comes from a Native American name that means "big river." Jacobson to Aitkin. All maps, graphics, flags, photos and original descriptions © 2020 worldatlas.com. Everything has to start somewhere, and the Mississippi River starts in Itasca State Park in Minnesota. The Mississippi ranks as the fourth-longest river and fifteenth-largest river by discharge in the world. It spanned the river in Minneapolis where the current Hennepin Avenue Bridge is located. 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. [30][31][32][33] Although the Red River is commonly mistaken for an additional tributary, its water flows separately into the Gulf of Mexico through the Atchafalaya River. The Mississippi River starts at Lake Itasca in north central Minnesota and travels 2,350 miles to its endpoint at the Gulf of Mexico. 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