![]() On the other hand, Lake Pepin is natural, formed due to the delta formed by the Chippewa River of Wisconsin as it enters the Upper Mississippi it is more than 2 miles (3.2 km) wide.īy the time the Upper Mississippi reaches Saint Paul, Minnesota, below Lock and Dam No. 7), near La Crosse, Wisconsin, over 4 miles (6.4 km) wide. Also of note is Lake Onalaska (created by Lock and Dam No. The Upper Mississippi features various natural and artificial lakes, with its widest point being Lake Winnibigoshish, near Grand Rapids, Minnesota, over 7 miles (11 km) across. The water elevation continues to drop steeply as it passes through the gorge carved by the waterfall. Saint Anthony Falls is the only true waterfall on the entire Mississippi River. The origin of the dramatic drop is a waterfall preserved adjacent to the lock under an apron of concrete. This 49-foot (15 m) drop is the largest of all the Mississippi River locks and dams. Below the dam, the river’s elevation is 750 feet (230 m). ![]() Above the dam, the river’s elevation is 799 feet (244 m). Anthony Falls Lock and Dam in Minneapolis. The uppermost lock and dam on the Upper Mississippi River is the Upper St. Before its construction in 1913, steamboats could occasionally go upstream as far as Saint Cloud, Minnesota, depending on river conditions. The head of navigation on the Mississippi is the Coon Rapids Dam in Coon Rapids, Minnesota. ![]() Louis and the phrase “Trans-Mississippi”, used for example in the name of the 1898 Trans-Mississippi Exposition held in Omaha, Nebraska. The Mississippi River is widely considered a convenient if approximate dividing line between the Eastern, Southern, and Midwestern United States and the Western U.S., as exemplified by the Gateway Arch in St. The source of this waterway is at Brower’s Spring, 8,800 feet (2,700 m) above sea level in southwestern Montana, along the Continental Divide outside Yellowstone National Park. Its length of at least 3,745 mi (6,027 km) is exceeded only by the Nile, the Amazon, and perhaps the Yangtze River among the longest rivers in the world. While the Missouri River, flowing from the confluence of the Jefferson, Madison and Gallatin Rivers to the Mississippi, is the longest continuously named river in the United States, the serially named river known sequentially as Hellroaring Creek, Red Rock, Beaverhead, Jefferson, Missouri, Middle Mississippi, and Lower Mississippi, as one continuous waterway, is the longest river in North America and the third or fourth longest river in the world. A system of dikes and gates has, so far, held the Mississippi at bay but, due to fluvial processes, the shift becomes more likely each year. In recent years, the river has shown a steady shift towards the Atchafalaya River channel in the Delta a course change would prove disastrous to seaports such as New Orleans. Since modern development of the basin began, the Mississippi has also seen its share of pollution and environmental problems – most notably large volumes of agricultural runoff, which has led to the Gulf of Mexico dead zone off the Delta. Because of substantial growth of cities and the larger ships and barges that supplanted riverboats, the decades following the 1900s saw the construction of massive engineering works such as levees, locks and dams, often built in combination. During the American Civil War, the Mississippi’s capture by Union forces marked a turning point towards victory because of the river’s importance as a route of trade and travel, not least to the Confederacy. Formed from thick layers of this river’s silt deposits, the Mississippi River Valley is one of the most fertile agricultural regions of the country, which resulted in the river’s storied steamboat era.
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