Highlights Archives
Exploring the History of the Mississippi River
Forming a part of Wisconsin's western border, the Mississippi River has long played a role in the history and development of Wisconsin. Coursing through the heart of the country, the Mississippi River, whose name means the "father of waters" in the Algonquian language, served as an important transportation artery for Native Americans, explorers, fur traders and immigrants.
Native Americans were the first to use and settle the Mississippi River Valley. Emigrants of the Mississippian culture centered in Cahokia, near modern-day St. Louis, traveled up the Mississippi and Rock rivers into Wisconsin. They established outposts, the largest of which are at the modern city of Trempealeau and at Aztalan, and joined descendants of the local Effigy Mound Culture.
The first European to see the river inland was Hernando de Soto in 1541, followed in 1673 by Father Jacques Marquette and Louis Joliet. Marquette and Joliet traveled thousands of miles through the upper Midwest, confirming that it was possible to travel easily from the Great Lakes all the way to the Gulf of Mexico by water. Equipped with this information, French officials erected a 4,000-mile network of trading posts to systematically exploit the area's natural resources for the next century and a half.
The river system formed the pathway for white settlement. The advent of the steamboat in 1812 brought reliable transportation, and river traffic boomed. An Italian nobleman and soldier, Giacomo Beltrami took the first steamboat trip along the Wisconsin shore in 1823. Transporting produce and other products, especially lead, to ports was a primary concern for Wisconsin settlers, particularly because the river was not always kind to travelers. Navigating the reefs, bars, snags and sunken wrecks along the river required great skill, and steamboat pilots were renowned for their intimate knowledge of the river. George Byron Merrick was a steamboat pilot for nine years, and his recollections contain lively accounts of day-to-day operations as well as tales of gamblers, boat races and shipwrecks.
Read more accounts of life on the Mississippi River.
Although the Mississippi River has proved an important lifeline for the nation, it has also been the source of anguish and loss caused by devastating floods. Since the late 19th century and continuing to this day, the government has initiated various efforts to control the Mississippi River, such as this dam near Trempealeau. As the nation's longest river, the Mississippi continues to serve as a vital commercial and transportation link for the people and communities along its shores.
You can learn more about the Mississippi River and its history on March 21, 2006, when retired Professor Roald Tweet presents The Mississippi: Our First Interstate Highway at 12:15 p.m. at the Wisconsin Historical Museum in Madison.
:: Posted March 20, 2006
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