The Mississippi River

The Mississippi River is the second longest river in the United States and the Third largest in the world, with a length of 2,340 miles from its source in Lake Itasca in Minnesota to its mouth in the Gulf of Mexico.

1. The Mississippi River is part of the Jefferson-Missouri-Mississippi river system, which is the largest river system in North America and among the largest in the world: by length (3,900 miles, it is the fourth longest.

• True or False?

2. The name Mississippi is derived from the Navajo word misi-ziibi ("Great River") or gichi-ziibi ("Big River") at its headwaters.

• True or False?

3. What is the widest point of the Mississippi River, near Grand Rapids, Minnesota at over 7 miles across?

• Lake Mammoth
• Lake Winnibigoshish
• Waverly Lake

4. At Cairo,Illinois, what river meets the Mississippi River?

• Ohio River
• Makon River
• Illinois River

5. In 1855, the first bridge across the Mississippi River spanned the river in where the current Hennepin Avenue Bridge is located. What was the town?

• Minneapolis
• St. Louis
• St. Paul

6. The first railroad bridge across the Mississippi was built in 1856. It spanned the river between Arsenal Island at Rock Island, Illinois, and Davenport, Iowa. What was the date?

• 1856
• 1866
• 1876

7. What river meets the Mississippi at Vicksburg.

• The Yazoo River
• The Google Rivere
• The Cherokee River

8. On May 8, 1541, Spanish explorer became the first recorded European to reach the Mississippi River, which he called Río del Espíritu Santo ("River of the Holy Spirit"), in the area of what is now Mississippi. In Spanish the river is called Río Misisipi. Who was the Spanish explorer?

• Hernando de Soto
• Juan Ponce de León
• Ferdinand Magellan

9. Who wrote Life on the Mississippi that covered the steamboat commerce which took place from 1830 to 1870 on the river before more modern ships replaced the steamer?

• Ulysses S. Grant
• Macon Georgia
• Mark Twain

10. The Mississippi River is a commonly cited natural boundary for purposes of dividing the United States into eastern and western sections, with places often being described as east or west "of the Mississippi".

• True or False?

The Mississippi River Answers

1. True
2. False. The American Indian language was Ojibwe.
3. Lake Winnibigoshish
4. Ohio River
5. Minneapolis
6. 1856
7. The Yazoo River
8. Hernando de Soto
9. Mark Twain
10. True

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