8.8.4

Examine the importance of the great rivers and the struggle over water rights.
             Great Rivers. What do people mean when they say these words? What rivers are they talking about? What they are talking about are the largest rivers in the United States. These include the Mississippi, the Missouri, and the Ohio. Each river has its own unique history but together they played a large role on American society and development.
             Mississippi River is not only the most frustrating to spell, but it was probably the most important one out of the great rivers. French explorers Jacques Marquette and Louis Jolliet discovered it in 1673. Frenchmen founded New Orleans in 1718 at the mouth of the river that goes into the Gulf of Mexico. Spain bought the Mississippi from France in 1783 but France regained it in 1800. 3 years later, it was once again sold to the United States as part of the Louisiana Purchase.
             What about the Missouri River? Though it is longer than the Mississippi, it is known quite as well. A lot of pioneers on there way to California ad Oregon traveled down this river. This river later lost some of its travelers to the railroads. Now lets explain the Ohio River. Before the Erie Canal was opened in 1825, the Ohio River was the main route to the west for pioneers. It was also the most popular form of transporting goods.
             These three rivers along with many other ones opened up the west to trade and expansion during the 1800s. Not only that, but the Mississippi tied the regions up north to the south. This allowed the port of New Orleans to supply the west with items from other countries. A good deal of pioneer advance took place in the region in the Missouri Valley between St. Louis and Kansas.
             Since these rivers were so important with so many functions, many people wanted control over them. Even in the civil war people fought for control over these rivers. At the start of the civil war, there were 4 states that were “border states” or states where the people were divided between the North and the South. If the North lost Kentucky or Missouri, they would lose a large part of the Mississippi river and the Ohio River. Losing these rivers would be extremely damaging to the North. So the civil war was also a struggle between who would control the Great Rivers, New Orleans, and trade in the Not-So-United States.


More Information:

   1.    http://www.desertusa.com/colorado/coloriv/du_coloriv.html
          The Colorado River, lifeline to the west, was at first thought as useless for navigation. This website explains the importance of the Colorado River.

   2.    http://www.crcwater.org/issues6/19981129waterrights.html
          This site explains how the interpretation of Winters vs. United States affected the ruling of other water right cases.

   3.    http://slider.com/index.html
          This site is a large online base encyclopedia. All you need to do is search for your topic the way you would with a regular encyclopedia. I found lots of facts about the history of the great rivers at this site.

   4.    http://biology.usgs.gov/s+t/SNT/noframe/ms137.htm
          This is a very big site that contains abundant information on the Mississippi River.

   5.    http://riverresource.com/text/rivlinks.html
          A large site with links to other pages and sites with on the river you are looking for.