Appendix C

1879 Mississippi River Commission Act

Forty-Sixth Congress, Sess. I. Ch. 43. 1879

Chap. 43 - An act to provide for the appointment of a “Mississippi River Commission” for the improvement of said river from the Head of 

the Passes near its mouth to its headwaters.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That a commission 

is hereby created, to be called “The Mississippi River Commission,” to consist of seven members.

Sec. 2. The President of the United States shall, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, appoint seven commissioners, three 

of whom shall be selected from the Engineer Corps of the Army, one from the Coast and Geodetic Survey, and three from civil life, two 

of whom shall be civil engineers. And any vacancy which may occur in the commission shall in like manner be filled by the President of 

the United States; and he shall designate one of the commissioners appointed from the Engineer Corps of the Army to be president of 

the commission. The commissioners appointed from the Engineer Corps of the Army and the Coast and Geodetic Survey shall receive 

no other pay or compensation than is now allowed them by law, and the other three commissioners shall receive as pay and 

compensation for their services each the sum of three thousand dollars per annum; and the commissioners appointed under this act 

shall remain in office subject to removal by the President of the United States.

Sec. 3. It shall be the duty of said commission to direct and complete, such surveys of said river, between the Head of the Passes near 

its mouth to its headwaters as may now be in progress, and to make such additional surveys, examinations, and investigations,

topographical, hydrographical, and hydrometrical, of said river and its, tributaries, as may be deemed necessary by said commission to 

carry out the objects of this act. And to enable said commission to complete, such surveys, examinations, and investigations, the 

Secretary of War shall, when requested by said commission, detail from the Engineer Corps of the Army such officers and men as may 

be necessary, and shall place in the charge and for the use of said commission such vessel or vessels and such machinery and 

instruments as may be under his control and maybe deemed necessary. And the Secretary of the Treasury shall, when requested by 

said commission in like manner detail from the Coast and Geodetic Survey such officers and men as may be necessary, and shall

place in the charge and for the use of said commission such vessel or vessels and such machinery and instruments as may be under 

his control and may be deemed necessary. And the said commission may, with the approval of the Secretary of War, employ such 

additional force and assistants, and provide, by purchase or otherwise, such vessels or boats and such instruments and means as may 

be deemed necessary.

Sec. 4. It shall be the duty of said commission to take into consideration and mature such plan or plans and estimates as will correct, 

permanently locate, and deepen the channel and protect the banks of the Mississippi River; improve and give safety and ease to the 

navigation thereof; prevent destructive floods; promote and facilitate commerce, trade, and the postal service; and when so prepared 

and matured, to submit to the Secretary of War a full and detailed report of their proceedings and actions, and of such plans, with 

estimates of the cost thereof, for the purposes aforesaid, to be by him transmitted to Congress: Provided, That the commission shall 

report in full upon the practicability, feasibility, and probable cost of the various plans known as the jetty system, the levee system, and 

the outlet system, as well as upon such others as they deem necessary.

Sec. 5. The said commission may, prior to the completion of all the surveys and examinations contemplated by this act, prepare, and 

submit to the Secretary of War plans, specifications, and estimates of costs for such immediate works as, in the judgment of said 

commission, may constitute a part of the general system of works herein contemplated, to be by him transmitted to Congress.

Sec. 6. The Secretary of War may detail from the Engineer Corps of the Army of the United States an officer to act as secretary of said 

commission.

Sec. 7. The Secretary of War is hereby authorized to expend the sum of one hundred and seventy-five thousand dollars, or so much 

thereof as may be necessary, for the payment of the salaries herein provided for, and of the necessary expenses incurred in the 

completion of such surveys as may now be in progress, and of such additional surveys, examinations, and investigations as may be 

deemed necessary, reporting the plans and estimates, and the plans, specifications, and estimates contemplated by this act, as herein 

provided for; and said sum is hereby appropriated for said purposes out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated.

Approved, June 28, 1879