The Burlington weekly hawk-eye. [volume] (Burlington [Iowa]) 1860-1876, 1863-03-07
The Mississippi and it's Chan ses-C,
Channel be Diverted. It's

Inc East .1
The Mississippi and IT'S Chan ges-c,
| Channel be Diverted. Hs
The engineering problems presented he a..
attempts to make cut off at yicksb,r. ue
another at Lake Providence, are of great ;n, aua
est, both in military and commercial noia.',
view. Can such cut-offs be mades Ana " u
made, what effect will they have? Itnav ~
interest to state what is known on this snt;s.,
and what are the probabilities. Great az i: ~,
force OF the Mississippi-almost incalcuJ,hlse
1t has, ~ some respects, been restrained os
this, the terees OF the Delta are an example. I'M
mense tracts OF land have been protected from
inundation, and this at points where the vonOa.
of the river was the greatest. II ia ho.araN'
true that the channel Of the Mississippi has ~,
been seriously diverted from its course bv arts
ciai means. The attempt to do so brings un e.,
investigation the forces and movements of tb,,
river. There is not in the geography OF thu
word more curious problems than those which
are exhibited in the forces and effects OF the
Mississippi. The principal characteristics os
the Lower Mississippi country are these:
!. The Delta of the Mississippi-whicb NAV
be called the whole space from Grand Lake ),
the mouth, and from Pearl river TO the SABINE
| a space OF about fifty thousand square miles-is
made ground: alluyial deposits, made demons,ra.
| bly, within historical periods. The annual sed-
ment or deposits OF the Mississippi was ascer-
tanned oy the surveys of Captain A. A. Hum
phrey and Lieut.. Abbott, (whose report to the
Government is an honor to the nation and tho
! army,) to be annually equal to one square NIL.
t'0o hundred and .torty-one feet dEepi This i,
equal to ten square miles twenty-four feet deem
or twenty square miles twelve feet deep-a depib
which is enough, in that country, to raise all the
swamp and oVerfowed lands above water. 7,
follows, tten, that the entire Delta OF the Mis-
sisslppl would be made and raised out of water
in two thousand Eve hundred years. Since
lSl3-the era OF the greatest flood known since
1850, just half a century--one thousand SQUARE
miles OF solid land would at that rate be formed
The probability is that the formation Is consider.
ably more rapid; for in the measurement of sej.
iment, no account could be taken of the inn
mense RATS of timber, stumps and debtis con-
stantly floating down. Looking at Darley's man
OF Louisiana, constructed in 1915, it is very ey-
ident that the lakes, bayous and swamps were
much mere extensive-than they are now. Them
to understand the character of the Delta and the
Mississippi, we must look at the former as con-
st u in the formative process by the forces
OF the latter, which forces are imfpeled BY the
masses of water and debris from the central
continent above. ~ .a-ia.'ai @a3
W 2. The second important fact is, that thro'
this vast alluvial formation of new, low, aud
comparatively loose land, the Mississippi flows
at,will, cutting new ways when it finds imped.
iments in, the old. Thus it has changed lis
course repeatedly, and that on an immense
scale. 1t is doubtful whether, Eve hundred
years ago, there was any solid land where New
orleans Is--at any rate, whether the main
channel of the river was, there. The Atchaf-
alaya, and, if not that, the Fourche, were pro.
badly once the channel of the Mississippi The
Red river probably descended the Atchtafalaya
and the Mississippi the La Fourche. the two
uniting at Bayou Plaquemine. The whole SUR
face and water courses of Louisiana to the
West, as far as the Sabine-composed of low
grounds, swamps, lakes and bayous-shOv
most manifestly. that the Mississippi and its
tributaries have in ages past, traversed in va.
rlous channels that singular country.
= 3. Another fact seems quite obvious, that
whether from descent in the general plane Of
the country, or that no resistance was offered,
the general changes in the bed and currents of
the Mississippi have been from the west to-
ward the east. Take for example the case of
Vicksburg-the Mississippi has evidently once
formed Lake Providence and largely suppl
ed, if it did not fill the Tensas; yet it has sided
toward the east till it met the Chickasa~
bluffs. A''a' .ssn |sI'9
We now come to the attempted cut offs. The
first of these is at Vicksburg, and is over the
narrow neck opposite the town. Such cut offs
have been made frequently, but its success
must depend ON several circumstances The
first is whether the opening of the cut off is at
a point where it will receive the current of the
river direct. This has not, as reported, been
the case; and probably presents the most seri-
Gus obstacle to success Again. the river will
not take the new course unless the cut is made
deep enough, not to be very much above the
main current of the river which is represented
by thread, near the center of the volume
for 1t must be observed that the hight of the
bottom of the cut off above the current oper-
ates as dam to turn the water the other way.
1t has been recently reported that the water is
six feet deep in the Vicksburg out off, but it
must be recollected that the Mississippi is
now very high, and the water in the cut of is
yet only surface water. Should the engineers
be able TO make the opening of the cut off pre-
clsely opposite the current of the river, and
also to cut down the lower end to near the bot
tom Of the Mississippi, 1t is not improbable the
cut off may be effected. -
But more interesting problem is that The
cutoff attempted BY Lake Providence into
Tensas river, The cut from the Mississippi to
the Lake and from the Lake to Tansas river,
may be easily made HTheiquestion is what is
to be the effect Can the Mississippi be
really turned there 2, And if so, what
effect will be produced on nav cation? The
Tensas joins with the Macon, uniting with the
Washita, and finally debouches into Red river.
If the cut off be effected, it will make a short
er line of river, and carry the channel more
than thirty miles west of .Vickburg So far as
the cutting is concerned, seems ts be less dit.
fculty than with the other: but, at first sight,
there seems to be a serious if not insuperabe
obstacle in the way. This is in the fact that
all the tendencies Of the Mississippi are to-
ward the east, for this there seems to be some
natural reason. If it should be that the gradu-
ally forming plane of the Mississippi bed
and adjacent lands is toward the east, it is
not probable that any artificial cut will turn
it back. If, however, the change has occurred
from mere temporary, local Instructions, 8
small cut off may possibly change the whole
bed of the Mississippi for $50 miles. it should
the effect will, on the whole, be favorable
1t will give more direct line-intersect the
lands OF Louisiana more directly, and thereby