New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1866-05-26
FLOODS AND LEyEEs OF TIE rsls-
SISsIPPI.


Ever since the first settlement Of the lowands on
the Mississippi River the inhabitants have maintained
perpetual struggle with the great volumes OF water
that flow from the Northwest through that country
to the sea- Thousands of miles OF leyee have been
constructed to fence the water within the narrow linz
its of the channel Of the ryer hundreds of thousands
of dollars expended annually to protect the plan
tations on the banks Of the stream; dams were built,
cu-offs were made bayous were closed, the outlets
were dredged; in short, every expedent which theory
or experience could suggest was esorted to III the ire
mendous efforts Of the people and the states 10 de-
fend their rich lowlands from the annual floods. Yet
whenever the waters from the Missouri and from the
Ohio would meet and food the channel of the Mlsss
sppi, the stream would rise over the banks
and press against the leyees with force they
could not withstand, or falling to force passage,
would rise over and sweep away the artificial BARRIERS
and nundate the country, from the creyasse to the
Gulf The delta of the Mississippi, comprising the
aluvia plane from the mouth of the Ohio River to the
Gulf of Mexico is 500 miles in length, varying from
% to $50 miles in breadth. It's northern elevation is
275 feet above the level Of the sea, that the inc
nation is about inches per mile The whole extent
of this plane comprises Of about 10000 square
| miles.
The Mississippi River winds through this plane OF
its own creation frequently pressing against the bluffs
on the east and once at Helena, touching the high
/ lands on the west; and though the delta is but 5od
miles long the channel of the river in its from
the Ohio to the Gulf attains length of nearly l,2G
miles and reduces the rate Of descent to 81 inches per
| mile.
In low water the surface Of the stream is 10 feet
below the top of the natural bank. at the Ohio and
20 feet at NewOrleans; the stream flows sluggishly
through this toruous trench which is 5000 feet wide
and from - to 100 feet deep, and discharges itself
into the Gulf with an almost mperceptible current
The water begins to rise in the Autumn; early in
the Spring. the river is bank full and in the month OF
Nav when the waters from the Sprng-rains and snow
thaws in the Northwest and on the tributaries of tho
Ohio pour into the Mississippi, it oyerfiows, and, IL
unrestrained, mandates the whole plain. When the
water flows over the banks its velocity Is checked by
the forests and irregularities Of the surface and tho
vast amount of earthly matter which is borne along
in the swift current is deposited the heavier PARTICLES
first and the light, clayey matter at remoter points.
The consequence is that the immediate borders Of the
stream which receive the heavier deposits are raised
above the level of the surface Of the surrounding coun
try; and therefore while the whole plain dips toward
the sea at an angle of eight inches per me the sur
face nclines from the stream at an angle of three OF
/ four feet per mile.
In low water the surface Of the river is below the
level of the lowest point of the delta and the drain
age is from the swamps toward the Mississippi but
at high water the surface Of the stream is from twelve
to twenty feet above the level Of great part of tho
land surface So soon, therefore, the waters rise
over the banks, they rush down the plane at right
] tha Of no ohonnnl fll tho
and nundate the country.
II is estimated that about l60O0,000 acres of tho
most fertile aud productive lands OF the States of Mis-
souri, Arkansas Mississippi and Louisiana, are subject
to overflow To protect these lands from the annual
devastation by the waters has been the object Of
ncessant toll and immense outays of capital by tho
inhabitants of the Valley Of the Mississippi.
SO early as 1910, Congress made appropriation
for the construction of chart of The "Hydrograph-
zeal Basin of the Mississippi" which was executed
/ by J. y. Nicollet in the employ of the United
States Typographical Bureau.
/ In 1850 a corps of engineers was organized under
Captain now Gen. A. A. Humphrey. which made
thorough survey OF the delta with special reference
to the discovery of some system of works By which
the country could be protected from overflow. These
observations were made during and subsequent to the
great flood of 1851.
The constant increas, Of the volume Of the food
revealed by each successive rise is ascrbed by Capt
Humphrey in his report to the superior drainage pro-
duced by the cultivation Of the country on the upper
tributaries of Mississippi, whereby the waters ara
thrown more rapidly into the main channel; the levee-
ing of the river and its tributaries in the States above
Louisiana prevent the escape OF the waters into
the swamps and lowands whence twoud be gradually
drained to the rivers the construction Of cut-offS,
the shortening of the channel and more rapidly con.
yeyng the water TO points below; and the lengthen-
ing of the delta thus extending the level mouth
of the river so that the current being retarded tho
water is held back in the channel above.
The remedies suggested are: Higher and stronger
leyees prevention by act OF Congress, of the con-
struction of additional outos; formation OF new out
lets 10 the lakes Borgne and Pontchartrain; opening
of the closed bayous; enlargement OF the Atehaalaya
and BAYOU Plaquemine, and the creation OF artificial
reservoirs in the swamps, to relieve the channel Oh
the river in extreme cases.
The early settlers who selected the more elevated
and fertile lands on the banks of the river found htta
difficulty in protecting themselves from the floods.
The whole country was then open to the waters anu
slight embankment several inches high would turn
OIL the water, which drained to the Io"iahuS
! further from the river. Other settlers ho"e'e''
followed the pioneers; new plantations were e'tao-
lished: and by independent individual action tho
slight entertainments became linked together Tor many
miles along both sides of the river. Inc wsters ny
reason of this confinement rose higher every succeed
inc year the embankments we're enlarged Strength