The Bamberg herald. [volume] (Bamberg, S.C.) 1891-1972, 1912-01-18
Father of Waters.

and as a highway the Mississippi can
not be overestimated, but it is a
tricky and treacherous stream at
times, and must be closely watched
by the proper Federal and State au-
thOrities.
This great stream penetrates the
most fertile region of the United
States for a distance of nearly $500
miles and drains a territory that is
enormous in extent. The total area
of the territory in question is equal
to that of Austria, Germany, Hol-
land, France, Italy, Portugal, Spain,
Norway and Great Britain.
The navigable tributaries of the
Mississippi will aggregate over 15,-
900 miles in length, and they reach
out to the most remote limits of the
area of the great valley drained. The
river, in it's winding course to the
Gulf of Mexico, covers range of six
and one-quarter degrees of longitude
and eighteen and one-half degrees of
latitude. The river starts from
springs near Lake Itasca and the
source is 1900 miles above sea level.
The average fall of the river is 1.5
feet per mile.
The area drained by the Mississippi
River is too vast for sudden compre-
hension. 1t equals nearly one-half of
the area of the entire United States,
and is 1,256,00O miles in extent. 1t
touches three States, two territories,
and two provinces in British Ameri-
ca. Only seven States to the west
ward and eight to the east lie en-
tirely beyond the influence of this
river.
The headwaters of it's tributaries
extend in longitude from New York
on the east to Western Montana on
the west. In latitude they reach from
British America on the north to the
Gulf of Mexico on the south, in all
about 1900 miles of longitude and
800 miles of latitude.
At flood time the discharge of this
fluvial giant amounts to 100000
cubic feet of water per second. This
is what the Federal and State au-
thorities are trying to control, and
there is small wonder that they have
gigantic task on their hands. One
popularity of the river it at flood time
to bring down with it great guam
titles of sediment and to raise and
change the bed over which it floods.
This has necessitated the constant
raising of the levees along the river.
Far back into the misty past, be-
fore Cortez came, before Ponce de
Leon tried to find the tabled Foun-
tain of Youth, and before Fernando
de Soto discovered it, the Mississippi,
or Mesasippi, as the Lake Superior
Indians called it, has always been a
great waterway, thing of mystery,
held in awe and reverence by the abb
original tribes and all the early ad-
venturers who penetrated as far west
and south. Back farther still, to the
time when the river was a vast estu-
ary or arm of the sea, and in it's wa
ters swan strange and uncOuth mon
sters of forgotten period and age,
the valley was ruled by this great
stream. But as the Spaniard discov-
cred, and later, the French and Eng
lish, this great valley and the delta
country was the richest that God ever
gave to man. Since that time there
has been going on a constant and
never-ending fight for supremacy be-
tween the Father of Waters, and the
men who have taken their abode in
the fertile bottoms. At that time the
bark canoe and dugout of the In
dian and the bateau of the French
settler were the only craft plying the
river. Then the French took the up
building of Louisiana and with them
came ships. Following them were the
English. The pioneer post establish
ed on the river by the French was in
1899, by the famous d'Iberville. The
English came later, and New Orleans
was founded in 171S.
1t is a well-known fact that at
1oodtime the Mississippi river car
ries a great deal of silt and sand
along with it. This is eroded from
the banks and held in suspension by
the current till it's velocity reaches
such a low ebb that it is deposited.
By this means the many bars and
crossings in the river are formed
and the bed of the stream built up
as we'll as the banks.
A woman always knows when a
mon ic in love with her man Of