How the States got their shapes (Part 1: Intro & A river runs through it)

Have you ever wonder how some of our states are shaped the way they are, or why? Well, a one-time documentary series called "How the States got their shapes" on the History Channel tried to answer some of those questions about them.

This is Part 1 of a 7-part wiki series about this documentary where I tell you what was talked about on some of those episodes, and I'll give my own opinion on it, or know what the episodes didn't tell you.

## Intro

How the States got their shapes actually began as a book written by Mark Stein, and it tells you the history and some other quirky facts about our states.

The History Channel asked Mr. Stein if they can make a show out of his book, and he agreed, in fact Mr. Stein did some of the expert opinions for the show. The show was hosted by one-time stand-up comedian; Brian Unger and he's the guy who narrates the show and even ask people on the street several questions related to a particular episode, and even have them write a piece of glass (sometimes with the map of the United States on it) such as draw the shape of the state on that glass.

There are several episodes, but because I've seen a lot of the first season, this is what these series of wiki pages will try to cover. This series will start with the first episode; "A River Runs through it", what is it about you ask? Well, read this page and find out.

## A River runs through it

This episode is about not just rivers, but water in general. It is a fact that 46 of our 50 states have some amount of water on its border, and you can see on the map above that some of those borders is what made up the shapes of our states such as the Ohio River made up the border of not just Ohio, but also Indiana, and Illinois. The Rio Grande made up Texas' border with Mexico, and the Colorado River made up Arizona's border with both Nevada and California.

Brian kicks off this episode by going to a specific area, an area that's along the border of Tennessee.

Not that Tennessee.

The Border of Tennessee, and Georgia. Now, why does this have to do with water? Well, I'll get to that later on in this page. Anyway, Brian visits 2 bordering towns; Copperhill (in Tennessee) and McCaysville (in Georgia) he goes to a bar and asks for a beer (now come on, they're letting him drink when he's shooting a tv show). This doesn't have anything to do with water so far, or does it? This is due largely of Tennessee becoming a state in 1796, it's southern border was supposed to be set at the 39th Parallel (which is one of the lines on a grided globe). Of course, mapping technology back in the 18th century wasn't as sophisticated as it is today, no satellites or GPS systems to give us "4k Ultra" pictures of our world. So asking the question "Why can't we just move Tennessee's southern border to the 39th parallel?" is easier said than done, it takes a great deal of political legislation not just between the states but an act of congress too. Since the 19 century, Georgia has asked Tennessee around 9 times to have the border moved, but Tennessee (as of right now) doesn't want to play along. Local municipalities also play a key role as well, as we see in the episode, Brian was about to go to the bathroom with a glass of beer in his hand, but then doesn't realize until it was too late that the bathrooms in this particular bar are in Georgia, not Tennessee. What I'm trying to say is that, McCaysville (in Georgia) is in a dry county, what that means is that the purchasing and consumption of alcohol is strictly prohibited in that county. So, \*if\* the border was moved, Copperhill will not only be in Georgia, but also in a dry county, and probably put that poor bar out of business.

Nevertheless, Georgia still is trying to make their case to have their border with Tennessee moved, and that is where water comes into this discussion. The western part of the Tennessee/Georgia border is where the Tennessee river is, and a small lake called "Lake Nickajack", and the lake itself isn't far from the Tennessee/Georgia border. In this part of the episode, Brian meets up with some lawyers from Georgia which they believe that if they can make a chip shot (like in Golf) to Lake Nickajack, they can have the water from the lake.

Using Lake Nickajack can also provide Georgia's city; Atlanta with ample supplies of water. This is because Atlanta is not situated near a huge water source as it began as a railroad center for the "Western & Atlantic Railroads". Despite Atlanta's high annual rainfall (around 50 inches), most of that rain runs off into nearby lakes and rivers since Atlanta is built on hard bedrock.

### The "Maine" Water Event

For the second part of the episode, Brian heads north to a place where it has water, and lots of it, and even the best tasting water.

In this part, he asks people off the street to participate in........what I would describe it as a "double blind test" (that means neither the testers or volunteers know the difference between the different varieties of things). These people have to try 3 different kinds of water from different parts of the country. First, they try water from New York City (supposedly it has the best water in the world), then some water from Orlando, Florida, and some water from Portland, Maine. Much to Brian's prediction, the people like the water from Maine, and there's a good reason for it too. During the last known ice age, the retreating glaciers that covered most of the Northern United States left behind large amounts of soil in the state of Maine as well as a lot of lakes and rivers, and even Maine's famous jagged coastline. The Appalachian Mountains also cross into Maine, and the Maine Appalachians made of not just of solid rock, but also sediment and other materials and when it rains, it travels through the rocks and dirt, and they come out of the ground clean, almost like a natural water filter. In fact, Maine's water is so good, that one company actually takes the water and sells it all over the world.

We know it as "Poland Spring". Yeah, it has some really good water.

This is Hiram Ricker, the Grandson of an Innkeeper who had chronic indigestion, one day he found some water springing up from the ground near his family's Inn.

He cupped his hands around the spring, took a few drinks, and (according to legend) he felt all better. After this, Hiram got an idea. He wanted to use the water to begin a business of his own. At the time, water was very dangerous to drink because it had microorganisms (like Giardia) which can make you sick as well as water-borne diseases (such as cholera and dysentery). Hiram wanted to change people's opinions about water, and it turned out that he proved that water is good to drink, this helped his family's Inn business, and eventually merged the Inn business with his water business.

But that's only half the story of Maine's shape.

The United States was in a bit of a dispute with Canada on the northern border of Maine (which would lead to the short-lived "Pork & Beans War" in 1838), it wasn't until around 2 years after the Pork & Beans war when the "Treaty of Webster-Ashburton" is when Maine's northern border was finalized.

### How the West is Dry

In the third part of this episode, Brian goes from a state with plenty of water to go around, to a state where water can become more precious than gold, especially in the future.

In this picture above, you can see the obvious difference in precipitation contrasts, the further west you go, the less rain will be in the weather forecast. You may have already know that the western US is mostly a desert, and deserts are known to have very little annual rainfall, especially in the state of Nevada which has the lowest annual rainfall.

Nevada is a part of a geological area called the "Great Basin", which is the US' 4th outlet for its rivers, unlike the oceans the only way for the water to go from the Great Basin, is evaporation. The only piece of evidence that the Great Basin was underwater, is the Great Salt Lake, where it has 4 times the amount of salt as their are in the oceans, and is in no fit state to drink. But what about Nevada, with a low annual rainfall you don't want to build a maga city, like, say..........

Las Vegas. Because it's one of the US' fastest growing cities, its water needs would also be high.

So, how to get a huge supply of water into a huge city like Vegas? Simple, we "dammed" a river, in this case, the Colorado River.

Built in the 1920s, the "Hoover Dam" is one of the biggest and most powerful water dams int he world, let alone the United States. Not only does the dam supply Las Vegas with its precious water it needs to quench the thirst of both residents and tourists alike, as well as keep it's lights flashing and slot machines working. But it also supplies Southern California with water as well.

Now, you must be asking "Why does California need the Hoover Dam for water?", well it also needs a lot of water, for irrigation. Southern California also grows America's winter fruits and vegetables, though yes, at first it doesn't make sense California is also on the Colorado River (as it borders Arizona).

Let's look at the Hoover Dam again, you can see the light colored rocks behind the dam, dubbed "The Bathtub Ring", those rocks were once underwater, and now the Colorado River (having the reputation of being a powerful river) is losing its edge, and its water. Brian also drove out to Lake Meade (which is not far from Vegas) where he talked to an owner of a boat company on the lake, and how difficult is getting for that owner to keep her business because Lake Meade is rapidly receding. It stinks for this woman's boating business to go....\*clears throat\* "under" so to say, but that's nothing compared to what could happen to Vegas in the next few decades if these particular trends were allowed to continue.

The huge intake pipes are in Lake Meade, and that is what supplies the city with water, and electricity. As said before, Las Vegas is one of America's fastest growing cities, and if the water problems continue to get worse, Vegas could become the fastest "shrinking" city, and maybe even become like the Old West bust towns, lost in the dustbin of the Frontier West. So, the city shouldn't place its bets on luck.

Or perhaps Nevada wouldn't have this problem if it wasn't on the Colorado river. Back in the 19th century, that "Triangular region" between Nevada and Arizona was disputed. But the US Government gave that region to Nevada, for 2 possible reasons

1. The US Government has a reputation of favoring states, and by the late 19th Century, Nevada was a state and Arizona was still a territory (belonged to New Mexico)
2. Arizona (a part of the New Mexico Territory) was partly owned by the Confederacy during the Civil War.

So, Nevada staked its claim to the Colorado River.

That'll do it for this part. In Part 2 (click here) we will talk about another episode of this documentary series, this time about how Americans traveled in the past and the present. Until next time, this is JohnnyOTGS signing out.