Why is it called the Mississippi River?

Though the river was called by many different names, the name Mississippi given to it by the Indians was the name that was used on Robert Cavelier. read more

For a time, Spanish explorers trying to find the river’s headwaters called it Rio Grande (also translated as “Big River”), an apt name for a river that discharges 600,000 cubic feet of water per second when it empties into the Gulf of Mexico. read more

The Mississippi River can be divided into three sections: the Upper Mississippi, the river from its headwaters to the confluence with the Missouri River; the Middle Mississippi, which is downriver from the Missouri to the Ohio River; and the Lower Mississippi, which flows from the Ohio to the Gulf of Mexico. read more