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