I recently drove between Cape Girardeau, MO to Paducah, KY on business, but I took a side route to go see the confluence of the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers which is located at the far southern tip of the state of Illinois and where Kentucky, Missouri and Illinois meet. Being the geography nerd that I am, I wanted to see where the Ohio flowed into the Mississippi.
Here's a picture from Google Earth pinpointing the confluence of the Ohio River (flowing at the top) with the Mississippi River (that's the one with all the muddy water in it). The land at the top of the picture is Kentucky, the land on the lower part of the picture is Missouri, and the tiny triangle tip of land at the left is Illinois.
I made my way across the bridge from Missouri to Illinois and stopped in at the Fort Defiance Park, the site of the former Fort Defiance which was a Union fort before and during the American Civil War. The fort - which is long gone - was at one time commanded by Ulysses S. Grant.
Fort Defiance is now a campground. But as you can see in the above picture, excessive rains during the spring flooded the campground and it looked like it would be some time before it would be open again. And that's too bad because there's a point at the end of the park that would have been a great place to take pictures.
Just beyond the line of trees in the picture on the left is the Ohio River. Follow the line of trees to the right side of the picture and where they end is where the Ohio meets up with the Mississippi.
Here's a picture of the bridge that carries traffic from Missouri over to Illinois - and vice-versa. The Mississippi was very high from flooding in the region and I have this inherent fear of crossing bridges over flooded rivers. It's something that dates back to walking across an old rickety bridge with my sister when I was 10. The river was about six inches under the deck and the bridge was swaying. Coupled with the fact that this bridge is very narrow and there's a lot of truck traffic on the road, my butt was puckering as I drove across.
At the Fort Defiance site, here's a historical marker noting the starting point of the Third Principal Meridian. This was a surveyor's marking that helped parcel out land in the early 1800's in the states of Illinois and Indiana. It's also noted on this marker, as well as on an information board at the site, that Lewis and Clark spent six nights at this spot in 1803 before they made their way up to St. Louis and started out to explore the Missouri River. It was here that Lewis taught Clark how to use a sextant and compass for mapping. Or maybe Clark taught Lewis - I can't remember.
Here's the bridge from Illinois into Kentucky. It was just as scary as the one over the Mississippi. But I made it, even though it was very high and very narrow.
Here's a shot where I was able to slow down and get a picture of the Ohio emptying into the Mississippi. Just beyond that point on that island is the confluence of the two rivers. That's Missouri in the background.
Before I went over into Kentucky, however, I drove around Cairo, IL. Cairo, at one point in time, was a thriving city that was an important industrial town and commerce center. Not only did its location make it important for river travel up and down the Ohio and Mississippi rivers, but the railroad had a big impact on the city in the 1800's.
But these days, there's not much to it. It's a very old and worn down town of 3600 people. During its hey-day during the early to mid part of the 20th century, Cairo had a population between 13,000 and 16,000 people. I understand it was quite the place to visit.
Today, a third of the population lives in poverty, including 60% of the school children in the Cairo school district. The old downtown business district is a shambles with a lot of abandoned businesses and store fronts. Public housing is a mess. It's a rather depressing city, to say the least. I didn't stay in Cairo long.
I've seen where the Missouri and Mississippi meet up and I understand they now have a very nice museum near the confluence. I may have to stop in there sometime I'm down in the St. Louis area and check it out. And I'll have to take pictures of the mouth of the Missouri as it flows into the Mississippi to satisfy my geographical geekness.
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