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Funny Story- During the slave days all the slaves on plantations near the Ohio would have heard the scuttlebutt among the slaves that if they could get to the other side there were white folks on the Ohio side who would help them get to freedom. So, many would wait until winter when the river would freeze solid. Then they would escape and make their way across and get to traveling north. !

Back in the bad ol days these rivers were the highways of America. !

Incidentally, Cairo is now a total shithole. It's worth driving around--during the daytime--to see the many astonishing old houses--mansions, almost--that are now fallen into utter disrepair.

As a young boy of 11 years old my uncle took me down to the Ohio River Bank on a hot Summer day to go fishing for white perch. I ended up beachcombing round River gravel rocks from the sandy shore line and watched Coal barges being pushed down River and other barges with sand and gravel being pushed up River towards Cincinnati,Ohio. I still caught the largest perch of the day and my uncle just laughed about my rock collecting in a cardboard box to take home as my treasure. I found beautiful large River stones that were completely round from being washed down the Ohio River from either the Allegheny River or Monongahela River to the Northeast all the way down past Pittsburgh,PA to Cincinnati,OH. Then on down to near Carrollton,KY. What an experience for a young boy and I still think about it everytime I cross the Ohio River to go to Indiana or Ohio. Those rocks are polished by the Mighty Ohio River naturally. I taught myself Geology as a hobby and have gained much knowledge about Earth Science to this very day, fossils, indian arrowheads, minerals, and the three forms of rocks, sedimentary, metamorphic and igneous.

One river looked cruddy and muddy. Missy must be the ruddy one. Cairo is a clunky reminder of a once thriving city.

Or maybe you could just fund it with the high taxes and water utility bills already paid by the people of this city and have been done with this project a decade ago… democrats have run this city for too long always hurting the poorest most.

This is the Black man that white ppl fail to mention in regards to Lewis and Clark: York, an enslaved African American man, was a member of the Lewis and Clark Expedition and made significant contributions to its success. York was a childhood friend of Captain William Clark, who forced him to join the expedition. York's contributions included: Hunting: York hunted deer and elk for pelts to bring back to camp Caring for the sick: York was especially attentive to Sergeant Floyd in his final days Entertaining Native peoples: York helped organize trade with indigenous people Scouting: York may have been the first African American to cross North America Working with others: York worked alongside soldiers, interpreters, and French oarsmen, helping put up tents, manage sails, and row Saving Clark's life: York risked his life to save Clark during a flash flood on the Missouri River.

Wondered same😊

Took a road trip explicitly to visit this site. Without reference to the cultural and economic problems, this place is way cool.

This should be done globally in desert countries. It would make sense financially and environmentally.

There is a park on Mud Island, Memphis that has a miniaturized map in relief of the Mississippi River basin from MN to the Gulf with water running through it that lets one see much of what is involved.

The southern tip of Illinois. Where you can stare in any direction across the river and see freedom.

I read that Cairo Illinois is closer to Tupelo Mississippi than it is to Chicago

Does blue plains use 02 then non 02

We visited Cairo last year. So sad to see how run down the town was. A lot of the houses and buildings literally crumbling apart. We were unable to go to the park you were in because of, as you said, the flooding. We did get to cross both of the scary bridges there, one to Kentucky and back and then one to Missouri where we continued on to Memphis eventually.

The crazy thing is that Ohio owns none of the Ohio River where it touches the state. It is owned by West Virginia and Kentucky along the Ohio borders where it flows.

Is the fishing good? I’m in northern Kentucky and thinking about making the trip

Pronounced kiro like in Egypt not caro

Its all that C-8 Dupont dumped

Thx for sharing this history 👍

I stopped at Cairo in the mid-1980's. Took some video of the confluence. There was an old gentleman, sitting at a table in the shelter. He would draw pictures of the boats as they went upstream, and he showed me numerous examples of his work. It was high quality. Never did get his name (or else, I've forgotten it).

River levels were down when this video was shot. Have gone up now with all the rain and flooding in the upper Midwest.

Thank you for posting this vid.

That area is full of lost bullsharks

Been there. Cairo has seen better days.

It's nice to see someone talking about the flooding issues. Most people who visit Cairo just trash the place without discussing the big reason it has become economically depressed.

Sir, mighten it be easier to sail down the Mississippi instead of up the Missouri?

Visit the northern Ohio river. Not so bluish 😂 😅

Heard stories of my grandpa and dad duck hunting there in the 60's American fly way.

K-row You were close, but didn't get the pronunciation quite right. Illinois has some weird ones DeZ Plaines and D-Von for Des Plaines and Devon. Tree for the number 3.

Lewis and Clark were black, bet you didn’t know that.

The water meeting at the confluence of the Ohio and Mississippi began in areas as far apart as the plains of Alberta, Canada, the state of New York, the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina and Georgia, the Rocky Mountains of Colorado and Wyoming, the Great Lakes region, and everywhere in between. Look up the watersheds sometime of the Mississippi and Ohio. They cover an absolutely vast area.

Thoughts... Christianity is the MAJORITY of the WORLD now, last I read was over 91% So BROAD!!! I wonder what is the percentage of the NARROW PATH to RIGHTEOUSNESS?!!! 0:19

Celebrated British author Charles Dickens passed through this area on his first journey to the United States in 1842. When he finally arrived in St. Louis (by steam boat) he was taken to Illinois so that he could see... a prairie! In addition, he set one of his novels, "Martin Chuzzlewit," in this general area when his young protagonist went West to find his fortune. Spoiler alert: his fortune was not here, sad to say.

I always wondered what that confluence looked like,thank you.

a giant pain in the rear

Been there several times. We had to smoke one there for its namesake Defiance.

I've been to both ends of the Ohio and have lived most of my life near the middle.

I live one mile from the Missouri River, and a mile and a half from the Mississippi River. THAT'S the most significant river confluence in the world.

I crossed over the Mississippi River in November 2023, there wasn't much water flow. It was mostly muddy river bottom with a narrow channel of water.

To paraphrase Obi Wan Kenbi, Cairo,Illinois, you will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy.

Greetings to my fellow inquisitive and intelligent humans who took the time to watch a video so mundane as this. Feels kinda good this interests you, doesn't it?

Im from GA and the Ohio blew my mind when i saw it in Louisville yrs ago. They say its a mile wide there. Incredible rivers we have in our country

That is so neat to see! Might need to take a road trip!

Cairo was a busy town when I was a teen in the 70s. It’s practically a ghost town now. It’s a shame because it holds a lot of history.

Find the episode at www.waterloop.org

The white cappers much like the red cappers of today, put an end to Cairo. I mean, who wants lynched on the town square.

The Tennessee River joins the Ohio just upstream a few miles from there.

Very interesting!

Another cool place to visit is near Paducah Kentucky. I can’t remember the exact highway, but there’s a place where you cross over the Tennessee River (?), then soon after that you turn left over the Ohio River (?). My recollections may not be 100% accurate, but it is still a super cool memory.