Mississippi River And Ohio River Confluence A Major Historical Location
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- čas přidán 17. 06. 2024
- This is the confluence of the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers.
Located near Cairo, Illinois, it’s an environmentally significant and historically rich site, once a major trade hub and now supporting diverse wildlife habitats.
The confluence showcases the interplay between natural forces and human activity, shaping the region's development over centuries, with strategic importance during the Civil War and ongoing commercial roles.
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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.
Amazing you knew it back when it was busy. Sad to see how it has fallen.
I’ve been there. It’s amazing how little there is there to mark such an important place. It’s actually kind of sad.
Cool that you’ve been there. These places deserve more attention.
Probably due to the frequency of flooding on that level low ground.
@@mrmyth5846 definitely an issue
A pity how Cairo has deteriorated and depopulated. It deserves better.
Yes, it was hard to see that community in tough shape.
I guess we need to turn the rivers back into the highways. Railroads, roads, streets, highways and airplanes were invented. So the river wasn’t necessary to move things long distances anymore. Some things still get moved that way but nowhere near as much. Just like trucking killed off lots of railroad towns. It’s called life goes on. Grow and move with it or get left behind.
Today, Cairo Illinois is a crumbling ghost of it's former self. Almost no one lives there anymore and it has been ignored and neglected for years by the state government in Springfield.
It was tough seeing the town in such rough shape.
Cairo can't catch a break. I know there was a race riot well before I came along.
Isnt that the town where they ripped that guys heart out and hung him from the street lights in 1909?
@grammaticalchainsaw7318 You may be getting your places mixed up but you got the year and the gruesomeness correct. In 1909 a lynch mob captured a black man who they believed killed a white woman even though there was no real evidence. They tried to hang him but the rope broke and he survived. Instead, they shot him 500 times, cut off his head, stuck it on a pike and placed it in the ground, people took fingers, toes, and teeth as “souvenirs,” then they burned the rest of his body. So maybe I don’t feel too sorry for Cairo for its current state today
@rogerrice1772 The state government of Illinois is no more responsible for Cairo being a hellhole than the state government of Missouri is responsible for Benton, MO being a hellhole
I have always wanted to visit this site. Thank You for sharing your video with me.
My pleasure 😊
I always wondered what that confluence looked like,thank you.
So glad this was interesting to you. Please subscribe to our channel for more.
How did you find this video?
I used to love travelling down the north bank of the Ohio River from Cincinnati, through Indiana and southern Illinois. Beautiful wooded hill country with the mighty river on the left. Cairo, by the way, was one of the first towns the Union occupied with troops during the Civil war, to cut the Confederate States off from the Ohio and Upper Mississippi. It was the base area for the invasion down the Mississippi that captured Vicksburg and severed the South in two.
Thanks for sharing your experience and that info!
One of my ancestors enlisted in the Union army, along with three cousins, and were assigned to Grant's army assembling at Cairo. Two of the cousins died in Cairo either of dysentery or cholera. My ancestor and the other cousin fought all the way down the Mississippi to Vicksburg, where the cousin was killed in Grant's ill-advised frontal assault on the city.
@@clarkmorrison7243 Your brave ancestors were a microcosm of the Civil War. Two dying of disease in the often unsanitary military encampments where soldiers lived with scant shelter under broiling sun, pouring rain, and frigid snows, and another killed in action. They and others of their generation did their duty, ultimately keeping the Mississippi River and the states around it in the Union.
@@alansewell7810 This is my response whenever BLM and others agitate for slavery reparations. My family long ago paid a very high price to bring slavery to an end.
One of my gg grandfathers passed through this area on his way to serve under U.S. Grant during the battle of Vicksburg. He had probably never left his eastern Kentucky mountain community and then there he was on a steamship passing from the Ohio to the mighty Mississippi River. "His troops are marching on..."
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.
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.
Sounds very cool
Really appreciate you showing this. I grew up along the Ohio River near Wheeling, WV. I had the opportunity to go to Point State Park in Pittsburgh and see the beginning, but not the end of the Ohio River, so this was neat to see the end of the Ohio River.
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
You should see how wide the Columbia River is in Astoria, OR! The bridge crossing the river is over 4 miles long.
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).
Great story, wish we could see those drawings.
We should remember that Cairo was a massively important and busy place during the Civil War. From here, the movement to open the Mississippi to the Gulf and conquering the Tennessee towards the Eastern Theater started.
That’s fascinating history!
Yep, this was the area that General Grant started his first major command in the civil war.
@@Winstonrodney6989 Described in "Grant moves South" by Bruce Catton, one of my favorite books on the Civil War.
@@mikesnyder1788 nice! I learned it through the civil war podcast with rich and Tracy. If you are into the civil war it is a top notch podcast.
@@Winstonrodney6989 Thanks! I will check this out. What a story!!!
One of the first United States Naval vessels was the USS Cairo, it was sank at Vicksburg, it’s now part of the military park. They pulled it up from the bottom of the river. Truly awesome to see.
Wow! Would be cool to see that ship!
The US Navy was established in 1775. The USS Cairo was nowhere near the first ship. The USS Constitution has it beat by 64 years.
@@waterloop Definitely worth a trip to Vicksburg to see this ship. Extremely treacherous work to pull it up from the river bottom and now it is a living museum.
Thx for sharing this history 👍
The muddy is from the Missouri river.
Ah, thanks for that information!
I've crossed both & every American should go see them.
Wait awhile before you go, one bridge was shut down back I March it may still be closed
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.
We appreciate that feedback. Usually there is a reason that places have fallen in tough times.
What is that reason you think?
@@johnhoward3042 The flooding. Banks and insurance companies aren't going to touch a place that floods. It's hard to get development going without those two. And, having lived in old river towns that have seen better days, I do realize there are numerous issues that plague these places.
I've been to both ends of the Ohio and have lived most of my life near the middle.
Amazing!
It truly is an amazing place!
Been there. Cairo has seen better days.
The Tennessee River joins the Ohio just upstream a few miles from there.
@@thomasbooth9079 oh wow, had no idea! Please subscribe to our channel to support and learn more.
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.
Pronounced "KAY- row"
Very interesting!
Glad that you enjoyed it. Please subscribe to our channel for more!
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.
That is so neat to see! Might need to take a road trip!
There isn’t tons there but it’s a cool and important location with a variety of history.
I live 20 min from where this was shot. Trust me it’s not worth the road trip.
You saw the video, so you’ve seen all there is to see.
The fact of the mississippi being the tributary here and the Ohio much larger is undeniable. Never should have been renamed, it’s still the Ohio by all accounts. I guess they just needed to give mississippi something to be proud of! Check out the overhead views of this area, eye opening.
Ah, very good point!
Many say it’s actually the Missouri River. Which is more plausible?
@@ericspratt3164 If you go by longest river, it should be the Missouri. If you're going by largest water contribution, it should be the Ohio. Hence, it's named the Mississippi.
Mississippi is from the native American name meaning Father of Waters. It wasn't named by the white man.
@@johnchandler1687 Perhaps not named by, but the pronunciation of the Ojibwe's "misi-ziibi" is definitely a European-American's pronunciation.
Heard stories of my grandpa and dad duck hunting there in the 60's American fly way.
Yes! The Mississippi is a major flyway!
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.
Interesting. Where did you cross?
@@waterloop Arkansas
Yes .the river was very low due to drought conditions.
Had to keep the channel open for barge traffic so parts of the river were dried up.
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?
@@The_DC_Kid thanks for sharing your opinion
River levels were down when this video was shot.
Have gone up now with all the rain and flooding in the upper Midwest.
This was filmed in mid June
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.
Wow! Fascinating. Thank you for sharing that history that we didn’t know. Please subscribe to our channel for more water adventures.
@@waterloop Subscribed! I really like geography in general and rivers and streams have always fascinated me. Question: Have you done a video about the preglacial Teays River in Ohio? Much thanks!
Yep . Hop on it with a decent craft and wherever it takes you is where you should be . This works
Love that
Is the fishing good? I’m in northern Kentucky and thinking about making the trip
@@williamparrish9762 not totally sure but we saw a couple of boats fishing right where the two rivers came together!
I read that Cairo Illinois is closer to Tupelo Mississippi than it is to Chicago
That could be true! Cairo is the far south tip of the state.
At their confluence, the Ohio River is larger than the Mississippi, and by convention from that point on, it should be called the Ohio River.
Really? Christ.
But they named the Mississippi from the other end before finding that the rivers come together.
Perhaps, but as is stated in the video, the muddy murky water from the Mississippi appears to dominate at the confluence. By that point alone, couldn’t one assume it’s the ending of one of those bodies of water, and the continuation of the other?
I use to think that but now I think that the Ohio should be called the Mississippi and the Mississippi something else. The river is at its biggest after the confluence where it flows along Mississippi for a very long time.
@@justinbaranski5962When you get an aerial shot it clearly looks like the Ohio is the main stem.
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.
What makes you think that?
@@MissLippy-fy6bj - Hmmm..maybe because they're the two largest rivers in the North America?
@@dennissvitak5475The Missouri isn't anywhere near as large as the Ohio. The Ohio's average discharge is 281,000 square feet of water per second and the Missouri is 87,520. It's not even close.
How come you dont see anyone swimming there, such a nice beach
That would be extremely dangerous, suicidal.
The currents from the rivers are pretty strong there.
@@waterloopOK thank you,/ looks stagnant
@@kevinkwiatkowski7197 Oh no, it moves faster then it looks. The real current issues are undercurrents below the water surface, and further aggravate by washes from passing barges. You do not want to be caught in a barge wash that sucks you into the under tow. The rive may look wide, flat and slow, but their are deep channels running through the bottom of it that run alot faster.
Also, these rivers see incredible amounts of barge traffic. Also the many attached stillwater sloughs. The waters are.....quite slimy to say the least. Which also adds to the undertow issue. it's not Lake Erie circa 1970's polluted, but it is polluted enough where you will get weighted down and lose natural buoyancy, further aggravating your chances to get sucked under and not able to get back top
Way too much current. Whirlpools, flood debris, etc.
Well I wash my face in the muddy Mississip........do dah, do dah.....
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.
Sir, mighten it be easier to sail down the Mississippi instead of up the Missouri?
Always easier going downstream!
Been there several times. We had to smoke one there for its namesake Defiance.
Its all that C-8 Dupont dumped
a giant pain in the rear
Why Cairo is not developed idk, thought location, I thought that was everything. It is a wonderful place
The area can have severe flooding from the two rivers so that is tough for building the community.
To paraphrase Obi Wan Kenbi, Cairo,Illinois, you will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy.
@@doombeagle4262 woah
And your pronunciation for Cairo is correct , finally
We spoke to the Mayor of Cairo the same day this video was filmed and copied how he pronounced it.
Didn't sound right to me. I'll have to listen again.
No river no food...you will eat bugs. A warning.
Munching on them crispy crickets 🦗 and beetles 🪲on pizza 🍕
Cochineal
Courtesy of the Army Corps of Saboteurs
@@patrickbuglass973 wrong. destroying all the beaver dams upstream for hats.
Bugs aren't so bad.
Visit the northern Ohio river. Not so bluish 😂 😅
I’ll get there one day!
@waterloop drive up Ohio SR 7 or WVA SR 2. Beautiful drive.
I've been to Pittsburgh dozens of times, and if you go there you will appreciate the view from Mt Washington of the three rivers coming together consisting of the Allegheny, Monongahela, to form the Ohio.
If you are not aware, the Seneca Indians of NY called the Allegheny - Oyo, so I believe the Allegheny River should be the Ohio River up into NY w the Mon being a tributary coming from the southeast at Pittsburgh.
At Pittsburgh, the Allegheny is greenish, and the Mon that joins it, is dirty brown normally.
Pronounced kiro like in Egypt not caro
No, it isn't.
That area is full of lost bullsharks
We've heard about those sharks getting way up the Mississippi!
@@waterloop Small world
Indigenous Native Americans. 😅 Indigenous or Native pick one term.
@@AK-DIRECT907 yes I realized I said that. Most videos are unrehearsed and recorded as I think and talk. So it’s not perfect.
Well, it sort of works. I am a native American but I am not an indigenous native American. 😂
Lewis and Clark were black,
bet you didn’t know that.
That’s news to us!
😂😂😂 Did you watch a Netflix documentary about them or something?
The music junked another video 👎👎👎👎💩💩😬
Sorry you didn't like the music. Hopefully the information was interesting.
That unnecessary irritating crappy-ass background "music" ruined the video making it unwatchable and earning the poster a resounding thumbs down!
I’m sorry you don’t like the music. What would you suggest instead?
@@waterloop I agree and don't understand why people making videos think they need to add their favorite song as if others want to hear it. Videos should be marked MTV so people can avoid them.
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