![]() ![]() It is also a major recreational resource for boaters, canoeists, hunters, anglers, and birdwatchers and offers many outdoor opportunities.Ī more comprehensive discussion of the history of the upper Mississippi River, and specifically, the 72 mile long corridor within the Mississippi National River and Recreation Area, may be found online. Barges and their tows move approximately 175 million tons of freight each year on the upper Mississippi through a system of 29 locks and dams. Today, the Mississippi River powers a significant segment of the economy in the upper Midwest. White settlers from Europe and the United States (and often their slaves) arrived on steamboats dispossessing the Native Americans of their lands and converting the landscape into farms and cities. Fur traders plied their trade on the river and soldiers of several nations garrisoned troops at strategic points, at various times, along the river when the area was still on the frontier. Early European explorers used the Mississippi to explore the interior and the northern reaches of what was to become the United States. Native Americans lived along its banks and used the river for sustenance and transportation. It is also one of the world's most important commercial waterways and one of North America's great migration routes for both birds and fishes. The Mississippi River is one of the world’s major river systems in size, habitat diversity and biological productivity.
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