Mississippi River
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The Mississippi River is the primary river of the largest drainage basin in the United States. It is the second-longest river in the United States, behind only the Missouri. From its traditional sourc
The source of the Mississippi River at Lake Itasca
The first bridge (and only log bridge) over the Mississippi, about 25 feet south of its source at Lake Itasca
De facto head of navigation, St. Anthony Falls, Minneapolis, Minnesota
Ohio River
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The Ohio River is a 981-mile-long river in the United States. It begins in the Northeast and serves as the boundary between the Midwestern and Southern United States, flowing in a southwesterly direct
Mississippi River
…link. In the 19th century, during the height of the ideology of manifest destiny, the Mississippi and several tributaries, most notably its largest, the Ohio and Missouri, formed pathways for the western expansion of the United States. The river also became the subject of American literature, particularly…
The widest point on the Ohio River is just north of downtown Louisville, where it is 1 mile (1.6 km) wide. Indiana is on the right towards the flood gates, Kentucky on the left, towards the locks. The jetty on the left is the entrance to the Louisville and Portland Canal.
Steamboat Morning Star, a Louisville and Evansville mail packet, in 1858
Built between 1847 and 1849, the Wheeling Suspension Bridge was the first bridge across the river and a crucial part of the National Road.
Cave-in-rock, view on the Ohio (circa 1832, Cave-In-Rock, Illinois): aquatint by Karl Bodmer from the book Maximilian, Prince of Wied's Travels in the Interior of North America, during the years 1832–1834