The Jefferson Seaway was a proposed deep-draft ship channel to be created in Jefferson Parish, Louisiana, that would establish a route between the Mississippi River at Westwego and the Gulf of Mexico near Grand Isle. The Mississippi River provided the only deep-water access to New Orleans and its neighboring ports. In the mid-20th century, the creation of alternate routes was considered, including the Mississippi River-Gulf Outlet (MR-GO), which was ultimately selected, funded and constructed. The Jefferson Seaway, sometimes referred to as the Arrow to the Americas, the Mississippi Valley Seaway Canal, the Tidewater Ship Canal and the Barataria Canal, was also under consideration but ultimately was never constructed as a deep-draft channel. Early concepts In the absence of man-made channels, the only deep draft route leading to the City of New Orleans is by way of the Mississippi River. Prior to the 1870s, shoaling of sediment at the river delta presented draft restrictions that limited available water depth to between 18 and 20 feet, which was less than the draft of comparable import and export harbors in the United States and Europe. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers considered the construction of a channel to the east of the Mississippi River but instead accepted an alternative proposed by James Buchanan Eads. Eads proposed the construction of parallel jetties that would concentrate the flow of the river thereby scouring the bottom and maintaining deeper depths. Construction began in 1875 and was completed by 1879. As a result of the newly established jetties, river depth was maintained at 30 feet, thereby reducing the problem of shoaling. Competing with Eads jetty concept was the idea of a man-made ship channel as proposed by Capt. John Cowdon. In May 1876, the Daily Picayune reported on Eads construction progress in detail but also reported about Capt. Cowdon's plans for an alternate project to construct a ship channel along the Barataria that he prepared for the Atlantic and Mississippi Valley Canal and Improvement Company. The following year, in 1877, Capt. Cowdon presented his plan to The Property Holders Association of New Orleans in an address, "The Barataria Ship Canal and its Importance to the Valley of the Mississippi". Capt. Cowdon expressed doubt as to the success of Eads jetties, which were still under construction, and pressed for the concept of a ship canal to be constructed independent of the river along Bayou Barataria. Capt. Cowdon cited