Title: Mississippi River - Wikipedia
Headings: Mississippi River
Mississippi River
Contents
Name and significance
Divisions
Upper Mississippi
Middle Mississippi
Lower Mississippi
Watershed
Outflow
Course changes
Prehistoric courses
Historic course changes
New Madrid Seismic Zone
Length
Depth
Cultural geography
State boundaries
Communities along the river
Bridge crossings
Navigation and flood control
19th century
20th century
21st century
History
Native Americans
European exploration
Colonization
Steamboat era
Civil War
20th and 21st centuries
Future
Recreation
Ecology
Fish
Other fauna
Introduced species
See also
References
Further reading
External links

Content: and the Lower Mississippi, which flows from the Ohio to the Gulf of Mexico. Upper Mississippi
Main article: Upper Mississippi River
The beginning of the Mississippi River at Lake Itasca (2004)
Former head of navigation, St. Anthony Falls
Confluence of the Wisconsin and Mississippi Rivers, viewed from Wyalusing State Park in Wisconsin
The Upper Mississippi runs from its headwaters to its confluence with the Missouri River at St. Louis, Missouri. It is divided into two sections: The headwaters, 493 miles (793 km) from the source to Saint Anthony Falls in Minneapolis, Minnesota; and
A navigable channel, formed by a series of man-made lakes between Minneapolis and St. Louis, Missouri, some 664 miles (1,069 km). The source of the Upper Mississippi branch is traditionally accepted as Lake Itasca, 1,475 feet (450 m) above sea level in Itasca State Park in Clearwater County, Minnesota. The name Itasca was chosen to designate the "true head" of the Mississippi River as a combination of the last four letters of the Latin word for truth ( veritas) and the first two letters of the Latin word for head ( caput ). However, the lake is in turn fed by a number of smaller streams. From its origin at Lake Itasca to St. Louis, Missouri, the waterway's flow is moderated by 43 dams.