Tag Archives: Mississippi River

Let’s Talk About…Mississippi Shores & Barges

by Donna Phillips


Nauvoo, Illinois, at 2:00am; I am a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and I did SO want to see Nauvoo and hopefully the Nauvoo Temple. I was blessed to be on the correct side of the ship and to wake up just in time to see the shining lights of the Nauvoo Temple. One of the small “warm fuzzies” that happened on this wonderful trip.

I naively imagined that there would be towns or cities or ports or LIGHTS all along the river. Not so at all. Since Mother Nature is in control of the meandering Mississippi, the channels are like braided ribbons, miles wide. Because of this, nothing permanent is built right on the river’s banks. Made sense. So it was pitch-black-dark at night most of the way. (Except when, above St. Louis, we would enter a lock at night and everything was brightly lighted.)

The Mississippi flows just under 1800 miles from St. Paul to New Orleans, and falls 450’ in elevation from St. Paul to St. Louis; the 28 locks and dams on the upper river (above St. Louis) were constructed to control the river and keep the water where farmers needed and wanted it. Most of the locks are quite shallow, under 11’. Exception is the one at Keokuk at 38’. Some 60% of American exported grain comes down the Mississippi. One barge can carry more than 70 trucks or 16 train cars; by water is the most efficient way to ship grain. In October 2022, we saw barges half empty so as to rise higher above the bottom and not get stuck.

The Mississippi is really many rivers in one. First part is the headwaters above St. Paul; no boats allowed on this part. Next is the St. Paul to St. Louis, with those 28 dams and locks. Third is St. Louis to Cairo (KAY-row); fourth is Cairo to Baton Rouge. Last is the Baton Rouge to New Orleans section of the river.  Our teacher that day characterized the lower Mississippi as a “huge parking lot of ships and barges with a stream running through it.”

Those states having  boundaries along the Mississippi have seen their boundaries changed over the years due to three factors: (1) Mother Nature, ribboning the river all across the miles wide area between the hills; (2) Corps of Engineers working since 1824 to control the river and straighten out crooked or tight bends; (3) Civil War.

More Jeopardy fodder for you, no?

Let’s Talk About…Mudlarking On The Mississippi

by Donna Phillips

Ever heard the term mudlarking? If you’ve talked very much with me, you know that mudlarking, or beach-walking-looking-for-treasures is one of my favorite activities. I’ve been a beachcomber all my life and just recently learned about mudlarking. Nicola White has a YouTube channel showing her walking along the Thames foreshore in London at low tide and finding wonderful and interesting things, some even dating back to Roman times. I’m hooked on her posts.

 So of course on my cruise I looked for opportunities to walk along the Mississippi and see what I might find. The river is at a 40-year low which means lots of beach was exposed that hasn’t been in 40 years. When our ship was moored just below the St. Louis Arch I couldn’t wait to get off and go mudlarking! I did pick up some interesting glass and other stuff and did create a window-art piece with it…. here are my finds in the raw (laid out on a daily bulletin on the ship): 

 It was here that I found my biggest find!  The bottom of a ceramic or clay beer bottle dating to the 1850s from a brewery in Wisconsin! I didn’t keep it but gave it to Aaron, our history presenter on the ship, and he documented it for me. But it was such fun to find something that old and hold it in my hand.

What else do beachcombers and mudlarkers find? Anything that’s been tossed into the river or ocean or lost into the same. One can find coins, toys, jewelry, nails, tools, broken glass, pieces of dishes, etc. The best thing about Nicola’s presentations (on YouTube, remember) is that if there is an inscription on her find, she does the history of that piece and perhaps how it came to be in the Thames mud. 

Have you time in your life for a new hobby? Come mudlark with me!

Let’s Talk About….Nuns & Can Buoys

by Donna Phillips

Here I stand between a nun buoy and a can buoy. I knew buoys (whether ocean, lake or river) came in red and green and that was about it. The plaque below reads:

“Buoys are floating navigational aids that mark channels, hazards and prohibited areas and also help navigators locate their position. Buoys are coded by color, shape and numbers. They are moored to the bed of a waterway by chain or rope to concrete sinkers. Nun buoys are red with cone-shaped tops. They mark the right side of a waterway when entering a channel from the sea. Nun buoys carry even numbers.  Can buoys are green and are square or shaped like a large can. They mark the left side when entering a channel from seaward. Can buoys carry odd numbers.”

Capt. Kelly explained all this to us (a rapt audience) and then with a smile told of how buoys get “whacked” by ships or barges and float loose……… to end up on the sand or even up in the trees during high water. He said at one point there was a program for folks to rescue and return for a bonus these stranded buoys. “But soon that program had to be abandoned,” he said, “because the buoys were disappearing from the river.” (Think about it. 🙂

Let’s Talk About….Samuel Clemons/Mark Twain: One Great American

by Donna Phillips

(Sign on lamp post in downtown Hannibal; it reads:  “Suppose you were an idiot. And suppose you were a member of Congress. But I repeat myself.” )

It was a really, really windy day when our cruise ship ported at Hannibal, Illinois. I put on every jacket and shirt  I had and out I went………could not miss the opportunity to visit Mark Twain. 

I enjoyed the Mark Twain museums (there were two), touring the Thatcher home and just trying to “feel” being there. 

I shall not go into his biography for I’m guessing that’s pretty well known. One of his favorite homilies was that he was born in 1835 when Halley’s Comet could be seen and held onto life until 1910 so he could go out with it.

His personal life was a rather sad affair.  He married Olivia Langdon, who died six years before him. Their first child, Landon Clemons, died at age one. Their first daughter, Olivia Susan, died at age 23. Next child was Jane who passed the year before her father. Only Clara was left, living to 1962. Her daughter, Nina, never married, so Samuel Clemons has no direct descendants.

I never had read any of his books (yes, where have I been all my life?) so bought a book containing five of his best known stories. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn was a revolutionary book that still holds much relevance today. The powerful friendship of young Huck and runaway slave Jim highlighted many of the great racial injustices of the past and has astounded generations of readers the world over. It was a darn good read.

Gotta love some of his quotes:

“Never tell the truth to people who are not worthy of it.”

“When in doubt‚ tell the truth.”

“If you tell truth you don’t have to remember anything.”