A picture of the mighty Mississippi River by Jerry Huddleston from Flickr.com.
The longest river in the United States is well known to all American school children because of its fun and funny name: the Mississippi River. Mississippi is a fun word to say, go ahead give it a try. It is also a fun word to spell. I remember as a child learning how to spell this word for the first time, with all its double letters and 4 i’s: m – i – ss – i –ss – i – pp – i. I was very proud of myself for having learned to spell such a long word! I didn’t know anything about this river then, but now I do and I want to share some of this information with you today.
There are many rivers in the United States, not just the Mississippi, and we will look at all of the important American rivers in this post, but we will start with the longest river first; the Mississippi.
The Mississippi River:
This is the longest and most famous of all the rivers in North America. The Mississippi is 2,339 miles (3,765 km) in length from its source to the sea. It starts flowing in the state of Minnesota (the ‘source’ or beginning of a river is also called the ‘head waters’) and flows south to the Gulf of Mexico. The Mississippi River is used primarily for transportation, although there are also pleasure boats found on the river.
The Mississippi River connects many cities and has long been an important part of American trade. There is also a famous American novel written about a young boy and his adventures traveling down the Mississippi River on a raft. This book is called ‘Adventures of Huckleberry Finn’ by Mark Twain. It was published in 1884, but is still read by Americans today. If you would like to get a better idea of how important the Mississippi River is to Americans I suggest you read this book.
The Colorado River:
The Colorado River begins flowing in the state of Colorado in the Rocky Mountains and flows down into the Gulf of California. This river is 1,450 miles (2,333 km) in length. Over many thousands of years the water of this river has carved away canyons in the land, including the famous Grand Canyon in the state of Arizona. If you would like to see the Grand Canyon in a unique way, you should take a rafting trip down the Colorado River. The Colorado River is not used for transportation of goods like the Mississippi River, but it is used to make energy. There are over 30 electric power plants (water-powered) along this river!
The Columbia River:
The Columbia River is wide and fast-flowing (the movement of water is called its ‘flow’). This river begins in the Canadian Rockies and flows south into the United States through the state of Washington. The river also acts as a border between the American states of Washington and Oregon, before flowing into the Pacific Ocean. The Columbia River is 1,152 miles (1,857 km) in length. The Columbia River is famous for its salmon. Salmon is a type of fish that has pink colored meat. Salmon swim up stream (against the flow of water) to spawn (to lay their eggs) in the Columbia River every year. Wild Columbia River salmon are considered some of the best salmon in the world.
The Rio Grande: The Rio Grande begins in southern Colorado and flows south through the state of New Mexico. It forms a natural border between part of the state of Texas and the country of Mexico, before flowing into the Gulf of Mexico. The Rio Grande is 1,885 miles (3,034 km) long. This river is generally not called the ‘Rio Grande River,’ because “rio” means river in Spanish, so we don’t say “river” twice when saying its name. Sadly, this river has become increasingly polluted over the years due to farming and human waste.
There are other rivers in the United States for sure, other large rivers, including the Ohio and Missouri Rivers, but the rivers listed above are four of the most important rivers in the USA. Learning a little about these rivers also helps you learn more about the United States as a whole. If you have any questions about any of this information, please leave a comment below.
