The mighty Mississippi is not as mighty as it should be. At 3 770 km in total length, the Mississippi river isn’t even in the top ten rivers in the world. It sits at number 13 in that category. The Missouri River is longer and sits at the 10th longest river in the world.
But generally speaking, a river system is the longest length of water from its farthest tip to its mouth. In that case the Mississippi-Missouri is 6270 km long and the 4th longest river in the world. Why oh why is this not listed as one river, instead of the not so mighty Mississippi?
The United states just had to have a continental divide. The Mississippi was chosen for being mainly a north and south river that neatly split the US almost into halves. For decades in the 1800s, there was the east side of the river which was considered civilized and the western side which was considered wild and untamed.
So you could say you were the fastest gun west of the Mississippi. And that meant something in the gun obsessed west. Or you could say she was the finest dressed lady east of the Mississippi and that meant a lot because there were so many women dressed fine in the east.
Sitting on the west side of the Mississippi, St. Louis called itself the gateway to the west. That’s one reason for their giant archway, welcoming people to the west. And Texas says it’s the old west because it is west of the Mississippi delta.
Anyhow, the Mississippi as it is, is convenient, just not so mighty.
