WILLIAM FAULKNER was an American writer and Nobel Prize laureate from Oxford, Mississippi. Faulkner is primarily known for his novels and short stories set in the fictional Yoknapatawpha County, based on Lafayette County, Mississippi, where he spent most of his life. He wrote often about the Mississippi River and the people of the Deep South who were affected by her moods and yet depended on her for life. During one particularly bad flooding, he compared her to a mule when he said, “A mule will labor ten years willingly and patiently for you, for the privilege of kicking you once.”
There is no doubt that the Mississippi played a grand part in the development of the United States, but do we study it as part of our history? Do English teachers assign readings that help students to understand what part the Mississippi has in classical literature? Do math students know how to measure in marks?
MINNESOTA’S ITASCA STATE PARK boasts the headwaters of the mighty Mississippi River. Here you can walk across the river as it starts its winding journey 2,552 miles to the Gulf of Mexico. Lake Itasca drains into the Mississippi from the numerous feeder lakes in the area.
The headwaters are calm enough for you to walk across on stones or dry ground most of the summer.
Mississippi River Bridge at Natchez
Dusk on the Mississippi…Huey P. Long Bridge was completed in 1935, becoming the first Mississippi River span in Louisiana and unleashing a welcome burst of civic pride during the depths of the Great Depression.
Goodreads about the Mississippi River
Books About the Mississippi River
Pictures are taken from a Bing search. If anyone claims a particular photo and wants me to remove it from my page, I will be happy to cooperate. I have not intentionally taken private property.
The idea for this topic comes from http://acrossthebored.com/the-big-5-challenge/.
MULIEBRAL VIEWPOINT 
You have certainly pointed out some facts I didn’t know about Mississippi bridges I didn’t know and covered all 5 Ws and an H! Thanks for your entry – if you don’t want to have to think up a topic you can use the one I post for the current fortnight.
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…and I can’t even write properly at this time of day!
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As far as photo essays are concerned, I understand that just one picture is supposed to be worth 1,000 words. I missed that assignment by a mile, but I did enjoy taking the “bridge” prompt and running with it.
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I used to catch a ferry near Dyersburg TN between my home and college. After a year or two of that, the new bridge was finished for the new I-155/US 412. Can’t say that I miss the ferry.
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A ferry is not stable enough for me. The best one I remember was between San Diego and Catalina Island. Then there was the ferry from Penang to the mainland, and the ferry from India to Sri Lanka. They all seem fungible–thus all the more reason not to trust their safety.
I did not see the incident, but our news reported the sinking of a ferry from India to Sri Lanka when a fight broke out on another boat passing by. Everyone was “rubber necking” on one side, causing the ferry to tip and sink.
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I got used to crossing by ferry, but there were days of rough weather I’d have preferred to stay on the bank.
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I can only imagine what that might be like. Fortunately for my weak stomach, I never was on a ferry in rough weather.
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One of the things I miss about my parents having retired to Georgia is that I no longer get to drive across the Mississippi River once or twice a year. I would love to see the headwaters in Minnesota.
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We lived in Park Rapids, not far from the Itasca State Park for several years. We adopted our eldest daughter there and our first born son made his arrival there. If it were not for the bitter cold of winter, I would say it was a great place. It is ironic that our elder daughter’s biological father was an Indian guide in the park, but we never met him.
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