{"id":13131,"date":"2024-03-29T12:50:06","date_gmt":"2024-03-29T11:50:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.aboutriver.com\/?p=13131"},"modified":"2024-03-29T12:50:06","modified_gmt":"2024-03-29T11:50:06","slug":"who-founded-the-mississippi-river","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.aboutriver.com\/who-founded-the-mississippi-river\/","title":{"rendered":"Who Founded The Mississippi River"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

For centuries, the Mississippi River has been an essential resource for millions of Americans, used for transporting goods and materials across the vast land – but who founded the Mississippi River?<\/p>\n

The Mississippi’s origins can be traced back to the retreat of the glaciers during the last Ice Age, when the Wisconsin Glacier left behind a large amount of sediment from the Great Plains that collected and formed the river we know today. This was likely a gradual process, taking place over centuries and thousands of years.<\/p>\n

The formation of the actual Mississippi itself coincided with the formation of the human cultures that first settled along its banks. The first major group to stake their claim was Native American tribes like the Sioux and the Mohawk. These groups formed the bulk of the original citizens of the Mississippi area, and their histories are firmly tied to it.<\/p>\n

From there, a variety of other cultures began to influence the river’s development. In the 16th century, European colonization brought a wave of change that pushed many of the original Native American tribes away and furthered the development of the Mississippi. French explorers such as René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle were among the first to travel and map the area.<\/p>\n