- 1. The Mississippi River is the second-longest river in the United States, stretching over 2,300 miles from its source at Lake Itasca in Minnesota to its confluence with the Gulf of Mexico. It passes through or borders 10 states, serving as a major transportation route for goods and products. The river has played a significant role in the history and culture of the region, serving as a lifeline for trade, travel, and agriculture. Its vast basin is home to diverse wildlife and ecosystems, making it an important natural resource. The Mississippi River continues to be a symbol of American heritage and a vital part of the country's landscape.
What is the longest river in North America?
A) Columbia River
B) Colorado River
C) Amazon River
D) Mississippi River
- 2. In which state does the Mississippi River have its source?
A) Mississippi
B) Louisiana
C) Minnesota
D) Tennessee
- 3. Which major city lies at the confluence of the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers?
A) New Orleans
B) Memphis
C) St. Louis
D) Minneapolis
- 4. The Mississippi River flows into which body of water?
A) Lake Superior
B) Atlantic Ocean
C) Pacific Ocean
D) Gulf of Mexico
- 5. What is the Mississippi River's nickname?
A) Great River
B) Big Muddy
C) Mighty Mississippi
D) Old Man River
- 6. What is the name of the largest tributary of the Mississippi River?
A) Illinois River
B) Missouri River
C) Ohio River
D) Arkansas River
- 7. What is the Old Man River famous for according to the traditional song 'Ol' Man River'?
A) Looking mighty and strong
B) Singing a happy song
C) Stopping for no one
D) Just keeps rolling along
- 8. What is the name of the fundamental law governing water pollution in the U.S. that was greatly inspired by the Mississippi River's condition?
A) Water Quality Act
B) Clean Water Act
C) Environmental Protection Act
D) Pollution Prevention Act
- 9. What is the name of the historic paddlewheel steamboat that regularly cruised the Mississippi River?
A) Titanic
B) Queen Mary
C) Delta Queen
D) S.S. Minnow
- 10. Where does the Mississippi River divide the states of Iowa and Illinois?
A) Quad Cities
B) Twin Cities
C) Riverfront Cities
D) Gateway Cities
- 11. Which famous author wrote 'The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn', a novel featuring the Mississippi River?
A) F. Scott Fitzgerald
B) Harper Lee
C) Ernest Hemingway
D) Mark Twain
- 12. In which year did the Mississippi River experience a historic flood?
A) 1969
B) 1989
C) 2005
D) 1927
- 13. In which war did the Mississippi River play a crucial role as a strategic waterway?
A) World War I
B) War of 1812
C) American Civil War
D) Vietnam War
- 14. What is the historic city that sits at the head of navigation on the Mississippi River?
A) Kansas City
B) Baton Rouge
C) St. Paul
D) Memphis
- 15. Where does the Mississippi River originate?
A) Mississippi Delta
B) Lake Itasca
C) Gulf of Mexico
D) Great Lakes
- 16. Which famous civil rights leader worked as a sharecropper and later organized voter registration along the Mississippi River?
A) Malcolm X
B) Ella Baker
C) Martin Luther King Jr.
D) Fannie Lou Hamer
- 17. What is the significance of the Mississippi River to the history of the United States?
A) It is the longest river in the world.
B) It has the fastest flowing waters in the country.
C) It is the source of the country's hydroelectric power.
D) It served as a major transportation route for trade and settlement.
- 18. What is the meaning of the name 'Mississippi' in Ojibwe language?
A) Muddy Waters
B) Big River
C) Fast Flowing Water
D) Great Savior
- 19. How long is the Mississippi River?
A) 3,000 miles (4,828 km)
B) 2,340 miles (3,770 km)
C) 4,000 miles (6,437 km)
D) 1,500 miles (2,414 km)
- 20. How many U.S. states does the Mississippi River's watershed drain?
A) 40 U.S. states
B) 15 U.S. states
C) 32 U.S. states
D) 20 U.S. states
- 21. What percentage of the Mississippi River's drainage basin is in Canada?
A) Fifty percent
B) Ten percent
C) About one percent
D) Twenty-five percent
- 22. What is the Mississippi River's rank by discharge flow worldwide?
A) First-largest
B) Tenth-largest
C) Twentieth-largest
D) Fifth-largest
- 23. What is the primary contributor to the Gulf of Mexico dead zone?
A) Agricultural runoff
B) Oil spills
C) Urban sewage
D) Industrial waste
- 24. How many dams are located in the Upper Mississippi River?
A) 43 dams
B) 50 dams
C) 30 dams
D) 60 dams
- 25. What is the only true waterfall on the entire Mississippi River?
A) Cascades Falls
B) Minnehaha Falls
C) Niagara Falls
D) Saint Anthony Falls
- 26. What is the width of Lake Winnibigoshish, the widest point of the Upper Mississippi?
A) 20 miles (32 km) across
B) Over 11 miles (18 km) across
C) 15 miles (24 km) across
D) 5 miles (8 km) across
- 27. What is the elevation of the Upper Mississippi River at St. Paul, Minnesota?
A) 1,475 feet (450 m) above sea level
B) 799 feet (244 m) above sea level
C) 687 feet (209 m) above sea level
D) 750 feet (230 m) above sea level
- 28. What is the topography of the Upper Mississippi River from the St. Croix River to Dubuque, Iowa?
A) Narrow and rocky
B) Flat and meandering
C) Marshy and swampy
D) Entrenched with high bedrock bluffs
- 29. What percentage of the Mississippi and Red Rivers' combined flow is diverted to the Atchafalaya River?
A) 30%
B) 10%
C) 20%
D) 50%
- 30. What is the stream gradient of the entire Mississippi River?
A) 0.01%
B) 0.05%
C) 1.0%
D) 0.5%
- 31. What is the total drop in elevation from Lake Itasca to the Gulf of Mexico?
A) 310 kilometers
B) 220 meters
C) 450 meters
D) 67 meters
- 32. Which is the highest point within the Mississippi River's watershed?
A) Mount Mitchell
B) Mount Elbert
C) Mount Rushmore
D) Mount Whitney
- 33. What is the approximate retention time for water traveling from Lake Itasca to the Gulf of Mexico?
A) 90 days
B) 120 days
C) 60 days
D) 30 days
- 34. What percentage of the continental United States' landmass is covered by the Mississippi River's catchment?
A) Nearly 40%
B) 25%
C) 50%
D) 10%
- 35. What is the Mississippi River's rank by volume among the world's rivers?
A) Fifth largest
B) Fourteenth largest
C) Twenty-second largest
D) Tenth largest
- 36. What percentage of the Amazon River's flow does the Mississippi River have on average?
A) 5%
B) 8%
C) 15%
D) 20%
- 37. How much sediment did the Mississippi River transport per year before 1900?
A) 440 million short tons
B) 600 million short tons
C) 300 million short tons
D) 500 million short tons
- 38. What was the estimated sediment transport by the Mississippi River per year during the last two decades?
A) 160 million short tons
B) 180 million short tons
C) 200 million short tons
D) 100 million short tons
- 39. What programs contributed to the reduction of sediment transport in the Mississippi River?
A) Floodplain management programs
B) Water conservation programs
C) Wetland protection programs
D) Soil erosion control programs
- 40. In what year did salt water travel 64 miles upstream due to drought?
A) 2022
B) 1988
C) 2012
D) 1999
- 41. Which steamboat company operated a luxurious fleet between St. Louis and New Orleans from 1859 to 1898?
A) River Line
B) Anchor Line
C) Steamboat Line
D) Mississippi Line
- 42. In which year did Spain cede an undefined portion of West Florida to France?
A) 1763
B) 1800
C) 1795
D) 1819
- 43. Approximately how many years ago was the Central United States covered by an inland sea?
A) 75,000 years
B) 100,000 years
C) 50,000 years
D) 25,000 years
- 44. What type of labor was used to build the first levees on the Mississippi River?
A) Spanish explorers
B) French settlers
C) Enslaved African laborers
D) Indigenous laborers
- 45. What campaign completed control of the lower Mississippi River?
A) Sherman's March
B) Vicksburg Campaign
C) Gettysburg Campaign
D) Atlanta Campaign
- 46. What was the depth of the channel recommended by the Corps of Engineers at the Des Moines Rapids?
A) 7-foot-deep
B) 4.5-foot-deep
C) 5-foot-deep
D) 9-foot-deep
- 47. Which Native American nation is not listed as inhabiting the Mississippi basin?
A) Ojibwe
B) Sioux
C) Cheyenne
D) Navajo
- 48. What was the name of the most prominent Mississippian culture city?
A) Cahokia
B) Omashkoozo-zaaga'igan
C) Bemijigamaag-ziibi
D) Gichi-ziibiwininiwag
- 49. Who rediscovered the mouth of the Mississippi after La Salle's death?
A) Louis Jolliet
B) Jacques Marquette
C) Pierre Le Moyne d'Iberville
D) Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne
- 50. What is the Arapaho name for the Mississippi River?
A) Máʼxe-éʼometaaʼe
B) Kickaátit
C) Misi-ziibi
D) Beesniicíe
- 51. In what year was the United States Army Corps of Engineers established?
A) 1900
B) 1848
C) 1802
D) 1829
- 52. Which bridge is the northernmost river crossing in the St. Louis metropolitan area?
A) Norbert F. Beckey Bridge
B) Chain of Rocks Bridge
C) Eads Bridge
D) Clark Bridge
- 53. What was the main influence in shaping the current form of the Mississippi River basin?
A) The Rocky Mountains
B) The Appalachian Mountains
C) The Sierra Nevada
D) The Laurentide Ice Sheet
- 54. Which period saw the lifestyle of Native Americans in the Mississippi River basin become more settled?
A) Mesoamerican period
B) Hopewell period
C) Woodland period
D) Mississippian period
- 55. Which bridge is known as the Chicago and Northwestern Railroad Bridge?
A) Great River Bridge
B) Eisenhower Bridge
C) Fred Schwengel Memorial Bridge
D) Clinton Railroad Bridge
- 56. What was the original French rendering of the Anishinaabe name for the Mississippi River?
A) Omashkoozo-ziibi
B) Gichi-ziibi
C) Bemijigamaag-ziibi
D) Messipi
- 57. What geological feature formed as a result of the uplift and erosion of the Appalachian-Ouachita range?
A) The Great Plains
B) The Appalachian Mountains
C) The Rocky Mountains
D) The Reelfoot Rift
- 58. Who was the first recorded European to reach the Mississippi River?
A) Louis Jolliet
B) Alonso Álvarez de Pineda
C) René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle
D) Hernando de Soto
- 59. How many National Park Service sites are there along the Mississippi River?
A) Five
B) Eight
C) Seven
D) Six
- 60. What was the Mississippi River called after the confluence with the Crow Wing River?
A) Omashkoozo-ziibi
B) Misi-ziibi
C) Gaa-miskwaawaakokaag-ziibi
D) Bemijigamaag-ziibi
- 61. What did the Rivers and Harbors Act of 1930 authorize for the Mississippi River?
A) A 6-foot-deep navigation channel
B) A 9-foot-deep navigation channel
C) A 15-foot-deep navigation channel
D) A 12-foot-deep navigation channel
- 62. Who was the Italian explorer that wrote about his journey on the Virginia to Fort St. Anthony?
A) Marco Polo
B) Amerigo Vespucci
C) Giacomo Beltrami
D) Christopher Columbus
- 63. What did Britain gain from Spain in the Treaty of Paris (1763) in exchange for regaining Cuba?
A) New Orleans
B) Florida
C) Mississippi River
D) Louisiana Territory
- 64. When was 'Life on the Mississippi' first published as a serial in Harper's Weekly?
A) 1885
B) 1895
C) 1875
D) 1865
- 65. What was the region claimed by La Salle called?
A) La Balise
B) New Orleans
C) La Louisiane
D) Illinois
- 66. What did a Sioux Indian name the Mississippi River in 1673?
A) Río del Espíritu Santo
B) River of the Immaculate Conception
C) Colbert River
D) Ne Tongo
- 67. What was the French name for the Mississippi River during French Louisiana?
A) Gichi-ziibi
B) Omashkoozo-ziibi
C) Rivière Saint-Louis
D) Missisipi
- 68. Which treaty allowed the United States to secure effective control of the Mississippi River?
A) Louisiana Purchase
B) Adams–Onís Treaty
C) Treaty of Ghent
D) Treaty of Paris (1783)
- 69. Which empire controlled the land west of the Mississippi River after the Treaty of Paris in 1763?
A) United States
B) Spain
C) France
D) Great Britain
- 70. What is one factor blamed for increases in the risk and frequency of flooding on the Mississippi River?
A) Urban sprawl
B) Climate change
C) Agricultural practices
D) Deforestation
- 71. What does fresh river water from the Mississippi appear as on NASA's MODIS images?
A) A dark ribbon
B) A green patch
C) A white cloud
D) A blue streak
- 72. What structures did the United States Army Corps of Engineers construct to contain saltwater intrusion?
A) Floodgates
B) River dams
C) Saltwater sills or underwater levees
D) Desalination plants
- 73. In what year did Ralph Samuelson perform the first water ski jump?
A) 1920
B) 1925
C) 1928
D) 1922
- 74. When was the continental divide between the Great Lakes and the Mississippi Valley breached?
A) 1699
B) 1673
C) 1718
D) 1848
- 75. Which bridge is the second-longest cable-stayed bridge in the Western Hemisphere?
A) Horace Wilkinson Bridge
B) John James Audubon Bridge
C) Huey P. Long Bridge
D) Crescent City Connection
- 76. How many new locks and dams were built on the upper Mississippi in the 1930s?
A) Twenty-three
B) Ten
C) Thirty
D) Fifteen
- 77. What was the first bridge across the Mississippi River?
A) Built in 1844
B) Built in 1860
C) Built in 1855 in Minneapolis
D) Built in 1876
- 78. What name did Hernando de Soto give to the Mississippi River?
A) Río del Espíritu Santo
B) Colbert River
C) Ne Tongo
D) River of the Immaculate Conception
- 79. Who began work on the first levees on the Mississippi River in 1727?
A) Étienne Perier
B) Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne
C) René-Robert Cavelier
D) Pierre Le Moyne d'Iberville
- 80. During which stage did the Mississippi River get diverted near Rock Island, Illinois?
A) Illinoian Stage
B) Holocene Stage
C) Pleistocene Stage
D) Wisconsin Stage
- 81. Which structure directs excess water down the east side of the Atchafalaya River?
A) The Old River Control Structure
B) The Bonnet Carré Spillway
C) The Birds Point-New Madrid Floodway
D) The Morganza Spillway
- 82. What event in 1918-19 blocked river traffic north of Memphis, Tennessee?
A) Industrial accidents
B) The Great Flood
C) A ship collision
D) The 'Big Freeze'
- 83. Who invented water skiing on the Mississippi River?
A) John Smith
B) Ralph Samuelson
C) Henry Ford
D) Thomas Jefferson
- 84. Which bridge was the longest arch bridge in the world when completed in 1874?
A) Helena Bridge
B) Chain of Rocks Bridge
C) Eads Bridge
D) Harahan Bridge
- 85. Which basin does part of the Mississippi's flow get routed into, bypassing Baton Rouge and New Orleans?
A) The Red River Basin
B) The Ohio River Basin
C) The Atchafalaya Basin
D) The Tennessee River Basin
- 86. What was one of the health benefits of the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal?
A) Providing irrigation water
B) Controlling floods
C) Addressing waterborne diseases by redirecting waste
D) Generating hydroelectric power
- 87. Which Native American people called the Mississippi River 'Big Greasy River'?
A) Arapaho
B) Cheyenne
C) Ojibwe
D) Pawnee
- 88. What grade did the 'America's Rivershed Initiative' give the Mississippi basin in 2015?
A) D+
B) C
C) B
D) A
- 89. In what year did the Moline Lock, bypassing the Rock Island Rapids, open?
A) 1907
B) 1866
C) 1837
D) 1877
- 90. What was the primary purpose of the Keokuk dam when it was built?
A) To facilitate navigation
B) To prevent flooding
C) To generate electricity
D) To create a reservoir
- 91. When was the auxiliary flow control station adjacent to the Old River Control Structure completed?
A) 1990
B) 1970
C) 2000
D) 1986
- 92. Which steamboat was the first to travel the full length of the Lower Mississippi from the Ohio River to New Orleans?
A) St. Louis
B) New Orleans
C) Anchor Line
D) Virginia
- 93. Who established New Orleans along the Mississippi River in 1718?
A) Pierre Le Moyne d'Iberville
B) René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle
C) Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne, Sieur de Bienville
D) Louis Jolliet
- 94. Who wrote the guidebook detailing the features and navigable waterways of the Mississippi River basin?
A) Zadok Cramer
B) Meriwether Lewis
C) Lewis and Clark
D) Thomas Jefferson
- 95. What natural disaster in 1811 and 1812 affected the Mississippi River basin?
A) Tornadoes
B) Hurricanes
C) Earthquakes
D) Floods
- 96. Who swam the entire length of the Mississippi River in 2002?
A) Martin Strel
B) Fred Newton
C) John Doe
D) William Smith
- 97. Which river became the main course of the Mississippi around 2500 BC?
A) Bayou Teche
B) Missouri River
C) Ohio River
D) Arkansas River
- 98. Which of the following is not a National Park Service site along the Mississippi River?
A) Jean Lafitte National Historical Park and Preserve
B) Effigy Mounds National Monument
C) Gateway Arch National Park
D) Yellowstone National Park
- 99. Who commanded the American forces during the attack on New Orleans after the War of 1812?
A) General Thomas Jefferson
B) General Andrew Jackson
C) General George Washington
D) General Ulysses S. Grant
- 100. Who was the first person to swim the length of the Mississippi River?
A) William Brown
B) Fred Newton
C) Martin Strel
D) John Smith
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