Where Is the Mississippi River? [Paperback]

Discover the history and culture of one of the most famous waterways in the world: the mighty Mississippi!

The most famous river in America runs like a spine between the eastern and western parts of the country, flowing through ten states before it empties into the Gulf of Mexico. The mighty Miss also flows through the history of America, giving rise to great stories about the people who lived on it and used it as a watery highway, from Native Americans and European explorers to skillful riverboat captains and colorful gamblers traveling on luxurious steamboats. And of course it was the first truly American writer, Mark Twain, who grew up along its banks and made the Mississippi River famous around the world.

This book, part of the New York Times best-selling series, is enhanced by eighty illustrations and a detachable fold-out map complete with four photographs on the back.Dina Anastasio is the author ofWhere Is the Super Bowl?,Who Was Steve Irwin?, and many other books.Where Is the Mississippi River?
 

On July 4, 2002, a forty-seven-year-old man named Martin Strel took a swim in a small lake—Lake Itasca—in northern Minnesota. Lake Itasca is where the Mississippi River begins. It is the top of the river, which ends 2,350 miles farther south in the Gulf of Mexico. 
 
Martin Strel had always loved being in the water. As a child in the Central European country of Slovenia, he had spent most of his time swimming in streams and lakes and rivers. When he wasn’t swimming, he spent his time reading. He loved to read about rivers. He was fascinated by faraway rivers like the Danube in Europe, the Yangtze in China, the Amazon in South America, and the Mississippi River in the United States.
 
One of his favorite books was calledThe Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, by Mark Twain. It was about a boy growing up beside the Mississippi River in Missouri. Hul“