USA HISTORY

Detailed explanation-1: -Early pioneers and explorers crossed the Mississippi River using canoes and small keel boats. Early explorers imitated the indigenous peoples techniques of crossing the massive river. In the absence of bridges or ferries, traversing the area could be quite dangerous.

Detailed explanation-2: -Native Americans lived along its banks and used the river for sustenance and transportation. Early European explorers used the Mississippi to explore the interior and the northern reaches of what was to become the United States.

Detailed explanation-3: -The Oregon Trail was a roughly 2, 000-mile route from Independence, Missouri, to Oregon City, Oregon, that was used by hundreds of thousands of American pioneers in the mid-1800s to emigrate west. The trail was arduous and snaked through Missouri and present-day Kansas, Nebraska, Wyoming, Idaho and finally into Oregon.

Detailed explanation-4: -Fort Rosalie, the first permanent white settlement on the Mississippi River, now called Natchez, was built by the French in 1716. Bienville founded New Orleans in 1718, and four years later, this city was made the capital of the region known as Louisiana.

Detailed explanation-5: -Most of the time crossing was done simply by the teams and wagons being driven into the stream, and if the wagons had sufficient clearance, they crossed to the other side without harm.