October 1994
the monthly newsletter for people who Jive, work or play on the Upper Mississippi River
Iowa Museums Capture the Magnificent River By Bill Jacobs
In 1870, Iowa Iron Works began building iron-hulled boats at its yard in Dubuque, and, for a time, became one of the most active boat builders on the Mississippi River. Big and small towboats, raftboats and railroad transfer boats slid down the greased ways of what beca me Dubuque Boat and Boiler Works. The story of that riverside company, told by photo mural, video and print, makes up one small corner of a major
Museum staffers developed six months of activities around it, including mural-painting in downtown Davenport, field trips to the Galena lead mines and other sites, and lectures, shows and presentations. exhibit of the new Mississippian culture. This is not the Mississippian culture of mounds and ancient forests, although that culture is part of the exhibit, but the modern Mississippian culture - the people who now live along the great river, continuing its heritage, understanding that they make up a separate and identifiable region of the U.S. The exhibit at the Putnam Museum in Davenport, Iowa, "Magnificent River: The Mississippi From Minnesota to Missouri" explores this new Mississippian culture with more than 200 artifacts, many in dioramas, and with photographs,
(Magnificent continued on page 2)
Vol. 2, No. 10 $2
Heartbeat of the Midwest By Reggie McLeod
The Mississippi River beats like a giant heart, once a year, us¡ually in April, with a murmur in autumn. That giant pulse of icy water each spring moves a giant load of sediment down the river. The coldness of the water increases its scouring action; warmer water, even in the same volume, would not move as much sediment. That's why last summer's flood left behind more shoals than a spring flood normally does. Every day the U:S. Geological Survey measures the flow of the Mississippi and many other rivers. Drawings on pages 4 and 5 illustrate the annual pulse of the river, month by month. The width of the drawings are proportional to tl1e average monthly flow of the river and its largest tributaries. The records for the measuring stations vary. The record for Clinton, Iowa, goes back to 1874. The station at St. Cloud, Minnesota, goes back to 1988. Flows vary widely from year to year. The average August flow at Winona from 1928to1992was19,920 cubic feet per second, but in August 1993 the flow averaged 67,560 c.f.s.
(Pulse continued on page 4)