Tag: rivers

Raindrops and snow melt high in the Montana mountains tend to slide and travel to the southeast.

Meanwhile, rain and snow from the western portion of Pennsylvania, and portions of New York state, end up with stream and river buddies floating west and south.

They meet in the Mississippi River. The Missouri River, with help from hundreds of smaller rivers and streams, pours western water into the river several miles north of the city of St. Louis. The Ohio River, carrying water from eight or more eastern states enters in a sparsely population region east of Charleston, MO.

In the above photo, they are well mixed passing New Madrid, MO. They have had a good many miles to blend.

When steamboats ruled the river and carried new immigrants to affordable land and growing cities, they passed a total of ten islands between New Madrid and the mouth of the Ohio River. Imagine young adults and families with small children watching the shore activities as they moved to a new home. Did any of your ancestors make a similar journey?

New Dreams, a sweet romance, recounts 1851 adventures going to and living in the fictional town of Elm Ridge, Illinois. Yes, a river town north of St. Louis. Book information here: https://amzn.to/3vWydWE

For over 900 miles, this river makes a mark on the North American landscape. Not the longest. Not the widest. But a hard working river — busy with barges of freight in the 21st century.

In earlier times, the boats drifted, or sailed down current. Steam engines arrived and boats kept a schedule — mainly.

The engines are powered by diesel now, more powerful and dependable than in decades past.

The Ohio River was in minor flood the day this photo was taken in Paducah, KY. After the river completes this partial loop to the north, it turns south and joins up with the Mississippi River. If you are careful, and take precise measurements — you could put yourself equidistant from land in Missouri, Illinois, and Kentucky. Be sure to be in a boat!

The immigrants in the sweet historical romance, New Dreams, passed the junction in early April, when snow melt from northern areas was filling the rivers. Do you suppose they experienced minor flooding?

Follow the link for more book information: https://amzn.to/3vWydWE

Water seeks the lowest level and path of least resistance. That’s physics. The sort of science a person sees in daily life.

A spring bubbles up. Snow melts and runs in a ditch. The path widens. Another ditch of water is added. On and on and on until you get to a river. Then it continues as creeks, streams, and ditches add their offerings to the river.

At Trail of Tears State Park in Missouri, the Mississippi River has grown from a stream you can wade across to a mighty river.

Today we celebrate one year since publication of New Dreams, a sweet historical romance. (A Book Birthday.) When the characters passed this area in 1851, the memories of the Native Americans removed from the Southeastern states to Western territories was fresh. Imagine ferrying across this barrier in winter.

European immigration takes the spotlight in New Dreams. Follow the link for more information: https://amzn.to/3vWydWE

Have you ever taken a road trip with children? Or been a child on a road trip? How about a vacation trip with multiple train or plane connections?

It’s a classic question. I think I’ve asked it more as an adult than as a child. Perhaps it was rare — but I enjoyed family road trips. Some were a Sunday afternoon. (Needed to be home to milk cows.) Others, requiring much more planning, included days of driving rather than hours.

Step back in time in your imagination. You’ve spent a couple of months on a sailing ship. Now you’re on a steamboat headed north. Perhaps you’re joining relatives or friends who have immigrated earlier. Or maybe you’re the first — and determined to make your own way. If your destination was St. Louis or farther, you passed this portion of the Mississippi River.

Maybe you tied up across the way on the Illinois shore. You have a stop or two remaining — perhaps Jefferson Barracks or Carondelet — before you get to the city. Are you ready? Are we there yet? I hope the weather is fine. We need to find a driver to take our trunks.

In New Dreams, a sweet historical romance, Hans and Louisa travel from New Orleans to St. Louis separately. They have different dreams. What do you suppose they thought as the riverboat chugged toward the St. Louis levee?

https://amzn.to/3vWydWE

For centuries, the rivers in America ran wild. In the spring they flooded and left the land rich with nutrients when they receded back into a narrower channel. At times they found an easier way around an obstacle and made a new path. Or they sealed off water and formed a lake.

The human inhabitants, relatively few in number, adjusted travel and building patterns to the river’s habits.

Then the 19th century arrived. The population increased dramatically, and these new humans felt entitled to control the world around them. First they tinkered around the edges. Then, as building materials changed, the situation became more serious.

From the north, this is the second-to-last dam across the Mississippi River. This series of structures was designed with locks and dams to enable shipping to have a safe minimal water level. You’ll find them dotted at irregular intervals from St. Paul, MN to St. Louis, MO.

No dams on the river in 1851 when New Dreams, a sweet historical romance, takes the reader to this fictional village. Board a virtual steamboat and come along for an adventure with a baker and a reformed(?) thief. https://amzn.to/3vWydWE

Humans have been tinkering with rivers since the dawn of civilization. Have we mastered the art?

Well — not exactly.

Rivers appear to cut their own way through geography and history. Flood? Yeah, we can do that. Cut a new channel? Sure, just give us a little time. Shrink? Give us a few drought years and light snowfall at our source and we can make your barges and boats scrape bottom.

Of course, size matters. Just like you talk about a stream, a creek, or a rivelet feeding into a river, the rivers come in all sizes and lengths. And don’t expect a straight line from point A to point B. We like to wander, find the low spots and the softer earth to yield to our power.

But humans continue to attempt to control these forces of nature.

Along the mighty Mississippi River, from Minneapolis to St. Louis, you will find a series of dams to control navigation. This one, Melvin Price Locks and Dams, replaced the previous structure of Dam #26 near Alton, Illinois. Built and maintained by the US Army Corps of Engineers, each of the 27 locks and dams do their part to ensure barge and other water traffic moves steady on this liquid highway.

Morning Tryst, a sweet, contemporary romance, includes scenes along the Mississippi River where it forms Missouri’s eastern border.

Kindle readers: https://amzn.to/35gH37S