From my painting excursions into the Illinois river bottoms
along the Mississippi, visits along the Ohio in Paducah, KY and to our recent
trip to Cape Girardeau, Missouri. I have been told that one who spends his leisure
time on or along a river is called a River Rat. I’ve been called worse things.
The name Mississippi is derived from the Native American
peoples Ojibwe word "Misi-ziibi," meaning "Great River".
The longest river in North America, it is the third longest
river in the world at nearly 2,400 miles. It reaches from the Canadian border
and empties into the Gulf of Mexico. The Mississippi River is an important area
of the wet lands with a massive ecosystem and environment that covers ten
states, two Canadian provenience's and creates the third largest water shed in
the world.
The Mississippi River has been a focal point in American
history, from Native American tribes who flourished along its banks, through European explorers, the American Civil War, the Great Mississippi Flood of
1927.
Western settlers and traders called it the “wall” because
of the difficulty of crossing her, it being the biggest barrier to western expansion.
For decades man has tried to tame her.
Nature always wins.
They Call the Mighty Mississippi the Wall.
Oil on panel, 8x10, © Jim Serrett
Explore - Question - Learn - - Enjoy, Jim
Website - jimserrett.com
Studio Blog - jimserrettstudio.com
Landscape Blog - Pochade Box Paintings
