Free
Where there’s a river, you’re sure to see people living on its banks and vessels traveling on its waters. You’ll find farms spreading out from its shores and power plants producing electricity along its length.
The world’s earliest civilizations began alongside great rivers, such as the Nile in North Africa and the Indus in the Indian subcontinent. Rivers have also played an important role in the life of our country.
◀ Rivers were key passageways for exploring regions of North America that would become part of the United States. Meriwether Lewis and William Clark explored some important rivers. From 1804 to 1806, they followed the Missouri River and then the Columbia River to the Pacific Ocean. Almost 150 years earlier, Louis Jolliet and Jacques Marquette had explored the northern Mississippi while Sieur de La Salle tracked that river to the Gulf of Mexico.
Originally, the shape of Nevada was squared off at the bottom. This left Nevada, the driest state in the country, with no access to water. The 1866 Congress fixed that—and rewarded Nevada for staying with the North during the Civil War. It changed Nevada’s border with Arizona to include the Colorado River. ▶
▲ With the invention of the steamboat in 1803, the Mississippi River became a major commercial thoroughfare. By midcentury, up to 1,000 boats had transported a quarter-million tons of goods along the Mississippi. Other boats carried passengers as well as freight.
▲ The people of Jamestown, Virginia, were the first of many Europeans to settle along a river. Settlers all along the East Coast chose riverbanks as homes. They ranged from Savannah in present-day Georgia to Portland in present-day Maine.
There’s nothing like rafting, canoeing, kayaking, or sailing downriver. Ask this man. He’ll tell you! He’s having fun in some white water rapids. ▶
Loading the player...
▲ Spanning the Colorado River, the Hoover Dam helps control flooding. It also provides water and power essential to the people of the Southwest. Named for President Herbert Hoover, the dam was a federal project undertaken during the 1930s. Lake Mead, which was created by the dam, is a National Recreation Area.
Explore the Hoover Dam
Fun Facts About U.S. Rivers
The United States has over a quarter of a million rivers totaling about 3.5 million miles of waterway.
At more than 2,500 miles, the Missouri is our longest river, although the Mississippi carries more water.
The Continental Divide is a ridge running through the Rocky Mountains. It separates streams that flow east to the Atlantic Ocean from streams that flow west to the Pacific.
The term downriver refers to the direction that water is flowing. The term upriver refers to the direction of the water source of the river.
Loading the player...
▲ Flowing water, like the millions of gallons pouring over Niagara Falls, can be used to produce renewable, hydroelectric power. The power plant downstream from the falls produces enough energy to light 24 million 100-watt bulbs at once!
