Discovering Mississippi River

Native American tribes lived on the Mississippi River long before the now famous European explorers “discovered” the river.  Some of these tribes were small.  Others occupied larger areas around the river.  The Chickasaw and Choctaw tribes were large and powerful, and fought to claim lands and confront newcomers.  Many other smaller tribes that lived around and along the Mississippi also had very interesting cultures, and spoke their own languages.

Here is a drawing made in 1775 of a Chickasaw Indian. 

Here is a list of some tribes whose culture was influenced by the big river.  Your students can use our USA, NATIVE AMERICAN CULTURES to plot the areas where some of these tribes lived, in the Southeast area.

Acolapissa

Biloxi

Capinans/Moctobi

Chakchiuma

Chickasaw

Choctaw

Choula/Chula

Grigra

Houma

Ibitoupa

Koroa

Natchez

Ofo/Ofogoula/Mosopelia

Pascagoula

Pensacola

Quapaw

Tiou

Tunica

Yazoo

DE SOTO “DISCOVERS” THE MISSISSIPPI

The Spanish explorer and conquistador Hernando De Soto encountered the Mississippi in the years 1541-42.  De Soto was the first European explorer to “discover” the large river that the native American people knew so well.  He landed in what we know know at the Tampa Bay area, in what is now the southeast USA.   “La Florida” was the name that the area was called.  Eventually the state of FLORIDA took this name.

De Soto had more than 600 men and they were searching for gold and riches.  They made slaves of native Americans.  De Soto confronted and fought with native Americans where his journeys took him.  He marched through what we now know as Florida, Georgia, North and South Carolina, Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi, and Arkansas. In 1542, de Soto died of a fever on the banks of the river he had discovered.

Your students can plot the route of de Soto on our WORLD EXPLORERS map.

Northern Mississippi River

Father Jacques Marquette, a Jesuit missionary, and Louis Joliet, a fur trader, made an expedition in 1673 on the Mississippi River.  They traveled in a birch bark canoe, with help from native American guides of Canadian descent.  Father Marquette and Louis Jolliet were the first Europeans to explore and map the northern portion of the Mississippi River.  Use our USA, PLACES AND GEOGRAPHIC FEATURES map and our TRAILS WEST map to help your students see where the river flows through the midwest, to the Gulf of Mexico.

This map shows the area explored by Father Jacques Marquette and Louis Joliet.

This 1876 illustration shows Father Jacques Marquette, a Jesuit missionary, and Louis Joliet, a fur trader.

Father Marquette encountered many native American tribes, including the Lakota.  This painting shows scenes of battle and horse raiding, decorations from a muslin Lakota tipi from the late 19th or early 20th century.

MORE ABOUT THE MISSISSIPPI!

Have your students learn more about this great river, as well as what is happening in the Mississippi now – its watershed, animals, food, and more:  a digital workshop to use in your class, devoted to the MISSISSIPPI RIVER, is part of our new  CartoCraze! Expanded Map Workshops.

This Mississippi file is FREE this school year!  Go HERE to access it.  

And learn more about this product that features RIVERS, MOUNTAINS, DESERTS and ISLANDS!