Taming the Upper Mississippi, Chapter 2: Federal river policy/regional initiatives

EDITOR’S NOTE: Muddy River News has received permission to reprint reviews and chapters from the book, “Taming the Upper Mississippi: My Turn at Watch, 1935-1999,” written by Janice Petterchak. The book reflects on flood protection, navigation and the environment on the upper Mississippi River through the eyes of Quincy engineer William H. Klingner.

As early as 1826, settlers in Illinois and Missouri began efforts to make swamp land the subject of national legislation.

Both the 1818 and 1848 Illinois constitutions authorized the General Assembly to grant charters for “internal improvements.” Much of the Upper Mississippi land in need of drainage was included in the Swamp Land Act of 1850. Illinois historical rain data indicates the 1830s-1860s as the wettest period in our Midwest history, averaging up to 42 inches annually compared to the 1930s-1960s of 36 inches annually.

The greatest flood on record for more than 90 years occurred in 1851. Waterborne disease was rampant during this period. Early inhabitants of the flat prairie land “suffered greatly from a peculiar disease, at that time termed chills, fever, and ague, but now known as malaria.”

Technology of the day made drainage work difficult. It was not until the 1870s that drain tile and plow equipment developed to the point that cost-effective drainage became practical.

From 1870 to 1920, basically all the levee and drainage districts in Illinois, Iowa and Missouri were formed and put into service. River navigation was changing during this period as well, increasing dramatically in the two decades following the Civil War, but without a consistent water depth, railroad transportation became extremely competitive and more reliable.

The relationship and importance of drainage, flood control and navigation became evident to those who lived and worked along the upper Mississippi River valley.