re: Have we ever discussed MS river changing directions, particularly Centennial Cutoff?

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I cannot find it, but I have seen a picture taken from the "dry" river bed towards Vicksburg. The river bottom was covered with "pits" from swirling eddies along the bottom caused by the current.

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last time i was there, the 'riverwalk' in downtown vicksburg stunk like hell and mud as far as the eye could see..you could catch a glimpse of the MS..its about a mile away from downtown now.

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it was during the monsoon rains and he started running into issues around lake village

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The hwy between Lake Village and Greenville flooded?

This is probably common knowledge, but Highland Road in BR is called that because it was the high land off the Miss River. That’s why you see that huge drop off where the nice homes between Lee drive and Prairieville. It’s a pretty steep decline. Alain, Magnilia Mound plantation off Nicholson was built in the bank of the Miss. it’s oribably a half mile off the rivers bank now. Not a huge amount, but still kinda cool to think about.

Clive Cussler wrote a book about locating some of the old steamship wrecks and gunboats etc. They found some of them miles from the present riverbed.

Grant tried to dig a canal during the siege to landlock Vicksburg but it didn't work.

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Alain, Magnilia Mound plantation off Nicholson was built in the bank of the Miss. it’s oribably a half mile off the rivers bank now. Not a huge amount, but still kinda cool to think about.

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The river has changed course slightly in many places in Louisiana.

When I researched my paternal genealogy, I found records that my greatx5 grandfather who died in 1804 was buried in the church cemetery in St. James. I went there, hoping to see if his tombstone still existed. The woman in the church office told me that if he was buried in 1804, that part of the cemetery is now in the Mississippi River. In fact, the original church was located where the present levee is built. At present, the cemetery butts right up to the base of the levee.

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When I researched my paternal genealogy, I found records that my greatx5 grandfather who died in 1804 was buried in the church cemetery in St. James. I went there, hoping to see if his tombstone still existed. The woman in the church office told me that if he was buried in 1804, that part of the cemetery is now in the Mississippi River. In fact, the original church was located where the present levee is built. At present, the cemetery butts right up to the base of the levee.

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Most of the original townsite of St Maurice is in the middle of Red River. People would just move a little further back as the river changed course, but the original property descriptions are no longer valid. Big problems when somebody inherits or tries to sell land.

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Sometime go on google earth satellite images and wander up and down any of our major rivers in flood plains. The number of cut off meanders on the Mississippi is too many to count. and then look at the meaders that have cut through earlier oxbow lakes.

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Something else that is interesting is to go on Google Earth at Vicksburg and instead of going up the Mississippi, start up the Yazoo and when you get around Yazoo City you start seeing a shite load of large oxbows. You can follow them up through Tchula, Greenwood, Schlater, Glendora, Tutwiler, Clarksdale and somewhere between Friar’s Point and Tunica it gets back to the Mississippi River.

According to an archeologist I know, thousands of years ago the MS River had a main channel which is the current river and the oxbows around it and a natural auxiliary channel. All of those long oxbows that meander through the east side of the Delta were what made up the auxiliary channel.

This is a great thread. Pretty fascinating and