Yazoo River

	Email		Print
	Bookmark		Link

Yazoo River

The Yazoo River is a river

River

A river is a natural stream of water, usually freshwater, flowing toward an ocean, a lake, or another stream. In some cases a river flows into the ground or dries up completely before reaching another body of water....
in the U.S. state

U.S. state

A U.S. state is any one of the 50 state of the United States that share sovereignty with the federal government of the United States . Because of this shared sovereignty, an United States is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of Domicile ....
of Mississippi

Mississippi

Mississippi is a U.S. state located in the Deep South of the United States. Jackson, Mississippi is the state capital and largest city. The state's name comes from the Mississippi River, which flows along its western boundary, and takes its name from the Anishinaabe language word misi-ziibi ....
.

The Yazoo River was named by French explorer La Salle

René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle

Ren? Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle, or Robert de LaSalle was a France List of explorers. He explored the Great Lakes region of the United States and Canada, the Mississippi River, and the Gulf of Mexico....
in 1682 in reference to the Yazoo tribe

Yazoo tribe

Discussion

Ask a question about 'Yazoo River'

Start a new discussion about 'Yazoo River'

Answer questions from other users

Full Discussion Forum

Encyclopedia

The Yazoo River is a river

River

U.S. state

Mississippi

René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle

Yazoo tribe

The Yazoo tribe was a Native Americans in the United States tribe on the lower course of Yazoo River, Mississippi, in close connection with several other tribes, the most important of which was the Tunica-Biloxi ....
living near the river's mouth. The exact meaning of the term is unclear. One long held belief is that it means "river of death".

The river is 188 miles long and is formed by the confluence of the Tallahatchie River

Tallahatchie River

The Tallahatchie River flows from Tippah County, Mississippi to Leflore County, Mississippi, where it joins the Yalobusha River to form the Yazoo River....
and the Yalobusha River

Yalobusha River

The Yalobusha River is a river, 165 mi long, in north-central Mississippi in the United States. It is a principal tributary of the Yazoo River, via which it is part of the drainage basin of the Mississippi River....
in Greenwood

Greenwood, Mississippi

Greenwood is the county seat of Leflore County, Mississippi, Mississippi, United States, located at the eastern edge of the Mississippi Delta approximately 96 miles north of Jackson, Mississippi and 130 miles south of Memphis, Tennessee, Tennessee....
. The river parallels the Mississippi River

Mississippi River

The Mississippi River is the longest river in the United States, with a length of from its source in Lake Itasca in Minnesota to its mouth in the Gulf of Mexico....
for some distance before joining it north of Vicksburg, Mississippi

Vicksburg, Mississippi

Vicksburg is a city in Warren County, Mississippi, Mississippi, United States. It is located 234 miles north by west of New Orleans, Louisiana on the Mississippi River and Yazoo River rivers, and 40 miles due west of Jackson, Mississippi, the state capital....
. Natural levee

Levee

A levee, lev?e, dike , embankment, floodbank or stopbank is a natural or artificial slope or wall to regulate water levels....
s which flank the Mississippi prevent the Yazoo from joining it before Vicksburg. As a result of this, a "yazoo stream

Yazoo stream

A yazoo stream is hydrologic term for any tributary stream that runs parallel to, and within the floodplain of, a larger river that the stream eventually joins....
" is a hydrologic term used to describe any river in this situation.

The surrounding area was known as the Yazoo lands

Yazoo lands

The Yazoo lands were the sparsely-populated central and western areas of the United States U.S. state of Georgia , when its western border stretched back to the Mississippi River....
which name was lent to the Yazoo land scandal

Yazoo land scandal

The Yazoo Land Scandal, Yazoo Fraud or Yazoo Land Fraud was a massive fraud perpetrated by several Georgia governors and the state legislature from 1795 to 1803 by selling large tracts of land to insiders at absurdly low prices....
.

The river was of major importance during the American Civil War

American Civil War

The American Civil War , also known as the War Between the States and several Naming the American Civil War, was a civil war in the United States....
. The first electrically detonated underwater mine was used on the river in 1862 near Vicksburg to sink the Union ironclad USS Cairo

USS Cairo (1861)

USS Cairo was a City class ironclad gunboat constructed for the Union Navy by James B. Eads during the American Civil War. She was the first vessel of the City class ironclads, also called the Cairo class....
. The last section of the Cairo was raised on December 12, 1964. It has been restored and is now on permanent display to the public at the Vicksburg National Military Park

Vicksburg National Military Park

Vicksburg National Military Park preserves the site of the American Civil War Battle of Vicksburg, waged from May 18 to July 4, 1863. The park, in Vicksburg, Mississippi, and Delta, Louisiana, also commemorates the greater Vicksburg Campaign, which preceded the battle....
. There are 29 sunken ships from the Civil War beneath the waters of the river.

Variant names of the Yazoo River include Zasu River, Yazous River, Yahshoo River, Riviere des Yasoux, and Fiume dei Yasous.

Yazoo River

See also