The Des Moines Rapids between Nauvoo, Illinois and Keokuk, Iowa is one of two major rapids on the Mississippi River that limited Steamboat traffic on the river through the early 19th century. Nauvoo (נָאווּ to be beautiful, Sephardi Hebrew Nåvu, Tiberian Hebrew Nâwû) is a city in Hancock County, Illinois, United States. ... Keokuk is a city in Lee County, Iowa, United States. ... ... The Mississippi River, derived from the old Ojibwe word misi-ziibi meaning great river (gichi-ziibi big river at its headwaters), is the second-longest river in the United States; the longest is the Missouri River, which flows into the Mississippi. ... Paddle steamers — Lucerne, Switzerland. ...

The rapids just above the confluence of the Des Moines River were to contribute to the Honey War in the 1830s between Missouri and Iowa over the Sullivan Line that separates the two states. Des Moines River - Wikipedia /**/ @import /skins-1. ... The Honey Lands were a strip of territory disputed between the U.S. state of Missouri and the Iowa Territory. ... This article does not cite its references or sources. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ...

Various attempts to make the river navigable started in 1837 when a channel was blasted through the rapids by U.S. Army Corps of Engineers team led by Robert E. Lee. A canal around the rapids was built in 1877. It is now obliterated by Lock and Dam No. 19. United States Army Corps of Engineers logo The United States Army Corps of Engineers, or USACE, is made up of some 34,600 civilian and 650 military men and women. ... Robert Edward Lee (January 19, 1807 – October 12, 1870) was a career U.S. Army officer and the most celebrated general of the Confederate forces during the American Civil War. ...

The other major rapids barring traffic on the Mississippi is the Rock Island Rapids.

The Mississippi in its natural state widens from 2,500 feet to 4,500 feet in width at Nauvoo as it drops 22 feet over 11 miles over shallow limestone rocks to the confluence with Des Moines. Limey shale overlaid by limestone. ...

According to records its mean depth through the rapids was 2.4 feet and "much less" in many places.

In August 1804 Zebulon Pike exploring the Mississippi looking for its source got stuck at the rapids and needed help from the Sauk tribe to portage the rapids. Zebulon Montgomery Pike (January 5, 1779–April 27, 1813) was an American soldier and explorer for whom Pikes Peak in Colorado is named. ... For the abbreviation or acronym SAC, please see SAC. The Sauks or Sacs (Asakiwaki in their own language) are a group of Native Americans whose original territory may have been along the St. ...

Beginning in 1804 United States government-sponsored trading posts for Native Americans as part of the Native American factory system began being built at the rapids. Forts were associated with the trading posts including Fort Johnson, Fort Madison. The forts were burned during the War of 1812. After the war Fort Edward was established and commanded by Jefferson Davis. A trading post is a place where trading of goods takes place. ... Apart from its literal meaning of “persons born in the Americas,” the term Native Americans may designate any of the following: Indigenous peoples of the Americas, natives of the American continents. ... Fort Madison, situated on the Mississippi River, is a city and the county seat of Lee County, Iowa. ... Combatants United States Native Americans Great Britain, Canadian provincial forces First Nations Peoples Commanders James Madison Henry Dearborn George Prevost Isaac Brock† Tecumseh† Strength •U.S. Regular Army: 35,800 •Rangers: 3,049 •Militia: 458,463* •US Navy & US Marines: (at start of war): •Frigates:6 •Other vessels: 14 •Indigenous... Jefferson Davis (June 3, 1808 - December 6, 1889) was an American statesman who was President of the Confederate States of America, as well as a Congress man for Kentucky, for its entire history from 1861 to 1865 during the American Civil War. ...

In 1816 U.S. Government surveyor John C. Sullivan surveyed a line stretching 100 miles north from the confluence of the Kansas River with the Missouri River in Kansas City, Missouri and then back east to the Des Moines River. The distance matched the rapids but when Missouri entered the Union in 1820 its constitution instead referred the Sullivan line as "the parallel of latitude which passes through the rapids of the River Des Moines." The Kansas River near De Soto and Lenape, Kansas The Kansas (or Kaw) River is a river in eastern Kansas in the United States. ... The Missouri River is a tributary of the Mississippi River in the United States. ... Nickname: City of Fountains or Heart of America Location in Jackson, Clay, Platte, and Cass Counties in the state of Missouri. ... Des Moines River - Wikipedia /**/ @import /skins-1. ...

Missouri did not attempt to clarify the mistake even with the Iowa (tribe), Sauk and Fox (tribe) ceded all land "in Missouri" along the line from the Mississippi to the Indian Territory Line (Sullivan's line going north from the Kansas) in 1824. This created Halfbreed Tract. The Iowa (also spelled Ioway) are a Native American people. ... The Fox tribe of Native Americans are an Algonquian language-speaking group that are now merged with the allied Sac tribe as the Sac and Fox Nation. ...

When interest in the rapids increased in the late 1830s as work began on making the rapids navigable along with Iowa's beginning the process of entering as a state. Missouri took an interest in asserting control of the west side of the rapids. However thwarted by its consitution which clearly stated the Des Moines River was the border, it instead asserted that there were no rapids where the Sullivan line crossed the Des Moines and conducted a new survey which said the rapids of the Des Moines were about 9.5 miles north near Keosauqua, Iowa and attempted to collect taxes in the area. This prompted the bloodless Honey War with Iowa resisting the effort. Keosauqua, pronounced: Key-Oh-Saw-Kwa is a city located in Van Buren County, Iowa. ... The Honey Lands were a strip of territory disputed between the U.S. state of Missouri and the Iowa Territory. ...

The Supreme Court was to ultimately decide that Iowa's southern boundary was the foot of the rapids at modern day Keokuk (although accepting the Sullivan Line for the rest of the border from about 20 miles west).

References

• Exploration and Settlement - Beautifulnavoo.com
• Proceedings of the River Improvement Convention, Held in St. Louis February 12 & 13, 1867 - Union Merchants Exchange of St. Louis - 1867

External links

• Maps and aerial photos Coordinates: 40.469543° -91.3707°
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  • Topographic map from TopoZone
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