The MississippiRiver, derived from the Algonquin missi sipi meaning 'great river' literally 'Father of waters', is the second-longest river in the United States; the longest is the Missouri River, which flows into the Mississippi.
The river is divided into the upper Mississippi, from its source south to the Ohio River, and the lower Mississippi, from the Ohio to its mouth near New Orleans.
Louis; and the middle Mississippi, a relatively free-flowing river downstream of the confluence with the Missouri River at St. Louis.