Roosevelt High School - Bwana Yearbook (St Louis, MO)

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ARY, 1905 RU ARY AND FEB NU ST. LOUIS, JA AT GORGE. ICE

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BWENH the Chicago portage. Fate seemed to be against the adventurer, however: his ship was lost, his base was taken by Indians, and he had to spend many days looking for his men. It was not until l682 that l..aSalle's canoe floated from the Illinois River onto the broad bosom of Ole Man River, but here again he met with disaster. Ice Hoes- stopped his progressg he had to search the wild region for a lost comrade, and the Indians along the river's shore were usually hostile. Early in April he reached the Gulf of Mexico, and with great ceremony claimed the great region which he had explored in the name of the King of France. Every student of American history is familiar with the next phase of LaSalle career: how he secured the help of France and intended to establish a great French empire in this country. Again fate was cruel, for his expedition, while sailing in the Gulf of Mexico, missed the mouth of the Mississippi River and was wrecked upon the shore of Texas. While trying to make his way back to Canada overland, this brave Frenchman was murdered by one of his own men, and with him died the French hope of a vast empire in America. There were, of course, in addition to those explorers already mentioned, many other men who endured great hardships and even died in the attempt to penetrate the unknown wilds of the Mississippi region, but these are the earliest known explorers. OLIVER OLDENDORPH MISSISSIPPI Mississippi Inclomirable river, Shall you forever Sing? Interminable from your Source, you roll Seaward. Immortal, Perpetually Peerless, and Invincible. -William Kerchanske Term 7 . Twelve

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BWEJNH THE NAME MISSISSIPPI ANY times we have uttered the name of Mississippi as the name of that great river that Winds its way past our front door, but never have we realized what this name means. The Algonquin lndians, a tribe that inhabited this part of the continent before the conquest, called it MQCH-9-Se-be', which means Great Waters, or Father of Waters. This name is very fitting, for the river is the main stem of the greatest drainage system in North America. During his explorations, Cortez discovered a fork-like stream entering the Gulf of Mexico. He lost no time in making a chart of the river in I520 to send to his ruler, Charles V of Spain. He called this river Rio del Spirlliu SanCl'O fRiver of the Holy Ghostl. As far as We know the maker of the maps indicated the river on hearsay-for there were stories afloat of mighty streams and monsters, cities of gold and precious jewels, man-eating trees, and men like gods. Long before De Soto invaded the shores of this great river, Cabeza de Vaca, a Spanish explorer, came across the stream while sailing along the Gulf of Mexico at about ninety degrees longitude off the coast of Louisiana. The intrepid De Soto on his perilous march up the continent from Florida with his splendid army discovered the Mississippi in l54l. He called it Rio Grande. He died soon after his discovery, his body was consigned to the swift current of the river he had discovered. Garcillasso lived to write an account of De Soto. He called the stream Chucagua although it was later found that this was the early name given to the Ohio River. Ortelios made a chart of the interior course of the riverg it was the first of its kind. Explorers of later years that came upon the river called it by various names such as Chucagua, Canaveral, and Rio de las Flores. Penalosa, the Spanish governor of New Mexico, made a map in which he indicated the stream as Ml'Chz'pi, This was the pronunciation he obtained on a visit among the Quivera lndians who were not of Algonquin stock. ln rambling through volumes of the Jesuit Relations which were edited by Thwaits, you will find that Allouez, the Jesuit missionary, is credited with using the word Ml'SS'l'SSl'ppl' for the first time by priest or pioneer. The Spanish explorers gave the river names such as Palisado because of the logs seen floating clown stream from time to time. Escondido is another designation because they found the course of the river was so dilfcult to follow. The French called it after their patron saint, St. Louis, -after their renowned Baude and after their great statesman Colbert. ltasco is the Latin for true head, which is the name of the lake from which the stream starts its journey through the fertile valley of the Mississippi. The name Mississippi was given to the river by the lndians and it is this name which holds true to the present day. lt comes easily to the lips and in its very sound seems to give us a picture of the mighty river, rushing ever onward towards the Mexican Gulff' ROBERT MARTINEZ Fourteen