THE GREAT RIVER THEN AND NOW 93 



have been no practical navigation of the Upper Missis- 

 sippi except in time of high water. The large amount 

 of sand and mud carried in by its northern tributaries 

 w^ould have formed in large, flat bars w^ith very shallow 

 water flowing over them. The river bed has filled up 

 tremendously in my time. Many big sand-bars have 

 formed and are now covered with timber, and more are 

 forming. A channel has been maintained, largely, by 

 contracting its width. They have nearly reached the 

 limit in this direction. From now on, much money and 

 energy will have to be expended in pumping new 

 deposits out of the channel. Left alone, in three years 

 this river will not be navigable at an ordinary stage of 

 water, let alone during low water. 



Why don't the United States engineers stop most of 

 this inflow by protecting the soft, sandy banks of the 

 Lower Chippewa and Wisconsin rivers from coming in 

 and washing out into the sluggish Mississippi? A small 

 amount spent in that way would help the situation 

 greatly. 



If a man had a cellar that had to be pumped out 

 every time the water came down the gutters of his 

 street, don't you think he would find the hole that was 

 letting the water into his cellar, and plug the hole? I 

 have never heard of a United States engineer suggesting 

 any such remedy, nor will they consider it when some- 

 one else suggests it. They call for more money and more 

 pumps. They don't want to save money. They all know 

 how to spend it, and seem to enjoy so doing. 



