Essay on HISTORICAL HIGHLIGHTS

This is the first 1,000 characters of 3983 words (15.93 pages) in the essay titled HISTORICAL HIGHLIGHTS

HISTORICAL HIGHLIGHTS

A connecting link between the two rivers was considered by the French explorer to be needed if the French were successful in settling this region of the south.
In 1810, the citizens of Knox County, Tennessee (current location of Knoxville) petitioned the U.S. Congress to build the waterway that would shorten the distance by more than 800 miles for trade with New Orleans, Mobile and other ports along the Gulf of Mexico. Shortly after Alabama joined the union in 1819, the state hired an engineer to survey its rivers, including a possible connection with the Tennessee River.
From the early 1800's to about 1910, paddle driven steamboats plied the free flowing Tombigbee River carrying passengers and goods as far north as Amory, Mississippi and returning with tottering stacks of cotton bales, logs and other commodities. These vessels could operate only during those times of the year when river stages were high. Many sank or were destroyed by boiler explosions and fires but the arrival of the iron horse brought the end to this era.
The first engineering investigation of the waterway was during the Grant Administration in 1874-75. The study concluded that the U.S. Corps of Engineers could build such a project that included a total of 43 locks and a channel four feet deep; but, its commercial limitations made it impractical. Another investigation of the project was conducted in 1913. This study proposed a waterway with a six -foot channel and a total of 65

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