http://www.watershedcairns.com/confluence daily 0.75 2024-09-19 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1512778563396-ZZ0WGMFPTPJIKL4B24FX/MMC.jpg Mississippi Missouri Confluence - MISSISSIPPI AND MISSOURI RIVER CONFLUENCE We started making work in our home of St. Louis, home of the meeting of America's two greatest rivers. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1512778563396-ZZ0WGMFPTPJIKL4B24FX/MMC.jpg Mississippi Missouri Confluence - MISSISSIPPI AND MISSOURI RIVER CONFLUENCE We started making work in our home of St. Louis, home of the meeting of America's two greatest rivers. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720129433742-R0O7D0RBI565JDCQDBEZ/Swamp.jpg Mississippi Missouri Confluence - SWAMP Chouteau Island, Madison County, Illinois - January 2016 38° 45' 38.8578"N 90° 8' 50.769"W Elevation 420 Feet Chouteau Island is the northern part of the land between the Chain of Rocks Canal and the wild stretch of the Mississippi River that separates Missouri from Illinois. You can see this agricultural and conservation area by looking down at the eastern end of the highway 270 bridge. More info https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720129233533-79FEKI0ZVAWWJVTTYCDH/PinkSnow.jpg Mississippi Missouri Confluence - PINK St. Louis Community College Florissant Valley, Ferguson, Missouri—January 2016 38°45'56.52"N 90°17'28.96"W The Pink cairn rests in the snow at the edge of the creek in the western part of the St. Louis Community College, Florissant Valley campus.   https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720129397774-J9CK3GQN8230GCEA6810/RainGarden.jpg Mississippi Missouri Confluence - FLOWer RAIN GARDEN 14th Street Between Monroe and Clinton Streets, St. Louis, Missouri—September 2015 38°38'48.61"N 90°11'42.76"W The FLOWer cairn poses on the rocky bed of the Old North Rain Garden that was installed in Summer 2013. The purpose of a rain garden is to slow down stormwater before it gets to Metropolitan Sewer District’s underground pipes. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720129640114-Y02HI85MCKY6XXCG6CU4/WashingtonPark1.jpg Mississippi Missouri Confluence - PARK BRIDGE 1 North 40th Street and Morris Avenue, East St. Louis, Illinois—6 a.m., July 4, 2015 38°38'20.07"N 90° 6'31.29"W This Metro East neighborhood of small to midsized homes is located near the Jackie Joiner-Kersey Youth Center, Jones Park, and the JJK Center MetroLink station. This photograph looks east in the very early morning as fog rises from a stream, flowing in the center of a long, freshly mowed park. A forest of trees separates this area from the railroad tracks to the north. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720129568684-OWYL7Y84W33E7UZTED55/WashingtonPark2.jpg Mississippi Missouri Confluence - PARK BRIDGE 2 North 36th Street and Morris Avenue, East St. Louis, Illinois—7 a.m., July 4, 2015 38°38'18.08"N 90° 6'43.74"W Elevation 409 Feet The Park Bridge Cairn is assembled from an odd collection of glass objects balanced on one of several bridges crossing the storm drainage channel that was once the meandering Schoenberger Creek. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720129037011-CPAKBDIZMPOKFGW1ZCKR/TethysFloodEvidence1.jpg Mississippi Missouri Confluence - TETHYS – FLOOD EVIDENCE Earl Widman County Park , 7730 Telegraph Rd. , St. Louis County, Missouri—March 2015 38° 25' 27.408"N 90° 20' 40.581" The Tethys cairn that has been photographed following the water from the Courtois and Huzzah and into the Meramec is shown here 55 feet east of the bank of the Meramec at the southern edge of St. Louis County. This area was used as Widman County Park until repeated flooding (most recently in 2008, 2009 and 2010) made its maintenance too frequent and expensive. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720128879412-X8OI0749RJYHYQBHBLM0/TethysFloodEvidence2.jpg Mississippi Missouri Confluence - TETHYS – FLOOD EVIDENCE 2 Earl Widman County Park , 7730 Telegraph Rd. , St. Louis County, Missouri—March 2015 38° 25' 27.408"N 90° 20' 40.581" The Tethys cairn is photographed in the water at Earl Widman Park. This area was a farm field, then became a rock quarry. Beginning in 1993, floodwater filled the quarry, creating this pond. Trash like the yellow lawn hose seen around the base of Tethys was washed into the water in the subsequent, frequent floods. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720128726552-XGFUYEHOIGYB6Q7DYV4L/Horseshoe.jpg Mississippi Missouri Confluence - HORSESHOE LAKE Layton Road, Madison County, Illinois—April 2015 38° 40' 55.9992"N 90° 6' 33.9978 Horseshoe Lake is the second largest natural lake in the State of Illinois. Formed centuries ago after a flood when the Mississippi River found a new channel across the bottomland and left this oxbow-shape lake to fend for itself. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720129165886-T67Y17PWMND8AJIQK9ZB/Route3Bubble.jpg Mississippi Missouri Confluence - BUBBLE 1 Highway #3 Construction, Packer Avenue near St. Clair Avenue, National City, Illinois—May 2015 38° 38' 37.968"N 90° 9' 47.988"W Looking west to the Gateway National Expansion Memorial, the Arch, This Bubble cairn rests in a ditch next to Highway #3 construction. The highway is being revamped and re-ramped to connect with the recently completed Stan Musial Veteran’s Memorial Bridge. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720128469085-3PKJBABZQMUVEJICGW7Q/FAIRGROUNDS.jpg Mississippi Missouri Confluence - FAIR GROUND Fairground Park, St. Louis City, Missouri—October 2014 38° 40' 6.099"N 90° 13' 28.959"W The Fair Ground cairn is placed between a trash and recycling bin behind a one-story pink building on the northwest corner of Fairground Park. The park’s rich, but largely forgotten, history illustrates how social, economic, and political conditions influence the watershed. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1506274395804-RDO90V6M6E04RHUOJDSQ/StillBlue2.jpg Mississippi Missouri Confluence - STILL BLUE – STREAM Devil’s Prop Nature Preserve, between Texico and Harmony, Illinois—January 2015 38°25'13.38"N 88°50'25.26"W In his 1963 report Some Unusual Natural Areas in Illinois and a Few of Their Plants, Robert A. Evers addressed Devil’s Prop. He wrote, “At one place the small stream flows through a narrow, V-shaped ravine. In some places, the sandstone of the steep sides is exposed and in other places covered with a thin layer of soil." https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720128632335-S4CTCYFC98G988D2SCLL/StillBlue1.jpg Mississippi Missouri Confluence - STILL BLUE – ICE CAVE Devil’s Prop Nature Preserve, between Texico and Harmony, Illinois—January 2015 38°25'13.38"N 88°50'25.26"W Still Blue’s title was suggested by the tranquility of this rocky, wooded, and moss-covered natural area. The stillness was broken only by the sound of melting water as it gurgled into the ground beneath the frozen waterfalls. Occasionally, one of those massive icicles broke free from the rocky cliff and crashed, rumbling the ground under our feet. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720130965459-5GR3833AKB9XEKXZ56XY/DevildProp.jpg Mississippi Missouri Confluence - STILL BLUE – PROP Devil’s Prop Nature Preserve, between Texico and Harmony, Illinois—January 2015 38°25'13.38"N 88°50'25.26"W The Still Blue cairn rests under the arm of the rock formation that gives Devil’s Prop Nature Preserve its name. The rock is unusual, but the entire ecosystem of bluff, stream, trees, and plants is a rare chance to see what the region was like before so much land was cleared for agriculture. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720130225194-0UW78WYYU689LBUTD8DF/Midas.jpg Mississippi Missouri Confluence - MIDAS Wild Rose Farm, North Copple Lane, Dix, Illinois—October 2014 Private Property In ancient mythology, Midas is given the power to turn everything he touches into gold, which makes him a very rich man. However, when he kisses his beloved daughter, she too turns into the cold, hard, valuable metal. This cairn uses the Midas story as a cautionary tale. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720128553614-0DMIPCF549WS248ZWM4X/Stalagmite.jpg Mississippi Missouri Confluence - STALAGMITE Veterans Memorial Park, Forest Ave., Mt. Vernon, Illinois— December 2014 38° 18' 17.0598"N 88° 55' 24.7506"W A stalagmite is a natural stone tower built of minerals deposited by slowly dripping water on the floor of a cave. Here, more than 20 “stalagmite” cairns stand in a spillway, that looks like a shallow, manmade cave. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720129762054-A8I3FC86N9Q27XWF08JH/Tributary2.jpg Mississippi Missouri Confluence - TRIBUTARY QUARRY Cliff Cave Road, St. Louis County, Missouri—March 2014 38° 28' 4.0578" 90° 17' 12.9588" Elevation 655 Feet The Tributary cairn overlooks the Bussen Quarry where limestone is mined. You can see the Jefferson Barracks Bridge and the Mississippi River in the distance, behind the 600-acre quarry site. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720127939176-J2AC2NO0HG13VC0L36W0/Tethys2.jpg Mississippi Missouri Confluence - TETHYS MERAMEC STUMP Meramec River, Leasburg, Missouri—August 2014 38° 3' 21.9204" 91° 13' 48.7488" Tethys cairn, marking the Meramec River watershed in southwestern metropolitan St. Louis, rests on a stump where a small stream enters the river. A group of people-shy ducks were swimming nearby but refused to paddle into the photograph even when we tossed granola into the water. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720127998692-38YIJZKLK6IM83B7PI6G/TethysPanorama.jpg Mississippi Missouri Confluence - TETHYS COURTOIS Courtois Creek, Leasburg, Missouri—August 2014 38° 1' 46.6104" 91° 13' 15.7506" The Tethys cairn, marking the Meramec River watershed in southwestern metropolitan St. Louis, is balanced on a “raft” of sticks caught by an island that is not much bigger than the beverage coolers in the passing canoes. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720128044622-QFKL4HNNUTKIJLZLUSDP/TethysBridge.jpg Mississippi Missouri Confluence - TETHYS ROUTE 66 BRIDGE Meramec River at Route 66 State Park, 97 Outer Road East, No.1, Eureka, Missouri—August 2014 38° 30' 18.2694N 90° 35' 29.5002"W Tethys cairn, marking the Meramec River watershed in southwestern metropolitan St. Louis, sits on a concrete foundation, all that remains of an early bridge, and in front of a more recently decommissioned Route 66 highway bridge.   https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720130526083-R070V9ZA1A7I92HOXFQ7/FLOWerSewer.jpg Mississippi Missouri Confluence - FLOWer SEWER Sanitary and storm sewer south of Forest Park, St. Louis, Missouri—April 2014 38° 37' 20.9784"N 90° 16' 17.5074"W, Elevation 457 feet The blue-and-green-glass FLOWer Cairn sits in 6–12 inches of mostly rainwater on the curved floor of a 30-foot-diameter concrete tunnel. At intervals, grates in the bottom of the tunnel drain some of this ground water into the wastewater flowing in the sanitary sewers, below. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720130473175-RHS5K3IQPT8YBL20PAEO/RVRWTR.jpg Mississippi Missouri Confluence - RIVR WATR YMCA, 600 Loughborough Avenue, St. Louis, Missouri—June 2014 38° 33' 18.921"N 90° 15' 26.7012"W Resting in an empty swimming pool at the historic Carondelet YMCA, a red- and clear-glass cairn supports a repurposed EXIT lamp on the top. The word EXIT has been replaced with the letters RIVR to remind us that the water we use in our homes, businesses, and swimming pools comes from the river and will return to the river. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720128092415-EVTJFX5U6Z1DJDNFELMW/TheIceStoppedHere.jpg Mississippi Missouri Confluence - THE ICE STOPPED HERE Mill Creek Natural Area (near Piney Creek), Randolph County, Illinois—November 2013 37° 53' 42.6726"N 89° 39' 11.7066"W, Elevation 432 feet This cairn marks a special place at the edge of an ancient glacier’s reach in Randolph County. Here, the sandstone canyons and gorges create a cool microclimate where club moss, cinnamon fern, and bishop’s cap have survived for eons. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1506274218783-39D5H7MKT3AMOJ2CYPPU/GrandTower.jpg Mississippi Missouri Confluence - WATER TOWER Reservoir Park, South Grand Blvd., St. Louis, Missouri—January 2014 38° 36' 53.7438"N 90° 14' 19.1868"W This birdbath-shaped cairn nests in the snow on the steps to the Compton Hill reservoir, adjacent to the 179-foot-tall Compton Hill Water Tower. A vintage ornament swirls through the Water Tower cairn to suggest water moving from the reservoir to the tower. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1506272290684-G9T6D4M4A9HS05JQMWF1/Amphora.jpg Mississippi Missouri Confluence https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720125726280-K3W61W5TC2J4O9LFETTJ/CheckingStarboard.jpg Mississippi Missouri Confluence - CHECKING STARBOARD Florida and C streets, St. Louis, Missouri—October 2013 38° 38’ 23.49"N 90° 10' 56.32"W Seven individual cairn sculptures are placed in the shape of the Big Dipper star constellation-pointing north. Most of the time, Illinois is east of Missouri, but because of a bend in the Mississippi River which divides the two states, Illinois is north at this point. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720125751542-JUXSS5J9KQXQRWDVZZ5X/CheckingthePort.jpg Mississippi Missouri Confluence - CHECKING THE PORT Granite City and Madison, Illinois—March 2013 38° 41' 4.9344"N 90° 11' 3.7386"W, Elevation 415 feet Sixteen cairns, their shapes inspired by chess pieces, were placed on the site of the America’s Central Port’s new harbor, being constructed where the southern end of the Chain of Rocks Canal meets the Mississippi River. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720125788503-F2DVHDV98WBNFV674Q4X/ChinaCreek.jpg Mississippi Missouri Confluence - CHINA CREEK Lewis and Clark Community College, Godfrey, Illinois—October 2013 38° 57' 7.4334"N 90° 11' 57.7104"W, Elevation 567 feet China Creek Cairn is named for the broken pieces of dinnerware found in the creek bed on the Lewis and Clark Community College campus. The broken ceramics incorporated into the cairn and seen in the water have their origin in the college’s history, which began as the nation’s second college for women in 1838. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720125813565-J85A2SHLV0JWB1OPGKRJ/ChinaCreek2.jpg Mississippi Missouri Confluence - CHINA CREEK 2 Lewis and Clark Community College, Grafton, Illinois—October 2013 38° 57' 7.4334"N 90° 11' 57.7104"W China Creek is named for the broken pieces of dinnerware found in the creek bed on the Lewis and Clark Community College campus. The college began as a college for women in 1838. you can still see china with the Monticello logo in the water. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720125865584-OZIJKHD6GZO5HV2PCZML/Cracked.jpg Mississippi Missouri Confluence - CRACKED Sports Complex, Forestwood Park, Ferguson, Missouri-August 2012 38° 44' 17.8434"N 90° 17' 3.372"W, Elevation 461 feet Rain in Forestwood Park falls on paved parking lots and dense turf that don’t allow water to seep into the ground. Instead, this stormwater washes litter, trash, automotive oil and antifreeze into an open, concrete-lined ditch along the edge of the park. The ditch drains into Maline Creek, which flows for miles through urban neighborhoods, picking up more trash before it enters the Mississippi River, south of the highway 270 bridge. . https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720130858589-A11HMO1IZGRRV1KXFE2Z/DrinkUp.jpg Mississippi Missouri Confluence - DRINK UP Missouri American Water, 901 Hog Hollow Road, Chesterfield, Missouri- October 2012 38° 41' 7.926"N 90° 31' 22.872" This cairn is poised on the Missouri American water intake, looking up the Missouri River toward the smokestack of the City of St. Louis Howard Bend Water Plant, reminding us that our drinking water comes from the rivers. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720126080209-JQEVYJCLBP21IZ4I09IR/ElsaFlood.jpg Mississippi Missouri Confluence - ELSAH FLOOD June 2013 Mississippi Road near the Great River Road, Elsah, Illinois—June 2013 38° 57' 7.239"N 90° 21' 45.8886"W Elevation 430 Feet When heavy rainfall in the Missouri, Illinois, and Mississippi watersheds combine, the Mississippi River backs up, pouring water into Elsah. This the second flood of the year. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720126254287-VLQV939JSHK02F2245LS/FairmontSwamp2.jpg Mississippi Missouri Confluence - GREEN GODDESS
 Fairmont City, Illinois—April 2013 38° 38' 54.0846"N 90° 6' 32.7054"W Most people don’t like algae—it’s slimy—but algae is a Green Goddess providing food for animals and nutrients for plants like these five-foot-tall grasses. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720130678721-PX4QD55Z3MJXYDAZVDDQ/FLOWerAlley.jpg Mississippi Missouri Confluence - FLOWer- ALLEY Multiple locations in Metro St. Louis—2012-2013 38° 36' 14.814"N 90° 13' 3.1326"W Older cities like St. Louis have sewer systems with both sanitary and storm drainage routed through the same pipes including 100-year-old brick tunnel under this alley. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720126338365-EQQN9MT3COVNRY0RN163/ForestForTheTrees.jpg Mississippi Missouri Confluence - TREE FOR THE FOREST (PARK) Forest Park, St. Louis, Missouri—November 2013 38° 38' 25.6596"N 90° 16' 17.8926”W This cairn is made of glass cylinders, nestled inside one another, to mimic the growth rings of a tree. An actual tree gains one ring in each year of its life. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720126400368-0T0H23AOSLXJ4L5T3JBO/Gaia.jpg Mississippi Missouri Confluence - GAIA Mill Creek, Cobden, Illinois—March 2012 37° 34' 52.4994"N 89° 16' 15.636"W, Elevation 545 This cairn is named for the ancient Greek goddess. Gaia was the personification of the Earth and the mother of all the gods. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720126445521-77TU6HPW47SK4HTCP0NX/GreenKnees.jpg Mississippi Missouri Confluence - GREENKNEES Frank Holten State Park, East St. Louis, Illinois—January 2014 38° 35' 49.9122"N 90° 6' 0.0504"W Seven green-glass cairns rest on the ices between the knees of a solitary baldcypress tree at the edge of Whispering Willow Lake. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720126481432-A8XYSNLZJBFCSJXCG89M/HighLow.jpg Mississippi Missouri Confluence - HIGH WATER/low water South Warf Street, St. Louis, Missouri—February 2013 38° 36' 35.7402"N 90° 11' 23.8452"W Elevation 412 Feet These two cairns were photographed in an industrial area just south of the Gateway Arch north/upriver of the St. Louis Metropolitan Sewer District Miller Street Pumping Station when the river was low. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720037837842-KDJVZAR7I5V7U6XYX10C/karst.jpg Mississippi Missouri Confluence - KARST Sioux Passage Park, Missouri—August 2011 38° 51’ 3.1"N 90° 16' 38"W, Elevation 501 feet Much of the St. Louis Region is built on karst, a limestone foundation that dissolves to create sinkholes, like this one near the Missouri River in North St. Louis County. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720126683868-0KTYZ556RDY17VVLIQ1W/image-asset.jpeg Mississippi Missouri Confluence - KITCHEN SINK Madison Road near Mueller Lane, Madison County, Illinois—April 2013 38° 38' 31.6602" 90° 7' 31.1916"W Two mushroom-shaped Kitchen Sink cairns rest alongside this stream in the Horseshoe Lake watershed. Wedged between an auto salvage yard and a giant landfill, this stream is struggling to survive. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720126790718-IZOABXIIGIU0HH102VW2/Libation.jpg Mississippi Missouri Confluence - LIBATION Ulysses S. Grant National Historic Site, Crestwood, Missouri—October 2013 38° 33' 7.9344"N 90° 21' 7.491"W , Elevation 506 In African, and in the traditions of many cultures, libation (“LIE-bay-shun”) is the term for water or other clear liquid that is poured on the ground in memory of the deceased. In this image, the water of Prairie Creek, is pouring over the Libation Cairn in memory of the enslaved people who worked on President Grant's father-in-law’s farm. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720126826057-PAT2IJV25F4QZL3H9DQM/LibationWhiteCliff.jpg Mississippi Missouri Confluence - LIBATION 2 White Cliffs Park, Crestwood, Missouri—October 2013 38°33'22.98"N 90°22'8.03"W The Libation cairn stands at the edge of a historic quarry that provided the stone for many foundations and public buildings in the area from the late 1800s until the quarry began to fill with groundwater in the early 1900s. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720126867099-W6SVQANF425V0D1XOWFJ/OilCan.jpg Mississippi Missouri Confluence - OIL CAN Lewis and Clark Departure Memorial, Hartford, Illinois—May 2011 38° 48' 18.684"N 90° 6' 41.976"W, Elevation 418 feet When Lewis and Clark launched their Journey of Discovery near this spot in May 1804, rivers were their roads, and oil came from plants and animals. Ironically, oil from distant wells is now transported in a pipeline on the creek bed at this site. . https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720126896032-FYYFK51H763XSIRCGJXE/Precipitation.jpg Mississippi Missouri Confluence - PRECIPITATION Chain of Rocks Park, St. Louis, Missouri—March 2012 38°45'34.18"N 90°11'10.23"W, Elevation 480 feet Fifteen blue- and clear-glass cairn sculptures stand on concrete steps in this north St. Louis city park, where water from the melted snow will flow to the Mississippi River. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720126941201-VGFC1ETCUBKO9AF9JIE1/Riparian.jpg Mississippi Missouri Confluence - RIPARIAN St. Stanislaus Conservation Area, Hazelwood, Missouri—January 2013 38° 48' 50.5218"N 90° 23' 40.9446"W A riparian buffer is an area of trees and grasses that shades the water and slows down runoff from adjacent land. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720126973688-UQ490TKPTM39Q1550N5Z/Riverlands.jpg Mississippi Missouri Confluence - LIGHTHOUSE - RIVERLANDS Audubon Center at Riverlands, West Alton, Missouri—March 2014 38° 52' 10.992" 90° 16' 56.8272" The Lighthouse cairn is composed of green and clear glass. The clear vase on the top is in the shape of a man’s head. In his three-cornered hat is one of the many feathers found on the melting ice of Ellis Bay on the Mississippi River. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720127017631-NDHV0JZHKKLX1D0H7SXO/Riverlands1bridge.jpg Mississippi Missouri Confluence - LIGHTHOUSE – CLARK BRIDGE Under the Clark Bridge, West Alton, Missouri—March 2014 38° 52' 47.2296" 90° 11' 3.2562" Posed below the Clark Bridge, looking east to the town of Alton, Illinois, the green- and clear-glass Lighthouse cairn marks the journey of human travelers across the river. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720127057487-BQZ4SFLJBXIXR2UAEC2S/rockrfella.jpg Mississippi Missouri Confluence - CINDERELLA, ROCK-R-FELLA Castlewood County Park, Chesterfield, Missouri—October 2011 38° 19' 43.68"N 90° 19' 20.7474" Cinderella, Rock-r-Fella cairn, assembled from a glass fish bowl, vases, and ashtrays, and containing rocks from the site, sits on a rusty, three-legged metal stool overlooking the Meramec River at Kiefer Creek. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720127123297-WHLTVCZM6IDY1AXZL3GW/Sedge.jpg Mississippi Missouri Confluence - SEDGE Off Highway 3, Granite City, IL—January 2013 38° 43' 31.1874"N 90° 8' 57.6414"W Like the almost invisible Sedge cairn, sedge plants, solid-stem grass-like vegetation are difficult to distinguish from true grasses, including lawn grasses and cultivated grains. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720127169410-YF7V3I26FUVDXO4YOMA9/Sedge2.jpg Mississippi Missouri Confluence - SEDGE ll Off Highway 3,Granite City, IL—February 2013 38° 43' 26.0976"N 90° 8' 59.208"W The Sedge cairn was photographed at dusk between a highway and railroad track to illustrate the ways we can pass very close to natural areas without seeing them. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720127200470-Q48NZDKGBSR0K99RNYT3/SilverCreekSpire.jpg Mississippi Missouri Confluence - SILVER CREEK SPIRE-POND Silver Creek Preserve, Mascoutah, Illinois—September 2013 38° 28' 12.759"N 89° 49' 29.769"W A foggy dawn in the wetlands south of Mascoutah, Illinois reveals the green glass of the Silver Creek Spire cairn. Occasional jets from nearby Scott Air Force Base were only temporary interruptions to the croaking of frogs, the flittering of dragonflies and butterflies, and the sound of a small animal skittering through tall grasses. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720127237593-KH8NT4DU211Z8GNV0JTY/SilverCreekRoadside.jpg Mississippi Missouri Confluence - SILVER CREEK SPIRE-ROADSIDE Silver Creek Preserve, Mascoutah, Illinois—September 2013 38° 27' 55.044"N 89° 49' 2.964"W This stream hides the Silver Creek Spire cairn and nourishes a multiplicity of wild plants, insects, and animals as it flows between Brickyard Lane and a farmer’s field. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720127274430-ANUUDF2PKSYJF4UETVYN/SilverCreekTree.jpg Mississippi Missouri Confluence - SILVER CREEK SPIRE-TREE Silver Creek Preserve, Mascoutah, Illinois—September 2013 38° 27' 45.828"N 89° 49' 38.586"W The Silver Creek Spire was created for this tree in a seasonal streambed at the midpoint on the paved trail around Silver Creek Preserve. It was only after we began showing the image to friends that we learned the story behind this unusual tree shape. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720127428230-60T3XE7IV4CQ10LRQHI3/StemlerCave.jpg Mississippi Missouri Confluence - GROUNDWATER Stemler Cave, Columbia, Illinois—July 2012, Private property near Stemler Trail Some streams drop below the ground’s surface. Other streams begin as springs, deep in caves. Ultimately the water all reaches its river destination.   https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720130101434-MPT13UAVUOVX5PC0H1F5/image-asset.jpeg Mississippi Missouri Confluence - TRANSGENDERED FROGS Howell Island Conservation Area, Chesterfield, Missouri—May 2012 38° 39' 52.1994"N 90° 40' 46.6314"W The title of this piece refers to the genetic mutations occurring in frogs and fish in rivers where high concentrations of hormones and chemicals from prescription drugs have been detected.   https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720129921986-OU84Q11JH14KCFX2573J/Tributary.jpg Mississippi Missouri Confluence - TRIBUTARY Cliff Cave County Park, St. Louis County, Missouri—July 2011 38°27'36.06" N 90°17'13.16" W, Elevation 393 feet A small, unnamed stream flows through eroded banks into the Mississippi River on a sunny day in south St. Louis County. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720129976299-KT76KTKZ4UAHXVT3OYXQ/Whitebird.jpg Mississippi Missouri Confluence - WHITEBIRD Rockford Beach, Big River, Jefferson County, Missouri—September 2013 38° 25' 18.339"N 90° 35' 19.2624"W Although the mines of Missouri’s Old Lead Belt have closed, the water in the Big River is contaminated with lead and zinc from the chat (waste mineral ore). Fish in these waters have higher concentrations of lead in their bodies than in nonmining areas, and some wildlife, especially fish-eating birds like herons and egrets, may be adversely affected. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720127634319-4WT7JNJU5XK3OFDMPBF8/balance.jpg Mississippi Missouri Confluence - BALANCE Greenmount & Frank Scott, Shiloh, Illinois—Oct. 2011 38° 34' 9.372"N 89° 55' 46.4154"W This 5-foot-tall cairn is dwarfed by construction materials that will be used to bury a creek and to channel storm water from two large shopping malls into the remains of a natural stream. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720127687859-NN6HP7HH7905QOWS60Q9/KitchenSink.jpg Mississippi Missouri Confluence - KITCHEN SINK 2 Madison Road near Mueller Lane, Madison County, Illinois-April 2013 38° 38' 31.6602" 90° 7' 31.1916"W Mushroom-shaped Kitchen Sink cairns rest alongside this stream in the Horseshoe Lake watershed. Wedged between an auto salvage yard and a giant landfill, this stream is struggling to survive.   https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720130773836-7LXKBFTLKT5RKZV6D9JY/DesPeres.jpg Mississippi Missouri Confluence - TECHNOLOGY WILL/WON’T SAVE US River des Peres Greenway, St. Louis, Missouri—October 2011 38° 32' 39.588"N 90° 16' 13.728"W An outdated cathode-ray tube on the top of this found-glass-and-metal sculpture stands in the River des Peres concrete channel, built to conduct water flowing from storm sewers into the Mississippi River. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720299005076-7Z2G9R7TSV2KQA9A9TJK/image-asset.jpeg Mississippi Missouri Confluence - Fluid Maryville University, Town and Country Missouri, August 2012 38°38'58.57"N 90°30'15.05"W Artist Robert Goetz’ hand-blown, water-drop-shaped glass was the inspiration for this cairn. The glass contains a wild flower found at the site. The fissure in the limestone behind the Cairn shows how water flowing, freezing, and thawing can split the rocks. The resulting rocky rubble creates a rough soil where wind–blown seeds can take root and grow. The plant’s roots further break down the bluffs. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1726779740403-3CFJ0W0C3DUR10N83HUJ/image-asset.jpeg Mississippi Missouri Confluence - Tethys Courtois Courtois River near Leasburg, Missouri N38.029614 W091.221042 September 2014 The cairn is balanced on a “raft” of sticks, caught by an island that is not much bigger than the beverage coolers in the passing canoes. Created for the Open Space Council of St. Louis’ “Lower Meramec Hands-On Stewardship & Watershed Education” program, supported by a Five Star and Urban Waters Restoration Program grant from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. http://www.watershedcairns.com/mississippi-river-extension-north daily 0.75 2024-07-19 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1513445626138-168OFW3ZU111B48TS5G8/MREC.jpg Mississippi River Extension North https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1513445626138-168OFW3ZU111B48TS5G8/MREC.jpg Mississippi River Extension North https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720712244430-TMCOG67XP8EBT49PGDM9/Alma.jpg Mississippi River Extension North - SUNSET CONSTELLATION Alma Marina, City of Alma, Wisconsin—June 8, 2016 44° 20’ 27.46”N 91° 55’ 56.14”W Elevation 667 feet The cairn glows on the riverbank as the sun sets on the Upper Mississippi River Natural Wildlife and Fish Refuge. More info https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720712340544-39DCIKAGHAAVQR8U9HAW/BirchBones.jpg Mississippi River Extension North - BIRCH BONES 1 Stump Lake, Minnesota—June 14, 2016 47° 29’ 20”N 94° 45’ 21”W Elevation 1,350 feet A version of the White Pointer cairn stands next to birch trees, common in northern Minnesota. More info https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720723275633-54VSWV89FPLH8NKNII0R/Bog.jpg Mississippi River Extension North - WATAB BOG Little Rock Lake, Watab, Minnesota—June 11, 2016 45° 42’ 19”N 94° 10’ 35.12”W Elevation 1,040 feet The ground is soft under this cairn, poised in a bog off Hemlock Road NW. More info https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1513316414072-FFOCJ5A187G5SYSSS3UJ/MREC.jpg Mississippi River Extension North https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720723454567-A6HM8JDEIAD5GKR02LA3/CoffeePotLanding.jpg Mississippi River Extension North - COFFEE POT LANDING La Salle Lake Scientific and Natural Area, Minnesota—June 13, 2016 47° 12' 33.336"N 95° 6' 35.8194”W The name Coffee Pot Landing comes from the brown hue of the water, caused by the nearby bogs and iron in the surrounding soil. More info https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720723602032-ZIO6ZD0N6PC7JVO8CVPY/CoonRapidsDam.jpg Mississippi River Extension North - WATER POWER 2 Brooklyn Park, Minnesota—June 15, 2016 45° 08’ 32”N 93° 18’ 43”W Elevation 830 feet The cairn is dwarfed by the electric transmission towers across the Mississippi River. They carry electricity generated by the Coon Rapids Dam, located a few hundred feet upstream of this site. More info https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720723735241-LPVT9E150E7ZRFIIGHCN/CoonRapidsRoots.jpg Mississippi River Extension North - WATER POWER 1 Brooklyn Park, Minnesota—June 15, 2016 45° 08’ 32”N 93° 18’ 43”W, Elevation 830 feet A hybrid cairn, assembled from parts of the Blue Boy and Pointer cairn, sits on rocks in front of exposed tree roots, below the Coon Rapids Dam More info https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720723855949-T0ZM466FN72IZECPQBXD/CrowWing.jpg Mississippi River Extension North - CROW WING CONFLUENCE Crow Wing State Park, Brainerd, Minnesota—June 11, 2016 46° 9' 39.3834"N 94° 12' 22.068"W, Elevation 1,214 feet The Blue Buoy cairn makes an appearance at the confluence of the Crow Wing and Mississippi rivers, on the group campground’s shoreline in Crow Wing State Park. More info https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1512778380476-7L65NX5UAY6GL7CJGE17/MREC.jpg Mississippi River Extension North Watershed Cairns’ goal is to mark the entire length of the Mississippi River from its origin in Minnesota south to the Gulf of Mexico. Artists Libby Reuter and Joshua Rowan began the first phase of this project creating new from the river’s headwaters in Lake Itasca, Minnesota to St. Louis, Missouri n June 2016. Driving on state highways and gravel roads, they followed the river as it meandered flowing north, then east, and finally south along the border between Minnesota and Wisconsin. On this first trip, they produced 23 new cairn images at 20 distinct locations on, or near, the river.   The artists returned Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, and Iowa in September 2016, and again in October 2017 traveling along the river to create more than 50 images. For each trip, the van was packed with new cairns that were either installed in their original form, or combined with other cairns and new glass purchased at local thrift shops, for new images in downriver sites. Big Blue (also known as Blue Pointer), White Pointer, Blue Buoy, Minneapolis’ Torch, and the Trumpet cairns, were featured in the 2016 images in Minnesota and northern Wisconsin. For the Watershed Cairns' October 2017 journey in Iowa and Illinois, the Summoning Clouds Cairn was assembled from translucent, etched glass. The Land and Water cairn was constructed of blue and green shades of transparent glass. The Milkstones, a series of opaque, white-glass towers, were used individually or assembled in various ways. Elements from these cairns were also combined with parts of cairns that had been photographed earlier in Minnesota and Wisconsin to create a distinctive cairn for the new location. egan creating new work starting at the river’s headwaters in Minnesota, Minnesota to St. Louis, Missouri. Following the river as it meandered from Lake Itasca,flowing north, then east, and finally south along the border between Minnesota and Wisconsin, they produced 23 new cairn images at 20 distinct locations. The artists returned to locations in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, and Iowa in September 2016 and again in October 2017 to create more that 50 images representing the Upper Mississippi River and many of its tributaries. For each trip, the van was packed with new cairns that were sometimes installed in their original form and frequently combined for new images in downriver sites. Big Blue cairn (also known as Blue Pointer), White Pointer, Blue Buoy, Minneapolis' Torch, and the Trumpet cairns, were featured in the 2016 images in Minnesota and northern Wisconsin. For the Watershed Cairns' October 2017 journey in Iowa and Illinois. The Summoning Clouds Cairn was assembled from translucent, etched glass. The Land and Water Cairn was constructed of blue and green shades of transparent glass. The Milkstones are a series of opaque, white-glass towers that were used individually or assembled in various ways. Elements from these cairns were also combined with parts of cairns that had been photographed earlier in Minnesota and Wisconsin to create a distinctive cairn for the new location that acknowledged the flow of water (and cairns) from upriver. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720723920024-C93RC13MEB2WETUDVNMU/FederalDam.jpg Mississippi River Extension North - BOG BALANCE Leech Lake Indian Reservation, Chippewa National Forest, Minnesota—June 15, 2016 47° 15’ 03”N 94° 13’ 17”W Elevation 1,297 feet The “ground” on which the cairn rests in a wetland is a raft of grass, moss, and decaying plants, floating on shallow brackish water. More info https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720724077123-P0VUNIXVBHI7HXHV9JPW/GreatBluffs.jpg Mississippi River Extension North - BLUE BUOY 2 Great River Bluffs State Park, Minnesota—June 9, 2016 43° 56' 30.25"N 91°23’ 9.26W, Elevation 1,205 feet Photographed on a bluff north of La Crescent, Minnesota. The town of Holland, Wisconsin, can be seen across the Mississippi River. More info https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720726096081-URAPIXR3QEC2EJ0YASXG/IMG_5774.jpg Mississippi River Extension North - FOUNTAIN CITY BAY OVERLOOK Merrick State Park, Fountain City, Wisconsin—Sept. 26, 2016, 44° 08’ 59”N 91° 44’ 56”W, Elevation 850 feet This stonewall overlooks Lake Pepin apart of the Upper Mississippi River National Wildlife and Fish Refuge. The Mississippi River is home to many species and is an important bird migration route. More info https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720726422446-DIFT8997ALVCOIU4GKH6/IMG_5783.jpg Mississippi River Extension North - BOAT HOUSES Merrick State Park, Fountain City, Wisconsin—Sept. 26, 2016 44° 08’ 59”N 91° 44’ 56”W, Elevation 654 feet Latsch Island, tucked under the Mississippi River bridge connecting Minnesota and Wisconsin, is home to dozens of small floating homes. More info https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720726483718-2YN7ZA3UGFQ9VF6D7A3O/IMG_5899.jpg Mississippi River Extension North - BOAT LAUNCH Warrentown, Wisconsin—September 27, 2016 44° 33’ 31.56”N 92° 18’ 34”W, Elevation 690 High water on the Rush River near its confluence with the Mississippi River separates the Blue Pointer cairn from the boat dock. The birds on the dock don’t seem to mind being rocked by the waves. More info https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720726635525-AQLQ6DG8BOD7H14V13PO/IMG_5954.jpg Mississippi River Extension North - WATER SPRITE 1 South of Hastings, Minnesota—September 27, 2016 44° 39’ 58”N 92° 44’ 10”W, Elevation 840 feet The cairn points north in the flooded woods close to the Highway 58 bridge over the Vermillion River, near Prairie Island. More info https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720726752300-5RUVZSH60OYLSXH05SM3/IMG_5975.jpg Mississippi River Extension North - WATER SPRITE 2 South of Hastings, Minnesota—September 27, 2016 44° 39’ 58”N 92° 44’ 10”W, Elevation 734 feet The White Pointer cairn appears to float on the reflective surface of the floodwaters in the riparian woodland, near the highway 58 Bridge spanning the Vermillion River. More info https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720726841516-7GYTPD52ZTZ5HYU9OSZL/IMG_6008.jpg Mississippi River Extension North - THE DOG HAS HAD ITS DAY Carmichael Road, Hudson, Wisconsin—September 28, 2016 44° 56’ 48”N 92° 43’ 37”W, Elevation 820 feet At this vacant greyhound racing park, the Trumpet cairn marks a parking lot the size of six football fields where rain can not soak into the ground. More info https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720726926254-8IX6BSZ4NBQ0UEHOJ2MO/IMG_6022.jpg Mississippi River Extension North - BYGONE BRIDGE Walnut St. Causeway, Hudson, Wisconsin—September 28, 2016 44° 58’ 17”N 92° 46’ 02”W, Elevation 720 feet The concrete pillars are the remnants of Hudson’s Highway 12 toll bridge that carried traffic over the St. Croix River between Minnesota and Wisconsin. More info https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720726996987-J73EKO4TVM2ZUTT1C8EM/IMG_6065.jpg Mississippi River Extension North - MINNEHAHA FALLS Minnehaha Regional Park, Minneapolis, Minnesota—September 28, 2016, 44° 54’ 56”N 93° 12’ 36”W, Elevation 760 feet The Big Blue cairn stands in front of Minnehaha Falls. The name of the falls comes from Native American words meaning waterfall. More info https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720727072752-5JMFHGFFBSEP1KMX8WVJ/IMG_6068.jpg Mississippi River Extension North - MINNEHAHA FALLS BRIDGE Minnehaha Regional Park, Minneapolis, Minnesota, September 28, 2016 44° 54’ 54”N 93° 12’ 31”W, Elevation 760 feet Trails lead alongside the river, downstream from Minnehaha Falls to this stone bridge where the Big Blue cairn stands sentinel. More info https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720731759090-ZAADR1968MS1Q3CQBXHD/IMG_6080.jpg Mississippi River Extension North - MENDOTA BRIDGE Fort Snelling State Park, St. Paul, Minnesota—September 28, 2016, 44° 53’ 19”N 93° 11’ 03”W, Elevation 740 feet The Traveling cairn rests in a field of 5-foot-tall yellow flowers. The Highway 55 bridge leading to Mendota Heights is in the background. More info https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720727194878-X3F615OXS3B0X0XVAMB7/IMG_6095.jpg Mississippi River Extension North - HISTORY TREE Fort Snelling State Park, St. Paul, Minnesota—September 28, 2016, 44° 53’ 01”N 93° 10’ 57”W, Elevation 760 feet The Traveling Cairn nests in a 200-year-old, 7-foot diameter hollow tree that may have witnessed some dark aspects of American history. In 1824, the U.S. Army established a military outpost at the confluence of the Mississippi and Minnesota Rivers, near an Ojibwa sacred site and a multiethnic trading post. Military officers and fur traders stationed at Fort Snelling enslaved people of African descent, including Dread Scott who unsuccessfully sued for his freedom in 1857. Native people did not fare well, either. One thousand-six-hundred Dakota who had resisted expulsion from their homeland were held prisoner in harsh conditions through the winter of 1862. Many people died. In the spring, the survivors were taken to a barren part of the Dakota Territory. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1721156398192-NLS3QPOYRSW5GQ8E00NE/IMG_6136.jpg Mississippi River Extension North - ST. ANTHONY’S TORCH St. Anthony Falls, Minneapolis, Minnesota—September 29, 2016 44°58' 36"N 93°15' 20"W, Elevation 1,280 feet The Torch cairn rests beside the Mississippi River the Anthony Falls Historic District in downtown Minneapolis. This natural area had been the site of many grain mills that used the water power generated by the St. Anthony Falls in the 1800s. In the 1950 a series of locks and dams were built to extend navigation upstream. More info https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1721156141077-WG6VJD3H1J2JFGFO6UCT/IMG_6193.jpg Mississippi River Extension North - OLD MILL TORCH St. Anthony Falls, Minneapolis, Minnesota—September 29, 2016 44°58' 53"N 93°15' 13"W, Elevation 760 The Torch cairn marks the remnants of an old mill that was constructed in the 1800s to use water from St. Anthony Falls for power. More info https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720727790379-RLJL5TRYMO1G59OI2FHR/IMG_6198.jpg Mississippi River Extension North - WISCONSIN RIVER CONFLUENCE Wyalusing State Park, Woodman, Wisconsin—September 29, 2016, 42° 59’ 37”N 91° 07’ 21”W, Elevation 1,130 feet The Wisconsin River joins the Mississippi River in the distance—less than two miles from the overlook where the Big Blue cairn was balanced. Immediately after this photograph was made, a gust of wind toppled the cairn. We picked up every glass fragment. More info https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720728207815-FLDZCXGOCYD8QTIISNH5/IMG_6244.jpg Mississippi River Extension North - COULEE Mines of Spain State Recreation Area, Dubuque, Iowa—September 29, 2016 42° 27’ 49”N 90° 38’ 14”W, Elevation 650 feet The Trumpet cairn rests on a rock outcropping, overlooking this dry stream bed, or coulee, in the Mines of Spain State Recreation Area. More info https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720728363168-9KNH53N77ZEH32LOE0AQ/IMG_6294.jpg Mississippi River Extension North - HANOVER SPILLWAY 1 Apple River, Hanover, Illinois—September 30, 2016 42° 15’ 26”N 90° 17’ 11”W, Elevation 640 feet The White Pointer cairn is balanced on the edge of a concrete retaining wall, overlooking the natural spillway in the town of Hanover, Illinois. More info https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720733760055-H9R5SN1OO6PCS79LQFL1/Itasca.jpg Mississippi River Extension North - HEADWATERS Lake Itasca State Park, Minnesota—June 13, 2016 47° 14’ 20.46”N 95° 12’ 35.18”W, Elevation 1240 feet The Blue Buoy cairn is viewed from the hiking trail bridge, just downstream from Lake Itasca, visible in the background. At the Headwaters, the Mississippi River is shallow enough for children to wade in and chase the abundant minnows. To give you a better idea of the water’s depth, the cairn is installed on an inverted 18” tall plastic storage tub. More info https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720729095910-658IAJMXLR42S8X3AQW0/ItascaHeadwaters.jpg Mississippi River Extension North - CROSSING THE MISSISSIPPI Lake Itasca State Park, Minnesota—June 13, 2016 47° 14’ 23”N 95° 12’ 28”W, Elevation 1,240 Feet The Blue Buoy cairn sits at the point where the Mississippi River emerges from Lake Itasca as a small stream. More info https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720734147814-32Z9U3T5T1WPFGYN8HRE/image-asset.jpeg Mississippi River Extension North - PRECIPICE Jacobson Campground Road, off Highway 10 Ball Bluff, Jacobson, Minnesota—June 11, 2016 47° 0’ 56”N 93° 16’ 15”W, Elevation 1,260 feet The curves of this cairn’s blue glass are no match for the twists of the Mississippi River, south of Grand Rapids, Minnesota. More info https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720733007214-G25V0WNIVR0E1J5ENPUL/LaCrosse.jpg Mississippi River Extension North - LILY PAD AND POISON IVY Pettibone Park, La Cross, Wisconsin—June 16, 2016 43° 48’ 58”N 91° 15’ 54”W, Elevation 650 Feet Nature is found in surprising places. This tranquil pond is found in Pettibone Park beneath the Mississippi River bridge connecting towns in Minnesota and Wisconsin. When looking up, you can see trucks, school busses, and cars speeding by on Highway #14. More info https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720728885717-7F49J7J94B04IRYCTI1P/LakeCity.jpg Mississippi River Extension North - SWAMP SENTINAL Hok-Si-La City Park and Campground, Lake City, Minnesota—June 9, 2016 , 44° 28’ 12.26”N 92° 17’ 36.03”W, Elevation 807 feet This cairn is situated in a swamp along the entrance to Hok-Si-La, a city park and campground on Lake Pepin. More info https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720728700901-ZGF6D4HUBYXNDS4U753Y/LakeWinnibigoshish.jpg Mississippi River Extension North - SHORE SNAILS National Forest Road No.3778, off Winnie Road NE, Minnesota—June 14, 2016 47° 23’ 56”N 94° 18’ 38”W, Elevation 1,310 feet A Mississippi River Trails marker leads to this location where the Mississippi River enters Lake Winnibigoshish. More info https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720733671609-ZR411L9W7JVJFXGF3VBG/LynxvilleBoatDock.jpg Mississippi River Extension North - DOCKS Lynxville, Wisconsin—June 16, 2016 43° 14’ 47.88”N 91° 03’ 29.42”W, Elevation 617 Feet These old docks have been replaced by a larger, more modern harbor on the other side of the Great River Road in Lynxville, Wisconsin. More info https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720732551810-TCVW9E47M30G79XFM2BR/StCloudSpire.jpg Mississippi River Extension North - POINTER River Bluffs Regional Park, St. Cloud, Minnesota—June 15, 2016 45° 30’ 19”N 94° 08’ 37”W, Elevation 970 feet A long winding road takes you to this regional park. From the parking lot, a path leads to a bridge overlooking this small stream. The cairn points to the mighty Mississippi River at the top of the image. More info https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720731896587-PIYFPXX4G3E96Q7LCZKH/Winona.jpg Mississippi River Extension North - IRISES Northeast of the Minnesota Marine Art Museum, Winona, Minnesota—June 8, 2016, 44° 04’ 23”N 91° 40’ 37”W Directions to this site west of downtown Winona, Minnesota, describe how natural beauty is hidden/preserved in the contemporary towns and cities. More info https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720725050949-RFQLTB1AZD1MHJZQL5QR/IMG_2466.jpg Mississippi River Extension North - LILY PADS Bulger’s Hollow Recreation Area, Clinton, Iowa—October 16, 2017, 41° 56’ 04”N 90° 10’ 55”W, Elevation 580 feet The Land and Water Cairn sits among the golden lily leaves that wave in the wind. Some Iowans have expressed concern that these water lilies are appearing in more places on the river, but in a 2013 blog, D. Allen Pattillo, a research and extension specialist for Illinois State University wrote, “Aquatic plants are critical habitat areas for juvenile fish and aquatic insects and are natural nutrient filters, which is very good for the water quality.” https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720724795748-KHD25LPJ1DSY9WNWH7SL/IMG_2450.jpg Mississippi River Extension North - GRASS, NOT CORN Sabula, Iowa—October 16, 2017 42° 0’ 48”N 90° 10’ 11”W, Elevation 790 feet This ornamental grass and the trees behind it are part of a healthy riparian area separating the nearby cornfields from the Mississippi River. Riparian zones are important to people and the environment because they conserve soil, promote habitat diversity that support animal and aquatic ecosystems. More info https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720725279767-ZLX0I9HCF0A0KVA6H2MS/IMG_2569.jpg Mississippi River Extension North - ROCK RIVER GLOW Black Hawk State Historic Site, Rock Island, Illinois—October 16, 2017, 41° 27’ 50”N 90° 34’ 0”W, Elevation 550 feet This site is less than 3 miles from where the Rock River becomes part of the Mississippi River. The setting sun at the Blackhawk State Historic Site in the Black Hawk State Forest illuminates this cairn, turning it into a beacon of light at the water’s edge. More info https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720724385233-PDTDCP0Z0KCTY6O023ZU/IMG_2403.jpg Mississippi River Extension North - OZZIE’S POINT North of Savanna, Illinois—October 16, 2017 42° 08’ 26”N 90° 09’ 52”W, Elevation 780 feet A Milkstone cairn overlooks the Lazy River Marina on the Mississippi River below the Mississippi Palisades State Park. More info https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720724454134-TAEQVWU2CRS3KFY9SGMH/IMG_2416.jpg Mississippi River Extension North - GROTTO Mississippi Palisades State Park, Illinois—October 16, 2017 42° 07’ 23”N 90° 09’ 18”W, Elevation 660 feet The Land and Water cairn rests in manmade rock arch at the base of a natural cliff in Mississippi Palisades State Park. More info https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720729872879-BOL0EIVVG6DA3CGKLU5Y/IMG_2594.jpg Mississippi River Extension North - UNSEEN PELICANS Rock Island, Illinois—October 17, 2017 41° 29’ 24”N 90° 36’ 02”W, Elevation 570 feet After flowing east across Illinois from Rockford, the Rock River joins the Mississippi near this wetland where a flock of pelicans swam just out of view. More info https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720732397776-O2QW1CXJYEX8MSE3G9LE/Keokuk.jpg Mississippi River Extension North - JUNK Twin Rivers Drive, Keokuk, Iowa—October 17, 2017 40° 23’ 13”N 91° 25’ 55”W, Elevation 480 feet At sunset, the Summoning Clouds Cairn stands in the mud of this junkyard that smells of gasoline, oil, antifreeze, and rot. This collection of trashed cars and appliances is located fewer than 500 feet from the Des Moines River and less than a mile from the place where that river flows into the Mississippi River. Fifty million people get their drinking water from this river system. Should we care that it may be contaminated? More info https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720725430988-F2NO95GR12WKMSM3B2EU/IMG_2623.jpg Mississippi River Extension North - SMALL ISLAND Wildcat Den State Park, Muscatine County, Iowa—October 16, 2017, 41° 28’ 01”N 90° 52’ 07”W, Elevation 560 feet The Summoning Clouds cairn sits on a small island in Pine Creek just downstream from the restored historic mill in Wildcat Den State Park. More info https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720725652622-NP0VCIFZGXGZBQ2LVFV0/IMG_2634.jpg Mississippi River Extension North - FROM THE BRIDGE Wildcat Den State Park, Rock Island, Illinois—October 17, 2017 41° 28’ 01”N 90° 52’ 07”W, Elevation 560 feet The Summoning Clouds Cairn rests on a small island in Pine Creek just downstream from the restored mill in Wildcat Den State Park. The park is known for its hiking trails with beautiful views of the rock bluffs. More info https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720730006180-C2T1335T87KKYDX1ZFSE/IMG_2735.jpg Mississippi River Extension North - FALLEN TREE Blackhawk Bottoms and, off Summer Road,Burlington, Iowa October 18, 2017, 40° 43’ 57” N 91° 08’ 31” W, Elevation 580 feet A small sign marked this area as Public Hunting Land. Watershed Cairns marked this area near the Skunk River’s confluence with the Mississippi River with two Milkstone Cairns. One cairn is standing upright in the hollow of a tall tree stump, and a second cairn is resting on the ground near the stump, mirroring the fallen tree in the background. The water in the distance is Patterson Lake, part of the Skunk River Slough. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1721161259006-8MP8P6WY93R462FTIF09/_E5A7793.jpg Mississippi River Extension North - Stump Lake Docks Stump Lake fish and Waterfowl Management Area Stump Lake Road, off Highway 100, near Fieldon, Illinois, May 8, 2018, 39° 01’ 10” N90° 33’ 53” W, Elevation 430 feet The remnants of homemade solar-powered lights on these docks suggest that this is a popular night-fishing spot near the Mississippi and Illinois RIvers. Milkstone Cairns sit on the docks in place of the fishermen. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720732021003-10ZJI1VCHYVDFDYECSMM/_E5A7872.jpg Mississippi River Extension North - Blue 2Lip Rocks Looking West, Highway 2 and Gresham Hollow Road, near Hamburg, Illinois, May 8, 2018 39° 13’ 13” N 90° 42’ 28” W, Elevation 450 feet The Blue 2Lip Cairn rests on the sandstone creek bed under the Highway 2 bridge. Downstream, the creek flows into the Mississippi River at Gresham Hollow Park. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720557024287-BJJANR8946LUQSMOZ59A/_E5A7900.jpg Mississippi River Extension North - Blue 2Lip Bridge Looking East, Highway 2 and Gresham Hollow Road, near Hamburg, Illinois, May 8, 2018 39° 13’ 13” N 90° 42’ 28” W, Elevation 450 feet The Blue 2Lip Cairn rests on the gravel part of a creek bed under the Highway 2 bridge, near Hamburg, Illinois, and across the Mississippi River from Elsberry, Missouri. This view is looking west/upstream toward an abandoned one-lane bridge. Behind the camera, the creek flows west for less than a mile to join the Mississippi River at Gresham Hollow Park. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720731166523-QONUZMEJOJVHMBFZHZ5W/_E5A7944.jpg Mississippi River Extension North - Hilltop Cemetery Summer and North Section streets, Hannibal, Missouri, May 9, 2018, 39° 42’ 59” N 91° 22’ 08” W, Elevation 690 feet Riverside Cemetery (also called Riverview) overlooks the Mississippi River in the older part of Hannibal, Missouri. This old, but well-maintained, burial ground includes the grave of Jacob P. Beckley (1867–1918) who played Major League Baseball from 1888–1907 as a first baseman for the Cincinnati Reds and the St. Louis Cardinals; he was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1971. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1528773501681-19AP15ACGYF6JDYRG8ZO/_E5A8022.jpg Mississippi River Extension North - Stump Clouds On the Mississippi River, south of Cedar Creek Bob Bangert Park, Quincy, Illinois, May 9, 2018 39° 57’ 32” N 91° 25’ 08” W, Elevation 510 feet The base of the Penstemon Cairn balances on a waterlogged stump at Bob Bangert Park on the Mississippi River in Quincy, Illinois. The park is near to Cedar Creek’s link with the great river. The fluffy clouds above the river illustrate a vital part of the water cycle: water evaporates from rivers, wetlands, oceans, and lakes to later condense into clouds and fall as rain, nourishing crops and replenishing those same bodies of water. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720730563341-LM6K7S3PRMO97W03UTKB/_E5A7921.jpg Mississippi River Extension North - Hamburg Hummingbird Water Street, Hamburg, Illinois, May 8, 2018 39° 13’ 53” N 90° 43’ 04” W, Elevation 450 feet A silver sunset provides the background for the Hummingbird Cairn in the pretty little town of Hamburg, Illinois. The road that becomes Water Street runs parallel to the river, with elevated beach houses on either side. This cairn rests on the riverbank near the town’s main intersection and the only stop sign we encountered for miles. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720731125236-BT8BJ0KIY9UB05Y7UQAP/_E5A7849.jpg Mississippi River Extension North - Mississippi River Road Across the River from Elsberry, Missouri, May 8, 2018Local Road 200N, off Mississippi River Road, near Hardin, Illinois 39° 09’ 47” N 90° 41’ 56” W, Elevation 450 feet The Penstemon Cairn sits in Mississippi River water that has flooded the River Road. The cairn is inspired by the Penstemon genus of Midwest native plants, which are related to the popular foxglove garden plants. Hummingbirds, butterflies, moths, bees, and insects are attracted to the nectar of the frilly two-inch flowers on pale green stems. Some of the Penstemon species are endangered or no longer found in parts of the Midwest. Source: The Midwestern Native Garden: Native Alternatives to Nonnative Flowers: An Illustrated Guide, by Charlotte Adelman and Bernard L. Schwartz. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720710930351-JYQ7I7GRD2X7OHPWPFKY/_E5A8085.jpg Mississippi River Extension North - Silo, No Till (Cloud) Near Warsaw, Illinois, May 9, 2018 40° 18’ 18” N 91° 25’ 58” W, Elevation 480 An unusual cloud hovers over the Hummingbird Cairn perched on an overgrown flowerbed in front of an old brick silo on the farm near Warsaw, Illinois, established by James T. Johnson in the 1850s. The farmer Mr. Casady, a descendant of Mr. Johnson, uses no-till farming methods, in which the roots and stems of the crop are left on the field over winter. Then in the spring, seeds for the new crop are “drilled” directly into the unplowed field. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1721162036750-5A0INUW6FTEFALKL207C/_E5A8241.jpg Mississippi River Extension North - Field at Sunset Looking west, near Palmyra, Missouri, May 9, 2018 39° 47’ 41” N 91° 26’ 35” W, Elevation 480 feet For this image, we moved the Hummingbird Cairn 50 feet to the west of the Field with Two Trees Cairn to capture the glowing sunset on this agricultural field that extends to the horizon near Palmyra, Missouri. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720711062880-9PUGH9BFJ40L7U8YHMDP/_E5A8237.jpg Mississippi River Extension North - Field with Two Trees Looking east, near Palmyra, Missouri, May 9, 2018 39° 47’ 41” N 91° 26’ 35” W, Elevation 480 feet This flat bottomland on the Upper Mississippi features grain fields as far as the eye can see beyond the Hummingbird Cairn. Behind the camera, forested green bluffs rise on the other side of the road. We chose this location because trees are not often seen growing on this rich farmland. A common exception to the rule of farming every bit of the fertile agricultural land is seen in the background where trees grow on the banks of a distant creek. The riparian tree barrier is an important conservation measure, helping to stop topsoil and fertilizer runoff from entering the water. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720557398167-6W5ZQSIPVBX0EMCJ3P88/_E5A8080.jpg Mississippi River Extension North - Silo, No Till Near Warsaw, Illinois, May 9, 2018, 40° 18’ 18” N 91° 25’ 58” W The Hummingbird Cairn perches on an overgrown flowerbed in front of an old brick silo on the farm near Warsaw, Illinois, established by James T. Johnson in the 1850s. The current owner Mr. Casady, a descendant of Mr. Johnson, uses no-till farming methods, in which the roots and stems of the crop are left on the field over winter. Then in the spring, seeds for the new crop are “drilled” directly into the unplowed field. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720731478062-FFRJ0PR568YQU3G3QBZ1/_E5A8038.jpg Mississippi River Extension North - Levee Bear Creek Recreation Area, Ursa, Illinois, May 9, 2018 40° 06’ 42” N 91° 27’ 60” W, Elevation 480 feet Summoning Clouds Cairn stands on a fence post to mark Mississippi River water on the “land side” of this earth-mound levee, constructed to keep the river in place while protecting the agricultural fields from flooding. Sometimes, floodwater will seep under or flow over the earthen levee structures. Levees can cause flooding downstream or on the opposite bank by preventing rain-swollen rivers from expanding naturally.Although the levee stops water from flooding the land they were designed to protect, people living across the river from tall levees get more water on their land. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720557235117-DAA28EUE1Q65YVBQECQJ/_E5A8001.jpg Mississippi River Extension North - Lock and Dam 21 Looking across the Mississippi River to Quincy, Illinois Lock and Dam Road, Hannibal, Missouri,May 9, 2018 39° 54’ 01” N 91° 25’ 54” W, Elevation 480 feet The Army Corps of Engineers maintains locks and dams on the upper Mississippi River, beginning at Minneapolis, Minnesota, including Lock and Dam 21 at Hannibal/ Quincy pictured here. The locks enable barges and boats to navigate steep drops in the river’s elevation. The locks provide a series of “bathtubs” that are filled to take barges and boats upstream or emptied to help the vessels downstream. Lock and Dam 27 at Granite City, Illinois, is the last one on the Mississippi because the river’s level descends more slowly on the lower Mississippi as it flows toward sea level in the Gulf of Mexico, near New Orleans, Louisiana. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720711023293-2GYR8KFGAPLTI2DQZ8DZ/_E5A8166.jpg Mississippi River Extension North - Collecting the Water Route 61, near Alexandria, Missouri, May 9, 2018 40° 21’ 53” N 91° 29’ 22” W, Elevation 480 feet Diversion canals conduct from streams to agricultural fields to irrigate crops. The canals pictured here are 3.8 miles south of the point where the confluence of the Des Moines and Mississippi rivers defines the borders of three states: Iowa, Illinois, and Missouri. The canals draw water from the Fox River, which flows parallel to, and south of, Route 61 in Missouri. The Fox nourishes a rich patchwork of agricultural fields, and then creates a 5-mile-long delta before joining the Mississippi River. The canals pictured here are 3.8 miles south of the point where the confluence of the Des Moines and Mississippi rivers defines the borders of three states: Iowa, Illinois, and Missouri. The canals draw water from the Fox River, which flows parallel to, and south of, Route 61 in Missouri. The Fox nourishes a rich patchwork of agricultural fields, and then creates a 5-mile-long delta before joining the Mississippi River. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720710991313-UYEI11HDWGDH9GCGX4PB/_E5A8116.jpg Mississippi River Extension North - Drifting Wood Hamilton, Illinois, across the Mississippi River from Lock and Dam 19, Keokuk, Iowa, May 9, 2018 42° 23’ 26” N 91° 21’ 58” W, Elevation 490 feet The Milkstone Cairns appear to have washed up onto the wood that has drifted across the river to Hamilton, Illinois, from Lock and Dam 19 at Keokuk, Iowa. The two cities in two states are interdependent. Only the width of the Mississippi River apart, they have economic, social, and cultural connections with each other and with other towns along the river. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720734764882-23W8EPQ3W9LTW7XW179V/image-asset.png Mississippi River Extension North - The Mississippi RIver North Book Watershed Cairns: The Mississippi River North, a 85-page, nine-by-eleven-inch paper-bound book with 43 images from the Upper Mississippi River was published in October 2020. information at: https://joshuarowanphotography.com/watershed-store/mississippi-river-north/ http://www.watershedcairns.com/missouri-river-1 daily 0.75 2024-07-19 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1512778588524-HFZ8TFOFBAH6BRSXGUS0/MR1.jpg Missouri River 1 Artists Libby Reuter and Joshua Rowan create Watershed Cairns: Water Marked with Art throughout the Mississippi/ Missouri river basin. They temporarily place and photograph found-glass sculptures, or cairns, to draw attention to fresh water on land ,streams, and rivers. These images mark Missouri River’s path from the Centennial Mountains in Montana into North Dakota. The journey continues in Missouri River 2, following the Missouri to its confluence with the Mississippi River north of St. Louis, Missouri. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1512778588524-HFZ8TFOFBAH6BRSXGUS0/MR1.jpg Missouri River 1 Artists Libby Reuter and Joshua Rowan create Watershed Cairns: Water Marked with Art throughout the Mississippi/ Missouri river basin. They temporarily place and photograph found-glass sculptures, or cairns, to draw attention to fresh water on land ,streams, and rivers. These images mark Missouri River’s path from the Centennial Mountains in Montana into North Dakota. The journey continues in Missouri River 2, following the Missouri to its confluence with the Mississippi River north of St. Louis, Missouri. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720802923279-6DAYYNZFCC4RS1B7H6YF/IMG_0082.jpg Missouri River 1 - SUNSET CRYSTAL 1 First Peoples Buffalo Jump State Park, near Great Falls, Montana—July 1, 2017 47°29’43”N 111°32’54”W—Elevation 3,840 ft. The Crystal cairn reflects the setting sun at the edge of the First Peoples Buffalo Jump State Park, northwest of the Missouri River. The park honors the original people and the buffalo, or bison, who originally lived here. Native peoples used this site to hunt wild buffalo for at least a thousand years before the Lewis and Clark Expedition in the early 1800s. The bison jump site is not in this image, but it consists of a mile-long sandstone cliff scarred by tens of thousands of hooves and up to eighteen feet of compacted buffalo remains below the cliff. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720803293559-RS9AWJN17SIZ0VXEUX2U/IMG_0165.jpg Missouri River 1 - SUNSET CRYSTAL 2 First Peoples Buffalo Jump State Park, near Great Falls, Montana—July 1, 2017 47°29’43”N 111°32’54”W—Elevation 3,840 ft. The Crystal cairn reflects the setting sun at the edge of the First Peoples Buffalo Jump State Park, northwest of the Missouri River. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720803356375-8A0M1SRT3NFKLDERJ9RL/IMG_0377.jpg Missouri River 1 - HARDY BRIDGE Hardy Bridge in the Big Belt Mountains, near Cascade, Montana—July 2, 2017 47°09’59”N 111°50’01”W—Elevation 3,370 ft. The steel truss bridge spanning the Missouri River on old US Route 91 is listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2010. Today, most traffic takes the adjacent US highway 15, but 91’s new name, “Recreation Road,” is the perfect description of this road that traces the Missouri River through spectacular Adel Mountain Volcanic Field. The river below welcomes a steady flow of paddlers and floaters. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720803530370-E4Y6XI2R4JTMODFRME3D/IMG_0475.jpg Missouri River 1 - TWO MEDICINE BLOOMS Glacier National Park, Montana—July 3, 2017 48°29’19”N 113°22’03”W—Elevation 5,180 ft. The Green-gold cairn is resting in a campground between Pray Lake and the larger Two Medicine Lake. East of the park, the Two Medicine River becomes the Marias River, a major tributary of the Missouri River. The cairn is surrounded by flowering “beargrass.” Its scientific name is Xerophyllum tenax and is one of almost 1,000 species of wildflowers in the sub-alpine climate of Glacier National Park. According to the National Parks’ website, beargrass is not a grass and bears don’t particularly like it. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1506271656696-DK1CED7BSFUFO5ZGG5HY/IMG_0659.jpg Missouri River 1 - GLACIER VIEW Glacier National Park, Montana—July 3, 2017 48°41’50”N 113°41’34”W—Elevation 6,220 ft. This cairn marks the Continental Divide, the high places where water on different sides of the mountain flow in two distinct watersheds. This mountain ridge separates the Mississippi River basin, covering the central portion of the United States, from the Pacific Ocean watershed on the West Coast. An observation pull-off on the Glacier National Park’s Going-to-the-Sun Road, looks northeast into the Mississippi watershed, toward the glaciers. The water from their melting feeds Reynolds Creek that becomes St. Mary’s Lake. Marias River, one of the Missouri River’s main tributaries, flows from this lake. Three weeks after this image was created, the Reynolds Creek forest fire burned four thousand acres along the “Going-to-the-Sun Road” near St. Mary’s Lake. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1721140853970-8W8X5B1PR6CKDM158JC9/IMG_0692.jpg Missouri River 1 - VALLEY VIEW Glacier National Park, Montana—July 3, 2017 48°42’05”N 113°43’04”W—Elevation 6,340 feet This cairn marks the Continental Divide, the high places where water on different sides of the mountain flow in two distinct watersheds, or basins. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1721140967388-QR7UA06TVMRI62OEVDH0/IMG_0781.jpg Missouri River 1 - ROAD TRIP Near Fort Benton, Montana—July 4, 2017 47°48’54”N 110°42’34”W—Elevation 2,920 feet This cairn sits on the Lewis and Clark Trail. Not an actual road, but a series of historical markers based on the journals that Meriwether Louis and William Clark kept of their journey to explore the new Louisiana Territory and find a route to the Pacific Ocean in the early 1800s This site is about 15 miles downstream from where the Maria’s River, a major tributary, enters the Missouri River. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720803894524-1YEXDGEJX27P0GGSS1QA/IMG_0883.jpg Missouri River 1 - GRAIN ELEVATOR Loma, Montana—July 4, 2017 47°55’55”N 110°30’20”W—Elevation 2,590 feet This cairn stands on private property near the confluence of the Teton and Maria’s rivers in the National Wild and Scenic Rivers area. This cairn marks the importance of grain agriculture in the American West and Midwest, showing the importance of clean groundwater and river water for irrigation. Structures that provide safe and dry storage of the harvested grain are seen in the background. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1506271673589-K9R69J2SG4CVJTJ99NJV/IMG_0908.jpg Missouri River 1 - BRIDGE Big Sandy Conservation District, Montana—July 2017 47°44’18”N 109°37’33”W —Elevation 2,400 ft. On the Judith River, looking west toward the bridge. July 4, 2017       https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720804100428-J7WL7GEMMWXONMVBAJZP/IMG_0918.jpg Missouri River 1 - BIRDS Big Sandy Conservation Area, Montana—July 4, 2017 47°44’18”N 109°37’33”W—Elevation 2,400 ft. On the Judith River, looking east. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720804164101-RJAD7NWGBIMMUW0JMBZL/IMG_0952.jpg Missouri River 1 - ABANDONED STORAGE Near Winifred, Montana—July 4, 2017 47°28’05”N 109°21’14”W—Elevation 3,380 ft. A six-foot-tall, white glass cairn stands on the loading dock of an old wooden grain elevator. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720804241539-OM016C40KBB2K5PX1AXW/IMG_1046.jpg Missouri River 1 - FOREST FIRE 9:10 p.m. Little Rocky Mountains, Missouri Breaks, near Zortner, Montana—July 4, 2017 47°48’35”N 108°36’32”W—Elevation 3,270 ft. This image was created after the fire in the Little Rocky Mountains had been burning for 19 hours. It would burn for days and consume 10,000 acres. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1721141097160-MFPV6GTIEI7SACZZGGXQ/IMG_1158.jpg Missouri River 1 - FOREST FIRE 11 p.m Little Rocky Mountains, Missouri Breaks, near Zortner, Montana—July 4, 2017 47°50’32”N 108°30’07”W—Elevation 3,190 ft. The red glow of the forests burning in the Little Rocky Mountains is the backdrop for a glowing white cairn. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720804360851-BQ8FTOMO75MFODOKHMPZ/IMG_1190.jpg Missouri River 1 - MILK JUG Milk River near Hinsdale, Montana—July 5, 2017 48°23’54”N 107°02’52”W—Elevation 2,170 ft. Captain Meriwether Lewis, of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, wrote, “From the colour of its water we called it Milk river." https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720804486707-QUJ66A41H9BO0SZO6WYO/IMG_1233.jpg Missouri River 1 - MUDDY MILK Milk River, near its confluence with the Missouri River—July 5, 2017 Nashua, Montana 48°03’34”N 106°19’06”W—Elevation 1,990 feet A 5-gallon jug is partially submerged in the slick, muddy water of the Milk River. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720804534837-SLMC4TP9BX6LWCM2II6L/IMG_1274.jpg Missouri River 1 - YELLOWSTONE RIVER Yellowstone River—July 5, 2017 Cartwright, North Dakota 47°5’41”N 103°57’50”W—Elevation 1,970 ft. The Crystal cairn overlooks the Yellowstone River near a bridge at Cartwright, North Dakota, just a few miles upstream from its confluence with the Missouri River. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720804591660-PBH5JAFGNBDQ4GOP9D78/IMG_1337.jpg Missouri River 1 - OIL RIG Tioga, North Dakota—July 6, 2017 48°11’52”N 103°01’58”W—Elevation 1,940 ft. Oil rigs and refineries are common throughout North Dakota. In this image, the Crystal Cairn gets up close and personal with an oil drilling rig on 54th St. NW in the Beaver Creek watershed. The creek flows south into Hofflund Bay on the Missouri River. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720804784309-FSOIKIWK66D8OAJHSED5/IMG_1418.jpg Missouri River 1 - POLLINATORS WELCOME Parshall, North Dakota—July 6 2017 47°52’23”N 102°07’45”W—Elevation 2,260 ft. The field of yellow canola flowers on Highway 37 near Parshall, North Dakota, makes a joyous setting for the Geen-gold cairn. The site is east of the Van Hook Arm of Lake Sakakawea, the third-largest man-made lake in the United States. It was created in1956 when the Garrison Dam was built on the Missouri River, midway between Bismarck and Minot, North Dakota. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720804856725-WW7UDJIUGO58R5DN16Y1/IMG_1455.jpg Missouri River 1 - GARRISON DAM SPILLWAY Garrison, North Dakota—July 6, 2017 47°29’24”N 101°23’26”W—Elevation 1,840 ft. The waterless spillway of the fourth largest earthen dam on the planet is indicative of how dry 2017 was in the American West. VThe Garrison Dam, pictured here, built as part of the Pick-Sloan Project, the Missouri River flood control and power generation effort, was completed in 1956. The lake that the dam created is named Sakakawea, in honor of the Shoshone-Hidatsa woman who guided explorers Lewis and Clark in the early 1800s. The name is ironic because 1,700 people of the three Affiliated Tribes were displaced after being forced to sell their land for the dam and reservoir construction. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720806099312-14K6A66G155OM3J63ZPG/IMG_8073.jpg Missouri River 1 - TRANSLUCENT LANTERN Lake Marie, Medicine Bow National Forest, Wyoming—June 24 2017, With Ryan & Cassie O’Malley. 41°19’54”N 106°19’30”W—Elevation 10,510 ft. The stream flowing below this cairn empties into the North Platte River, just west of the Medicine Bow National Forest. The Platte is a major tributary of the Missouri River. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720805858697-ESARXEZ0MD3H1VIQS514/IMG_8098.jpg Missouri River 1 - LANTERN MIRRORED Lake Marie, Medicine Bow National Forest, near Laramie, Wyoming—June 24, 2017, with Ryan & Cassie O’Malley 41°19’58”N 106°19’29”W—Elevation 10,510 ft. An entire side of the mountain behind this translucent cairn is covered with dead Lodgepole pines. The pines were killed by the bites of millions of pine bark beetles. In the past, the numbers of pine bark larvae were kept in check by winter’s freezing temperatures. Thirty days of below-30-degree temperatures would kill most of the beetles, but now, a warming climate keeps the temperatures above freezing even at this higher elevation. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720806351514-TQ7MDFFGFUKJG0PL2QY5/IMG_8144.jpg Missouri River 1 - FALSE GODS IN THE SNOW Medicine Bow National Forest, near Laramie, Wyoming—June 24, 2017, with Ryan & Cassie O’Malley 41°20’10”N 106°19’8”W—Elevation 10,570 ft. The black glass cairn named “False Gods” sits balanced in the melting snow and ice. Water from this pond drains into nearby Libby Creek, and later into the North Platte River, then the Platte River, which is a major tributary of the Missouri River. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720806392275-8GEDC9569FC8H8Z9QDNA/IMG_8209.jpg Missouri River 1 - BOULDER LANTERN Near Centennial, Wyoming—June 24, 2017, with Ryan & Cassie O’Malley 41°08’02”N 106°25’07”W—Elevation 10,570 ft. The Lantern Cairn sits balanced on a bolder in the middle of the Douglas River while fly fishermen wait for their turn at this fishing hole. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720806465596-3N3TSFO78LPSTQ4J2NUD/IMG_8238.jpg Missouri River 1 - MOM'S TREE Near Centennial, Wyoming—June 24, 2017, with Ryan & Cassie O’Malley 41°08’02”N 106°25’07”W—Elevation 10,570 ft. Cairns are often used as memorials as well as trail markers. Here, the lantern cairn is a memorial to Ryan O’Malley’s mother. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720806585455-E4VH3XOIVGIZCWSKULAG/IMG_8382.jpg Missouri River 1 - SINKS Sinks Canyon State Park, Wyoming—June 25, 2017, with Ryan & Cassie O’Malley 42°44’52”N 108°48’37”W—Elevation 6,420 ft. The Popo Agie River disappears (sinks) on one side of the mountain, and reappears here. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720806657374-4P15L96P4BPU363O5T54/IMG_8440.jpg Missouri River 1 - RESERVOIR GOLD Pilot Butte Reservoir on the Wind River Reservation—June 25, 2017 Near Morton, Wyoming 43°11’42”N 108°45’39”W—Elevation 5,460 ft. The Pilot Butte Reservoir on the Wind River provides water for irrigation. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720806718992-UMMFDVHKJSN7DXYJ8CKX/IMG_8459.jpg Missouri River 1 - BLACK BUTTE GOLD Wind River Reservation, Wyoming—June 25, 2017 42°44’54”N 108°48’34”W—Elevation 6,450 ft. The Pilot Butte Reservoir on the Wind River is the backdrop for this cairn. Pilot Butte and the nearby Bull Lake and Ocean Lake Reservoirs provide irrigation to verdant, circular fields. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720806996845-RSOFCEQE6T7XDVEFQVTD/IMG_8628.jpg Missouri River 1 - FACETS Grand Teton National Park, near Jackson Hole, Wyoming—June 26, 2017 43°58’36”N 110°39’24”W— Elevation 6,860 feet The shapes of the Crystal cairn, the planes of the mountainside, and the surface of the water in Jackson Lake shimmer with reflected sunlight. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720807068198-4BWNK3YRHPKGV9WHDZ9M/IMG_8665.jpg Missouri River 1 - GREEN SPRING Yellowstone National Park, Montana—June 26, 2017 44°29’11”N 110°00’46”W—Elevation 7,030 feet The quiet, cooler side of Yellowstone National Park has fresh, clear water in small streams that feed the Yellowstone River. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720807137674-TT5AOGRWOFIQLDWJ53WF/IMG_8696.jpg Missouri River 1 - EAGLE MOUNTAIN Buffalo Bill State Park, Wyoming—June 27, 2017 Rocky Mountain Absaroka Range 44°29’45”N 109°17’57”W—Elevation 5,450 feet The Crystal cairn sits in a firepit next to the Buffalo Bill Reservoir on the Shoshone River. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720807188960-YHKCE5EQBW80GF8J1XM8/IMG_8797.jpg Missouri River 1 - STORM COMING Buffalo Bill Sate Park, Wyoming—June 27, 2017 44°29’45”N 109°17’57”W—Elevation 5,450 feet Strong winds and heavy black clouds rushed toward the cairn on the bank of the Buffalo Bill Reservoir. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720807260718-DPOWOI0ZINGKMSZOC4XJ/IMG_8920.jpg Missouri River 1 - RED EARTH 1 Horseshoe Bend, Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area, Wyoming—June 27, 2017 44°57’25”N 108°16’40”W—Elevation 3,800 feet The Green-gold cairn is dwarfed by the iron-red bluffs in the Wild Horse Mountain Range. This location is near the confluence of the Shoshone River, flowing in from the west, and the Bighorn River, arriving from the south. The Bighorn is an extension of the Wind River that flows from the Boysen Reservoir, south of Thermopolis, Wyoming. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720807358388-JOY1HE5GD84MG28Z8OQ8/IMG_8939.jpg Missouri River 1 - RED EARTH 2 Horseshoe Bend, Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area, Wyoming—June 27, 2017 44°57’25”N 108°16’40”W—Elevation 3,800 feet The Green-gold cairn is sitting on the iron-red bluffs in the Wild Horse Mountain Range. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720807440304-ZJWKDOI66LPAWBOSZ7LE/IMG_9022.jpg Missouri River 1 - DEVIL CANYON OVERLOOK Horseshoe Bend,Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area, Montana—June 27, 2017 45°01’24”N 108°15’07”W—Elevation 4,520 feet Canyon Overlook Road gives spectacular views of the confluence of the Bighorn River and Porcupine creek to the south. This site provides a birds-eye view of the north-flowing Bighorn River. The river gets its name from the large-horned sheep that early explorers saw on its banks. Bighorn Sheep had been absent from the area for over seventy years when sheep that the Park Service had reintroduced in other mountain areas migrated to this canyon in the 1970s. Since then, the population has grown from fewer than 10 to more than 160. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720807608419-DKPOOTHBYGO1RISBM1KD/IMG_9057.jpg Missouri River 1 - BEES' HIVE Horseshoe Bend, Big Horn Canyon National Recreation Area, Montana—June 27, 2017 45°01’24”N 108°15’07”W—Elevation 4,520 feet The Green-gold cairn nestles in sagebrush near the Horseshoe Bend Observation site, overlooking the Bighorn River. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720807672898-JY2B3TEKXOXC1XSC3JH8/IMG_9189.jpg Missouri River 1 - TONGUE RIVER BEND Near Tongue River Reservoir State Park, Montana—June 28, 2017 45°13’14”N 106°41’55”W—Elevation 3,380 feet After a rain, horses on the Diamond Cross Ranch graze on the bank of the Tongue River. The Tongue rises in Wyoming in the Bighorn Mountains, flows through northern Wyoming and southeastern Montana, then empties into the Yellowstone River at Miles City, Montana. The Yellowstone is a major tributary of the Missouri River. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720807715051-PH7DK1LU5ZI949QFTY47/IMG_9258.jpg Missouri River 1 - FALSE GODS/REFINERY 1 Billings, Montana—June 29, 2017 45°46’12”N 108°29’30”W—Elevation 3,110 feet The False Gods cairn stands over a stream leading to the Yellowstone River near this refinery in downtown Billings, Montana. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720807783220-SJTGATM4GPJ7F5VZ0B49/IMG_9320.jpg Missouri River 1 - FALSE GODS/REFINERY NEIGHBORHOOD Billings, Montana—June 29, 2017 45°46’42”N 108°29’53”W—Elevation 3,110 feet The False Gods cairn stands in a residential street, leading to a refinery in downtown Billings, Montana. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720807997732-9G84E96R028QTGKSDF03/IMG_9457.jpg Missouri River 1 - FOUR DANCES Pictograph Cave State Park, Four Dances Recreation Area, Montana—June 29, 2017 45°44’34”N 108°26’24”W—Elevation 3,370 feet A clear cairn poses on a sandstone boulder near hills that house three caves where prehistoric hunters marked their place and time with drawings on stone. Over one hundred images of animals, warriors, and even rifles are exhibited on these walls. The oldest images are more than 2,000 years old. Generations of native peoples used these caves, leaving tools, weapons, wall paintings, and painting instruments. Using art to understand the world is a human endeavor that the contemporary Watershed Cairns artists share with the earlier artists. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720808040030-W4ZQNRFW5WIJYWXE0K4X/IMG_9515.jpg Missouri River 1 - CLOUD CAIRN Beartooth Pass, Wyoming—June 29, 2017 45°02’37”N 109°24’26”W—Elevation 9,170 feet Small, fragrant wildflowers grow at the foot of this cairn that appears to touch the sky on Beartooth Highway. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720808109456-C1578MQDRZ7JMWZ0D9OQ/IMG_9715.jpg Missouri River 1 - BLACK GOLD Beartooth Pass, Wyoming—June 29, 2017 44°58’32”N 108°25’37”W—Elevation 10,380 feet An otherworldly mist envelops the False Gods cairn in the snow, 567 feet below the summit of Beartooth Pass. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720808211919-6C1H1YRNUQA2G9RSH8YV/IMG_9730.jpg Missouri River 1 - CRYSTAL MIST Beartooth Highway, Montana—June 29, 2017 44°52’38”N 110°22’53”—Elevation 10,010 feet Clear lakes reflect a faceted crystal cairn, viewed from the Beartooth National Scenic Byways-All American Road. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720808273378-T43081XKPIN64IRNIHSX/IMG_9773.jpg Missouri River 1 - STONE RIVER CRYSTAL Yellowstone National Park, Montana—June 30, 2017 44°52’44”N 110°23’21”W—Elevation 6,850 feet The Crystal cairn is poised on the stone wall overlooking the Yellowstone River in northeastern Yellowstone Park. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720808353123-UCIVUTDUTKH36VCONUHL/IMG_9871.jpg Missouri River 1 - THERMOPOLIS Mammoth Hot Springs, Yellowstone National Park, Montana—June 30, 2017 44°57’55”N 110°42’45”W—Elevation 6,770 feet The black False Gods cairn contrasts with the white limestone terraces and the colors of the heat-loving microorganisms in Yellowstone National Park. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720808459128-JFBP840J25M0T8E49F0J/IMG_9946.jpg Missouri River 1 - MADISON MEETS JEFFERSON Missouri Headwaters State Park, Montana—July 1, 2017 45°55’33”N 111°30’11”W—Elevation 4,180 ft. The tallest cairn made on the Missouri River perches on the edge of a steep bluff overlooking the confluence of the Jefferson and Madison rivers. Beyond the frame of this image, the Gallatin River joins its sister-rivers a mile downstream where they become the Mississippi River for the rest of their journey to the Gulf of Mexico. Fed by ninety-five major and many smaller tributaries, the Missouri River travels north, then east, for more than 2,345 miles to join the Mississippi River north of St. Louis, Missouri. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720809092993-FKCFBTJKJSLWSDWA5Z05/IMG_9955.jpg Missouri River 1 - CANYON FERRY DAM Canyon Ferry Lake Dam, near Helena, Montana—July 1, 2017 46°39’08”N 111°43’53”W—Elevation 3,640 feet This cairn posed on a picnic table with a great view of the Canyon Ferry Dam and reservoir. This dam is the second of the 15 large dams on the main stem of the Missouri River. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1721423567176-VPWGHJYQQJOMA0ZOPINE/image-asset.jpeg Missouri River 1 - Fort Peck Dam Fort Peck Dam, Nashua, Montana, July 5, 2017 48°00′30 ″N 106°24′01 ″W, Elevation 2,270 feet The crystal and transparent cain rests high above the bone-dry reservoir of the tallest dam on the Missouri River, near its confluence with the Milk River. The 2017 has been the state’s driest in the past 110 years. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1721141352027-YUZ0J67B5O0LNK8R8MPT/image-asset.jpeg Missouri River 1 - Dry Dock Saco, Montana, July 5, 2017 48°27′29 ″N 107°20′48 ″W, Elevation 2,170 feet The broken pieces of the black False Gods Cairn sit on a beached, disintegrating pontoon boat. Situated near the corner of US2 and Dead End Road, the boat is three blocks from the shallow Milk River. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1721422528655-DGCRHOW1SCMNX40PKXT3/image-asset.jpeg Missouri River 1 - Hay Bales in the Rain Near the Decker, Montana, coal mine, June 28, 2017 45°0′51 ″N 106°51′40 ″W, Elevation 3,470 feet Trucks rolled by this field on their way to the Decker mine, and a gust of wind toppled and broke the top part of this cairn. As we picked up the pieces, we wondered what effect the coal mine had had on the nearby town of Birney (population 137 in 2010), on local ranchers, or on the Tongue River. The Tongue originates in Wyoming’s Bighorn Mountains, emptying into the Yellowstone River at Miles City, Montana. The Yellowstone is a major tributary of the Missouri River. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1721421388398-RLKN4XXZISPW7OWX864B/image-asset.jpeg Missouri River 1 - Grass Buffalo Bill State Park, near Cody, Wyoming, June 27, 2017 44°29′45 ″N 109°17′57 ″W , Elevation 5,450 feet This cairn sits on the banks of the Buffalo Bill Reservoir, an 8,315-acre lake formed by the Shoshone Dam, built in 1910 at the confluence of the north and south forks of the Shoshone River. The bending grass in this photo illustrates the strong winds that blow through the canyon in the Absaroka Range making windsurfing a popular sport. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1721422960077-WLDI3SJATFKCPK42124Y/image-asset.jpeg Missouri River 1 - Wind River Crystal Wind River Badlands, Dubois, Wyoming, June 26, 2017 43°30′39 ″N 109°33′47 ″W, Elevation 6,860 feet Sagebrush, fences, and endless cattle ranges straddle both sides of the road in the Wind River watershed. Irrigated fields near rivers and reservoirs are less common, but are essential for farms and ranches. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720819881535-7K7L0TU0EP5GROPK5J4I/image-asset.jpeg Missouri River 1 - Cannon Ball River Standing Rock Indian Reservation, North Dakota—July 6, 2017 46°24’58”N 100°38’09”W—Elevation 1,630 feet The False Gods cairn and the Lantern cairn face each other near the No Dakota Access Pipeline (NDPL) peaceful protest site in 2016-17. The Native Americans and their allies objected to a crude oil pipeline under the Missouri River where the Standing Rock Reservation sources its drinking water. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720820978944-J3VBW3Z6H3QU3ASYZLM1/image-asset.jpeg Missouri River 1 - Missouri RIver Headwaters Hell Roaring Creek, Red Rock Lakes National Wildlife Refuge, Montana—June 30, 2017 44°35’57”N 111°33’0”W—Elevation 6,880 feet Water, flowing from the mountains in the background, becomes the Jefferson River that joins other rivers at the Missouri Headwaters State Park to become the Missouri River. Hell Roaring Creek then flows west into the Red Rock River, swings northeast to become the Beaverhead River, and finally joins with the Big Hole River to form the river that Lewis and Clark named the Jefferson River in 1805 to honor of the US president. That river joins the Madison and Gallatin Rivers at Three Forks, Montana, where the name changes to Missouri for its 2,400-mile path east, across seven states. The Missouri River joins the Mississippi River north of St. Louis, Missouri, and takes the name Mississippi for the rest of the water’s journey south to the Gulf of Mexico. http://www.watershedcairns.com/journal daily 0.75 2018-07-02 http://www.watershedcairns.com/missouri-river-2 daily 0.75 2024-10-31 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720821445693-739IGXAI6YZCLSKYU313/_E5A0047.jpg Missouri River 2 - Badlands Green-Gold Cairn Badlands Loop Road near Conata Road, Badlands National Park, South Dakota, June 30, 2018 43° 50’ 59” N 102° 12’ 48” W-Elevation 2,800 feet The Green-Gold Cairn, with its new green base and the addition of a tall bronze vase, was made for this spot to mark the yellow-orange rock strata and green vegetation. The unexpected green color was the result of more than usual rain in June and July. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720821445693-739IGXAI6YZCLSKYU313/_E5A0047.jpg Missouri River 2 - Badlands Green-Gold Cairn Badlands Loop Road near Conata Road, Badlands National Park, South Dakota, June 30, 2018 43° 50’ 59” N 102° 12’ 48” W-Elevation 2,800 feet The Green-Gold Cairn, with its new green base and the addition of a tall bronze vase, was made for this spot to mark the yellow-orange rock strata and green vegetation. The unexpected green color was the result of more than usual rain in June and July. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720980871656-9E4MH3UN7GJQ0Z120HRX/_E5A0313-2.jpg Missouri River 2 - Burnt Trees Theodore Roosevelt National Park, southern unit loop road, North Dakota, July 2, 2018 46° 54’ 51” N 103° 26’ 12” W-Elevation 2,600 feet No Egrets Cairn stands among fire damaged trees in the North Dakota Badlands. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720981103370-YTW7LH1JU60MG84ZEHHL/_E5A0335.jpg Missouri River 2 - Erosion Columns Theodore Roosevelt National Park, Southern Unit North Dakota July 2, 2018 46° 56’ 01” N 103° 24’ 41” W-Elevation 2,500 feet Parts of the Green Gold Cairn stand in front of a Badlands wall eroded to form monument-like columns in the southern unit of the Theodore Roosevelt National Park off eastern fork of the loop road, https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720981198189-H9EIRUK4JYMPR4LHE1IK/_E5A0416.jpg Missouri River 2 - Little Missouri River Little Missouri River State Park, North Dakota, July 2, 2018 47° 33’ 01” N 102° 44’ 25” W-Elevation 2,400 feet Little Missouri River State Park is a campground for families and their horses. This cairn a composite of Crystal and Clear cairn segments is located on a bluff overlooking the Little Missouri River that meanders hundreds of feet below in the expansive badlands. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720981287769-ADMFT56YXR08DYASTJST/_E5A0446.jpg Missouri River 2 - Natural Power Near the intersection of 38th Avenue SW and 12th Street Fort Clark, North Dakota, July 2, 2018 47° 14’ 17” N 101° 17’ 55” W-Elevation 1,850 feet After sunset near the confluence of the Knife and Missouri rivers looking east toward Stanton, South Dakota, where a line of red lights on the horizon marks wind turbines. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720981387394-0E3DFXEKOJKD02FLI8PP/_E5A0460.jpg Missouri River 2 - Coal Power Near the intersection of 38th Avenue SW and 12th Street Fort Clark, North Dakota, July 2, 2018 47° 14’ 17” N 101° 17’ 55” W-Elevation 1,850 feet The same site as the Natural Power image, but looking west to Stanton, South Dakota, near the confluence of the Knife and Missouri rivers. The Basin Electric Cooperative Leland Olds Station, a coal-fired power plant, is seen in the distance on the right. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720981577324-AKZ4TLXDGKSS2RDBELOB/_E5A0542.jpg Missouri River 2 - Persistent Tree West Pollock Recreation Area, South Dakota, July 3, 2018 45° 53’ 03” N 100° 20’ 10” W-Elevation 1,640 feet The West Pollock Recreation Area at the norther boundary of South Dakota has beautiful views of the Missouri River. But this tree that had survived many indignities from storms or man to thrive at the edge of the maintenance building parking lot was worth marking with a No Egrets Cairn segment. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720981696679-BQYSQ0EMCLKDY1VIGWIK/_E5A0677.jpg Missouri River 2 - Crystal Valley Pollock, South Dakota, July 3, 2018 45° 45’ 26” N 100° 17’ 25” W-Elevation 1,990 feet Crystal Cairn perches on the side of Leola River Road, overlooking the sunset in the valley below, one of the most beautiful places on the planet. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720981787030-4XA580PGAQ0RU7YS9QC2/_E5A0903.jpg Missouri River 2 - Pollen Ruins the Plow Phillip, South Dakota, July 4, 2018 44° 41’ 07” N 101° 13’ 52” W-Elevation 1,840 feet The title of this image overlooking the Cheyenne River with the Green-Gold Cairn in front of a rusted farm implement, is taken from “Emily,” a song-story in the Ys album by Joanna Newsom. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720981889118-M3E7ZPGP6V7YJ4O82CHY/_E5A0981.jpg Missouri River 2 - Grain Storage (horizontal) Fort Pierre, South Dakota, July 4, 2018 44° 21’ 27” N 100° 22’ 42” W-Elevation 1,470 feet A Crystal Cairn rests at the end of the parking lot at the Casey Tibbs South Dakota Rodeo Center and Mattie Goff Newcombe Conference Center overlooking a grain storage facility and Fort Pierre homes. The Missouri River separates this smaller city from Pierre, the capital of the state of South Dakota. The citizens of these two cities go all out for Independence Day Celebration fireworks. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720988858639-SJKF1QEF2UGJO13Y4TNT/_E5A1046.jpg Missouri River 2 - Breathing House 255th Street and 341st Avenue, Chamberlain, South Dakota, July 5, 2018 43° 41’ 16” N 99° 22’ 17” W-Elevation 1,640 feet The No Egrets Cairn sits in front of an abandoned house.The roof had partially caved in and the damaged part hung like a hammock suspended from the roof beams.When the wind blew, the house would emit a low-pitched sound as if a very large animal was snoring on the second floor. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720988926718-JP661L2U0B957D7ZYPRN/_E5A1211-2.jpg Missouri River 2 - Shannon Shows Up Snake Creek Recreation Area Overlook, near Highway 44/50 bridge over the Missouri River, Platte, South Dakota, July 5, 2018 43° 23’ 35” N 99° 06’ 59” W-Elevation 1,500 feet All along the Missouri River, there are many references to Lewis and Clark’s 1801–1806 historic journey in names of places and historic markers. The sign at this overlook indicates this is the place where “Shannon Shows Up.” According to Wikipedia, Private George Shannon was the youngest member of the Corps of Discovery. During the fall of 1804, he was lost for more than two weeks and nearly starved to death. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720989043968-ZZ5HVJUG3BEG5LMM76A2/_E5A1445.jpg Missouri River 2 - Vermillion Sunset 471st Avenue, Elk Point, South Dakota, July 6, 2018 42° 40’ 15” N 96° 47’ 13” W-Elevation 1,090 feet Vermillion is the name for an intense red color similar to the setting sun here on the Vermillion River, near the city of Vermillion, South Dakota. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720983633046-DZFC7XH7XQOO66M6F3TD/_E5A1726.jpg Missouri River 2 - Milky Way 260th Street, North of Hamburg, Iowa, July 7, 2018 40° 40’ 26” N 95° 42’ 54” W-Elevation 910 feet The No Egrets Cairn sits on a gravel Road under a clear sky full of stars and the visible Milky Way. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720983937648-XNHOI4ARDCC3WK909JYQ/_E5A1794.jpg Missouri River 2 - St. Joe Highway Bridge St. Joseph Riverwalk, Francis Street St. Joseph, Missouri, July 8, 2018 39° 46’ 04” N 94° 51’ 40” W-Elevation 940 feet This clear, translucent, white-glass combination cairn sits under the Highway 229 bridge in downtown St. Joseph, Missouri. The cairn marks a jarring, but not uncommon, a minimally accessible urban riverfront where highway, train tracks, industrial buildings, and a pedestrian walkway through a restored quasi-natural habitat (partially visible on the left) coexist. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720984163986-6OCZZ27SIFKK0T4OEGDG/_E5A1868.jpg Missouri River 2 - Catching Fireflies Wyandotte Lake County Park Kansas City, Kansas, July 8, 2018 39° 09’ 25” N 94° 46’ 34” W-Elevation 830 feet After sunset, the Clear-Glass Cairn sits among native grasses growing on the side of a creek flowing to Wyandotte Lake, while a long exposure photograph captures fireflies darting among the grass and trees. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720984230862-1V9KSXMFD9QYVAAHQXEN/_E5A1951.jpg Missouri River 2 - Kaw Point Kaw Point Riverfront Park Kansas City, Kansas, July 9, 2018 39° 06’ 57” N 94° 36’ 37” W-Elevation 940 feet Looking across the confluence of the Kansas (also called the Kaw River) and Missouri rivers. This was the site of the Lewis and Clark encampment June 26–29, 1804. Now, it offers a stone table base for a cairn, with a great view of downtown Kansas City, Missouri, not diminished by the sight and scent of the city’s waste treatment plant (in the background on the right). https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720987055173-3J6OAVJOVWOFPF9L9KKN/Huff.jpg Missouri River 2 - Lake Oahe Sentinel Missouri River Bottom, off Highway 1804 across the Missouri River from Huff, North Dakota, July 3, 2018 46° 37’ 34” N 100° 38’ 31” W-Elevation 1,610 feet South of Bismarck, the Missouri River widens and is called Lake Oahe (pronounced oh-WAH-hee). This image was made on the east side of the Missouir RIver looking across the river to Huff, North Dakota https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720986700382-OI6OYJHIBNAL0N8HK7QY/_E5A9936.jpg Missouri River 2 - Bringing Down the Sky Badlands National Park, South Dakota, June 30, 2018 43° 45’ 18” N 101° 59’ 2” W-Elevation 2,390 feet We arrived in Badlands National Park in the afternoon. It was raining, making the red layers of the moonlike rock formations stand out. We pulled out the Crystal Cairn, balancing it on an approximately seven-foot-tall rock, the consistency of semi-hard, slightly slippery concrete. We call this shot Bringing Down the Sky for the way the top vase blends into the colorless sky and for the raindrops. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720989151526-3K3WH4C826OG3CHT4Q1I/_E5A1456.jpg Missouri River 2 - Big Sioux River Sioux River Road, Stone State Park, North Sioux City, Iowa, July 7, 2108 42° 33’ 24” N 96° 28’ 38” W-Elevation 1,090 feet Josh saw a bald eagle fly away as we were unloading this Clear Cairn from the van. Unfortunately, the majestic bird did not return to its perch here on the Big Sioux River in time to be included in this image. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720989405606-GNZYNJNL8OLCSEGOHAUX/_E5A1508.jpg Missouri River 2 - Mobridge Campground Revheim Bay Recreation Area, Mobridge, South Dakota, July 4, 2018 45° 31’ 06” N 100° 23’ 50” W–Elevation 1,590 feet Mobridge was a busy place for a three-day rodeo July 3-5. A heavy storm swept through the area on the evening of the 3rd, felling trees and knocking down the festival’s circus-sized food tent. Many branches were down near the entrance to the picnic and children’s playground, but other areas, like the site of our shoot with the Clear and No Egrets cairn segments, were unscathed. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720983341262-YQH2H5MTQXGR08IVU2CP/_E5A1623.jpg Missouri River 2 - Decatur Bridge Decatur, Iowa, July 7, 2018 42° 0’ 26” N 96° 14’ 35” W-Elevation 1,080 feet A large ceiling-light glass is used as a base for No Egrets Cairn segments. Motorists who stopped to talk with us explained that the bridge was closed during the 2011 flood because the ramp on the other side of the river had washed out, and all the land on this side was flooded. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720983466866-T4BRT16H6TCIJODGL7HG/_E5A1667.jpg Missouri River 2 - Little Sioux RIver Three Rivers Wildlife Area, RIver Sioux, Iowa, July 7, 2018 41° 48’ 07” N96° 03’ 58” W-Elevation 1,070 feet Erosion at the base of the False gods 2 Cairn on the bank illustrates one of the ways that rivers like the Little Sioux sculpt new channels. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720983561632-QIGD83YC6C4YQ53YROU3/_E5A1714.jpg Missouri River 2 - Road Closed False gods 2 Cairn on 48th Street, Plattsmouth, Iowa, July 7, 2018 41° 01’ 08” N 95° 59’ 17” W-Elevation 1,120 feet Ahead the gravel road was washed out by 4-mile Creek on its way to the Platte River. The flooding must have been recent because a local man seemed surprised by the barricade. He drove carefully between the barricades, past the cairn, and down toward Ashland Road intersection at the bottom of the hill. The van’s taillights illuminated the road behind the cairn. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720987191998-GX3HL2H3QS3K9YPVNEAN/Spearfish.jpg Missouri River 2 - Black Hills Crystal Spearfish Creek, off Highway 41A, after it is joined by Iron Creek, Black Hills, South Dakota, July 1, 2018 44° 22’ 41” N 103° 54’ 51” W-Elevation 4,780 feet. Clear water tumbles over rocks in Spearfish Creek behind the Crystal Cairn. The dark green foliage of South Dakota’s Black Hills is in the background. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720988680335-J4OCY8MANGKXKO404NZM/_E5A0974.jpg Missouri River 2 - Grain Storage (vertical) Fort Pierre, South Dakota, July 4, 2018 44° 21’ 27” N 100° 22’ 42” W-Elevation 1,470 feet A composite cairn rests at the end of the parking lot at the Casey Tibbs South Dakota Rodeo Center and Mattie Goff Newcombe Conference Center in Fort Pierre, population 2,000. The view is across the Missouri River to Pierre, the South Dakota state capital, population 14,000. Although few in number, the citizens of the two Pierres go all out for Independence Day Celebration fireworks. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720987842299-5D2RONLH6OO9TI98CLNC/_E5A0122.jpg Missouri River 2 - Theodore Theodore Roosevelt National Park, South Unit (near old east entrance) North Dakota, July 2, 2018 46° 55’ 49” N 103° 29’ 14” W-Elevation 2,540 feet The False gods Cairn (version 2) is dwarfed by rock/hills off the East Loop Road in the Theodore Roosevelt National Park badlands. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720987461267-GSVGVWA1EU8APLKK86SB/_E5A0186.jpg Missouri River 2 - Belle Fourche Belle Fourche Reservoir, Belle Fourche National Wildlife Refuge, South Dakota, July 1, 2018 44° 42’ 34” N 103° 42’ 18” W-Elevation 3,050 feet Near the Belle Fourche Reservoir, the largest body of river water in the area, this big field of native grass was waving in the wind. Leveling and balancing the 22-inch glass bowl-shaped light fixture and a No Egrets spire in a spiral of grass had its complications: Libby put her hand on a prickly pear cactus, and Josh was overrun by tiny ants as he sat in the grass to photograph the cairn. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720988024449-JNQ0BXAUMB8KG5Z9WGYI/_E5A0471.jpg Missouri River 2 - Missouri River Lantern Missouri River Natural Area and Trailhead 1472 River Drive NE, Mandan, North Dakota, July 3, 2018 46° 50’ 10” N 100° 51’ 52” W-Elevation 1,610 feet Assembled on site from No Egrets and Clear segments to draw attention to the eroding riverbank, one of the sources of the sediment in the Missouri River, also known as “Big Muddy.” https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720988190150-93ZP7QTSP4D9OU2P8MI5/_E5A0580.jpg Missouri River 2 - Wind, Corn, Crib Near the Intersection of Highway 1804 and Point of View Road Pollock, South Dakota, July 3, 2018 45° 48’ 43” N 100° 17’ 11” W-Elevation 1,970 feet A wooden fence, in front of a wind turbine in a cornfield, protects in-ground water pipes, a pump, and a cairn built from No Egrets and Clear cairns. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720988568477-KKXO1RHUPIGSA8ZHKUXG/_E5A0793.jpg Missouri River 2 - Bridge and Butterflies Old Agency Tribal Park, off highway 1804 Forest City Lakeside Use Area, South Dakota, July 4, 2018 45° 01’ 31” N 100° 18’ 14” W-Elevation 1,630 feet Butterflies flit among the native plants on the shore at the Forest City Lakeside Use Area, near the confluence of the Cheyenne and Missouri rivers. The highway 212 Bridge is in the background. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720982336877-7QLI9ECME128V7Z59TIL/_E5A1249.jpg Missouri River 2 - Niobrara River Niobrara State Park, Niobrara, Nebraska, July 6, 2018 42° 46’ 10” N 98° 04’ 28” W-Elevation 1,520 feet This cairn, assembled from sections of the Clear and Crystal cairns, rests at the top of steps leading down to bottomland created by the Missouri River and Mormon Canal. The site is a mile upstream from the point where the Niobrara River, a major tributary, enters the Missouri River. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720982623521-SPG18BYNGNGGDLZ8TE8X/_E5A1273.jpg Missouri River 2 - Santee Dock Lewis and Clark Lake, East Street and 898 Road Santee, Nebraska, July 6, 2018 42° 50’ 34” N 97° 50’ 17” W-Elevation 1,240 feet No Egrets Cain perches at the end of a dock. Soon after we finished making this image, fishermen returned to the dock pleased with their catch and temporarily disturbing the mirror smooth lake surface pictured here. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1531628457218-RGHRKKDA6BGMIZ32T28G/_E5A1361.jpg Missouri River 2 - Sediment Gavin’s Point Dam, Lewis and Clark Lake Seven Miles West of Yankton, South Dakota, July 6, 2018 42° 52’ 16” N 97° 29’ 31” W-Elevation 1,220 ft. The top of the Green-Gold Cairn marks the edge of the recreational lake created by the Gavins Point Dam near Yankton, South Dakota. The dam generates enough electrical power to serve 85,000 homes. This cairn doesn’t mark the hydropower; rather, it seeks to draw attention to the soil in this river known as “Big Muddy. if this sediment laden water were not contained by the dam, it would flow from the Missouri, into the Mississippi and on to the gulf of Mexico to slow the loss of the valuable Louisiana Delta. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720982565033-JI570XEQ2XMYDXTYY2DT/_E5A1387.jpg Missouri River 2 - James RIver SIlo 446th Ave and 310th St., Michigan Hill, South Dakota, July 6, 2018 42° 53’ 39” N 97° 16’ 28” W-Elevation 1,240 feet The James River is one of the Missouri River’s major tributaries. Flowing south from North Dakota to its confluence near Yankton, South Dakota, the muddy river irrigates rich agricultural land like this family farm. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1721143403227-RM9CCLZ9U09HJ6XUW0OF/_E5A0711.jpg Missouri River 2 - Salix Oxbow Bigelow Park Road in Salix, Iowa, July 7, 2018 42° 18’ 23” N 96° 20’ 21” W-Elevation 1,050 feet No Egrets Cairn sits at the southern end of an oxbow lake. Horseshoe-shaped lakes like this one were once part of an older river channel. When flooding, earthquakes, or erosion, caused the river to find a new channel, some water remained in the deeper parts of the old riverbed, creating a lake cut off from the river’s flow. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720982005226-QTGB0JICTIBP5G91RSWQ/_E5A1020.jpg Missouri River 2 - Hay Bale Iron Nation Road, Lower Brule, South Dakota, July 5, 2018 44° 10’ 50” N 99° 34’ 42” W-Elevation 1,490 feet The No Egrets Cairn rests near a cylindrical bale of hay, close to the end of a peninsula created by a horseshoe-shaped bend in the Missouri River. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720982227432-AI3C2NW6N53M5UVG9N2D/_E5A1231.jpg Missouri River 2 - Fort Randall Dam Powerhouse Road, Lake Andes, South Dakota, July 6, 2018 43° 03’ 39” N 98° 33’ 11” W-Elevation 1,160 feet At night, the intense lights on Fort Randall Dam’s electrical power plant are almost too bright to look at. Built in the mid 1950s at 2.5 times its anticipated cost, the dam was generating 200,000 kilowatts of electricity in the 1970’s, four times the current output of the most economically efficient Big Bend Dam upriver. Oddly, the US Army Corps of Engineers hasn’t updated the energy output of the Fort Randall Dam for a current comparison. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720982762447-KY14IS830UGX2VS4BX4X/_E5A1421.jpg Missouri River 2 - Spirit Mound Spirit Mound Historic Prairie Vermillion, South Dakota, July 6, 2018 42° 52’ 03” N 96° 57’ 20” W-Elevation 1,220 feet This mound is a geological feature created when the ancient glaciers leveled the surrounding land, skirting this rocky outcropping. Lewis and Clark visited the Spirit Mound in 1804, traveling on foot from their campground on the Vermillion River. https://gfp.sd.gov/parks/detail/spirit-mound-historic-prairie/ https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720985564255-P2NE7ZXGBTC3GMJPLIAT/_E5A2135.jpg Missouri River 2 - Gravel Road Trapper Ave., Brunswick, Missouri, July 10, 2018 39° 23’ 32” N 93° 05’ 44” W-Elevation 580 feet The Clear-Glass Cairn, which had been used for the Hay, Corn, and Trees image, moved to the middle of Trapper Avenue, near the point where the Grand River, a major tributary, enters the Missouri River. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720983754700-CCPAB5XOE032WCCBM1XV/_E5A1758.jpg Missouri River 2 - River Inn Resort Near the point where the Niobrara River enters the Missouri River Brownville, Nebraska, July 8, 2018 40° 23’ 32” N 95° 38’ 54” W-Elevation 890 feet James Smith, inland marine pilot and co-owner of the River Inn Resort, including a twenty-five stateroom floating Bed and Breakfast, and a smaller charter riverboat, stopped rebuilding the road into the resort to talk with us.From the cab of his front-end loader, he explained that the land had been flooded with about 2.5 feet of water for a week.Mr. Smith said, “If you didn’t love it (working on the river), you’d go crazy.” https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720984029253-CX0A9WEM6HYS7P80FWVG/_E5A1812.jpg Missouri River 2 - Corn Weston, north of Kansas City, Missouri, July 8, 2018 39° 20’ 59” N 94° 52’ 07” W-Elevation 770 feet The white-glass No Egrets Cairn tries to blend in with 6-foot-tall, vibrant green corn nearWeston, Missouri, north of Kansas CIty. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720985640818-EV3TF0ODGZIK7ANF3F55/_E5A2189.jpg Missouri River 2 - Arrow Rocks Arrow Rock, Missouri, July 10, 2018 39° 04’ 05” N 92° 56’ 37” W-Elevation 620 feet The No Egrets Cairn perches on rocks over the Santa Fe Spring in the Arrow Rock State Historic Site. The town of Arrow Rock was a well-known landmark on the Missouri River, appearing on a 1732 French map as “Pierre a’ Flesche,” or rock of arrows. By the 1850s, the town was one of the busiest ports on the Missouri and with 1,000 residents. Now the town, a National Historic Landmark, has fifty citizens and hosts tourists visiting its historic tavern, homes, and beautiful state park. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720985698361-DL2LR6V8ODX0UE3A3QAS/_E5A2260.jpg Missouri River 2 - Rocheport Riverwalk Katy Trail Park, Rocheport, Missouri, July 10, 2018 38° 58’ 28” N, 92° 33’ 58” W-Elevation 580 feet A cairn assembled from clear and crystal glass rests at the end of the riverwalk trail near confluence of Moniteau Creek and the Missouri River. Highway 70 bridge over the Missouri River is seen in the background. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720986583249-P640U2AMPZCAI6PINPQH/_E5A9766.jpg Missouri River 2 - White River Cairn South of Westover, South Dakota, June 30, 2018 43° 42’ 52” N 100° 40’ 22” W-Elevation 1,790 feet We spotted the White River, a tributary of the Missouri River, as we crossed a bridge over US 83, not too far from highway 44. It really is white: the sand is white and the water is the color of a latte with way too much milk. Following a dirt road we had seen before the bridge, we caught up with the river resting in its flood plain. The NoEgrets Cairn holds the sky in its handblown, clear glass top. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720985815365-U82Q9KIZF278X46VRXJH/_E5A2504.jpg Missouri River 2 - No Fires Katy Trail State Park, Hartsburg, Missouri, July 21, 2018 38° 42’ 29” N 92° 20’ 24” W Elevation 550 feet The cairn perches on a barrier rock at the edge of the parking lot and access to barges moored here. The No Egrets and Summoning Clouds combination cairn bears witness to the way the rules against fires and alcoholic beverages are disregarded. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720985900781-1YK4DSA951FH1SAAUHZC/_E5A2699.jpg Missouri River 2 - Osage River Old Mill Road, Bonnots Mill, Missouri, July 21, 2018 38° 34’ 40” N 91° 58’ 01” W, Elevation 570 feet Bonnots Mill is a charming town that looks like a shooting location for a film set in the 1930s. Near the Old Mill and adjacent to the train tracks, this small bridge allows water to run into the Osage River, 1½ miles before it joins the Missouri. The Osage River has its origin in the Missouri Ozarks. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720985959289-JT79B9T3BSIXUUF3UY85/_E5A2898.jpg Missouri River 2 - Augusta Bottom Road Washington, Missouri, July 21, 2018 38° 33’ 27” N 90° 58’ 06” W Elevation 490 feet The setting sun illuminates the Green/Gold Cairn and the corn in rolling fields off Augusta Bottom Road. The distant Labadie Power Plant gleams from those last, low rays. Unfortunately, the plant’s environmental record is not so shining. In 2009, the plant was ranked the 22nd worst plant for its leaking coal ash pits. In another study in 2010, it was the 4th worst for its mercury pollution. In 2015 the Missouri Sierra Club contested the renewal of the plant’s operating permit because it did not specify a schedule for testing the water emitted by the plant. In 2016, the Environmental Protection Agency announced that the plant exceeded the National Clean Air Standards. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720986071101-KYWARSEGK1CTAIGV0U25/_E5A3112.jpg Missouri River 2 - Eco Park Ecopark, North Main Street St. Charles, Missouri, July 27, 2018 38° 48’ 02” N 90° 28’ 15” W Elevation 440 feet This 70-inch-tall white-and-translucent glass cairn sits on the Missouri River, north of the Highway 370 Discovery Bridge and the railroad bridge behind it. The 1993 flood destroyed most of the homes in this St. Charles, Missouri, neighborhood. Anticipating that the area was likely to flood again, the city bought and tore down the homes, turning this area on the Katy Trail into a river-access park with an ecological focus. Informational signage, benches, buildings, and trails are all built for easy restoration after the next¾inevitable¾flood. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720986220903-HB4WS1O4CP5DHKL59E7V/_E5A3192.jpg Missouri River 2 - Confluence Point Looking North Riverlands Way, Edward “Ted” and Pat Jones Confluence Point State Park, West Alton, Missouri, August 9, 2018 38° 48’ 58” N 90° 07’ 10” W-Elevation 470 feet The Confluence Cairn rests on an octagonal concrete pedestal in Confluence Park. It is situated at the southern point of the peninsula that juts out between the Mississippi River, flowing from the east at the right of this image, and Missouri River, entering from the north on the left side of this image. The Missouri River has traveled about 2,350 miles from its origin in the Centennial Mountains, Montana, to the confluence. The Mississippi has journeyed 1,130 miles from its origin at Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota. The conjoined rivers become the Mississippi River from this point; it empties 1,190 miles downriver into the Gulf of Mexico, south of New Orleans, Louisiana. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720986367192-2PRI09EPNYSBBJRRQGZT/_E5A3208.jpg Missouri River 2 - Confluence Point, Looking South Riverlands Way, Edward “Ted” and Pat Jones Confluence Point State Park, West Alton, Missouri, August 9, 2018 38° 48’ 58” N 90° 07’ 10” W-Elevation 470 feet The Confluence Cairn rests on an octagonal concrete pedestal at the southern point of the peninsula that juts out between the Mississippi River, flowing from the east at the left side of this image, and Missouri River, entering from the west on the left side of this image. The Missouri River has traveled about 2,350 miles from its origin at in the Centennial Mountains, Montana, to this confluence. The Mississippi has journeyed 1,130 miles from its origin at Lake Itasca, Minnesota. The conjoined rivers become the Mississippi River from this point. The island on the horizon is situated in the middle of combined flow, now called the Mississippi. The Mississippi is joined by other rivers on its journey south before it empties 1,190 miles downriver into the Gulf of Mexico, south of New Orleans, Louisiana. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720986759872-M09TQGYGNK6Y7OAPDI3S/ConfluencePanorama1.jpg Missouri River 2 - Confluence Point, Looking East Riverlands Way, Edward “Ted” and Pat Jones Confluence Point State Park, West Alton, Missouri, August 9, 2018 38° 48’ 58” N 90° 07’ 10” W-Elevation 470 feet Looking east across the Mississippi River, the Confluence Cairn glows in the dawn. The town of Hartford, Illinois, is in the background. The Missouri River joins the Mississippi just 30 feet south of this marker. Towboats and barges, like the one pictured here, will enter the Chain of Rocks Canal a mile-and-a-half downstream, while the Mississippi River flows over the Chain of Rocks shallow waters for about 10 miles downstream just north of St. Louis where the canal ends and commercial traffic returns to the river. The Confluence Cairn, created from parts of other cairns used in upper Mississippi and Missouri River Watershed Cairns images, https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720984615492-USK4L1MVBFLM7EJSVXWR/image-asset.jpeg Missouri River 2 - Jackass Bend Off Highway 210, Orrick, Missouri, July 10, 2018 39° 12’ 52” N 94° 11’ 38” W-Elevation 780 feet The white No Egrets Cairn rests in the pool where water from adjoining farm fields drain into the creek at Jackass Bend. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1721142395403-OOWHYQ2BSYRWUEBWZW3Q/image-asset.jpeg Missouri River 2 - Interior, South Dakota Main Street, Interior South Dakota 43° 43’ 43” N 101° 59’ 08” W, Elevation 2,370 feet Interior, South Dakota, a city with a population 67 people, one peacock, and uncounted dogs and cats, was named for its position in the interior of the badlands. http://www.watershedcairns.com/journal-1 daily 0.75 2024-09-02 http://www.watershedcairns.com/journal-1/2024/9/2/illinois-river-exhibit monthly 0.5 2024-09-02 http://www.watershedcairns.com/journal-1/2024/8/4/sources-for-watershed-cairns-map monthly 0.5 2024-08-04 http://www.watershedcairns.com/journal-1/2023/2/1/rdodp00mcvr51gevmaffy9d9eak6lc monthly 0.5 2023-02-01 http://www.watershedcairns.com/journal-1/2022/6/24/the-mississippi-river-south-book monthly 0.5 2022-06-24 http://www.watershedcairns.com/journal-1/2022/2/16/whats-next monthly 0.5 2022-02-16 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/a0647e9a-6c15-4b78-8984-859f672532ed/Hardin+copy.jpg Journal - What's Next? - Make it stand out Hardin Flood May 5, 2019 Near Orchard and Park Streets, Hardin Illinois 39° 09" 06' N 90° 37" 05' W, Elevation 440 feet The 2019 flood covered streets near the Illinois River, flooding homes and garages. Initially, the nearby riverfront restaurant adapted by serving take-out only, until it was surrounded by water and forced to close until the waters subsided and the road was restored. http://www.watershedcairns.com/journal-1/2021/8/24/southernmost-point monthly 0.5 2021-10-05 http://www.watershedcairns.com/journal-1/2021/8/24/whoo-hooo monthly 0.5 2021-08-24 http://www.watershedcairns.com/journal-1/2021/6/23/trashin-moves monthly 0.5 2021-06-23 http://www.watershedcairns.com/journal-1/2021/6/23/watershed-tabletop-display monthly 0.5 2021-06-23 http://www.watershedcairns.com/journal-1/2021/4/17/xfp0kfp423m822ukjcy9v5z59pbhy0 monthly 0.5 2021-06-23 http://www.watershedcairns.com/journal-1/2021/3/16/axiv4pwwdnh58em39ig0j4f2x5toj2 monthly 0.5 2021-03-16 http://www.watershedcairns.com/journal-1/2021/3/5/updated-watershed-cairns-description monthly 0.5 2021-03-16 http://www.watershedcairns.com/journal-1/2021/2/17/stalagmite-image monthly 0.5 2021-02-17 http://www.watershedcairns.com/journal-1/2021/2/17/places-exhibitstalagtite monthly 0.5 2021-03-16 http://www.watershedcairns.com/journal-1/2020/12/12/miller-knees monthly 0.5 2021-03-05 http://www.watershedcairns.com/journal-1/2020/11/1/another-page-from-the-miss-river-north-book monthly 0.5 2021-03-16 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1604346269061-4F4H5VDCEG2ORZ30G271/e.jpg Journal - Another page from the Miss RIver North Book http://www.watershedcairns.com/journal-1/2020/11/1/locations-of-images-in-mississippi-river-north monthly 0.5 2020-11-02 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1604346955313-BFSLZICTXGK2F3KOM5PH/Screen+Shot+2020-11-01+at+11.38.13+AM.png Journal - Locations of Images in Mississippi RIver North http://www.watershedcairns.com/journal-1/2020/10/29/watershed-cairns-the-mississippi-river-north monthly 0.5 2020-11-02 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1604347728069-T2JXES5G5GL9JAMOII3F/Screen+Shot+cover.png Journal - Watershed Cairns: the Mississippi River North http://www.watershedcairns.com/journal-1/2020/10/29/watershed-map-with-names-of-images monthly 0.5 2020-11-02 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1604348667039-AQ3DGTANN35VN2G9DITP/WC+map+wnames.png Journal - Watershed Map with names of images http://www.watershedcairns.com/journal-1/2020/10/29/watershed-cairns-locations monthly 0.5 2020-11-02 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1604348022638-3T8FSV66HROS0GVKKC0K/WCmap%3A10.2020.png Journal - Watershed Cairns Locations http://www.watershedcairns.com/journal-1/2020/10/29/take-that-pandemic monthly 0.5 2020-11-02 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1604349163031-IST5ARWVQ1L3RGUCB85O/_E5A8107.jpg Journal - Take that, Pandemic! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1604349206710-U4TYMPJBGH86XNHRF8CF/_E5A7361.jpg Journal - Take that, Pandemic! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1604349241888-1L4LW3O3OVID3B3ELAHD/_E5A8501.jpg Journal - Take that, Pandemic! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1604349298907-WJXWMGJ9UG3KS64L1ZVP/_E5A7966.jpg Journal - Take that, Pandemic! http://www.watershedcairns.com/journal-1/2020/6/29/missouri-history-museum-plastic-trash monthly 0.5 2020-11-03 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1604365710951-EL81VSFJNRU8CCBDAFPR/_E5A8614.jpg Journal - Missouri History Museum Plastic Trash http://www.watershedcairns.com/journal-1/2020/6/6/watershed monthly 0.5 2020-11-03 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1604365843891-GK8CTBY098K66DCK2UR4/Foldmap3.JPG Journal - WaterSHED http://www.watershedcairns.com/journal-1/2020/6/6/dubuque-museum-virtual-artists-talk monthly 0.5 2020-06-06 http://www.watershedcairns.com/journal-1/2020/4/26/eefrolis7cdfvmk95vjpun5zaaot1o monthly 0.5 2020-11-03 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1604366661742-Q7GKK0EN20J07SE89J4Z/SImple+MAPNOTYPESM+copy+2.jpg Journal - St. Louis Regional Watershed Map http://www.watershedcairns.com/journal-1/2020/4/6/dubuque-museum-of-art-update monthly 0.5 2020-11-03 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1604369192064-9WOQ2QJ8BU65TON1QU41/IMG_2487+best.jpg Journal - Dubuque Museum of Art Update http://www.watershedcairns.com/journal-1/2020/3/12/which-river-span-is-next monthly 0.5 2020-11-03 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1604368704933-OD3OEEQLYEKI50KAAUSO/Screen+Shot+2020-11-02+at+7.56.53+PM.png Journal - Which river span is next? http://www.watershedcairns.com/journal-1/2020/3/12/dubuque-museum-of-art monthly 0.5 2020-03-12 http://www.watershedcairns.com/journal-1/2020/2/1/rusty-freeman-mighty-mississippi-essay monthly 0.5 2020-02-03 http://www.watershedcairns.com/journal-1/2020/2/1/installation-at-dubuque-museum-of-art monthly 0.5 2020-11-03 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1604369356930-68H1HV6RSPQQ749N0DMJ/setupL%26W.jpg Journal - Installation at Dubuque Museum Of Art https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1604369663373-BRWEF4GINZIEOFDWJCOB/install+Trumpet.JPG Journal - Installation at Dubuque Museum Of Art http://www.watershedcairns.com/journal-1/2020/1/2/dubuque-museum-of-art monthly 0.5 2020-11-03 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1604369510092-OE0NE3D1YKVWI5NJNYEX/Lily+pads+copy.jpg Journal - Dubuque Museum of Art http://www.watershedcairns.com/journal-1/2019/11/29/trashin-essay-by-olivia-lahs-gonzales monthly 0.5 2019-12-11 http://www.watershedcairns.com/journal-1/2019/11/17/y9x2cun18wzpbbmnj4ut28ksvthv7e monthly 0.5 2019-11-29 http://www.watershedcairns.com/journal-1/2019/11/17/c1e3x5gcuhtmqhurwe7c8exgmomwcq monthly 0.5 2019-11-17 http://www.watershedcairns.com/journal-1/2019/11/17/trashin monthly 0.5 2019-11-17 http://www.watershedcairns.com/journal-1/2019/10/28/october-on-the-middle-mississppi monthly 0.5 2019-10-28 http://www.watershedcairns.com/journal-1/2019/5/11/s2vpzrvj2hj4jz31r1wbzn8k5p8zwy monthly 0.5 2019-05-11 http://www.watershedcairns.com/journal-1/2019/5/11/yud4amecyjb5ziq8cn6fggb10e9o2b monthly 0.5 2019-05-11 http://www.watershedcairns.com/journal-1/2019/3/26/geeting-ready-for-the-lower-mississippi-river monthly 0.5 2019-05-10 http://www.watershedcairns.com/journal-1/2019/3/13/march-2019-activites monthly 0.5 2019-03-26 http://www.watershedcairns.com/journal-1/2019/2/16/x3lvxpau1tqi314nrh2h0vd020nr99 monthly 0.5 2019-02-16 http://www.watershedcairns.com/journal-1/2019/2/16/bonsack-gallery-exhibit monthly 0.5 2019-03-13 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1550335466790-VHFJMW3D8L7Y3NWUL9RV/facets.jpg Journal - Bonsack Gallery Exhibit This image from Grand Teton National Park will be exhibited for the first time in Art Marks: From Minnesota and Montana to the Confluence, February 22-April 10, 2019 at the Bonsack Gallery, John Burroughs School, 755 Price Road, St. Louis, MO, 63124. http://www.watershedcairns.com/journal-1/2019/1/19/lambert-airport monthly 0.5 2019-01-19 http://www.watershedcairns.com/journal-1/2019/1/17/upcoming-exhibit monthly 0.5 2019-01-19 http://www.watershedcairns.com/journal-1/2018/11/15/waters-edge-opening-reception monthly 0.5 2018-12-02 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1543778522727-TB34WVCH0TFZ5V5S8I6P/Audubon+night+Alton.jpg Journal - Waters Edge opening reception The city of Alton, Illinois is seen across the river and artist Danne Rjaesa’s tribute to extinct and endangred birds is on the right. Thanks to Rusty Freeman for this photo. http://www.watershedcairns.com/journal-1/redflamecairnwe monthly 0.5 2018-11-10 http://www.watershedcairns.com/journal-1/lambertinstall monthly 0.5 2018-11-15 http://www.watershedcairns.com/journal-1/2018/10/20/waters-edge-art-walk monthly 0.5 2018-10-20 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1540058120382-A8V4B6WB26TE5N3DTQ52/Walk.jpg Journal - Water's Edge Art Walk http://www.watershedcairns.com/ohio-river daily 0.75 2024-07-19 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720363794697-45R4O0LK14F2K8RXHUWI/_E5A5316.jpg Ohio River - Confluence Drydock Wickliffe, Kentucky, July 17, 2020 36°57'52"N 89°05'39"W, Elevation 320 feet Some of the tow boats moored here await repairs in the drydock on the Ohio River. Overlooking the river and the contemporary town of Wickliffe is a prehistoric, Mississippian archaeological site operated by the State of Kentucky. Native American people lived here from about 1100 to 1350 CE, building earthen mounds and permanent housing around an open courtyard. This ancient city, located three miles from the confluence of the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers, was active at the same time as the larger Cahokia Mounds site near Collinsville, Illinois and eleven miles from the confluence of the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720363794697-45R4O0LK14F2K8RXHUWI/_E5A5316.jpg Ohio River - Confluence Drydock Wickliffe, Kentucky, July 17, 2020 36°57'52"N 89°05'39"W, Elevation 320 feet Some of the tow boats moored here await repairs in the drydock on the Ohio River. Overlooking the river and the contemporary town of Wickliffe is a prehistoric, Mississippian archaeological site operated by the State of Kentucky. Native American people lived here from about 1100 to 1350 CE, building earthen mounds and permanent housing around an open courtyard. This ancient city, located three miles from the confluence of the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers, was active at the same time as the larger Cahokia Mounds site near Collinsville, Illinois and eleven miles from the confluence of the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1721253604918-64AWJ9L7PG90J5G8UPQL/image-asset.jpeg Ohio River - No Ferry Ferry Road, West Paducah, Kentucky, July 16, 2020 37°08'23"N 88°44'43"W, Elevation 310 feet The map labels this site adjacent to the bridge from Illinois as “Metropolis Ferry.” At one time, there may have been a ferry carrying passengers to Metropolis, Illinois on the other side of the Ohio river, but all that remains are two gravel roads leading to the river. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1721220569099-W0P2AOAMZHJ9XVTCYBM7/PowerPlant.jpg Ohio River - Power Plant Joppa, Illinois, July 17, 2020 37°12'04"N 88°50'39"W, Elevation 310 feet This Cairn is located about a mile upstream from the decommissioned Joppa power plant and remaining pools of toxic coal ash. Built in stages in the 1950s, the Joppa Generating Plant, a coal and natural gas electrical power plant is about thirty miles upriver from the Ohio River’s confluence with the Mississippi River at Cairo, Illinois, and fifteen miles from Paducah, Kentucky. Environmental concerns for coal-burning plants include air and water pollution. Lung diseases and heart attacks caused by breathing toxic particles in the smoke. Leaking ponds of combustion waste, including arsenic and heavy metals, can pollute rivers and groundwater. Owned by Vistra Energy since 2018, the company announced in September 2020 that they will close this plant by the end of 2025, citing the expense of meeting EPA guidelines and the company’s goal of achieving net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. What will happen to those toxic waste pools when the plant is decommissioned? According to the Environmental Protection Toxics Release Inventory, Joppa stored 366,675.30 pounds of coal ash in lagoons in just one year. Multiplied over the more than sixty years of operation, heavy metals would be abundant in those ponds. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720363906953-QE4SEDYHSQE72O5N1KOS/_E5A5343.jpg Ohio River - Golden Lily Highway 51 bridge in the background, Near Cairo, Illinois July 17, 2020, N37°04‘44“N, W89°11‘11“, Elevation 310 feet Algae and small water plants near the shore form the backdrop for the Softserve Cairn, an assemblage of clear and translucent glass. This bank of the Cache River, between US Route 51 and Illinois Route 37 (also called old Us 57 and Ohio River Scenic Highway) is located one mile from the Ohio River. A quarter of a mile south of the cairn site, all that remains of the town of Golden Lily is one home at the Taylor Road intersection and a listing in the US Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720363977013-77Z6N0JH3BPW89R6V9TC/_E5A6783.jpg Ohio River - Shadow Play Bay City, Illinois, October 13, 2020 N37°15‘20“, W88°30‘14“, Elevation 320 feet This cairn is located off Ohio highway 1, also called Ohio River Scenic Highway and Bay City Road. Bay City is notable only for the Bay City General Storethey have a little bit of everything, including shoe laces, powdered sugar doughnuts, and plumbing parts. The GPS tells us we are in Golcanda, a larger town eight miles away as the crow flies, but a much longer drive as the road follows Bay Creek before cutting north, parallel to the Ohio River. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720364074114-F5DSX1KCOW3XVEPC1PL9/_E5A6906.jpg Ohio River - Before the Cave Cave in Rock State Park, Paducah, Kentucky, October 13, 2020 N37°28‘04“, W88°09‘36“, Elevation 310 feet The entrance to this fifty-five-foot-wide cave overlooking the Ohio River is many steps down from the parking lot. It is definite worth the walk to see and possibly enter this natural “room,” that was carved by water thousands of years ago. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720364342487-SR0A72Z5XSFKUQ1T6NRC/_E5A7016.jpg Ohio River - Old Shawneetown Confluence of the Wabash and Ohio Rivers, Old Shawneetown, Illinois, October 14, 2020 N37°41‘46“, W88°08‘04“, Elevation 370 feet The red-topped cairn has been placed on top of a US Geological Survey marker imbedded in levee, looking down on Old Shawneetown. This largely abandoned town encapsulates the history of many river towns. Settlers arrived at the site of a Native American village, near the Wabash River’s confluence with the Ohio River, in 1798. The town was laid out in 1810 and quickly became an important commercial center and US Territory administrative center. In 1816, its bank was one of only two federally chartered banks in the United States. The bank shown in this image was built in 1836-41 and served for over a century until the 1937 Ohio River flood inundated the town, and the residents moved to higher ground. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720364384734-L1MSHPT5YNK6YGMXDL9Z/_E5A7041.jpg Ohio River - Barges Loading Grain Uniontown Warf, Uniontown, Kentucky, October 14, 2020 N37°46‘31“, W87°56‘19“, Elevation 340 feet This cairn is resting on the Uniontown levee, built after the 1937 Ohio River flood to protect the town. Kentucky Route 130 passes through the town onto the levee. A caravan of semi-trucks, labeled with the names of local farms, await their turns to offload grain into waiting barges at the Uniontown Ferry Boat Dock. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720365270910-VF8EO5O4EGUCVE8Y5BT9/_E5A7966.jpg Ohio River - Best Dam Shot Gallipolis, Ohio, October 18, 2020, N38°40‘50“, W82°11‘33“, Elevation 560 feet The cairn, an aggregation of the Capacious and other cairn parts, stands watch over the Robert C. Byrd Dam. One of nineteen dams on the Ohio River, this one has not changed since it was dedicated in 1935. The locks are on the other side of the Ohio River in the village of Gallipolis Ferry, West Virginia. The name Gallipolis means city of the French, named for the first immigrant settlers who were fleeing the 1790 French Revolution. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720364454208-OA780TROKXBHT9Z88GU7/_E5A7361.jpg Ohio River - Raining RIver Old Town Leavenworth, Indiana, October 15, 2020 N38°18‘03“, W86°19‘56“, Elevation 380 feet This cairn is resting in the Ohio River near an abandoned three-story brick home in a park in Old Leavenworth. Like many other Ohio River towns, Leavenworth was inundated in the flood of 1937. This home may have been one of the casualties. Four of the town’s 418 people were evacuated in that flood. The 2010 census showed a population of 238 people. The 2020 census will show many of those people remained after the February 2018 Ohio River again rose to the rooftops of many homes. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4UcM8F6LcWQ https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720364736985-F1KF41MIC7K93WMJ5VB1/_E5A7563crop.jpg Ohio River - Oxbow Wetland Oxbow Nature Conservancy, Lawrenceburg, Indiana October 16, 2020 N39°05‘58“, W84°50‘29“, Elevation 460 feet This clear-glass cairn rests at the eighth stop on the self-guided tour of the Oxbow Nature Conservancy, a 2500-acre spread of level river bottom that is the most important remaining wetland on the banks of the Ohio River. This site marks multiple confluences: not only is the area where the states of Ohio, Indiana, and Kentucky meet, it is located at what might be called a cultural confluence. The Conservancy, conceived by conservationists who formed Oxbow Inc. in partnership with Audubon of Ohio, is located behind the Hollywood Casino’s loading dock and 100 feet from the Archaeological Research Institute. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720364527514-XEQUOEAB1BHZYSEQ2OP6/_E5A7383.jpg Ohio River - Rocky RIver Off Otter Creek Road, Brandenburg, Kentucky, October 15, 2020 N37°57‘33“, W86°03‘08“, Elevation 370 feet This mushroom-like cairn is posed on the rocky shore of the Otter Creek Recreation Area. Behind the camera, a man was fishing from the boat landing. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720364594189-6BHP6QO8QJPS1HO38E8B/_E5A7403.jpg Ohio River - RIverview Park Glow Louisville, Kentucky, October 15, 2020 N38°08‘52“, W85°54‘11“, Elevation 400 feet It was dusk, and people were loading outboard pleasure boats onto trailers on the boat launch at Riverview Park when Watershed Cairns artists arrived. They found an out-of-the-way grove of trees overlooking the river where they setup the cairn and waited for darkness. Then, a few battery-powered lights in the tall cairn and along camera exposure illuminate the scene. The last light on the river is barely visible in the upper right of this image. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720364648815-TAS7OP8UAOR770CI99IV/_E5A7464.jpg Ohio River - Clifty Falls Clifty Falls State Park, Indiana, October 16, 2020 N38°45‘51“, W85°26‘03“, Elevation 800 feet The Rectangle Cairn was assembled where stones were missing on the wall separating visitors from the canyon and Big Clifty Creek below. This deep valley was created thousands of years ago when the southward flowing waters of Clifty Creek met the newly formed Ohio River. There are several falls in the park, but none can be seen in this view. The largest is sixty feet tall. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720369048053-TEGVB5XDUYELAOP8HHTH/Untitled_Panorama-1.jpg Ohio River - Owensburo Bridge Owensboro, Kentucky, October 14, 2020 N37°46‘42“N, W87°07’40“, Elevation 360 feet A plastic cup found at the base of this concrete retaining wall forms the top of this simple cairn. Unfortunately, there is always plenty of trash on riverbanks and in parks. The people who left the trash may have the mistaken idea that it will wash away or dissolve. It will take 450 years for this cup to break down. Riverbeds that used to be sand and rocks are now covered in single-use plastics. As plastic breaks down, it doesn’t go way. Microscopic plastic particles are found in fish and in drinking water. Refuse to litter. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720364785310-FYNZE9QR2HHAE8UDA6DW/_E5A7672.jpg Ohio River - Abandoned Tank Riverfront Park, Ripley, Ohio, October 17, 2020 N38°44‘44“, W83°50‘28“, Elevation 490 feet This large, rusting tank is hiding in the woods at the edge of Riverfront Park in Ripley, Ohio. Founded in 1804 by a veteran of the American Revolutionary War, Ripley became one of the first depots on the Underground Railroad. Both Black and white residents aided people who were escaping their enslavement in Kentucky. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720364923912-NM54L1QLBDR8EVTSKF70/_E5A7699.jpg Ohio River - Bridge Out Salt Lick Creek, Vanceburg, Kentucky, October 17, 2020 N38°36‘10“, W83°19‘18“, Elevation 480 feet A decaying wooden bridge over Salt Lick Creek that flows from rural areas into the Ohio River at Front Street, the road that runs close to the river. There had been a First Street, but it was washed away when the 1937 flood filled the entire downtown. When rebuilding after the flood, residents renamed Second Street, Front Street. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720364975289-CSVDEC4KPVQWX8CR8ENU/_E5A7788.jpg Ohio River - Chilicothe Bridge Highway 23 Bridge, Portsmouth, Ohio, October 17, 2020 N38°43‘48“, W82°59‘56“, Elevation 520 feet This cairn rests on the riverbank between the Chillicothe bridge, connecting Ohio and Kentucky, and the point where he Scioto River joins the Ohio River and marks a landmark that cannot be seen. The two-ton Indian Head Rock emerged on the Kentucky side of when the Ohio river was low. It was was believed to have been engraved with an ancient Native American pictograph, and marked by many people over the years. River pilots used to gauge the river’s depth since the 1802. Recent history revolves around its theft and relocation to a park on the Ohio side in 2007, and the legal battles between the two states that followed. The state of Kentucky won the suites and custody of the rock, placing it in storage, out of public view. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720365027142-YDIB9LT0SFH1IC0TP9D6/_E5A7804.jpg Ohio River - Dark Hollow Road Forest Run Creek, Pomeroy, Ohio, October 18, 2020 39°02‘22“N 81°59‘59“W, Elevation 570 feet Near the junction of highway 7a and Forest Run Road is the aptly named Dark Hollow Road. At dusk, this narrow, tree-lined country road seemed abandoned, and a little spooky. But that impression changed when a caravan of beautifully restored muscle cars drove past the site and pulled into a driveway just up the road. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720365429720-VZPO4BM4NEMND7QEIOME/_E5A8165.jpg Ohio River - Parkersburg Point Point Park, Little Kanawha River, Parkersburg, West Virginia October 20, 2020, N39°15‘55“, W81°34‘03“, Elevation 580 feet This cairn sits on the bank of the Little Kanawha River in Point Park, just a few feet from its confluence with the Ohio River in Parkersburg West Virginia. A railroad bridge and the State Highway 9 Bridge are in the background. A locked gate under the bridges leads to the Parkersburg Yacht Club, private homes with docks on the river along Levee Access Road. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720365090492-N182JBZESH90AEUXUQQX/_E5A7842.jpg Ohio River - Boat Launch Backwash Proctorville, Ohio, October 18, 2020 N38°26‘27“, W82°24‘13“, Elevation 520 feet Many people use the Ohio river to boat and fish. Public river access is available in almost every town and at the end of many county lanes like this one at Old State Road/Highway 3. Adjacent to the dirt boat ramp, this big puddle suffers from an oil slick and is surrounded by trash. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720365218206-402Q2P2EIUNR3R4YN9PX/_E5A7887.jpg Ohio River - Tree Farm Crown City, Ohio, October 18, 2020 N38°35‘59“, W82°13‘49“ Elevation 500 feet The Rod Cairn stands among evenly spaced trees in this small plot. Gray clouds and rain complete the peaceful setting https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1721221590435-WF23JFT03M0KFJWOYC7T/_E5A8107.jpg Ohio River - Forked Run Cottageville, West Virginia, October 18, 2020 N38°53'12" W81°50'23", Elevation 560 feet Nightfall covered this tributary of Mill Creek during its journey from this site near Ripley Road to the main stem of Mill Creek. Mill Creek flows under State Highway 2, heading for the Ohio River. It almost reaches the river before making two hairpin curves to flow alongside the larger river for more than a mile, then it joins the Ohio downstream in the little town of Millwood. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720365463905-SGYT7VFN30K2IT7HIH9D/_E5A8209.jpg Ohio River - Harmar Railroad Bridge Harmar Historic District, Marietta, Ohio, October 21, 2020 N39°24‘41“, W81°27‘29“, Elevation 590 feet These timbers originally supported a covered bridge spanning the Muskingum River, separating Harmar and Marietta. In 1863, it was converted to an iron railroad bridge. The oldest swinging iron bridge in the country, this bridge has been rebuilt four times after floods. Limited to foot traffic in 1962 and now closed, there is a campaign to fund the bridge’s restoration. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720365563163-E3NSLJGFJLV57WQOPMKM/_E5A8221.jpg Ohio River - Generating Power and... Newport, Ohio, October 21, 2020 N39°23‘28“, W81°14‘43“, Elevation 600 feet This cairn is posed across the Ohio River from the coal fired Municipal Power Plant in St. Marys, Ohio, built in the 1960s. A 2010 study by the Clean Air Task Force found that the soot and air-born pollutants coming from the St. Marys plant likely cause nine deaths, fourteen heart attacks, and one hundred and forty asthma attacks annually for residents. Like many coal-fired powerplants, St. Marys may be replaced by cleaner options. In 2016, the Army Corps of Engineers completed a hydroelectric powered plant at Willow Island Lock and Dam, about five miles downriver from St. Marys. The new plant will provide electricity with fewer risks to the public’s health. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720365618804-0OW1MBY5014ESZYVBYNE/_E5A8301.jpg Ohio River - Old Growth Pike Road, St. Marys, Ohio, October 21, 2020 N39°23‘30“, W81°11‘34“, Elevation 840 feet Bluffs are a significant piece of Ohio River geography and are frequently the site of early cemeteries. This forested area, identified as Old St Marys Pike Hill, includes a small, historic cemetery for the International Order of Odd Fellows, a fraternal organization. The cairn rests on a large tree stump, encrusted with moss and lichens. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720365664835-S75GK4SY6896AZBR1DAR/_E5A8355.jpg Ohio River - Ferry at Fly Fly, Ohio, October 21, 2020 N39°33‘59“, W81°00‘11“, Elevation 590 feet The cairn sits on the Ohio riverbank at the edge of the Wayne National Forest, in the village of Fly, Ohio. The Sistersville Ferry, one of the few ferries operating on the Ohio River, carries cars and passengers across to the larger town of Sistersville, West Virginia. The town is named for the sisters Sarah and Delilah Wells who owned the land on which the town was built. Their last name is preserved in nearby Wells Island, a part of the Ohio River National Wildlife Refuge. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720365717471-JR48WCQN5L4HAZCOHSBM/_E5A8406.jpg Ohio River - In the Stream New Martinsville, West Virginia, October 21, 2020 N39°38‘15“, 80°51‘34”, Elevation 610 feet A small steady stream emerged from one of the culverts under this road, used by occasionally by cars and more frequently by hikers and runners in New Martinsville City Park. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720370767366-N8VHNBMUM3CWDDC9CE9Y/_E5A8501.jpg Ohio River - Rock Wall Powhatan Point, Ohio, October 21, 2020 N39°51‘59“, W80°47‘33“, Elevation 620 feet Powhatan Point marks the confluence of Captina Creek and the Ohio River. It provides a view of the many layers of sandstone formed when the Ohio River was created. the now-vanished Teays River became what is called the deep stage Ohio River. Then, about 100,000 years ago, the Wisconsin Glacier pushed the deep stage Ohio southward to create a channel similar the present Ohio River. If the glacier had not intervened, the modern state of Kentucky would have been larger and Ohio smaller. https://ninenet.pbslearningmedia.org/resource/ket08.sci.ess.earthsys.ohioriver/how-the-ohio-river-was-formed. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720365852313-H056A2TRT90NYH4HV14B/_E5A8537.jpg Ohio River - Asphalt Mound Fork Ridge Road and 12th Street, Moundsville, West Virginia October 21, 2020 N39°54‘44“, W80°43‘42“, Elevation 640 feet The city of Moundsville is named for the nearby sixty-foot-tall Grave Creek Mound, one of the largest conical-type burial mounds in the United States The compacted soil mounds were built in 250–150 BCE by members of the Adena culture. This much smaller, contemporary mound of used paving material marks the end of a road adjacent to city sports fields. https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ef/Grave_Creek_Mound.jpg https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720365901481-836BSVHP9ZOJUKRWPG0W/_E5A8594.jpg Ohio River - Highway Construction Wheeling Creek at Fulton and Fawn Streets, Wheeling, West Virginia, October 22, 2020 N40°04‘28“, W80°42‘29“, Elevation 640 feet Wheeling, West Virginia is a dense urban area. Highways were under construction everywhere. From the parking lot behind small restaurants and businesses, layers of highways and exit ramps were being built next to and over Wheeling Creek https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720365978722-MRGRUUMBTXER3QL1S2M5/_E5A8694.jpg Ohio River - Puddle Blum Park, Steubenville, Ohio, October 22, 2020 N40°21‘51“, W80°36‘33“, Elevation 650 feet Watersheds are revealed not only in large-scale water bodies like rivers, streams, wetlands but also in small scale such as rainwater flowing dow https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720369673199-UWEU2HEW6K8E4LAOR5KB/_E5A8748.jpg Ohio River - Under the Railroad Bridge County road 17a under the Ohio River Scenic Byway, Rayland, Ohio, October 22, 2020 N40°12‘53“, W80°39‘60“, Elevation 650 feet Railroad tracks run parallel with the river and cross under the Ohio River Scenic Byway at this site. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720366268686-K8Y37MDDX714HOAEACFI/_E5A8741.jpg Ohio River - Ducks in the Water Tomlinson Run Park, New Cumberland, West Virginia, October 22, 2020, N40°32‘24“, W80°35‘06“, Elevation 890 feet People who like to fish and hunt waterfowl frequent the quiet waters of Tomlinson Lake on the Ohio River.This lake is in the wilderness area of Tomlinson Run State Park, West Virginia’s “top” 1,398-acre park. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720366329768-JOZG4BC9K4Y6Z9OWD8LF/_E5A8780.jpg Ohio River - Little Beaver Creek Shadows Grimm’s Bridge Road, Fredericktown, Ohio, October 22, 2020 N40°40‘53“, W80°32‘06“, Elevation 710 feet The shadows formed by these trees beside Grimms Bridge Road, parallel with the Little Beaver Creek, reach out to frame the cairn. Two hundred yards upstream, all that remains of the road’s namesake is an overgrown road leading to some large pieces of concrete on the bank. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720366384187-N55CG7DFJSSZUD36XKMG/_E5A8834.jpg Ohio River - Night Fishers Riverfront Park, Rochester, Pennsylvania, October 22, 2020 N40°41‘54“, W80°16‘52“, Elevation 680 feet The town that would eventually be called Rochester was settled by European immigrants at a Lenape village named Sawcunk. A century later, it was the home to the National Glass Company that developed an innovative industrial process for creating glass objects. A similar mold process was used to make the household glass assembled in this cairn. In the image, a man and his young daughter are fishing from the pier, and pleasure boats travel on the Ohio River as the sunset turned the smoke from Steubenville, Ohio, factories a rusty orange color. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1635092837109-T12TCDW8MB1PEAW18IZ7/_E5A7005.jpg Ohio River - Night Bridge Cottageville, West Virginia, October 18, 2020, 38°53‘12“N 81°50‘23“ W, Elevation 560 feet Nightfall covered this tributary of Mill Creek during its journey from this site near Ripley Road to the main stem of Mill Creek. Mill Creek flows under State Highway 2, heading for the Ohio River. It almost reaches the river before making two hairpin curves to flow alongside the larger river for more than a mile, then it joins the Ohio downstream in the little town of Millwood. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720363622988-H2VOSNDBO3JOULXZBZOM/_E5A2617.jpg Ohio River - Pittsburg Viewpoint Point of View Park, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, October 21, 2022 N40°26'21.8", W80°1'17", Elevation 1170 feet Resting among native plants at the bluff’s edge, the rectangular glass cairn mirrors the shape of buildings on the Pittsburgh skyline. Below, Point Park marks the confluence of the Alleghany and Monongahela Rivers to become the Ohio River from this point until it merges with the Mississippi River at Cairo, Illinois. The name Ohio comes from the Seneca people’s word meaning “beautiful river.” Unfortunately, as a result of heavy industrial and urban waste flowing into the water for more than a century, the Ohio is now the most polluted river in the United States. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720366526943-4H40CO71R2I1DE06DHHC/Cloverport.jpg Ohio River - Cloverport Stream Highway 105 and Elm Street, Cloverport, Indiana, October 15, 2020, N37°49‘22“, W86°37‘08”, Elevation 340 feet The Quiver Cairn rests at the edge of the Elm Street Boat Launch. Its shape and golden spirals mirror the early fall color in the trees beside the highway 105 bridge. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720367218443-QUUM2Q7RC605451ZOFCJ/ScenicLake.jpg Ohio River - Scenic Lake John James Audubon State Park, Henderson Kentucky, October 14, 2020, N37°52‘44“, W87°33‘37“, Elevation 410 feet The John James Audubon State Park, one mile from the Ohio River, including a 300-acre old-growth forest conservation area, honors the painter and naturalist who lived Henderson, Kentucky, from1810–1819. Construction of the park by the Civilian Conservation Corps began in the 1930s. The Scenic Lake is one of the two lakes they created by draining the swamps that covered much of the land. The John James Audubon Museum, located in the park, contains his famous Birds of America prints, along with various paintings and artifacts. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1721251744005-T749JDWADMHE6LT28197/ShadowPay.jpg Ohio River - Charlestown Landing Charlestown State Park, Charlestown, Indiana, October 16, 2020, N38°24‘02“, W85°37‘53“, Elevation 420 feet This cairn sits at the edge of a four-lane boat ramp in Charlestown State Park. The park was created in 1996 on land that had been the Indiana Army Ammunition Plant and Rose Island, a popular recreation area from the 1800s. In the 1920s, Rose Island became an amusement park, complete with a small zoo, merry-go-round, roller coaster, and more until it was destroyed in the Ohio River flood of 1937. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720367313507-S7U4BEXOY7PGTFBE1LG9/ToadstoolSteps.jpg Ohio River - Toadstool Steps Overlooking the Newburgh Locks and Dam, Indian Trail Overlook Park, Newburgh, Indiana, October 14, 2020, N37°56‘03“, W87°22‘26“ , Elevation 450 feet The Indian Trail Overlook Park, off Indiana Route 66 and French Island Trail, provides a view of the Newburgh Locks and Dam, built by the US Army Corps of Engineers in the 1970s to replace an older dam. The park is also home to some beautiful old trees. The Mushroom Cairn draws attention, not to the dam, but to the base of one of these grandmother trees. Her ability to draw water and nutrients from the earth to feed its oxygen generating factories—leaves, is worth celebrating. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720367395088-QXFOS9U5EXEQMSIQJGD6/ToadstoolTree.jpg Ohio River - Toadstool Tree Indian Trail Overlook Park, Newburgh, Indiana, October 14, 2020, N37°56‘03“, W87°22‘26“, Elevation 450 feet The Indian Trail Overlook Park, off Indiana Route 66 and French Island Trail, provides a view of the Newburgh Locks and Dam, built by the US Army Corps of Engineers in the 1970s to replace an older facility. The park is also home to some beautiful old trees. The Mushroom Cairn draws attention, not to the dam, but to the base of one of these grandmother trees. Her ability to draw water and nutrients from the earth to feed its oxygen generating factories—leaves, is worth celebrating. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720367482536-F2GVWCCMQZUVJGRJ0D3S/GolcondaTowers.jpg Ohio River - Golconda Tower Golcanda, Illinois, October 13, 2020, N37°22‘02“, W88°28‘56“, Elevation 330 feet Behind this cairn on the riverbank in Golcanda, Illinois, a concrete and stone tower marks the point where Lusk’s Creek enters the Ohio River. Across the creek the historic Lusk Ferry had been moored at the present location of the Golcanda Marina. Before there was a bridge, this ferry carried passengers and freight across the river and played a tragic role in the Trail of Tears story. In the winter of 1838, thirteen thousand Cherokee, who had been expelled by the federal government from their traditional homes in the East, were forced to walk to the Oklahoma territory. They arrived cold and starving, on the Kentucky side of the river. The ferry’s owner made the people to wait through the night huddled under Mantle Rock. Many died from the cold, others were murdered. The next afternoon, those who had survived were charged eight times the usual fee to ride the ferry across the river. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720367571816-2RL18UNUXXIRGBRWXJL2/GrandviewSunset.jpg Ohio River - Grandview Sunset River Road, Grandview, Indiana, October 14, 2020 N37°56‘11“, W86°57‘48“, Elevation 370 feet Looking toward the two-unit coal-fired Rockport Power Generating Plant, built in the late1980s.The plant operated by American Electric Power (AEP) is one of the largest coal-fired plants ever built. In July 2019, AEP announced it would retire its Rockport Unit 1 by the end of 2028 as part of a U.S. District Court-approved modified consent decree concerning air pollution from multiple AEP plants in the Midwest. The website S&P global reported that AEP expects the share of coal-fired generation in its portfolio to drop about 36% by 2030, with solar, hydro and wind up 29% https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720364192846-TWQTW3UBAJYKMPRNAZIZ/INTheCave.jpg Ohio River - In The Cave Cave in Rock State Park, Paducah, Kentucky, October 13, 2020 N37°28‘04“, W88°09‘36“, Elevation 310 feet Entering the cave at dusk, it was easy to imagine how our ancestors may have used this space for shelter. A beam of light entered from a hole in the ceiling. The artists struggled to build a level cairn on the uneven rocks before the sun set, but ultimately relied on three small LED lights for illumination. After the photo was made and the glass packed, those same lights guided them out of the cave and up the many steps to the parking lot in the pitch-dark. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720367668030-34ESB81B0DNQCV3MX9IU/Poles.jpg Ohio River - Poles Bay City, Illinois, Barren Creek meets the Ohio River, October 13, 2020, N37°15‘18“, W88°30‘16“, Elevation 320 feet While sturdy enough to walk on and place the Rod Cairn between the upright poles on the edge of this dock on Barren Creek, the slanting deck is disorienting. Adding to the confusion, while the latitude and longitude on the GPS app remained the same, the physical location kept switching between Illinois and Kentucky. Further study of the maps revealed that because the Ohio River channel had changed over time, the boundary of the two states was very close to Ohio at this point, rather than in the middle of the river where it had been when the state boundaries were determined. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720368081107-AN3KVADP1SZO87NLKG22/RawPower.jpg Ohio River - Raw Water Water Intake, Paducah, Kentucky, October 13, 2020 N37°05‘48“, W88°36‘36“ , Elevation 330 feet Other than a well-kept downtown riverfront park with dozens of beautifully painted murals portraying the city’s history, much of the Paducah, Kentucky riverfront is devoted to commercial and industrial property. One exception is the municipal water intake. The building’s sign reminds us that “raw water” is pumped from the Ohio River and treated for drinking by more than 27,000 customers in Paducah, McCracken County, and parts of Graves and Marshall Counties. Not everyone can take tap water for granted, however. A note on the utility’s website announced that they would begin turning off water service to households with past-due water bills. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720368358605-EWBXX0QZLM9W6EE6CYN3/Lime.jpg Ohio River - Carmeuse Lime Carmeuse Natural Chemicals Plant, Butler, Kentucky, October 17, 202, N38°50‘06“, W84°14‘31“, Elevation 760 feet Highway 8, also called the Mary Ingles Highway, closely follows the Ohio River. The Carmeuse Natural Chemicals Plant utilizes rock and aggregate from local mines to make concrete and in road construction. Located on the banks of the Ohio River, it ships most of its product on river barges. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720368415841-ATOIIR0ZFR59ESI6LUPP/Skyline.jpg Ohio River - Cincinnati Skyline Eden Riverfront Park, Cincinnati, Ohio, October 17, 2020 N39°07‘03“, W84°29‘12“, Elevation 760 feet From the overlook at Eden Riverfront Park, a few miles north of downtown Cincinnati, this cairn stands watch over the city. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1721253320877-HFUXY5LU4IFI6JZWLFN1/Greenup.jpg Ohio River - Greenup City Park Greenup, Kentucky, October 17, 2020, N38°34‘31“, W82°49‘54“, Elevation 520 feet The cairn is posed in the Greenup City Park between Main Street and the Ohio River. Northwest of the park, Main Street Bridge crosses the Big Sandy River as it joins the Ohio. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1721254349757-1J6BGVOWY1Z4VS817UOH/PoadsideStream.jpg Ohio River - Marina Park Marina Park, Wheeling Island, Wheeling, West Virginia, October 22, 2020, N40°04‘37“, W80°44‘13“, Elevation 660 feet Three bridges connect this most densely populated island in the Ohio River with the rest of the Wheeling, West Virginia and Bridgeport, Ohio. Although the southern tip of the island is occupied by a casino, racetrack, and stadium, most of the island is residential with closely spaced, two- or three-story frame homes on narrow streets. The cairn is posed in a riverfront park on the northwestern side of the island that seems to be the neighborhood’s back yard with many people strolling, walking their dogs, and children playing. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720368984605-XCOD567PQVB43NJSQXRH/VirginiaPoint.jpg Ohio River - Virginia Point Park Kenova, West Virginia, October 18, 2020 N38°24‘51“, W82°35‘36“, Elevation 530 feet West Virginia’s Big Sandy River enters the Ohio River at Kenova. Located near the tristate boarder, the town’s name is a combination of the names of Kentucky, Ohio, and West Virginia. Part of the larger Ashland Metropolitan area, Kenova’s distinction is its Dreamland Pool; it was the largest pool east of the Mississippi when it opened in 1926. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1721254703941-R1LPLB2BDZGJ0EDT5209/image-asset.jpeg Ohio River - Roadside Stream Under Highway 79 exit ramp, Glenfield, Pennsylvania, October 23, 2020, N40°31‘06“, W80°07‘51“, Elevation 850 feet Near the city of Pittsburgh, a web of highways, streets, and private property impede access to the Ohio River or its tributary streams. One exception is a small commuter parking lot under a Highway 79 exit ramp. The steep rock and gravel slope under the highway structure provides a view of an idyllic stream almost unchanged by urban sprawl. http://www.watershedcairns.com/mississippi-river-south daily 0.75 2025-06-01 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1721163514928-9F352V1PWUIKWYQN05XB/_E5A8275.jpg Mississippi River South - Ferry Tree Rock Road Ferry, St. Genevieve, Missouri, October 23, 2019 3N8° 00’ 15” W90° 03’ 33”, Elevation 390 feet A willow tree bends over the water that feeds its roots. A willow can survive a long time with its roots under water. In most other years, this tree would have had wet feet for a few months in the spring as snow melt and spring rains raised the water level. This year, the Mississippi River has remained high since April and is over flood stage in October. Today, the boat dock is submerged and the ferry closed due to high water. The grain mill at Modoc, Illinois, is visible across the river. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1721163514928-9F352V1PWUIKWYQN05XB/_E5A8275.jpg Mississippi River South - Ferry Tree Rock Road Ferry, St. Genevieve, Missouri, October 23, 2019 3N8° 00’ 15” W90° 03’ 33”, Elevation 390 feet A willow tree bends over the water that feeds its roots. A willow can survive a long time with its roots under water. In most other years, this tree would have had wet feet for a few months in the spring as snow melt and spring rains raised the water level. This year, the Mississippi River has remained high since April and is over flood stage in October. Today, the boat dock is submerged and the ferry closed due to high water. The grain mill at Modoc, Illinois, is visible across the river. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1721163577785-R81XS7KCEDZYOSH77NBW/_E5A8390.jpg Mississippi River South - Cape LaCroix Confluence Southeast Missouri Port, Scott City, Missouri, October 24, 2019 N37° 14’ 54” W89° 29’ 49”, Elevation 360 feet The blue-and-white cairn rests at the end of the River Road where the La Croix Creek and the Mississippi River converge, drawing attention to the river as a transportation asset, moving crops and materials. The Southeast Missouri Regional Port Authority’s website notes that the port offers slackwater harbor, public terminals, interstate highway access, switching railroad (UP, BNSF), industrial sites, complete utilities, and much more. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1721163890471-KLZCZIM1J9JNZY12H9Q3/_E5A8322.jpg Mississippi River South - Trail of Tears Sunset Trail of Tears State Park, Cape Girardeau, Missouri, October 23, 2019 N37° 27’ 13” W89° 27’ 41”, Elevation 370 ft. In 1830, President Andrew Jackson signed the Indian Removal Act. Because of this law,16,000 Cherokee people were forced to travel from their homes east of the Mississippi to Oklahoma in the winter of 1838-39. Ice on the Mississippi compelled the caravans to camp in Cape Girardeau County. Harsh winter weather, lack of food, and illness caused the death of more than 4,000 Native Americans on that Journey commemorated here at the Trail of Tears State Park and across the river in the Trail of Tears State Forest in Illinois. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1721163702108-KQ0CK6LRQHG0669MLK9T/_E5A8408.jpg Mississippi River South - Trail of Tears (Overlook) Trail of Tears State Park, Cape Girardeau, Missouri, October 24, 2019 N37° 27’ 23” W89° 28’ 45”, Elevation 690 feet Trail of Tears State Park honors the 800-mile forced relocation of 16,000 Cherokee people, from their homes east of the river to reservations in the West. More that 4,000 died in the Cape Girardeau County winter of 1838-39. The crystal cairn overlooks the park’s Vancill Hollow Nature Area and the Mississippi. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720476936771-3OJ8L0YFQXCU156XD1L6/_E5A4797.jpg Mississippi River South - Grand Tower Grand Tower, Illinois, July 15, 2020 N37° 37’ 50” W89° 30’ 22”, Elevation 340 feet The grand tower cairn glows in the setting sun on the riverbank near the Mississippi River Museum on Front Street in Grand Tower, Illinois. The cairn’s site is directly across the Ohio River from Tower Rock (not seen in this image). The 400 million year old Limestone rock protrudes 60 feet above the water narrowing the river channel to treacherous currents. The rock was a landmark for native people and mentioned in the writings of early explorers. Now part of the Tower Rock Conservation Area in Perry County, Missouri, the rock was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1970. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720551428182-AHW9Q7LIYLL5IHTS6CYR/_E5A8307.jpg Mississippi River South - Kaskaskia Levee Rock Road Ferry, St. Genevieve, Missouri, October 23, 2019 37° 57’ 6.13”N 89° 55’ 36.4”W, Elevation 390 feet A willow tree bends over the water that feeds its roots. A willow can survive a long time with its roots under water. In most other years, this tree would have had wet feet for a few months in the spring as snow melt and spring rains raised the water level. This year, the Mississippi River has remained high since April and is over flood stage in October. Today, the boat dock is submerged and the ferry closed due to high water. The grain mill at Modoc, Illinois, is visible across the river. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720476804762-QFHP1NHMZDHO27XIHE0F/_E5A4669.jpg Mississippi River South - No Ferry West Paducah, Kentucky, July 16, 2020 N37° 08’ 23” W88° 44’ 43”, Elevation 310 feet The map labels this site adjacent to the bridge from Illinois as “Metropolis Ferry.” At one time, there may have been a ferry carrying passengers to Metropolis, Illinois, on the other side of the Ohio river, but all that remains is a gravel road to the river on both riverbanks. Rocket Ship cairn sits in the calm water with the smokestack of Honeywell Corporation’s Metropolis plant in the distance. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720477281897-DNWUH0IH2XUFENJVMI9M/_E5A5242.jpg Mississippi River South - Ohio Confluence Cairo, Illinois, July 16, 2020 N36° 59’ 03” W89° 08’ 26” W, Elevation 320 feet The capacious (capable of holding much) cairn was created for this point where the Ohio River meets the Mississippi River because the great volume of water the Ohio River discharges makes it the third largest river in the United States and the Mississippi River’s largest tributary. The Ohio River watershed is home to major cities and industries that send barges full of oil, steel and other industrial goods into the Mississippi. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720477508085-W05FJMDCZM1Q6V21WDMP/_E5A8178.jpg Mississippi River South - Residential Flood Wall Tywappity Street, Commerce, Missouri, July 20, 2021 N37°09'25" W89°26'41, Elevation 350 feet Commerce is a village of sixty-five people on the Mississippi River where several houses had these four-foot-tall concrete walls with solid metal gates at the edge of their yards. South of Commerce 1,607 miles of levees on both sides of the river were built to protect homes and farms while deepening the river channel for shipping. Studies show that they have contributed to flooding damage. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720477613492-UJD92JURQRSTIJR0PRNP/_E5A8218.jpg Mississippi River South - Birds Blue Hole Birds Point Levee Road, Charleston, Missouri, July 20, 2021 N36°57'51" W89°07'37", Elevation 320 feet Birds Blue Hole is a public fishing site managed by the Missouri Department of Conservation in the Birds Point Floodway, agricultural land separated from the Mississippi River by fifty-six miles of primary levees and thirty-six miles of secondary levees between Birds Point and New Madrid, Missouri. The levees are constructed and maintained by the US Army Corps of Engineers. The Birds Point Levees were part of the 1928 flood control plan to reduce flooding in Cairo, Illinois, and in other river communities. The Army Corps updated the plan several times, but Congress has declined to fund recommended improvements. The Corps has purposefully blasted holes in the levees only twice: during the major floods of 1937 and 2011 to flood farmland to save the towns. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720477745662-ZBN8SESQ21A1FZPIWYWD/_E5A8258.jpg Mississippi River South - Joseph Hunter Moore Highway 303 and Birds Point Levee access road, Ohio Township, Missouri , July 20, 2021 N36°54'43" W 89°07'21", Elevation 320 feet This river access area near the Birds Point Levee is managed by the Missouri Department of Conservation; the flood control stuctures are maintained by the US Army Corps of Engineers. The Birds Point Levee separates the Mississippi River from the adjacent farmlands. It has been purposefully breached only during the major floods of 1937 and 2011 to reduce flooding downstream in Cairo, Illinois. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720477811570-URC5D3LKQ204DIFBGG01/_E5A8280.jpg Mississippi River South - Thirtyfour Corner Blue Hole Missouri Department of Conservation River Access on the Birds Point Levee, off highway 80, East Prairie, Missouri.July 20, 2021 N36°46'25" W89°10'44", Elevation 330 feet A white cairn rests in front of a stump with the Birds Point Levee in the background. The Birds Point Levee separates the Mississippi River from the adjacent farmlands. It has been purposefully breached only during the major floods of 1937 and 2011 to reduce flooding in Cairo, Illinois, and other downstream communities. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720478007273-JKUREG3R1IFPERHN2LTM/_E5A8330.jpg Mississippi River South - Portside Charleston, Missouri, July 20, 2021 N36°46'15" W89°07'20", Elevation 320 feet Twilight encloses the black-glass False Gods Cairn at Fitzgerald Marine Repair, located on the Mississippi River off Highway 80 in Mississippi Township, Missouri. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720478378607-DS2P4EOQV35E9CBDQT4A/_E5A8344.jpg Mississippi River South - Darkness at Dorena Intersection of Highways 510/107 and 77, near Dorena, Missouri July 20, 2021 N36°36' 60" W89°14'11", Elevation 320 feet As the sun sets, a glowing Rocket Shop Cairn is framed by the remnants or an agricultural building in the former James Bayou Township. The first government levee to breech in the massive 1927 Mississippi River flood was at Dorena. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720555213446-NCH1TTQ87YD8SR7NMEOL/_E5A8362.jpg Mississippi River South - Faultless Riverfront Park, New Madrid, Missouri, July 21, 2021 N36°35'0" W89°31'56", Elevation 300 feet The blue-and-white cairn is framed in the opening of this unidentified stone wall in New Madrid Riverfront Park. A billboard not far from this city park humorously declares, “It’s Our Fault,” a reference to the two geological plates pushing against each other deep under the region. It has produced some shaking from time to time and could cause an earthquake at some point in the future. Earthquakes have the potential not only to bring down stone structures but also to alter a river’s course. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720479049427-WCRWF6D7KEURFJAVTUJQ/_E5A8400.jpg Mississippi River South - Returning to the River Second Street, Century Casino, Caruthersville, Missouri, July 21, 2021 N39°11'29" W89°39'02", Elevation 280 feet The amber glass cairn sits next to a flood wall, under a giant pipe. The pipe’s function is to pump floodwater that may have seeped to town side of the levee when the flood gates are closed, back into the river. A grain mill located at the river’s edge is in the background of this image. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720479479817-GLZMV0SSX717BX4C8C16/_E5A8429.jpg Mississippi River South - Walkway Gage Tiptonville, Tennessee, July 21, 2021 N36°22'04" W89°30'14", Elevation 290 feet A giant “ruler” measures the height of the Mississippi River. The United States Army Corps of Engineers, which maintains an official river gage five miles upstream, has records of river levels at Tiptonville since the early 1900s. One of the highest numbers, 44.75 feet over flood stage, was recorded in 1937, the year of destructive flooding on the Mississippi and Ohio River basins. Other highwater years have been 46 feet in 1995 and 1997 and 43.55 feet in 2008. The highest level this year (2021) was 38.11 feet in May. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720482544033-RYLG95LUMJA6UR7ODRBT/_E5A8507.jpg Mississippi River South - A Sheltering Place Reelfoot Lake, Tiptonville, Tennessee, July 21, 2021 N36°22'30" W89°26'07", Elevation 290 feet Highway 21 follows the lake eastward, circling the Reelfoot State Wildlife Management Area, Reelfoot Lake State Park, and the Reelfoot National Wildlife Refuge. An egret floated in the shallow water between the cypress trees in the distance until the artists disturbed its solitude when placing this cairn. E5A8507 vertical https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720479592827-DUQE3ILFHKHHU3MA26IT/_E5A8524.jpg Mississippi River South - Stateline Beanfield Hartman, Arkansas, July 21, 2021 N35°59'54" W89°43'59", Elevation 270 feet This green-and-yellow cairn is located on an unnamed dirt road, separated from the Mississippi River by a few feet of trees and is just 750 feet south of the Missouri-Arkansas border. E5A8524 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720479647390-KNQLVEP5GPQ0AVGQCUK8/_E5A8536.jpg Mississippi River South - Tomato Slough North County Road 919, Tomato, Arkansas, July 21, 2021 N35°52'01" W89°47'02", Elevation 250 feet A black, red, and amber cairn marks Tomato, Arkansas. A farming village with a population of thirty-five people. Tomato is located on a slough, that is, an area of muddy ground or pool. The slough near Tomato extends a half mile eastward to the Mississippi River’s main channel. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720479687711-CSOMVP8ULKQV21Z4BO8K/_E5A8602.jpg Mississippi River South - Lake Neark Jacksonville Landing near Levee Road, Osceola, Arkansas, July 21, 2021 N35°43'10" W89°57'35", Elevation 255 feet Clouds and tree branches played hide-and-seek with the sunlight to momentarily illuminate the tree trunk and the Rocket Ship Cairn at Jacksonville Landing on the Mississippi River. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720479781086-JB51AJQH29TOW60G7GVW/_E5A8610.jpg Mississippi River South - Frenchmans Bayou Bridge County Road 1212 crossing Frenchmans Bayou, Arkansas July 21, 2021, N35°27'58" W90°10'52", Elevation 220 feet With daylight fading, a thin part of the White Cairn balances on the bridge railing on this quiet country road. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720479876665-BYXKN5H3U819X87HE2XQ/_E5A8632.jpg Mississippi River South - Sunflowers and Cypress Ballard Slough Road, Tipton County, Tennessee, July 22, 2021 N35°32'14" W89°53'17", Elevation 230 feet This cypress slough flows close to the Mississippi River and parallel to the larger Ballard Slough. The sunflower field, between them, in the background of this image, is most likely flooded when the river is high. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720479925507-AR5OE5WZPGQD15EYUDX7/_E5A8657.jpg Mississippi River South - Meeman Boat Ramp Meeman-Shelby Forest State Park, Tennessee, July 22, 2021 N35°22'05" W90°04'38", Elevation 230 feet Dark clouds moved slowly across the sky, giving way to a few puffy clouds. The sun illuminates native plants and the blue-and-white cairn at the edge of the boat ramp at Meeman-Shelby Forest State Park. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720479996968-A2L2Y4W5SKH1M2MYG5WO/_E5A8675.jpg Mississippi River South - Mud Island Riverfront Park, Mud Island, Memphis, Tennessee, July 22, 2021 N35°9.5'01"N W90°03.3'30", Elevation 230 feet Don’t know what they call this well-worn structure in Mud Island Park, but it has a great view of the Hernando de Soto bridge, spanning the Mississippi River between Tennessee and Arkansas. Mud Island is a 3.5 mile-long peninsula that shields downtown Memphis from the rapid flowing Mississippi River. The area was originally developed as a theme park, museum, and concert venue, with a scale model of the Mississippi River as one of the main attractions. (You can rent a paddleboat to float in the swimming pool that represents the Gulf of Mexico at the river’s end.) The park hasn’t lived up to the city’s expectations and requires major reinvestment. A 2019 plan proposed reimagining Mud Island for outdoor activities, such as biking, running, or walking. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720480051145-UF5VQ2V166YE25AQ2OI8/_E5A8709.jpg Mississippi River South - Fountain Hernando de Soto River Park, north of Lake Cormorant, off Highway 61 in Western DeSoto County, Mississippi, July 22, 2021, N34°57'10" W90°14'45", Elevation 200 feet A fountain-like cairn marks this boat landing in DeSoto County’s only public access to the Mississippi River. The name of the park and the county (organized in 1836) refer to the Spanish explorer Hernando de Soto who met Mississippian Native Americans living here when he traveled the Mississippi River in 1540 CE. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720552773414-4367E2XVG1PAQBVFGHMO/_E5A8766.jpg Mississippi River South - Flower Lake Flower Lake Camp Road and Levee Road, Tunica County, Mississippi, July 22, 2021 N34°35'55" W90°29'46", Elevation 200 feet In many places along the lower Mississippi River, the roads on top of the levees separating the river from agricultural land and small communities also serve as secondary connecting roadways. On this Levee Road, above the fields on both sides of the winding Flower Lake Camp Road, the Rocket Ship Cairn is balanced on a metal cattle guard that keeps cattle from roaming beyond their designated pasture. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720555366446-28B5OACRURBC7YNEMJ87/_E5A8829.jpg Mississippi River South - Campbell Landing Across the river from Hollywood Casino, south of Tunica, Louisiana and downstream from Peters Island, Arkansas., July 23, 2021, N34°48'23" W90°28'36", Elevation 200 feet Occasional red-and-white streamers dangling from tree limbs and a flurry of butterflies mark the dirt roads leading from Lee Road 623 to what the map identifies as Campbell Bar. Outside the frame of this image is a rudimentary boat landing on the main channel of the Mississippi River. Eight trucks were parked in the clearing. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720550560551-6WDPGXC6LF47TI9BPDWF/_E5A8855.jpg Mississippi River South - Old Town Lake 2 Highway 85/44 near Market Street, Lakeview, Arkansas, July 23, 2021, N34°24'57" W90°47'56", Elevation 190 feet Cypress trees growing in a horseshoe lake, a remnant of the Mississippi’s long-ago channel, viewed from the boardwalk in Lakeview, sponsored by the Arkansas Fish Department. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720482846324-TO1XWDSREGA0PL08J0TQ/_E5A8885.jpg Mississippi River South - Old Town Lake 1 Highway 85/44 near Market Street, Lakeview, Arkansas, July 23, 2021 N34°24'57" W90°47'56", Elevation 190 feet Cypress trees growing in a horseshoe lake, a remnant of the Mississippi’s long-ago channel, viewed from the boardwalk in Lakeview, sponsored by the Arkansas Fish Department. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720480516361-2DTOLYV49I7DKY4HAKBN/_E5A8920.jpg Mississippi River South - The Rails Stop Here Mozart, near Watson, Arkansas, July 23, 2021 N34°01'28" W91°04'53", Elevation 160 feet A large section of this rusty, elevated railroad track has been removed. The remaining track structure continues into the woods that an equally weathered sign suggests is, or was, the “Little Mozart Hunting Club, Posted.” The sign and the thick undergrowth discourage travelers from looking for the nearby confluence of the Arkansas and Mississippi Rivers. An amber cairn with a burned-out bulb marks the location. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720550982259-KU37ALA6V3O4MPMQCJMR/_E5A8960.jpg Mississippi River South - Big Eddy Lake Desoto Trail Road, Walnut Grove, Arkansas, July 23, 2021 N34°09'16" W90°47'22", Elevation 170 feet Bobo-Lara Lane becomes Desoto Trail Road on the Mississippi River side of the levee. At the edge of a swampy horseshoe-shaped lake, a roadside, mushroom-shaped cairn mimics the ripples on the surface of the Big Eddy Lake. The cairn was placed over a culvert that connects the lake with a small stream on the opposite side of the road. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720481725347-QL3UA3QLZK9THONRTJSS/_E5A8988.jpg Mississippi River South - Barn Bolivar Road off Levee Road, North of Lake Bolivar, Benoit, Mississippi, July 24, 2021 N33°39'43" W91°02'47", Elevation 170 feet This white-and-blue cairn rests next to a small, weathered barn on an unnamed road leading over the levee to private hunting clubs on the Mississippi River. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720482191415-OE93P9NK26YKUKFI3D46/_E5A9010.jpg Mississippi River South - Winterville Mounds Highway 1, Greenville, Mississippi, July 24, 2021 N33°30'10" W91°03.5'46", Elevation 130 feet A white glass cairn and a replica wooden canoe rest near the Winterville Mounds Museum. The museum and grounds are a Mississippi State Park and a National Historic Landmark, managed by the Mississippi Department of Archives and History. In the background of this image, two mounds built by Mississippian culture between 1000 CE and 1400 CE are visible. With twelve remaining Native American mounds and two plazas, this is one of the largest existing mound group in North America. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720482337593-68H0ZMWFGJ2UJISJV9G5/_E5A9029.jpg Mississippi River South - Road to Bunge Bunge Road, south of Delta National Forest, Mayersville, Mississippi, July 24, 2021 N32°55'0" W91°03'23", Elevation 110 feet The levees running parallel and close to the channel are mostly uninterrupted by roads that would allow access to the river. When roads do go over the levee, they frequently end in private property with gates, or “No Trespassing” signs. That doesn’t mean that the river stays on its designated side. Here the Rocket Cairn (topped with a rock found at the site) poses in front of a small swampy area before the Bunge corporation gate. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720551750135-1QK8ONQIN5A7NERN6VHM/_E5A9067.jpg Mississippi River South - Greenville Bridge Levee Road Under the US 82 Bridge, Shives, Alabama, July 24, 2021, N33°16'46" W91°09'54", Elevation 140 feet With only four bridges—The fifth, Hernando De Soto bridge at Memphis, Tennessee, was closed for repair—crossing the Mississippi River between the Ohio River at Cairo, Illinois and Vicksburg, Mississippi, this bridge between Greenville, Mississippi and Shives/Lake Village, Arkansas is essential. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720550176644-CE60HX5EWSHYHN6IZ7Z4/_E5A9091.jpg Mississippi River South - Bubbles on Rocks Grand Lake Loop, Grand Lake, Arkansas, July 24, 2021 N33°05'06" W91°12'51", Elevation 110 feet Broken asphalt and river rocks form the base for these small, clear, quirky cairns. Like the cairns, the dark green shapes of the cypress trees emerging from Grand Lake seem like a dream or fantasy. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720550498486-RMAD4XEN8MYRAPWZFSB1/_E5A9093.jpg Mississippi River South - Lake Providence Lake Street, Lake Providence, Louisiana, July 24, 2021 N32°48'25" W91°10'29", Elevation 80 feet A white cairn is balanced on the cypress swamp boardwalk, which is next to the Louisiana Visitors Center. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720480800058-JCBQOAK726Y9T3VOIQRR/_E5A9115.jpg Mississippi River South - Delta Bones St. Martin Drive, Delta, Louisiana, across the river from Vicksburg, Mississippi, July 24, 2021 N32°19'57" W90°55'38", Elevation 80 feet The cairn glows in the last light of the day, in front of a small shimmering pond or slough. Easily missed are the bones of a small animal resting in the left foreground. An alternate title for this image might be “Beasts of the Southern Wild” if that name hadn’t already been claimed by an acclaimed Hollywood film. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720555458949-693M7LZL4EYLTUFEMDJF/_E5A9130.jpg Mississippi River South - Lilies and Cotton Grand Lake Road on the way to Australian Island, Louisiana, July 25, 2021, N32°32'52" W91°03'50", Elevation 100 feet The native water lilies and cultivated plants coexist in this wet soil. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720552356180-5SUQSXVLGBCY7S1XB9EO/_E5A9141.jpg Mississippi River South - Vicksburg Tow Letourneau Landing, south of Vicksburg, Mississippi, July 25, 2021, N32°12'02" W90°58'58", Elevation 90 feet A passing towboat and a blue-and-white cairn mark this popular pleasure-boat landing on the Mississippi River near Vicksburg. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720552530297-9URGYA6QRCNJZJWQBO6Q/_E5A9155.jpg Mississippi River South - Spanish Moss Lake Bruin State Park, St. Joseph, Louisiana, July 25, 2021 N31°57'33" W91°12'09", Elevation 70 feet Cypress trees draped with Spanish moss are abundant in this Louisiana State Park, near the edge of Lake Bruin, a horseshoe-shaped body of water, once a part of the Mississippi River’s meandering channel. Spanish moss isn’t actually a moss but a bromeliad that gets its nutrients by absorbing what it needs from moist air and dust, not by taking from the tree like a parasite would. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720481806790-5WSH40AX4DKV4KZPUZ7E/_E5A9164.jpg Mississippi River South - Waterproof Main Street, Waterproof, Louisiana, July 25, 2021 N31°48'19" W91°22'59", Elevation 70 feet The blue cairn stands at the corner of a vacant lot and an empty storefront in Waterproof, population 688 in 2010, largely vacant downtown. The water tower proclaims the hope that their town, moved three times since its founding, and now separated from the Mississippi River by an earthen levee, remains waterproof in spite of water seeping under the levees.to erupt as sand and water “volcano” on the land side as they have in the 2011 and 2018 floods. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720555547737-8SCE1C6JKGIABD0EL4IN/_E5A9199.jpg Mississippi River South - Natchez Bridge Natchez, Mississippi, July 25, 2021 N31°34'23" W91°24'01", Elevation 70 feet This cairn at the foot of the Natchez National Cemetery, situated on the bluff above, marks a quiet view of the Mississippi River and the Highway 84 bridge between Natchez, Mississippi and Vidalia, Louisiana, in the background. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720550016411-HOEFUX4WY4N0XK9LKA8D/_E5A9251.jpg Mississippi River South - Point Breeze E. E. Wallace Boulevard, Shaw, Louisiana, July 25, 2021 N31°04'13" W91°36'04", Elevation 50 feet An amber cairn stands next to foundations of an earlier water control structure. The current concrete and steel “low sill” structure, just beyond the trees in this image, is part of the Old River Complex, regulating the amount of Mississippi River water flowing into the Red River, then into the Atchafalaya River. A February 18, 2018, Baton Rouge Advocate article explains, “Without human intervention, the current channel of the Mississippi River would slow to a trickle while the Atchafalaya would swell.” The US Army Corps of Engineers built and manages the Old River Control Complex to ensure that the Mississippi River does not join the Atchafalaya and flow into the Gulf of Mexico, west of New Orleans. This situation would deprive the city of New Orleans of its source of drinking water and literally leave billion-dollar industries and the deepwater Port of New Orleans high and dry. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720482458391-5PCQN1AX0UA29JCAODV4/_E5A9268.jpg Mississippi River South - Stilt House Deer Park, Louisiana, July 25, 2021 N31°24'57" W91°34'36", Elevation 60 A dozen houses on the old Mississippi River channel are elevated on twenty-foot-tall metal structures to protect them from the seasonal high-water flow. A map shows Mississippi and Louisiana’s boundaries generally following the middle of the Mississippi River. However, there are many places like this where the state boundaries loop away from the present course of the river, showing that the river changed its course since the state boundaries were established. As an example, this house in Louisiana is 4.3 miles west of the Mississippi River, but it is less than one-half mile west of the Mississippi state line. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720551897541-QS9M3RGIO00FRD8BE6JR/_E5A9283.jpg Mississippi River South - Percy Creek Lake Mary, Woodville, Mississippi, July 26, 2021 N32°12'02" W90°58'58", Elevation 100 feet Over the years, backwater flooding from the Mississippi River has deposited silt that has filled Foster’s Lake, the lower reaches of the Buffalo River, and Percy Creek, destroying thousands of acres of timberland, flooding homes and the Lake Mary Road leading to agricultural fields and the Lake Mary recreational area. The owner of a nearby fishing camp explained that area residents are working with their senators and representative to secure funding to restore the drainage and ecosystem. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720551196254-VOEISR6UJAQVCPAMN5A4/_E5A9305.jpg Mississippi River South - Midnight in the Garden The intersection of County Road 397 and the River Road, St. Francisville, near Tunica, Louisiana, July 26, 2021 N30°55'28" W91°33'09", Elevation 50 feet This cairn is photographed in the middle of a county road, a half mile southeast of the Louisiana State Penitentiary. Although it was only late afternoon, the setting recalled the title of a novel set in Savannah, Georgia. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1721167352874-S2N8S9QP2VJETLYCTEY2/_E5A9320.jpg Mississippi River South - On the Dock False River Lake, New Roads, Louisiana, July 26, 2021 N30°41'31.7" W91°26.4'12", Elevation 20 feet The red cairn rests on a lighted bollard on the dock of the False River Paddle Club —closed and for sale. A sign at the entrance to the town of New Roads proclaims it “the prettiest town on the river.” The town is actually located on a lake created when the Mississippi River formed a new channel, leaving a remnant “false river.” https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720480899326-704K2R4BBASXP631RLHC/_E5A9330.jpg Mississippi River South - Morganza Spillway Morganza, Louisiana, July 26, 2021 N30°48'10" W91°37'44", Elevation 60 feet The four-fifths-mile-long Morganza control structure and the twenty-mile-long, five-foot wide floodway/spillway are managed by the US Army Corps of Engineers to divert excess floodwater from the Mississippi River into the Atchafalaya Basin. This is done to alleviate stress on downstream levees, including those protecting the city of New Orleans. The structure has been opened only three times since it was completed in 1954: in 1973, 2011, and 2019. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720480687352-HN51BER5C2P9R9BQ0X33/_E5A9365.jpg Mississippi River South - Leviathan Barge East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana, July 27, 2021 N30°33'15" W91°12'56", Elevation 40 feet A huge tractor tire rests on the bank of Mulatto Bay, near the Pine Bluff Sand and Gravel Company, where the Leviathan barge equipped with a crane waits. The wide bay flows between the Mississippi River and Highway 61 before it joins the Mississippi River. The relative openness of this image doesn’t tell the full story of the one and a quarter square mile peninsula behind the quarry served by this landing. About one third is quarry and swamp. The rest is dense with large industrial plants. The industries include PPG Project, ExxonMobile Baton Rouge Polyolefins Plant, Barriere Construction, Deltec Corporation, Agway Systems, Ergon Oil Purchasing, and Kinder -Morgan Bulk Terminals. A compact residential area and Southern University and A&M College are located near the bay’s entrance to the Mississippi River. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720550407434-0VMISNBW3WXTABXINQBM/_E5A9386.jpg Mississippi River South - Coastal Sustainability 2 The Water Campus, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, July 27, 2021 N30°26'13" W91°11'32", Elevation 40 feet The deck of the Louisiana State University Coastal Sustainability Studio, on the first floor of the Estuary Conference and Event Venue, is the site of the Rocket Ship Cairn. Overlooking an historic pier, this cairn is featured in three images that illuminate the panoramic view of the river. This building, also known as the Center for Coastal and Deltaic Solutions, is the first phase of Louisiana State University’s 35-acre Water Campus, dedicated to the study of coastal restoration and sustainability in labs, research facilities, and commercial spaces. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720483026415-KMY96N8QYPXKBL2NNFXQ/_E5A9414.jpg Mississippi River South - Coastal Sustainability 3 The Water Campus, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, July 27, 2021 N30°26'13" W91°11'32", Elevation 40 feet The deck of the Louisiana State University Coastal Sustainability Studio, on the first floor of the Estuary Conference and Event Venue, is the site of the Rocket Ship Cairn. Overlooking an historic pier, this cairn is featured in three images that illuminate the panoramic view of the river. This building, also known as the Center for Coastal and Deltaic Solutions, is the first phase of Louisiana State University’s 35-acre Water Campus, dedicated to the study of coastal restoration and sustainability in labs, research facilities, and commercial spaces. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720483088332-DIVPQJK1LL7YXIOG6WAQ/_E5A9447.jpg Mississippi River South - Unlocked Plaquemine Lock State Park, Plaquemine, Louisiana, July 27, 2021, N30°17'31" W91°15'07.4", Elevation 40 feet The Bayou Plaquemine waterway connected the Mississippi River and the Atchafalaya Basin to form an inland shipping route for Native Americans and European settlers. In 1909, a series of shipping locks were built to raise ships fifty-one feet—a world record at the time, the engineer then worked on designing the Panama Canal. Alas, in the 1940s, a larger canal was built at Port Allen directly across the Mississippi. This old site was decommissioned but lives on as the Plaquemine Lock State Historic Site, featuring the lock walls, an historic church that has been converted to a museum, and a community park. The tall white cairn sits on one of the boat docks in the park. In memory of Jeigh Singleton https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720481599265-387O8016XN4YC5UNYHSK/_E5A9461.jpg Mississippi River South - Houmas House Burnside, Louisiana, July 27, 2021 N30°08'26" W90°56'11", Elevation 30 feet The white curlicue cairn poses in front of the historic Houmas House gates. In 1774 Alexander Latil and Maurice Conway appropriated the land from the native Houma people. A succession of owners and approximately 750 enslaved people worked the land to grow sugar cane from 1803 until the Civil War. In 1862 the house was used as the headquarters of Union General Benjamin Franklin Butler. Currently, tours of the mansion and gardens, with guides in period costumes, are offered at this “crown jewel of Louisiana’s river road.” https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720482630738-0ZVU3EFHJN4MZYVHQ0CM/_E5A9466.jpg Mississippi River South - Gas Line Between US Highway 61 and Bayou La Trainasse, Lutcher, Louisiana, July 27, 2021 N30°05'27" W90°43'29", Elevation Zero feet Right off the highway, a loud, high-pitched whistle emanated from large pipes that arch above ground, behind a chain link fence posted with “No smoking” signs. The red-and-white cairn marks nearby smaller pipes poking up in the swampy ground that is at, or slightly below, sea level. What will happen to these utilities when the sea level rises? https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720551365167-F91YSLWUZ4375AFBV5WF/_E5A9483.jpg Mississippi River South - Sugar Cane Glendale Plantation Road, off the River Road, Edgard, Louisiana, July 27, 2021 N30°01'47" W90°30'41", Elevation 10 feet The amber cairn stands between rows of sugar cane, the dominant crop in this part of Louisiana. The crops are irrigated by a system of canals, including the Company Canal and the Glen Dale Canal, that carry water from the Mississippi to the fields. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720555776578-175IIK52IVOHAB6O3ETF/_E5A9552.jpg Mississippi River South - Monsanto Bicentennial Park River Road, Luling, Louisiana, July 27, 2021 N29°56'17" W90°21'34", Elevation 20 feet The mushroom-like cairn rests at the base of a live oak tree in this city park. Children were playing on the swings and climbing structure, while on the other side of the levee, a ship sailed by. In the background, the tops of the Bunge North America and the International-Matex Tank industrial complexes, located across the Mississippi River in Destrehan, Louisiana, are visible. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720555834631-3GJPSKPIWETQO0EDJ99N/_E5A9562.jpg Mississippi River South - NOLA Riverview Park Audubon Park, New Orleans, Louisiana, July 27, 2021 N29°55'02" W90°08'02", Elevation 20 feet Many people were enjoying the cooler evening temperatures in this large riverside park. The flamboyant red cairn rests on a fence post between the walking trail and the steeply sloping and soggy river bank. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720550731173-YN5BP4JL26258SUGIQQF/_E5A9616.jpg Mississippi River South - St. Louis Cathedral Alley Jackson Square, New Orleans, Louisiana, July 28, 2021 N29°57'28.5" W90°03'50", Elevation 10 feet The Rocket Ship Cairn stands sentinel on the stone street next to the historic St. Louis Cathedral while a puddle at its base reflects the adjacent buildings. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1721218663186-KTQ7K28T0TJRJVAM24O4/_E5A9634.jpg Mississippi River South - Private Dock Patterson Road, Belle Chasse Marine Transportation, New Aurora, New Orleans, Louisiana, July 28, 2021 N29°53'29" W89°54'38", Elevation 10 feet A red, amber, and clear glass cairn marks the top of the levee at the private road leading to the “Violet Launch,” that carries workers out to the big rigs and ships. This is near the Audubon Wilderness Park —closed during the summer months—and Tulane University’s A Studio in the Woods. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720552676610-SQWAQ1ULNQ4WJ7YAWQ29/_E5A9653.jpg Mississippi River South - Myrtle Gove Marina Marine Road off Highway 23, Port Sulphur, Louisiana, July 28, 2023, N29°37'56" W89°57'07"W, Elevation 10 feet The Blue Cairn sits on the pier at the Myrtle Grove Marina, looking down the bayou at the luxury homes. This development is unlike the surrounding swampy land that has modest single-family homes. A sign tacked to the pier instructed visitors to pay $10 to fish from the dock, but a seagull freely fished for goldfish crackers tossed into the water. A month later, on August 29 on the 16th anniversary of the deadly Katrina storm, Ida, another major hurricane, swamped most of coastal Louisiana including this location in Port Sulphur. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720551992469-HP3IF1BI9TL6XOH809JD/_E5A9692.jpg Mississippi River South - Water Control Structure Levee Road at West Paula Drive, off Highway 23, Port Sulphur, Louisiana, July 28, 2021, N29°27'02" W89°38'58", Elevation 10 feet A white-and-clear glass cairn sits in front of a water control structure on the Mississippi River. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1635103953834-9CGT13LS3YRGTUPB2JXL/_E5A9709.jpg Mississippi River South - Buras Boat Port Buras, Louisiana, July 28, 2021 N29°21'12" W89°32'11", Elevation 10 feet A mushroom-shaped cairn rests on the shore of this commercial fishing boat port among old fishing nets, tires, and a mostly submerged boat hull (outside this image). A month later, on August 29, the 16th anniversary of the deadly Katrina storm, Ida, another major hurricane, swamped most of coastal Louisiana. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720480977968-7EI2JRMEEJL4UPIWBUX8/_E5A9723.jpg Mississippi River South - Southernmost Point Venice, Louisiana, July 28, 2021 N29°13'53" W89°23'24", Elevation 10 feet Google Maps™ identifies this location as “The end of the River Road,” and a sign next to the road proclaims it the “Southernmost point in the state of Louisiana.” This is a fitting place for a sampling of the cairns used to make Watershed Cairns images on the great rivers of the Mississippi River Watershed. Parts of cairns used to mark the Northern Mississippi River, the Ohio River, the Missouri River and its main tributaries are gathered on a log with a view of an island in the Gulf of Mexico beyond. A month later, on August 29, the 16th anniversary of the deadly Katrina storm, Ida, another major hurricane, swamped most of coastal Louisiana, including this site. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720551039263-EIBIMDP28YZJ5366Q6VB/end.jpg Mississippi River South - Targa Resources Tide Water Road, Venice, Louisiana, July 28, 2021 N29°14'08" W89°23'13", Elevation 10 feet Near the end of Tide Water Road and the “Southernmost Point in the State of Louisiana,” a white cairn marks the juxtaposition of petrochemical industry and natural environment that is common in the Delta. Behind the white cairn balancing, in the soft, submerged soil, is a Targa Resources plant. Based in Houston, Texas, Targa describes itself on their website as a “provider of midstream services” and “in the business of gathering, compressing, treating and selling natural gas, natural gas liquids, liquified petroleum gas, and gathering, storing, terminating and selling crude oil.” A Fortune 500 Company, they reported quarterly earnings in August 2021 of $3.48 billion. On August 29, 2021, the 16th anniversary of the deadly Katrina storm, another major hurricane named Ida, swamped coastal Louisiana. https://static1.squarespace.com/static/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/6175b2c08d0dc030b5c04ec4/6175b4dcd192391580712f4b/1720479318565/ Mississippi River South - Blue View July 28, 2021 N29°14'55" W89°22'27", Elevation 10 feet Tide Water Road, Boothville-Venice, Louisiana The Blue Cairn is posed at the edge of Tidewater Road, looking west toward the peaceful lake-like Yellow Cotton Bay. To the east of the road, the Sugar Lake Bayou separates into two branches, both snaking southward through the swamps. The Venice and Cypress Cove Marinas are found immediately north of the bayou’s split. North of the marinas, channels have been created for barge access to a dozen industries on McDermott and Haliburton Roads. A month after this image was created, Ida a category 4 hurricane inundated the Gulf on August 29, the sixteenth anniversary of the deadly Hurricane Katrina. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720556042012-28OA27U6IZ19RAMFYAKW/image-asset.jpeg Mississippi River South - Blue View Tide Water Road, Boothville-Venice, Louisiana, July 28, 2021, 29°14'55"N 89°22'27"W, Elevation 10 feet The Blue Cairn is posed at the edge of Tidewater Road, looking west toward the peaceful lake-like Yellow Cotton Bay. To the east of the road, the Sugar Lake Bayou separates into two branches, both snaking southward through the swamps. The Venice and Cypress Cove Marinas are found immediately north of the bayou’s split. North of the marinas, channels have been created for barge access to a dozen industries on McDermott and Haliburton Roads. A month after this image was created, Ida, a category 4 hurricane, inundated the Gulf on August 29, the sixteenth anniversary of the deadly Hurricane Katrina. http://www.watershedcairns.com/illinois-river daily 0.75 2024-07-19 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720301099133-DG7D5FCYAU68X15WVGRZ/_E5A2051.jpg Illinois River - See Water: Grafton Grafton, Illinois, September 26 38°58'07"N 90°26'45"W, Elevation 420 feet Looking across the Mississippi River downstream from the point where the Illinois River enters the larger river, a white cairn rests on the shore in Grafton, Illinois. The water in the foreground is from the Illinois, while the islands in the background are in the Mississippi River. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720301099133-DG7D5FCYAU68X15WVGRZ/_E5A2051.jpg Illinois River - See Water: Grafton Grafton, Illinois, September 26 38°58'07"N 90°26'45"W, Elevation 420 feet Looking across the Mississippi River downstream from the point where the Illinois River enters the larger river, a white cairn rests on the shore in Grafton, Illinois. The water in the foreground is from the Illinois, while the islands in the background are in the Mississippi River. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720301450645-GJ0MX5KFSCCN2DQMI2E2/_E5A2079.jpg Illinois River - Swan Lake Two Rivers National Wildlife Refuge, Calhoun Division, Brussels, Illinois, September 26, 2022 38°57'04"N 90°30'51"W, Elevation 430 feet Two Rivers National Wildlife Refuge was established in 1958 to protect and enhance habitat for migratory birds. Located between the Mississippi River and Illinois River, the refuge encompasses 9,225 acres of riverine and floodplain habitat scattered around the confluence. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720301314651-M1P8HRMVODYU8TUZHDIL/Overlook.jpg Illinois River - Bountiful Eagle Roost Overlook, Pere Marquette State Park, Grafton, Illinois, October 19, 2022 38°58'40.5"N 90°32'08"W, Elevation 800 feet This image features the Abundant Cairn celebrating the 460 plants and 100 amphibian, reptile and mammal species that find their home in the large protected landscape of Pere Marquette State Park. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720301407561-MRB3GNBJSHRHSL2GH24K/_E5A2151.jpg Illinois River - Big Fish Hadley Landing Road, Brussels, Illinois, September 26, 2022 39°02'07"N 90°34'43"W, Elevation 430 feet Located just downstream from the leaf-shaped Twelvemile Island in the Illinois River and the Glades State Fish and Wildlife Management Area, the Fish Cairn reminds us that the historically clear waters of Illinois River supported the river valley’s economy with fish, freshwater mussels, waterfowl, and natural ice before the many levees increased sediment in the water, and the sewage and industrial waste from Chicago brought pollution in the early 1900s. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720302545694-3T3MM9W1JD2TTHM2ST5O/_E5A7793.jpeg Illinois River - Stump Lake Knees Stump Lake Road, off Highway 100, near Fieldon, Illinois, May 8, 2018 39°01’10"N 90°33’53" W, Elevation 430 feet The Milkstone Cairns nestle among the cypress knees in the well-named Stump Lake at the edge of the Illinois River. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720301585492-M1UF09IGZKYDK303PHCX/Hardin.jpg Illinois River - Hardin Flood Near Orchard and Park Streets, Hardin Illinois, May 5, 2019 39°09'06"N 90°37'05"W, Elevation 440 feet The 2019 flood covered streets near the Illinois River, flooding homes and garages. Initially, the nearby riverfront restaurant adapted by serving take-out only, until it was surrounded by water and forced to close until the waters subsided and the road was restored. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720301643484-6GIQ5PJW9V6GVJWZPY0O/_E5A2174.jpg Illinois River - Joe Page Bridge Off highway 35 east, Hardin, Illinois, September 26, 2022 39°09'13"N 90°36'35"W, Elevation 430 feet Joe Page (1845–1938) was beloved in Hardin for his generosity to the community and through his work to establish water, electrical, and telephone service to this agricultural area. He was responsible for the creation of this bridge carrying Illinois Route 16 and Illinois Route 100 over the Illinois River. In 1931, Joe Page, editor of the Jersey County Democrat, and John D. McAdams, editor of the Alton Telegraph, established the State Park Committee that was responsible for the creation of Pere Marquette State Park. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720301680602-O9HFY711RKNU9O90UBIA/FloodedField.jpg Illinois River - Muddy Vista Emerald Valley Farm, White Hall, Illinois, May 5, 2019 39°27'21"N 90°35'47"W The Rocketship Cairn balances cairn on the muddy edge of a rain-soaked field. Storms can wash essential topsoil, fertilizers, and other agricultural chemicals into ditches that drain into local streams. This is a big financial loss for farmers, pollutes downstream drinking water, contributes to algae growth that chokes rivers, and contributes to the hypoxic or “Dead Zone” in the Gulf of Mexico. Sustainable farming techniques help keep soil and chemicals on the land and out of the water. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720301743791-6G60Y1PMMQ1101L2DAEF/_E5A2206.jpg Illinois River - McCully Wetland McCully Heritage Project, Crawford Creek Road, Kampsville, Illinois, September 26, 2022 39°16'52"N 90°37'22"W, Elevation 440 feet This wetland, right off the parking area in the 940-acre nonprofit nature park, was relatively dry but a bit spongy, allowing the cairn to rest among the native plants and fallen branches. With miles of well-marked trails to view on foot or horseback there is more to see at the McCully Heritage Project. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720301787179-14B1NZEMN78VAHVE6LAB/_E5A2237.jpg Illinois River - Montezuma Road Near Frost Airport, Winchester, Illinois, September 27, 2022 39°33'44"N 90°34'15"W, Elevation 420 feet The relatively straight line of this creek, that flows through an agricultural field then disappears in the culvert under the road under the the cairn suggests it is a drainage ditch rather than a natural streem. But the many native plants growing on either side, the frogs jumping into the water, and the butterflies and herons flying above it, reveal a healthy ecosystem unusual in other drainage ditches. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720301811831-BF3X3B71PCO9J8TXBNK5/_E5A2259.jpg Illinois River - Bluff, No Bluff West Green and Oak Streets, Bluffs, Illinois, September 27, 2022, 39°45'02"N 90°32'13"W, Elevation 480 feet A blue and clear glass tower-like cairn sits in front of a grain mill and adjacent to the train tracks in downtown Bluffs. The town’s name is puzzling, because its elevation is only 20 feet higher than other locations next to the Illinois River, such as Naples, four miles to the west. Looking at the Google Earth map, it become clear that Illinois Route 100 follows this slight rise that divides the rich agricultural soil in the river’s traditional flood plain from the slightly elevated wooded area. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720301855532-IXZFMWPCJLPA0GRV82RY/_E5A2283.jpg Illinois River - Shadow and Shine Island Road near Indian Creek, Beardstown, Illinois,September 27, 2022, 39°55'18"N 90°31'59"W, Elevation 440 feet South of the La Grange Lock and Dam and downriver from La Grange Island, the clear-and-silver-glass cairn sits at the mouth of Indian creek. The creek originates northeast of Jacksonville, at first meandering through woods and agricultural fields, becoming straighter and hugging the edges of fields as it flows west to meet the Illinois River. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720301891190-DCGRXMJU1KAYO6IULZJX/_E5A2273.jpg Illinois River - Schmoldt Schmoldt Memorial Park, Marina Levee Road, Beardstown, Illinois, September 27, 2022 40°01'17.7"N 90°25'21"W, Elevation 440 feet The white-glass cairn rests in front of the round metal cover on one of two concrete water control structures in the levee. This earthen levee separates the agricultural areas north of Beardstown from Meyer Lake, a marshy flood plain of the Illinois River. These structures allow excess water from an unnamed creek and pond to be released into the lake and river. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720301935606-JB8CLHOO5D3I4Y5683OM/_E5A2301.jpg Illinois River - Snake Grass in the Woods Highway 100, Sanganois State Fish and Wildlife Area, Browning, Illinois, September 27, 2022 40°08'19"N 90°20'51"W, Elevation 450 feet Snake Grass, scouring rush, and horsetail are common names for Equisetum hyemale, the segmented evergreen plant that surrounds this white-glass cairn in the woods of the Sanganois State Fish and Wildlife Area. The plant is common in Europe, Canada and the northern parts of the US, and pieces of the woody plant have been found between the teeth of herbivorous dinosaur skeletons. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720301962878-4Q3QYXHO2CUUG1PGYYCW/_E5A2351.jpg Illinois River - Emiquon South Globe Highway 9, Emiquon National Wildlife Refuge, Lewistown, Illinois, September 27, 2022 40°20'30"N 90°05'35"W, Elevation 440 feet The observation station to the right of the clear-and-patterned-glass cairn looks out on Emiquon National Wildlife Refuge near Havana, Illinois. While there is only a picturesque stream in this autumn image, in the spring, this land floods and fills with birds and aquatic life. The bed of two shallow lakes that were drained in the 1960s was returned to its former state by The Nature Conservancy, a nonprofit, and the US Fish and Wildlife Service. They cooperate to manage this 11,122 acre reserve, a designated Ramsar Wetland of International Importance site. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720301994638-MSICTQPDERT6BBORZLO1/_E5A2374.jpg Illinois River - Miserable Lake Rice Lake State Fish and Wildlife Area, Highway 24, Banner, Illinois, September 27, 2022 40°28'36"N 89°56'50"W, Elevation 450 feet The clear-and-silvered-glass cairn reflects the colors of the evening sky and water at this boat landing by a sign proclaiming it to be “Miserable Lake.” It is separated from the main channel of the Illinois river to the east by a larger body of water labeled Rice Lake, Goose Lake, and Big Lake. To the west is the Duck Creek Cooling Pond of a natural-gas-fired electricity generating facility. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720302026940-9EFZ4EBQ0SVMU72UWXXL/_E5A2391.jpg Illinois River - Powerton Lake Illinois State Fish and Wildlife Area, Powerton Lake, Highway 16/County Road 1500N, Pekin, IllinoisSeptember 28, 2022 40°32'19"N 89°42'03"W, Elevation 450 feet The H2O cairn, created from a fish bowl and other glass containers, sits on the boat dock on the cooling lake for the Powerton coal-fired electric power generating facility. Powerton is one of the ten (there are thirteen) Illinois coal-fired plants slated to be closed by 2030 as a result of Illinois state laws designed to improve air quality and to decrease carbon emissions. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720302101645-AE6PY0498DJQREWXZKUH/BigFishMarina.jpg Illinois River - Big Fish Marina Henry Harbor Marina, Cromwell Drive, Henry, Illinois, September 28, 2022, 41°06'37"N 89°20'60"W, Elevation 450 feet The Big Fish Cairn sits on one of the stone walls of the 1870 lock and dam in Henry, the first dam on the Illinois River. Henry is a town of about 2,500 people, near the larger city of Peoria. The marina has slips for sixty boats and is a stop for boaters making the almost 6,000-mile Great Loop from the Gulf of Mexico, up the Atlantic Coast, through the St. Lawrence Seaway, Great Lakes, Illinois RIver, Mississippi River and south to the Gulf. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720302159613-W5YVMUETCYBUBALFQDYK/_E5A2421.jpg Illinois River - Flying Fish E. Lorentz Avenue, Illinois American Waterworks Park, Peoria, Illinois, September 28, 2022 40°43'32"N 89°32'59"W, Elevation 460 feet Three bottle-bodied fish appear to fly over the Illinois River at a popular, though hidden, fishing spot. These cairns refer to the several species of invasive Asian carp that jump out of the water when disturbed by motors, sometimes landing in boats and colliding with the passengers. The fish escaped from commercial fish farms in the south beginning in the 1970s and have migrated up the Mississippi River into the Illinois River and other tributaries. The fast-growing populations of bighead and silver carp are a particular threat to native fish by competing for food and living space. In an attempt to keep the population down, the fish are being harvested and marketed as cuisine or caught and destroyed. Underwater electric fish fences have been installed to keep these bullies out of the Great Lakes. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720302200710-19P6PL7CVQ3BIVFEEUJJ/_E5A2441.jpg Illinois River - Riffle Partridge Creek Road, Shore Acres Park, Chillicothe, Illinois, September 28, 2022, 40°51'15"N 89°29'17"W, Elevation 460 feet A riffle is a series of rocks or rails on the bottom of a stream or sluice designed to slow the water and allow sediment to settle. This blue-and-white cairn sits on a concrete riffle structure designed to slow down storm water to prevent erosion in Shore Acres Park where Partridge Creek enters the Illinois River. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720302247245-SLJKAY874LX2YGV4G5VU/_E5A2511.jpg Illinois River - Columns September 28, 2022 Spring Valley Boat Club, Illinois Route 89, Spring Valley, Illinois 41°18'38"N 89°11'57"W, Elevation 430 feet Look closely to see multiple clear columnar cairns clustering in the sand near the Illinois Route 89 bridge. These cylinders mirror the shape of the ADM grain silos across the Illinois River, below the town of Spring Valley. The town’s name was an obvious choice. The hills on either side of this valley were, and are to some extent today, laced with springs that still feed Spring Creek to the right of this image’s frame. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720302323446-4KYAN3NOQK36JBFR87CW/_E5A2534.jpg Illinois River - Sentinel Fishing Pier, Starved Rock State Park, Oglesby, Illinois, September 29, 2022, 41°19'22"N 88°59'43"W, Elevation 460 feet The blue flame-like top of this cairn points to, and watches over, the Pine Island Eagle Sanctuary on Pine Island in the Illinois River. The rock, hewn from limestone by melting glaciers 18,000 years ago, gives the Starved Rock State Park its name and has served as a notable marker for river travelers and the focal point for human communities for 10,000 years. The park is a National Historic Site and the lodge and cabins built by the Civilian Conservation Corps in the 1930s are on the National Register of Historic Places. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720302475404-W0ZF1ZTOE7LELM24NP8P/H2OOttawa.jpg Illinois River - H20 Ottawa Boat Ramp, Allen Park, 504 Courtney Street, Ottawa, Illinois, September 29, 2022 41°20'27.4"N 88°50'46.6"W, Elevation 460 feet Between the boat ramp and the old railroad bridge in Ottawa, Illinois’ Allen Park is a grove of trees, a small stream provides a sheltered space for this H2O Cairn. Ottawa is one of only six communities nationwide to have achieved the second-highest possible rating under the Community Rating System, the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s measure of floodplain safety. The community accomplished flood mitigation measures including buying out the homes in the frequently flooded “flats” at 80 percent of their preflood value to establish this park to accommodate surplus water with minimal damage to property. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720302731097-YR1U3FJYWE9DEX9IYSSR/boats.jpg Illinois River - Marina Tree Spring Brook Marina and Yacht Sales, River Drive, Marseilles, Illinois, September 29, 2022 41°17'59"N 88°37'43"W, Elevation 480 feet Along River Drive/River Road, west of the place where highway 178 crosses the Illinois River into Seneca, Illinois, there are several harbors and marinas for powerboats and yachts. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720302816024-ZGNTJ157L65STQMY3HS6/_E5A2565.jpg Illinois River - Reflections Illinois and Michigan Canal Trail, William G. Stratton State Park, Morris, Illinois, September 29, 2022 41°21'21"N 88°24'55"W, Elevation 490 feet The clear-and-silvered cairn reflects the Illinois River, looking south across the Illinois river from the Kayak Morris Campground in the William Stratton State Park. Morris is at the midpoint of the Illinois and Michigan Canal State Park, a 96-mile-long bike trail following the historic canal and the Illinois River between Lemont, near Chicago, to LaSalle, site of Starved Rock State Park. The I&M canal was opened in 1848 to allow barges to travel from the Chicago River into the Illinois River. Its function was partially replaced by the wider and deeper Chicago Sanitary and Shipping Canal in 1900, and it ceased transportation operations with the completion of the Illinois River Waterway in 1933. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720302950821-YSJJLUUXR9RZI1NS64QY/_E5A2579.jpg Illinois River - Coda: Kankakee South Island Park, Wilmington, Illinois, September 29, 2022 41°18'34"N 88°08'59"W, Elevation 530 feet The named Illinois River originates near Channahon, Illinois, where the DuPage River enters the larger Des Plaines, right before that blended river from the north joins the Kanakakee River coming from the south to create the westward Illinois River. Further complicating the geography of the river, the Dresden Nuclear Power Generating station extracts and returns river water used to cool the equipment in long channels between the Kankakee and Illinois Rivers. Because the Illinois origin is not accessible to the public, Watershed Cairns is marking its tributaries near their meeting place. This park is about 5 miles from two other natural areas, the Midewin National Tall Grass Prairie to the northeast and the Des Plains Dolomite Land and Water State Fish and Wildlife Area to the west. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1720302998650-PI0CDMVPY4VK844CZLHI/_E5A2592.jpg Illinois River - Coda: Des Plaines West Story Street (adjacent to DuPage River as it joins the Des Plaines River), Channahon State Park, Channahon, Illinois, September 29, 2022 41°25'21"N 88°13'42"W, Elevation 520 feet The Illinois River originates near Channahon, Illinois, where the DuPage River enters the larger Des Plaines, right before that blended river from the north joins the Kanakakee River coming from the south to create the westward Illinois River. Further complicating the geography of the river, the Dresden Nuclear Power Generating station extracts and returns river water used to cool the equipment in long channels between the Kankakee and Illinois Rivers. Because the Illinois origin is not accessible to the public, Watershed Cairns is marking its tributaries near their meeting place. http://www.watershedcairns.com/blog-wells daily 0.75 2025-05-12 http://www.watershedcairns.com/blog-wells/2016/3/7/interest-tx6je monthly 0.5 2016-03-07 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56d9b7181d07c0cd16df5f11/1457374570182-SPBJDFD85JVBM0KK3FDR/image-asset.jpeg Blog - Interest http://www.watershedcairns.com/blog-wells/2016/3/4/heritage-bpsby monthly 0.5 2016-03-07 http://www.watershedcairns.com/blog-wells/2016/3/7/gratitude-9ja28 monthly 0.5 2016-03-07 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56d9b7181d07c0cd16df5f11/1457370099006-DFIU2TVMYNO1SVOG9IQY/blog-82.65.365_PS2.jpg Blog - Gratitude https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56d9b7181d07c0cd16df5f11/1457370099081-X60SP2T1ZK52SMKCG5PF/blog-82.65.80_PS2.jpg Blog - Gratitude http://www.watershedcairns.com/blog-wells/2016/3/4/passant-lp4bp monthly 0.5 2016-03-07 http://www.watershedcairns.com/blog-wells/2016/3/4/oeuvre-9jf77 monthly 0.5 2016-03-07 http://www.watershedcairns.com/arkansas-river daily 0.75 2025-08-12 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1754775237512-GK54FOFZJI1RKSNZW0S1/_E5A5935.jpg Arkansas River - Valley Below the Source Leadville, Colorado, June 30, 2025 39°21'47"N 106°10'48"W, Elevation 11,180 feet Looking across the valley and stone quarry toward Quandary Peak and the springs and creek that become the Arkansas River. Because the land on this mountain is private property, we were not able to find the initial spring or creek. Earlier explorers also found it difficult to identify the river’s origin. Because of the extreme cold in January 1845, John Charles Fremont’s party was not able reach the river’s source. They were out of food and had used their blankets to make shoes and ended their search at 39°20'38"N 106°27'15"W. Google Earth shows the river going farther north, joining the east Fork of Homestake Creek, adjacent to the contemporary Homestake Reservoir. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1754775237512-GK54FOFZJI1RKSNZW0S1/_E5A5935.jpg Arkansas River - Valley Below the Source Leadville, Colorado, June 30, 2025 39°21'47"N 106°10'48"W, Elevation 11,180 feet Looking across the valley and stone quarry toward Quandary Peak and the springs and creek that become the Arkansas River. Because the land on this mountain is private property, we were not able to find the initial spring or creek. Earlier explorers also found it difficult to identify the river’s origin. Because of the extreme cold in January 1845, John Charles Fremont’s party was not able reach the river’s source. They were out of food and had used their blankets to make shoes and ended their search at 39°20'38"N 106°27'15"W. Google Earth shows the river going farther north, joining the east Fork of Homestake Creek, adjacent to the contemporary Homestake Reservoir. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1754775236608-TV2KRBVLIQQFNRR33DDF/_E5A5943.jpg Arkansas River - In the Arkansas River Crystal River Road, Leadville, Colorado, June 30, 2025 39°16'25"N 106°17'49"W, Elevation 9,980 feet The two people fishing in the young Arkansas River were unconcerned with the blue Splash cairn that appeared briefly in the cold water. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1754775246588-XKF9QETXH1WNO87Q9H78/_E5A5975.jpg Arkansas River - Turquoise Lake Turquoise Lake Road, Turquoise Lake Recreational Area, San Isabel National Forest, Leadville, Colorado, June 30, 2025 39°15'31"N 106°21'37"W, Elevation 9,880 feet Three large stacked jugs balanced temporarily on the eastern edge of Turquoise Lake, less than a mile west of the confluence of the East Fork of the Arkansas River and Tennessee Creek. Wikipedia lists this confluence 39°15'30"N 106°20'38"W as the origin of the Arkansas River. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1754775247766-0JE3X2JDFKV8X5ZW2D4X/_E5A5994.jpg Arkansas River - Twin Lakes Creek Off Highway 24 south of Leadville, Colorado, June 30, 2025 39°04'39"N 106°16' 55"W, Elevation 9,040 feet This cairn rests on the Highway 24 bridge looking east toward the South Peak of the Collegiate Range, a section of the Sawatch Range of the Rocky Mountains. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1754775345582-PXC61SKSBFF3K69DRE1E/Untitled_Panorama-1crop.jpg Arkansas River - River Rafts Browns Canyon National Monument, Scenic Byway, Highway 300, north of Nathrop, Colorado, June 30, 2025 39°45'01"N 106°04'01"W, Elevation 8,760 feet Trumpet Cairn sits on the edge of the bluff overlooking the Arkansas River’s parade of yellow raft. As in this photo, roads and railroad tracks run alongside most of the river. The large rock on the track is unusual, however. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1754775255003-0NJO24QJO7JK71DNU1O2/_E5A6031.jpg Arkansas River - Browns Canyon Scenic Near Hecla Junction Campground, Browns Canyon National Monument, Highway 194, south of Nathrop, Colorado, June 30, 2025 39°09'16"N 106°14'01"W, Elevation 7,390 feet Clouds and light rain at the foot of Sugarloaf Mountain provides the setting for a green jug and clear-glass bowl cairn. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1754775263585-VIKSSFT1373YFM8HKLWM/_E5A6069.jpg Arkansas River - Zebulon Pike Hecla Campground, Off Highway 50, Wellsville, Colorado, June 30, 2025 38°28'32"N 105°53'11"W, Elevation 6,850 feet A historic marker indicated that explorer Zebulon Montgomery Pike, wrote in his journal during his 1906-07 trip down the Arkansas River, that this was the place they redistributed their packs and saw a new bird. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1754775265223-7GZUJ9P68B4YZKNGETVA/_E5A6087.jpg Arkansas River - R.O.W. Marker Off Highway 50 near the AHRA Canyon Trading Post Recreation Site, Cotopaxi, Colorado 38°21'57"N 105°43'06"W, Elevation 6,420 feet A blue cairn is posed on a concrete post. A metal badge on the top of the post reads ROW (Right of Way in the construction of Highway 50) Colorado Highway Department. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1754775391426-2E7RHKCHVAEOSBLMYZYX/_E5A6114.jpg Arkansas River - John Nichols Crossing Garden Street and Riverside Avenue, Cañon City, Colorado, July 1, 2025 38°26'01"N 105°15'17"W, Elevation 5,380 feet A plaque near this bridge honors the memory of John Greenleaf Nichols who served the Cañon City parks department from 1974 to 2008 and was responsible for the city’s excellent park system. The Arkansas Riverwalk Trail and Tunnel Drive Trailhead are connected by this bridge over the Arkansas River. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1754775270647-P29D9JALNCQLQHTQD545/_E5A6094.jpg Arkansas River - Pinnacle Rock Coyote Run Road, Highway 50, Sawmill Gulch, Colorado, June 30, 2025 38°21'51"N 105°31'23"W, Elevation 6,070 feet A chance to get close to the river, this popular fishing spot was the temporary home for this glass cairn, assembled from repurposed glass, some glued to join multiple pieces, filling the artists’ van. The base piece, the globe of a hanging light fixture, is shimmed with rocks found at the site. As additional pieces are stacked on it, they are checked to be sure they are level and secured with adhesives, if it’s particularly windy. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1754775254639-L7E1KGJNL43K518CA45E/_E5A6044.jpg Arkansas River - South Browns Canyon June 30, 2025 Highway 285 Hecla Junction Campground, Browns Canyon National Monument,, North of Salida, Colorado, June 30, 2025 38°39'15"N 106°03'14"W, Elevation 7,390 feet The New Crystal cairn rests in bubbling Arkansas River water. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1754775403091-6T7SYZZOZ24AMIFDUETP/_E5A6142.jpg Arkansas River - Pueblo Reservoir Sailboat Road off Juniper Road, Lake Pueblo State Park, Pueblo, Colorado, July 1, 2025 38°16'33"N 104°44'09"W, Elevation 4,890 feet This arid park adjacent to the reservoir was created by the construction of the Pueblo Dam. The farming community of Swallows was located where the reservoir now fills the valley. In 1921 the community was seriously damaged by flooding. Then in the 1970s, the town was demolished to build the dam operated by the US Army Corps of Engineers for flood control https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1754775391842-L8QSR5RQI2N4DXB9F3CM/_E5A6131.jpg Arkansas River - Quarry Highway 120, Penrose, Colorado, July 1, 2025 38°23'20"N 105°0'56"W, Elevation 5,080 feet A play on the usual cairns built from rocks found at rivers and lakes, this “wonky” clear and satin glass cairn rests on a crushed rock pile outside an expansive rock quarry. On the other side of Highway 120 and the Arkansas River is a massive Portland cement factory. In 2018, the US Geological Survey estimated the value of sand and gravel quarried in the state of Colorado was $284 million and $141 million for crushed stone. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1754860755069-B6GHRMVECX8GW9XWO70Q/_E5A6164crop.jpg Arkansas River - Otero Canal County Road 4S, off highway 50, Fowler, Colorado, July 1, 2025 38°07'56"N 103°59'42"W, Elevation 4,310 feet This is another canal south of the Arkansas River. The canals are parallel to the Arkansas River, diverting river water to irrigate agricultural fields. Wikipedia states: “Water flow in the Arkansas River (as measured in central Kansas) has dropped from approximately 248 cubic feet per second (7.0 m3/s) average from 1944–1963 to 53 cubic feet per second (1.5 m3/s) average from 1984–2003, largely because of the pumping of groundwater for irrigation in eastern Colorado and western Kansas.” https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1754775413040-TZZ72JBE0304SXIIFV5C/_E5A6216sq.jpg Arkansas River - Outflow from Lake Meredith Highway 96, Ordway County, Colorado, July 1, 2025 38°08'52"N 103°44' 54"W, Elevation 4,280 feet A green cairn and a nearby sign warning “No Swimming, Strong Undertow” mark this canal that takes water from the Lake Meredith Reservoir for irrigation. Its path roughly parallels the Arkansas River and creates a rich agricultural valley. This site is near the reconstructed fort at the Bent’s Old Fort National Historic site. The fort was built in 1833 to trade with Native Americans and trappers. It became an important stop on the Santa Fe Trail as wagon trains of settlers moved west. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1754775401742-38XZSE8SOFAYVW8Q2BSX/_E5A6158.jpg Arkansas River - Boone Canal South Russell Avenue off Highway 96, Boone, Colorado, July 1, 2025 38°14'47"N 104°15'22"W Elevation 4,470 feet The Colorado Canal takes water from the very curvy Arkansas River at Madison Road and directs it in a straight path parallel to Highway 96, reconnecting the river downstream at the Nepesta Bridge in Fowler, Colorado. The glass bird inside this clear-glass cairn is a nod to the flock of small black birds that were swooping above the canal while we were setting up. Unfortunately, they didn’t hang around for the photo. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1754775640340-JM22ROAE7MV99IATGPVU/_E5A6250.jpg Arkansas River - Community Park North Gateway Park, Lamar, Colorado, July 2, 2025 38°06'22"N 102°36'16"W, Elevation 3,610 feet This community park features several ponds with many fishing stations, shaded picnic tables, volley ball nets, and a swimming area on the Arkansas River. A roadrunner bird crossed the road ahead of our van as we drove around the park. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1754775433235-DO28YJ816NP8WGK9M2IE/_E5A6235.jpg Arkansas River - John Martin Reservoir John Martin Reservoir State Park, Hasty, Colorado, July 1, 2025 38°04'10"N 102°57'49"W, Elevation 3,860 feet Construction of the John Martin Dam and Reservoir, used for flood control, irrigation, and recreation, was completed in 1948. It is surrounded by the John Martin Reservoir State Park. That same year, the states of Colorado and Kansas signed the Arkansas River Compact, agreeing to the two states allotment of Arkansas River water, including water held in this reservoir. In 1980, the states developed a plan to allocate 60% of the reservoir’s water to Colorado and 40% to Kansas. The implementation of this agreement has been the source of an ongoing battle in the courts. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1754775639167-5P7KO8QX72GH8QC85SUL/_E5A6265.jpg Arkansas River - Holly Highway 89, Holly, Colorado, July 2, 2025 38°02'43"N 102°07'02"W, Elevation 3,390 feet A Big Jug Cairn rests near agricultural equipment on the bank of the Arkansas River. Looking toward the small town of Holly (2020 census reported 837 people), this site is four miles west of Colorado’s boarder with Kansas. A sign welcoming visitors to Holly announces that Roy Romer, Colorado Governor, 1987–1999, had lived here. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1754775414285-KH91D6N170Z8TVOINOXM/_E5A6203.jpg Arkansas River - Spillway West Canal Road and Jachim Street, La Junta, Colorado, July 1, 2025 38°0'17"N 103°32'58"W, Elevation 4,080 feet This spillway is on a canal that supplies irrigation water to a grid of green fields between the canal and the main branch of the Arkansas River, a mile to the south. The surrounding land, not supplied by tributaries or canals, is not as productive. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1754775651358-BQNKSXUPU89U1I8ZFZ0W/_E5A6289.jpg Arkansas River - Syracuse Sand Dunes Syracuse Sand Dunes Park, Highway 27, Syracuse, Kansas, July 2, 2025 37°57'50"N 101°45'44"W, Elevation 3,220 feet Is it called mining when sand is scooped for sale? This pond and dune buggy recreation area was at the edge of a larger sand excavation site. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1754775653542-0XFUVMPAGY569LM72W7P/_E5A6332.jpg Arkansas River - Wheat Field Intersection of Roads W2 and 180, Deerfield, Kansas, July 2 ‘25 37°57'50"N 101°45'44"W, Elevation 3,020 feet Miles of industrial-scale fields of corn, soy beans, and wheat fill the land adjacent to the Arkansas River, blocking access to the river but providing a golden backdrop for this blue cairn. There is very little traffic on these gravel roads between the fields. To our surprise, as we were placing this cairn, two trucks came down the road. When Josh moved the van so they could pass, they waved, smiled, and drove on. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1754775704190-H4C8BZNRP19S9NNAVL24/_E5A6372.jpg Arkansas River - Ford County Feed Lot Ford, Kansas, July 3, 2025 37°40'09"N 99°44'32"W, Elevation 2,420 feet This confined animal operation, CAFO, is huge, holding thousands of cows in pens of about twenty cows each. A man on a frontend loader was moving from pen to pen scooping their manure into a mound in the middle. In three of the pens, black angus cows were standing on the top of their mound. In one pen, a light tan cow lay on its side on the top of the mound, apparently dead. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1754775660859-DE75TAB67BPCIQU4ZZRV/_E5A6354.jpg Arkansas River - Where Has All the Water Gone? Looking toward the Highway 83 bridge over the Arkansas River, Garden City, Kansas, July2, 2025 37°57'22"N 100°52'43"W, Elevation 2,830 feet The Arkansas River flows over the Ogallala Aquifer at this location. The aquifer, a massive pool of ancient fresh water deep underground, is being depleted by wells drawing water, primarily for irrigation. The cairn’s stacked spheres conceptualize the various layers of the earth’s structure: glowing core; a layer of coal, oil, or carbon sequestration. A Blue plate represents groundwater such as rivers, lakes, and wetlands. The cast glass house on top represents human constructions on the surface of the planet. According to the Fourth National Climate Assessment (NCA4) 2017/2018, water is being pumped from this aquifer faster than it is being replenished. A map published by the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Agency, shows the aquifer below Garden City, Kansas, is 100–150 feet below its level when pumping began in 2015. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1754775715171-OSUHBW5SSQQV2B3VHR7X/_E5A6378.jpg Arkansas River - Survey Marker Ditch Highway 50, Kinsley, Kansas, July 3, 2025 37°55'38"N 99°23'12"W, Elevation 2,190 feet We visited this site on the historic Santa Fe Trail, just two months shy of 200 years after the US Geological Survey. A stone marker identified this as the campsite of the U.S. Survey Team, September 3, 1825. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1754860719960-CIR0MHBQO998461XEBXI/_E5A6188.jpg Arkansas River - Conservation District USACE Las Animas Arkansas River Conservancy District, Las Animas, Colorado, July 1, 2025 38°05'05"N 103°14'07"W, Elevation 3,930 feet The Mosaic Cairn marks the land adjacent to the Arkansas River that is protected by a system of levees and canals constructed and maintained by the United States Army Corps of Engineers for flood protection. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1754775662928-JC0X9N6WHZNT0M17XGQC/_E5A6364.jpg Arkansas River - Arkansas River in a Culvert Cimarron, Kansas, July 3, 2025 37°47'51"N 100°20'32"W, Elevation 2,600 feet Low water in the Arkansas River has been an increasing concern. Waterflow in the Arkansas River from 248 cubic feet per second (cfs) in 1944-1963 to 53 cubic feet per second in 1984–2003 largely because of using groundwater for irrigation in eastern Colorado and western Kansas. On July 2, 2025, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Agency showed 385 cfs in La Junta, Colorado, and zero cfs in Deerfield and in Garden City, Kansas, two towns adjacent to this site in Cimarron. https://www.climate.gov/maps-data/dataset/river-levels-graphs https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1754775717918-O6EJXO3P8919RCM4IO9B/_E5A6384.jpg Arkansas River - Arkansas River Island Highway 19, south of Larned, Kansas, July 3, 2025 38°10'03"N 99°05'58"W, Elevation 2,020 feet The teapot in this small cairn reminds us that the beverages we drink all depend on fresh, clean water. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1754775809363-0FLST64SDV4LZPMKESQE/_E5A6461.jpg Arkansas River - Cave Park Oxford, Kansas, July 4, 2025 37°16'34"N 97°09'45"W, Elevation 1,150 feet Many small clear-and-satin-glass cairns rest on stone retaining walls at riverside. The Arkansas River Public Access boat ramp is out of view to the left. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1754775728630-CWOCLE5K0DPY6C53102F/_E5A6398.jpg Arkansas River - Arkansas River National Water Trail Arkansas River Access Site, South Washington and Railroad avenues, Great Bend, Kansas, July 3, 2025 38°21'02"N 98°46'25"W, Elevation 1,850 feet Paddlers can enjoy 192 miles of scenic water trail and riparian corridor wildlife habitat along the Arkansas River from this dock in Great Bend, Kansas, to the Oklahoma border. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1754775813469-UD9IN5Z3D1KI0PGKP69D/_E5A6470.jpg Arkansas River - Tree-Lined Road 111th Road near Highway 22, Arkansas City, Kansas, July 4, 2025 37°0'41"N 96°56'58"W, Elevation 1,110 feet This road near the border of Kansas and Arkansas is typical of the gravel roads the artists use to find interesting river views. Most roads will have trees on the river side and miles of agricultural fields on the other side. Watershed Cairns created an image near another Arkansas City, Arkansas, 506 miles southeast, near the confluence of the Arkansas River with the Mississippi River. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1754776253642-E5RRO8R7DWJASBGDHJZ2/Untitled_Panorama-2.jpg Arkansas River - Carey Park Jim P. Martinez Sunflower Trail, Hutchinson, Kansas, July 3, 2025 38°01'49"N 97°55'42"W, Elevation 1,520 feet A sandy beach on the Arkansas River was just beyond these bushes. We could hear swimmers laughing and splashing. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1754775733015-Q4AXWWY322Q2OILBDGML/_E5A6405.jpg Arkansas River - Flooded Field Near Cow Creek, Lyons, Kansas, July 3, 2025 38°18'15"N 98°10'26"W, Elevation 1,640 feet Small yellow flowers grow in the marshy ground next to Cow Creek, one of many smaller tributaries of the Arkansas River. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1754775819368-4K7SUYZV5LV2NT7U563F/_E5A6477.jpg Arkansas River - Kaw Lake Marina, Pioneer Park, Kaw Lake, Kaw City, Oklahoma, July 4, 2025 36°45'26"N 96°51'28"W, Elevation 1,040 feet To the right of this picture’s frame, a bustling marina saw dozens of boats filled with families and giant inflatable water toys coming and going. Some boats sailed up to us or walked by as we assembled the blue cairn and a waited for the sun to illuminate it, still, no one asked us what we were doing. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1754775735980-9CIBII61WV0Z3Z8V4ZJW/_E5A6436.jpg Arkansas River - Mount Hope Bridge North 279th St. W, Mount Hope, Kansas, July 3, 2025 37°01'53"N 97°39'55"W, Elevation 1,440 feet A delicate pink-glass cairn on this bridge over the Arkansas River reflects the setting sun. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1754775901571-VPRZ0VHKDFCG0O6O7BOX/_E5A6549.jpg Arkansas River - Tulsa City View River Parks West Bank Trail, Tulsa, Oklahoma, July 5, 2025 36°08'08"N 96°0'0"W, Elevation 630 feet Tulsa’s River Park, on South Jackson Avenue, overlooking the Arkansas River had been the site of the previous night’s Independence Day celebration. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1754775824012-ZQN08FWA68MO6IPINBJB/_E5A6495.jpg Arkansas River - Ralston Bridge Highway 18, Ralston, Oklahoma 36°30'20"N 96°43'24"W Elevation 820 feet E5A6495 This stacked bowl cairn sits on the Osage Nation Reservation, looking across the river to the small town of Ralston, Oklahoma. The Osage Nation includes close to 1.5 million acres that the Osage Nation purchased from the Cherokee in 1883 after native people were relocated from their homes east of the Mississippi River to accommodate settlers. Killers of the Flower Moon, a recent novel and film, tells the story of what happened when oil was discovered on this land. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1754775737814-O2II1VHK4K63Y0GPT5TJ/_E5A6440+copy.jpg Arkansas River - North Waterwalk Bridge Riverwalk dock, Douglas Avenue Bridge on West Douglas Avenue, Wichita, Kansas, July 4, 2025 37°41'09"N 97°20'38"W, Elevation 1,210 feet After much of the Arkansas River’s water had been used for irrigation, reducing the river to a trickle, it has returned to its full flow. Compare this bridge image with the one at Garden City in western Kansas. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1754775905182-R5CQ5HB49NACI4I280OC/_E5A6559.jpg Arkansas River - Indian Springs July 5, 2025 Indian Springs Sports Complex, Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, July 5, 2025 35°57'53"N 95°48'37"W, Elevation 570 feet The Blue Splash Cairn sits near a spillway beneath a bridge connecting baseball, soccer, and softball fields. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1754775828436-N8574LO8LM7IV7NP0YTX/_E5A6516.jpg Arkansas River - High Water Sunset Osage, Oklahoma, July 4, 2025 36°17'29"N 96°25'10"W, Elevation 750 feet This crystal shell basket sits on the boat dock in Osage, “The little community by the lake,” and seems to capture some of the setting sun’s glow. The town on Keystone Lake, a reservoir created by the USACE dam on the Arkansas River, had a population of 176 in the 2020 census. A fictional Osage, Oklahoma, is the main town depicted in the 1930 novel Cimarron by Edna Ferber and the 1931 film based on it. Considered the first Western, it won three Academy Awards, including Best Picture in 1932. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1754775915781-Z71UYOC3R3TDWXLFO7YK/_E5A6565.jpg Arkansas River - Old Railroad Bridge East 72nd Street north, Okay, Oklahoma, July 5, 2025 35°50'45"N 95°19'21"W, Elevation 510 feet A five-gallon-jug forms the base for this cairn emerging from the grass and yellow flowers at the edge a backwater on the Verdigris River. A collapsed railroad bridge is partially submerged in the immediate background. A replacement bridge that doesn’t appear to be in use is visible between the trees on the right. The Verdigris River joins the Arkansas River north of Muskogee, Oklahoma, about three miles downstream. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1754775831192-AOEIBWZ98FAI0CIXFR8A/_E5A6531.jpg Arkansas River - White Water Dam White Water Recreation Area, Sand Springs, Oklahoma, July 5, 2025 36°08'53"N 96°15'09"W, Elevation 670 feet The US Army Corps of Engineers Keystone Dam on the Arkansas River provides excellent fishing for humans and, if you look closely, a heron. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1754775919309-OW4S3P7D6O5F60N9G292/_E5A6573.jpg Arkansas River - Dirty Creek Unmarked road off 165th Street E in Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge, July 5, 2025 Webbers Falls, Oklahoma 35°27'36"N 95°05'20"W, Elevation 470 feet A small blue-and-white cairn sits at the edge of Dirty Creek as it enters the Arkansas https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1754775951643-DRAJ4RPLQHEFO34IEQLS/_E5A6621.jpg Arkansas River - South Fourche Fourche La Fave River, Cookie Ranken Road, Ouachita National Forest, near Perryville, Arkansas, July 6, 2025 34°59'41"N 92°46'52"W, Elevation 290 feet A rusty metal bridge in a wilderness area of the Ouachita National Forest provides access to a steam-punk-looking water control valve that temporarily sports a white glass cairn. The national forest covering nearly 1.8 million acres was established by President Theodore Roosevelt in 1907 and named Ouachita (pronounced wash i tah) the French spelling of the Native American word meaning “good hunting ground.” https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1754775924557-ULLEIBPIX3YU2OBDYMQQ/_E5A6588.jpg Arkansas River - Fort Smith River Gage Belle Isle Park, Garrison Avenue, Fort Smith, Arkansas, July 6, 2025 35°23'28"N 94°25'53"W, Elevation 410 feet Fort Smith was established in 1817 at Belle Point, overlooking the confluence of the Arkansas and Poteau Rivers. The Trumpet Cairn is standing on the edge of the Arkansas River below the fort. Discoverfortsmith.com states, “At Fort Smith National Historic Site, you can walk where Mexican War & Civil War soldiers drilled, pause along the Trail of Tears* and stand where justice was served to some of the most vile outlaws of The Wild West.” (*in 1830 the US passed the Indian Removal Act and used the army to force the migration of 12,000 Cherokee people from their land east of the Mississippi to the Oklahoma Territory.) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1754775945559-H29OMCQBXOML5GD07VWL/_E5A6635.jpg Arkansas River - Pinnacle Overlook Pinnacle Mountain State Park, Little Rock, Arkansas, July 6, 2025 34°50'40"N 92°27'42"W, Elevation 500 feet This wooden structure on the Fulk Mountains looks over the Maumelle River as it enters the Arkansas River and toward the Camp Robinson Wildlife Management Area. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1754775988922-49TQB1W2D3A3H0OW6QIU/_E5A6658.jpg Arkansas River - Island Harbor Island Harbor Marina Road, North Pine Bluff, Arkansas, July 7, 2025 34°17'01"N 91°56'53"W, Elevation 200 feet At the end of the road on the narrow point of a peninsula between the Arkansas River and Lake Langhofer sits a blue-and-white cairn. The towering grain silos of Tyson Foods Feed Mill in Pine Bluff on the far side of the lake can be seen in the distance. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1754775931539-55W3615G76R05DG4YU46/_E5A6599.jpg Arkansas River - Aux Arc Aux Arc Park (South Park), Ozark Lake, Arkansas, July 6, 2025 35°28'41"N 93°49'19"W, Elevation 410 feet Aux Arc is French meaning river bend. This campsite on the south side of the horseshoe shaped bend in the Arkansas River has a view of a water treatment plant across the river. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1754775952516-X8G1XS37UJISK0G79Y7K/_E5A6652.jpg Arkansas River - Willow Beach Sunset Blue Heron Parkway, Willow Beach Park, Little Rock, Arkansas, July 6, 2025 34°41'44"N 92°08'15"W, Elevation 240 feet Artist Libby Reuter sits on a park bench at dusk in Willow Beach Park and Campgrounds while LED lights in the Flower Cairn and many biting insects compete for her attention. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1754775989093-I2YL520JPRP60TWZMHW8/_E5A6666.jpg Arkansas River - Rising Star Rising Star Road, Rising Star Campground, Grady, Arkansas, July 7, 2025 34°10'09"N 91°44'23"W, Elevation 190 feet This bubble-like cairn, with a star engraved in the top, sits on a concrete and steel table next to a metal cooking grill in this public campground at the edge of the Arkansas River. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1754775934121-FT0VIBM1GF1PDNY7597F/_E5A6606.jpg Arkansas River - Lake Dardanelle Lake Dardanelle State Park, highway 326, Russellville, Arkansas, July 6, 2025 35°17'19"N 93°12'23"W, Elevation 340 feet This cairn points to the Arkansas Nuclear One nuclear power plant across the Illinois Bayou of the Arkansas River, near the town of London, Arkansas. The nearby Highway 64 bridge into Russellville is marked as a nuclear zone evacuation route. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1754775995446-LPAO1RXHQ3E2KEZAWBWJ/_E5A6672.jpg Arkansas River - Lake Lenox Dam Hydroelectric Generating Station, near Pendleton, Arkansas, July 7, 2025 33°59'04"N 91°18'54"W, Elevation 170 feet Three jugs, topped with a small green dish, are balanced on the rocks downstream from the Wilber D. Mills Dam. The string of orange floats cordon off the water coming from the Electric Cooperatives of Arkansas Hydroelectric Generating Station. The land across the river includes the Notrebes Bend Recreation Area and the Trusten Holder State Wildlife Management Area in the marshy delta between the Arkansas and Mississippi Rivers. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1754776001645-YG8C83GBWJECXXC4AMMB/_E5A6678.jpg Arkansas River - Great River Road Highway 10 at the Great River Road, Rohwer, Arkansas, July 7, 2025 33°48'03"N 91°09'56"W, Elevation 150 feet The Great River Road is actually a narrow gravel road on top of the levee. Farmers were harvesting hay on both the river and farm sides of the levee. Periodic cattle guards slowed our passage and probably prevented cows from wandering. At this site, we were very close to the official confluence of the Arkansas and Mississippi Rivers at 33°39'15"N 91°12'26"W. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1754961996134-7HCK7QX6KW4OUU7C3ESP/_E5A6164crop.jpg Arkansas River https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1754776005114-V89WEGQFSV1FZPVBK6BU/_E5A6698.jpg Arkansas River - End of the Road Highway 335, Governor Mike Beebe Scenic Overlook and Boat Ramp, Arkansas City, Arkansas 33°39'15"N 91°12'26"W, Elevation 140 feet Because Arkansas City is frequently mentioned as the place where the Arkansas and Mississippi Rivers meet, we wanted to see if there was a way to get closer to the confluence. No luck. This image shows the Splash Cairn sitting on the fencepost where a heavy wire cable and lock prevent further access to the dirt road that might lead to the rivers’ confluence. https://static1.squarespace.com/static/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/6897bd46f359a516a3534e94/689a984db22f392ef8c916e8/1754963356051/_E5A6164crop.jpg Arkansas River - Otero Canal County Road 4S, off highway 50, Fowler, Colorado, July 1, 2025 38°07'56"N 103°59'42"W, Elevation 4,310 feet This is another canal south of the Arkansas River. The canals are parallel to the Arkansas River, diverting river water to irrigate agricultural fields. Wikipedia states: “Water flow in the Arkansas River (as measured in central Kansas) has dropped from approximately 248 cubic feet per second (7.0 m3/s) average from 1944–1963 to 53 cubic feet per second (1.5 m3/s) average from 1984–2003, largely because of the pumping of groundwater for irrigation in eastern Colorado and western Kansas.” http://www.watershedcairns.com/new-page daily 0.75 2017-09-05 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1504581539793-MN9GPWSP3RE8EFOXRYW4/IMG_3687.jpg In Verse https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1504575469962-BQ941UN3YKWTRWTDIDBU/oilcan1200.jpg In Verse https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1504581139917-WK4I543WU6TALRAYEX0V/gc1200.jpg In Verse https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59adee8459cc68358913f4e0/1504581240152-WFCDZK1THLF9OYFD3YF1/IMG_5253.jpg In Verse 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