CONFLUENCE- Ohio River - Mississippi River - River Origins, Destinations and Confluences on Waymarking.com

The coordinate listed is located in Illinois' Fort Defiance State Park at the point of land between the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers. Parking is available within 100 meters of the point and it's an easy walk on mowed grass from there. This point, like any location close to rivers, is prone to flooding. A plaque located in Fort Defiance State Park has a very good explanation of this location. It is copied below;

Long known to the Indians who used the two great rivers as highways for trade and war, this junction of the Ohio and Mississippi was first sighted by Europeans when Marquette and Joliet glided past in 1673. Ten years later La Salle explored the area and established France’s claim to the Mississippi valley. From that time on this confluence was recognized as a strategic site for settlement and fortification. George Rogers Clark, following the capture of Kaskaskia in 1778, stationed armed boats at this junction to guard against attacks on the Illinois country by the British or Spanish. Here in 1811 the “New Orleans”, first steamboat to navigate western waters, lay at anchor during three nights of the New Madrid earthquake. In April of 1861 Fort Defiance was established at the confluence to thwart Confederate invasion and blockade the trade of the South. From here was launched General Grant’s great flanking movement up the Cumberland and Tennessee Rivers, which began at Fort Henry and ended at Vicksburg, giving the Union complete control of the Mississippi.

Parking Coordinates: in Decimal Degrees: N 36.9840 W -89.1402 Relevant Web Site: [Web Link] Trailhead Coordinates: Not listed

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