River Communities
There are many reasons why cities have grown up along the banks of the Mississippi River. One of the most important reasons is the transportation that the river provides. Before the airplane, automobile and railroad, the quickest form of transportation was by using boats and rafts on the river. European explorers and settlers used the rivers to find treasure and trade routes between other settlements along the rivers.
The floodplain of rivers offers nutrient-rich soil to grow crops. This allowed for greater amounts of food to be grown. Eventually, some settlements grew to have relatively large populations and started trade with other settlements found along the river. River settlements became hubs for commerce activities that attracted even more people to the area. Eventually, these settlements became known as the cities we know today along the Mississippi and other rivers.
