What is Mississippi Valley?
The '''Mississippi Valley''' is a place in [[North America]]. It is part of the [[Mississippi River]] [[watershed]], meaning that the rain that falls in the Mississippi Valley flows to the Mississippi River.<ref name=enc>{{cite encyclopedia|url=https://www.encyclopedia.com/history/dictionaries-thesauruses-pictures-and-press-releases/mississippi-valley|accessdate=December 28, 2021|title=MISSISSIPPI VALLEY|encyclopedia=Encyclopedia.com}}</ref> It is in the middle of what is today the mainland [[United States]]. ==Geology== During the last [[glacial era]], large walls of ice dropped [[sediment]], which is rocks and dirt, onto the land. This became [[sedimentary rock]]. This rock is softer than the other two main types of rock. Sedimentary rock forms in layers. When the Mississippi River began to flow, it washed away parts of the rock. So there are places in the northern valley with tall bluffs, places where the river water cut some of the rock away. People can see the layers in the bluffs. Some of them are 400 feet tall. In the places where the ground was made of harder sedimentary rock, for example [[limestone]] and [[dolomite]], the cliffs are steep. In the places where the ground was made of softer sedimentary rock, for example [[shale]] and [[sandstone]], the cliffs are gentle.<ref name=His>{{cite book|url=https://www.nps.gov/miss/learn/historyculture/river-of-history-chapter-1.htm|publisher=[[NPR]]|title=River of History|chapter=The Geology of the MNRRA Corridor|author=Thomas Madigan|accessdate=December 28, 2021}}</ref> Other parts of the Mississippi Valley are [[flood plain]]. ==People== Many Native Americans lived in the Mississippi Valley, including the [[Mississippian culture]], which is named after the valley. Many of these Native Americans practiced [[agriculture]], meaning that they built farms and grew food.<ref name=enc /> Some of these Native Americans built large towns with [[earthworks]] and wooden fences and buildings. But many of them caught European diseases and died. By the t