A History of the Rock Island District Corps of Engineers, 1866-1975
Abstract
The story of the Corps of Engineers on the Mississippi River above St. Louis began shortly after the Louisiana Purchase in 1804 with the first tentative exploration by Major Stephen H. Long. Sporadic at first, the work of improving the channel of the Upper Mississippi became permanent in 1866 with the beginnings of the Rock Island District. This present volume attempts to survey those early years of trial and experiment which led to more permanent improvements, and provide a more detailed account of the growth and development of the Rock Island District from 1866 to the present. While I have attempted to be accurate and detailed in presenting the basic historical questions of what happened and when, I have consciously expanded the history in three other ways. Because I found that many present employees of the Corps of Engineers were interested in, but had no knowledge of, early techniques and devices of channel improvement, I have spent some time describing how things worked. Because I discovered that the public often views the improvements as whims dictated by the self-interest of the Engineers, I have introduced a small amount of economic, commercial, and cultural background to explain why improvements took the shape they did. For example, I have attempted to show that the nature of the river bottom and the needs of the steamboats determined the kind of improvements far more than did West Point textbooks or Corps politics. And because I found that, especially in the 19th century, the practical visions of the District Engineers and their civilian employees had as much to do with the success of the work as congressional appropriations, I have considered the men as well as the policies.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jun 01, 1975
- Accession Number
- ADA637286
Entities
People
- Roald Tweet
Organizations
- Rock Island District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers