Mississippi
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The state of Mississippi was shaped culturally and geographically by the Mississippi River, which forms most of its western border and whose rich delta is partly located in the state's southwest corner. The name Mississippi comes from a Native American word loosely translated as "father of waters." (Measuring some 2,300 miles in length, the river, which originates in Minnesota and flows down to Louisiana, is the largest in the U.S.) Archaeological records indicate the Mississippi Valley was inhabited by 10,000 B.C., at the end of the most recent ice age, when generations of people moved across the land bridge joining Siberia and present-day Alaska. Between 10,000 B.C. and 2,500 B.C., the nomadic inhabitants of the region began to domesticate plants for farming. By about 900, thousands of people had settled in permanent, clan-based villages. They built temples and burial mounds, excelled in various crafts, hunted and fished and grew squash, corn and beans.
Spanish explorers led by Hernando do Soto (c. 1500-1542) landed on the Florida peninsula in search of riches in 1539 and entered the Mississippi Valley region in 1540. Sailing down the Mississippi River, they encountered Chickasaw, Choctaw and Natchez tribes. De Soto did not discover the gold he sought, so he left the region without establishing a settlement. However, the Europeans had brought infectious diseases with them against which the Native Americans had no defense, and their populations were sharply reduced as a result.

The first European settlers in the area were French colonists who arrived from Canada in about 1719, bringing with them the first African slaves to work the rice and tobacco plantations. During the French and Indian War (1754-63), the British helped the Native Americans take back their land from the French, and thus the British gained control of the area. After the American Revolutionary War (1775-83), the U.S. gained control of the region from the British.

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