^^'• V 'V-^ Tk6 Le\/ees A Louisifl'ho^ tlK -^ Class r^JJ . Rnnk M^P^ ".OffN m micm^ v\/Tli^taUCTV^ ^^oy 30 1307 u. us-" Ci r LOUISIANA STATE COMMISSION .^ OF .^t LOUISIANA PURCHASE EXPOSITION ST. LOUIS, MO. Go-oemor WILLIAM WRIGHT HEARD, Prestdent. MajO' JORDAN GRAY LEE, Baton Poage, La. Col. CHATiLES SCHULER, - - - Keachie, La. Gen. I. B. LEVEST, - - Ne^u Orleans, La. Hon. HENRY L. GUEYTtAN, Gueydan, La, Dr. WILLIAM CARTER STUBBS, ROBERT GLENK, stale Commissioner. c4sslsiant to State Convnlssioner. Don't fail to see the Louisiana State Building, a replica of the Cabildo, in which the transfer of Louisiana took place in 1803. See also Louisiana's exhibit in the following buildings: Agriculture, Horticulture, Education, Forestry, Fish and Game, Mines and Minerals, Liberal Arts, Transportation and Anthropology. THE STATE OF LOUISIANA IS MAKING THE FOLLOWING DISPLAY AT THE WORLD'S FAIR, ST. LOUIS : 1st. Louisiana State Building — An exact reproduction of ttie "Cabildo" of New Orleans in which the actual trans- fer of Louisiana from France to the Dnited States on December 20th, 1S03, took place. It is furnished throughout with furniture of the Empire and Colo- nial styles. 2nd. A grand display of agriculture in the Agricultural Talace. showing the products of the field and' ttie machinery by which they are wroHgit into mer- chantable forms. A complete sugar house, a rice mill, an irrigation plant, cotton gins and presses, cotton seed oil mill, etc., are shown in perfect forms on a reduced scale. Forage and garden crops ; tobacco (yellow leaf, cigar leaf and cigars, and the famous Perique in all of its forms) ; filjre plants and products : grains, grasses, clovers, alfalfa, etc., are shown in profusion. ord. A line display of fruits and plants In the Horticultural Building — on the floor of the main building and in the conservatory. In this display will be found the best collection of the finest pecans grown. 4th. In the Forestry Building will be found all the trees of her forest, and the products manufactured from them. .5th. In the Forestry Building, but on a diifereut space, will also be found all of the birds, fishes and wild animals of the State. Cth. In the Education Building will be found the school exhibits of the State, from the Isindergarten to the uni- versities. Tth. In the Mines and Minerals Build- ing, the "Devil in sulphur," a "Pyramid in sulphur," Lot's Wife in salt, crude and refined petroleums, marbles, 'coal, etc., fresh from the mines of Louisiana, are exhibited. Sth. In the Liberal Arts Building will be found topographic maps of the levees of the State (35 ft. by 4 ft.). New Or- leans of 1803 (2 ft. by 2 ft.), and New Orleans of 1903 (13 ft. by 15 ft.). Two hundred maps of the Gulf Coast from 1500 to the present time, some rare old books, and a working model of the great United States Dock in New Orleans. 9th. In the Transportation Building are illustrations of transportation on the Mississippi Iliver, past and present, be- ginning with the Indian canoe and end- ing with the monster ocean liner of to- day. 10th. In the Anthropological Build- ing is a fine collection of Indian reii9s, including a number of baskets of rare and beautiful types. Descriptive pamphlets of each exhibit may be had on .-ipplication. For fuller information c.f the State, apply at the Louisiana State Building for "Handbook of Louisiana." Louisiana has a fully equipped Department of Agriculture and Immigration, which will cheerfully sup- ply any information desired. Apply to MAJOR T. G. LEE, Commissioner of Agriculture and Immigration, Baton Rouge, La. and 'your wants will be filled. L evees* ^HE within pamphlet has been prepared by Col. Arsene Perilliat, a member of the Louisiana State Board of Engineers, and will convey to the reader a very accurate idea of the immensity of the Levee System and the im- munity of the riparian dwellers from floods when protected by adequate Levees. The Alluvial Valley of the Mississippi River and the Levee System Built to Protect it From Overflow. The delta of the Mississippi River subject to over- Indian Territory, Missouri, Arkansas, Tennessee, Ken- flow extends from Cape Girardeau, 45 miles above Cairo, tucliy, Iowa and Illinois. The States draining in part to the Gulf of Mexico, nearly GOO rniles in an air line, to the Mississippi River are Montana, North Dakota, and varies in width from :;0 to 80 miles. Its area amounts South Dakota, Wyoming, Idaho, Colorado, New Mexico, to 29,790 square miles. Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, North It was formed in the geological ages of the past, by Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia, Ohio, Pennsylvania, the sediment carried to the sea by the streams drain- Maryland, New York, Indiana, Wisconsin and Minne- ing the basins tributary to the Mississippi River. This sota. The area thus drained by the Mississippi River delta, of alluvial formation, which is now the richest is as great as the combined area of Austria, Germany, and most fertile soil of the United States, was gradu- France, Holland, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Norway and ally elevated, so that it now stands above the ordinary Great Britain. floods that occur in the Mississippi River; but in times ' Thousands of miles of streams and rivers carry this of extraordinary rainfall, and, therefore, of excessive drainage to the Mississippi River, and of these 15,000 floods, it is subject to overflow by the abnormal flood ' miles are navigable streams. The drainage area is sub- heights of the Mississippi River. divided into the following six basins, viz: The Mississippi River which flows through this delta carries the drainage of 1,240,050 square miles, which Sauare miles is 41 per cent of the total area of the United States. Basin of the Ohio River 201,700 This area drained extends from the Rockies to the AUe- Basin of the Upper Mississippi River 165,900 ghanies and from Canada to the Gulf of Mexico. It Basin of the Missouri River 527,150 , „„„ ., . , ... , , ,„„ ., . Basin of the Arkansas River 186,300 covers 1,800 miles m longitude, and 1,500 miles in gasin of the Red River goioOO latitude. It drams ten entire States, parts of twenty- Central Basin of the Mississippi River 69,000 two other States and territories, besides a part of two • provinces of Canada. The States entirely draining to | Total 1,240,050 the Mississippi River are Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma, The Mississippi River, flowing in a sinuous course 5 from Cape Girardeau to the Gulf of Mexico, a distance of 600 miles iu an air line, has a length, owing to its sinuosities, of 1,115 miles. The average rainfall carried annually to the sea by the Mississippi River amounts approximately to seven hundred and eighty-five (785) billion cubic feet, or 159 cubic miles of water, and this is estimated as being only 25 per cent of the total rain- fall over the basin, the remaining 75 per cent being lost either by evaporation, or else by absorption and perco- lation through the ground. Every year, however, as the country becomes more open, better tilled, and therefore better drained, the volume of water finding its way to the Mississippi River increases and also reaches the river more rapidly, owing to the inipi-oved condition of drainage throughout the country, thereby swelling and increasing the intensity of the floods. Moreover, the period of heavy rainfall is limited to two or three of the Spring months of the year, and therefore this enormous volume of water drained, instead of being spread evenly throughout the year is carried to the sea in its enormous bulk during a short period of the year, thereby occasioning intense and excessive flood waves. This causes excessive fluc- tuations between ihe extreme low and high stages of water in the Mississippi River. The height of the fluc- tuations between extreme low and extreme high water is as follows at different points: Cairo 53.2 feet Memphis 42.7 " Vicksburg 59.0 " Mouth of Red River 50.8 " Baton Rouge 40.2 " New Orleans 19.9 " A part of these fluctuations is contained within the natural banks of the river, but after these become sub- merged, the levee system is the only agency which pro- tects the country from disastrous overflow, and in their present crude and incomplete condition the levees often give way, letting in the water over cultivated and fer- tile lands and causing widespread disaster. The damage is made greater from the fact that the lands of alluvial formation are highest on the banks of the stream. On the Mississippi River these banks slope away from the river at the rate of from three to twelve feet in the first mile, then at a diminishing rate until a distance of two to three miles from the river is attained, when the low level swamp is reached. The Mississippi River, on its way from Cairo to the Gulf, first hugs the hills on the eastern edge of the al- luvial basin from Cairo to Memphis, leaving to the westward the large St. Francis Basin, which is subject 1o overflow, and the area of which is 6,090 square miles. From Memphis to Helena the river crosses the valley, reaching its western boundary hills at Helena. From Helena, Ark., to the Louisiana line it runs parallel to the western boundary hills, and from there crosses to G the eastward, reaching the eastern boundary hills at \'icksburg. From Vicksburg, Miss., to Baton Rouge, La., it hugs the eastern boundary hills, and from Baton Rouge to the Gulf it runs through the center of the valley, leav- ing lands subject to overflow on both sides of its chan- nel. Between Memphis and Vicksburg, to the east of the river, is the rich Yazoo basin, subject to overflow, and embracing 6,G48 square miles. Between Helena, Ark., and Arkansas City, on the west of the river, is the White River Basin, subject to overflow, and embracing 9.56 square miles. From Arkansas City to the Gulf, to I he west of the river, are the Tensas, Atchafalaya and Lafourche basins, all highly populated and thoroughly cultivated for cotton and sugar, which are subject to overflow', and which embrace 13,004 square miles. Fin- ally to the east of the river, from Baton Rouge, La., to the Gulf, are situated the rich Pontchartrain and Lake Borgne basins, within which is the City of New Or- leans, all of which is subject to overflow, and covers 2,001 square miles. This is better understood by fol- lowing the meanderings of the river on the map of the Mississippi River Commission. These basins are of the richest alluvial land, and have been rapidly opening to cultivation. On the lower river, from the Louisiana State line to the Gulf, they have been settled for about one hundred and fifty years. They yield rich crops of cotton, rice and sugar, yielding more in dollars and cents per acre than any other lands in the United States. They frequently give as much as a bale and one-half of cotton to the acre, which represents a valtie of $75, while the sugar yield is even greater. Hence, the people have taxed themselves to the limit to keep away from their fields and homes the flood water due to the drainage of 41 per cent of the United States. In order to do this, the people have sub-divided the above mentioned territory subject to overflow into some twenty Levee Districts, organized under the various State laws, and managed and operated by Boards of Commissioners, generally appointed by the Governors of the various States, although some of them are elected. The membership of these Boards varies from three to twenty-four members per Board. The following table gives the names of the various Levee Districts of the Valley, their location, the num- ber of members which compose them, the length of levee line built by them in each State, and the area partly protected, and eventually to be protected, by these levees: "-

^ \w' LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 014 433 195 3 ->C: