Mile 110.5 - 110.5 - 109.7 RBD Horse Island
110.5 - 109.7 RBD Horse Island
Opposite the town of Chester at RBD 110.5 Saline Creek enters the Mississippi at the top end of Horse Island through an old channel of the Mississippi. This creek channel is worthy of exploration. There is a landing 6 miles upstream at St. Mary. The creek becomes a slackwater passage at low water, and the paddler will be endlessly rewarded by wildlife and fantastic vegetation. It can be flowing strong after heavy rainfall or high river, but normally it is a tranquil waterway into the heart of the Missouri bottomlands. Enter from the Mississippi above the 2nd Dike above the bridge. Historically the old channel of the Mississippi ran westward from Beaver Island (5 miles above on present channel) and made a fifteen mile loop around Kaskaskia Island. The river upstream rolled past Ste Genevieve and the around Moro Island to slam headlong into the Pawnee Hills at Beaver Island, which forced the river back on its heals 180 degrees to course back across the floodplain and then smack dab into the Missouri Hills, the Missouri Hills turned the river around again to return back to the Pawnee Hills above Chester. Such is the game of cat and mouse played by the big river and highlands along most of the Middle Mississippi. On November 27, 1803, Meriwether Lewis, William Clark and their party camped on Horse Island. The next morning, Lewis left them to travel by land. Clark and the men pushed on to Kaskaskia via the Mississippi River.
Saline Creek
Saline Creek rises in western Perry County, Missouri and flows into Ste. Genevieve County, emptying into an offshoot of the Mississippi River across from Kaskaskia Island, just north of St. Mary’s roughly six miles south of Sainte Genevieve, at an elevation of 361 ft. It has a watershed of 75 sq. mi. A number of tributaries flow into Saline Creek including Brushy creek, Coldwater creek, Greasy creek, Johns creek, Little Saline creek, Madden creek, and South saline creek. The stream's original name - La Rivière de Saline - is French meaning The River of the Saltworks and refers to the two natural salt springs found in the area, which also gave name to the nearby creek and its tributaries called Saline Creek or Saline River. The French colonials knew Saline Creek as La Rivière de la Saline or La Petite Rivière de la Saline. The Spanish referred to the creek and its tributaries as Las Salinas. In 1541, Spanish explorer De Soto had sent Hernando de Silvera and Pedro Moreno from Capaha, with Indian guides, to obtain a supply of salt from a saline stream to the north, presumably the Saline Creek in Ste. Genevieve County. Later, during the French Colonial Period, both French and Illinois Indians came to the site of Saline Creek to get their salt.
The settlement of Saline Creek began in the early 1700s. In 1715, a small party of French were reported to be making salt at La Saline. This early encampment on Saline Creek was temporary, but over time became permanent. Two settlements grew up along Saline Creek: Grande Saline, located near the mouth of the creek, and Petite Saline, located at the upper end of the creek, along a tributary. The purpose of the settlement was the manufacturing of salt which was used for meat preservation, skin tanning, and fur processing. Water from the salt springs was boiled in ovens the French built; when the water boiled away, the salt remained. French Colonial authorities also set up a post at La Saline in 1788. By 1800, French and Americans (Kentuckians) extracting salt from Saline Creek had set up four or five furnaces used for boiling off the salt for extraction, earning Saline Creek the name La Saline Ensanglantèe (The Bloody Saline). These men were sending approximately thirty-five hundred barrels of salt to New Orleans each year.[10] As well as producing salt, La Saline's location along the Mississippi River meant that it served as a lead-shipping point. Lead from Mne la Motte, opened in the 1720s, came by animal or cart over ridge roads and then down the Saline River Valley to its mouth at La Saline to be loaded on Mississippi River boats. In 1822, some seventeen workers were still using 100-150 kettles to extract salt, but by 1825, all production had ceased. (Adopted from Wikipedia)
Switching to the Middle Mississippi Chester Gage (ChG)
Now that we are entering Chester we will leave the St. Louis River Gage and switch to the Chester Gage, which can be found online at:
http://water.weather.gov/ahps2/hydrograph.php?wfo=lsx&gage=chsi2&prob_type=stage
Middle Mississippi
Chester Gage (ChG)
Extreme Low Water: -4 to 3
Low Water: 4-12
Med Water: 12-20
High Water: 20-26
Flood Stage: 27
Extreme High Water: 28 to 50
1993 Flood: 49.74
http://water.weather.gov/ahps2/hydrograph.php?wfo=lsx&gage=chsi2&prob_type=stage
Water Levels and paddling below Chester (to Cape Girardeau)
Extreme Low Water: -4 to 3ChG
At extreme low water below 4 on the Chester Gage (4ChG) you will find giant sandbars, gravel bars and mud bars. You won’t have difficulty finding dry ground to camp on, but it will be tricky finding protection from the wind because of the long distance to the forest. The woods on Rockwood Island, Liberty Bar and Cottonwood Bar will be a half-mile from the river’s edge except in some places. Dike walls can make good substitutes for wind breaks in certain situations. Most boat launches will be muddy messes or won’t reach the water. All back channels will be closed. The river will be sluggish, averaging 1-2 mph, maybe a little faster around some bends.
Low Water: 4 - 12ChG
At four foot ChG the flow averages 2 to 3 miles per hour, and most back channels are still inaccessible by water. At twelve feet the flow is a steady 3mph and most back channels are becoming accessible but with slow flow that might require some maneuvering through sandbars and rock walls of the dikes, chevrons and wing dams. You might need to drag your vessel over some rock barriers, and other sand or gravel shoalings. Short portages might be necessary.
Medium Water: 12 - 20ChG
At 12 ChG all back channels are open but flowing slow. At 18 feet ChG all back channels are open and flowing good. River speed in the main channel averages 5mph. You can still find big sandbars on big island like Rockwood and Marquette.
High Water: 20 - 26ChG
At 20 feet ChG the river is bank full and the main channel averages 7mph. All back channels are full of water and flowing strong. Some caution is needed to avoid snags and strainers and the like. At 24 ChG river speed in the main channel can reach 9mph around the bends and through narrows like the Chester Bridge, Grand Tower/Tower Rock and Cape Girardeau. Sandbars are mostly covered, but you can still find generous sandy parklands at the top end of big islands lke Rockwood, Marquette, Boston Bar and Brown’s Bar. There is no dry sand and the only camping is forest camping.
Flood Stage: 27ChG
Paddlers advised to stay off the Mississippi River at flood stage or higher. Fast turbulent waters full of whirlpools and violent boils in the main channel, and snags and strainers in the back channels. There is no dry sand and the only camping is forest camping.
Extreme High Water: 28 to 50
1993 Flood: 49.74
51 The Health Care Unit of the Menard Correctional Center begins flooding near this height.
50 Ste. Genevieve, Ft. Chartess, Ivy Landing, and Kaskaskia Island levees overtopped.
49.4 Stringtown and Prairie DuRocher levees overtopped.
49 Degognia and Fountain Bluff Levee overtopped.
47.5 Mill on IL Route 3 floods.
45 Highway 51 bridge closes as the highway floods on the Missouri side and the waterworks pumphouse floods.
44 Balwin Water Treatment Plant is flooded.
42 Four cottage units at the Menard Correctional Center begin flooding near this height.
40.79 Main Street in Evansville inundated.
40 ***MAJOR FLOOD LEVEL*** A hunting lodge near the mouth of the Kaskaskia River begins flooding.
39 Railroad tracks in St. Mary, Missouri begin flooding.
38.7 Illinois State Highway 155 at Prairie du Rocher begins flooding near this height.
38.5 Illinois Route 3 at Rockwood and Missouri Highway J just west of Highway 61 between Ste. Genevieve and St. Marys begin flooding near this height.
38.4 At this level IL Route 3 at levee east of Cora inundated.
38.1 Near this level, Illinois Route 3 near the Mary's River bridge is closed.
37.5 The southbound lane on Kaskaskia Street and the south parking lot at Menard Correctional Center begins flooding.
37 Union Pacific property along Water Street begins to flood.
36.5 Chester water intake house is flooded... damage begins to occur to 4 homes and administration buildings at Menard State Prison. Prairie DuRocher pump station damaged and road to Kaskaskia Lock inundated.
36 Chester water works pumphouse is threatened by flood waters. Highway 61 is closed at the bend at St. Marys and a detour is set up through town.
35.5 In Perry County, Highway C is closed between County Roads 352 and 354 (the Levee Road).
35 U.S. Highway 61 in Ste. Genevieve County begins to flood. Also, Ste. Genevieve flood gates are closed at this level.
34.79 Kaskaskia Street near the Menard Prison begins flooding near this height.
34.7 The north parking lot at Menard Correctional Center begins flooding.
33.5 Water Street in Chester begins flooding.
32.5 The Road at Fort Gage Farm begins flooding at Menard Correctional Center.
32 In Perry County, Highway E is closed between County Road 322 and Levee Road (County Road 354). Also, Highway A is closed between County Roads 448 and 460 in southern Perry County.
28 Unleveed islands near Chester and the prison farm floods.
27 Flood Stage. Unprotected farmland on right bank begins to flood.
25 Degognia Fountain Bluff Levee gates are closed.
From the National Weather Service: http://water.weather.gov/ahps2/hydrograph.php?wfo=lsx&gage=chsi2&prob_type=stage
Historic Crests
(1) 49.74 ft on 08/07/1993
(2) 44.00 ft on 05/23/1995
(3) 43.32 ft on 04/30/1973
(4) 42.41 ft on 06/05/2013
(5) 41.02 ft on 05/05/1983
(6) 40.58 ft on 05/17/2002
(7) 39.83 ft on 06/30/1844
(8) 39.79 ft on 04/16/1979
(9) 39.74 ft on 05/02/2011
(10) 39.71 ft on 12/09/1982
(P): Preliminary values subject to further review.
Recent Crests
(1) 31.80 ft on 07/12/2014
(2) 42.41 ft on 06/05/2013
(3) 38.35 ft on 04/25/2013
(4) 39.74 ft on 05/02/2011
(5) 30.06 ft on 03/03/2011 (P)
(6) 28.36 ft on 09/27/2010 (P)
(7) 36.34 ft on 06/30/2010
(8) 36.35 ft on 05/21/2010 (P)
(9) 31.55 ft on 04/30/2010 (P)
(10) 34.73 ft on 03/31/2010 (P)
(P): Preliminary values subject to further review.
Low Water Records
(1) -4.30 ft on 01/02/1964
(2) -4.20 ft on 12/20/1963
(3) -4.00 ft on 01/03/1900
(4) -3.71 ft on 12/27/1989
(5) -2.60 ft on 01/04/1940