Mile 937.0 - LBD Iron Bank Light

John Ruskey

20 Apr 2026 � 1 min read

937 LBD Iron Bank Light

The peculiar color and strange appearance of the high bluff at Columbus, Kentucky, attracted the attention of some of the earliest explorers, who commented on it more than a century before the founding of the town. French explorers, having failed to find the gold and silver mines they sought so diligently, reported that they had at least discovered an "iron mine." Father Jacques Gravier, a Jesuit missionary who made a voyage down the Mississippi in 1700, stopped at the bluff to investigate the famous iron mine, about which he had heard so many wondrous tales. He described it scornfully, as follows: "The pretended plates of iron attached to the pebbles are anything but what was supposed, and what I was told. They are merely veins of hard and almost petrified earth, which have indeed the color of iron, but which are not heavy and break easily. I took a piece, to show that if there is an iron mine, it must not be judged by that earth."

Another priest, Father Pierre Charlevoix, came down the river 21 years later and stopped to examine the bluff. Although rumors of the supposed iron mine were still heard, he said he found only yellow earth and could only conclude that the mine was a figment of someone's imagination. The iron mine which never existed gave the bluff its name, which is preserved today by the navigation light.

More from this section

Preamble:

Preamble: I first explored this stretch of river on a 5-month raft trip that began after my high school graduation in 1982. My best friend and I decided that we had enough of traditional schooling, and much to the dismay of our guidance counselors we scuttled all college plans and

Table of Contents Appendix I - The Lower Missouri River Water Trail Appendix II - Upper Mississippi River Water Trails Appendix III - Mike Clark: Chain of Rocks Appendix IV - Mike Clark: Alton to Arch Appendix V - Over the Chain of Rocks with the Lewis & Clark Appendix

Mile 57.0 - Interstate 57 Bridge

7.5 Interstate 57 Bridge Vertical Clearance: 107.3 feet minus Cairo Gage. As with all bridges, avoid getting too close to pylons supporting the bridge structure. Water pushes strongly against pylons on top end, and turbulent waters swirl below. 5 - 1.8 LBD Angelo Towhead Angelo Towhead is

Mile 10.2 - 10.2 - 7.7 LBD Boston Bar

10.2 - 7.7 LBD Boston Bar Boston Bar hugs the left bank descending and creates a moody scene, partly due to the massive piles of driftwood that get mashed deep into its woods. Good low and medium campsites are found at the top end of Boston Bar on

Mile 10.2 - 10.2 - 7.7 LBD Boston Chute

10.2 - 7.7 LBD Boston Chute You can enjoy a three mile passage through the bottomland forests lining Boston Chute, but be wary of a cross channel dike at bottom end which causes 3 foot whitewater waves in medium water levels.

Mile 13.0 - LBD Cache River Diversion Canal

13 LBD Cache River Diversion Canal The Cache River used to enter the Ohio River in between Mounds City and Urbandale, both upstream of Cairo, but now it enters the Mississippi 13 miles above Cairo, and about 20 miles from its old mouth. Go figure. Such is the nature of