Levee Levee A levee (), dike, dyke, embankment, floodbank or stopbank is an elongated naturally occurring ridge or artificially constructed fill or wall, which regulates water levels. It is usually earthen and often parallel to the course of a river in its floodplain or along low-lying coastlines. Speakers of American English (notably in the Midwest and Deep South), use the word "levee", from the French word "levée" (from the feminine past participle of the French verb "lever", "to raise"). It originated in New Orleans a few years after the city's founding in 1718 and was later adopted by English speakers. The
Capes on the Mississippi River Capes on the Mississippi River The term cape has a different tradition of usage in the American Midwest along the Mississippi River. The middle Mississippi River Valley once formed part of the French Colonies of Quebec and Louisiana, also referred to as Upper Louisiana (Haute-Louisiane) or the Illinois Country (Pays des Illinois). The Illinois Country also included the left bank of the Mississippi River in present-day Missouri. The French explorers and mapmakers used the word cape (or in French, "cap") to describe the bluffs and promontories along the Mississippi River. A "cap" could sit next to any body of water,