Which explorer, in 1541 was the first European to discover the Mississippi River?
Mississippi River as the "Gichi-ziibi". The Cheyenne, one of the earliest inhabitants of the upper Mississippi River, called it the "Máʼxe-éʼometaaʼe" (Big Greasy River) in the Cheyenne language. The Arapaho name for the river is "Beesniicíe". The Pawnee name is "Kickaátit". The Mississippi was spelled during French Louisiana and was also known as the Rivière Saint-Louis. On May 8, 1541, Spanish explorer Hernando de Soto became the first recorded European to reach the Mississippi River, which he called "Río del Espíritu Santo" ("River of the Holy Spirit"), in the area of what is now Mississippi. In Spanish, the river is called "Río
Mississippi River to 1898, operated a luxurious fleet of steamers between St. Louis and New Orleans. Italian explorer Giacomo Beltrami, wrote about his journey on the Virginia, which was the first steam boat to make it to Fort St. Anthony in Minnesota. He referred to his voyage as a promenade that was once a journey on the Mississippi. The steamboat era changed the economic and political life of the Mississippi, as well as the nature of travel itself. The Mississippi was completely changed by the steamboat era as it transformed into a flourishing tourists trade. Control of the river was a strategic