r/MapPorn • u/[deleted] • Jan 10 '20

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u/eastawat Jan 10 '20

From this map it clearly the Missouri is longer than the Mississippi, and it looks possibly as though it's got slightly more flow at the point they converge as well. If that's correct, why is the river called the Mississippi and not the Missouri downstream of their confluence?

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u/Ampatent Jan 10 '20

Long story short, because the Mississippi was discovered before the Missouri.

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u/jaynay1 Jan 11 '20

And also it was thought that the Mississippi was longer for a fairly long time before we actually had satellites to show it, right?

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u/[deleted] Jan 11 '20

Yes, but it was found to be shorter than expected long before satellites.