American Bottom

County: Madison, Monroe, Randolph, St. Clair

State: Illinois

Lat/Long: 38.3333, -90.1333

The American Bottom is the great flood plain of the Mississippi River. Running from the bluffs at Alton, Illinois, south to the mouth of the Kaskaskia River, the American Bottom runs for about ninety miles from north to south, averages five miles wide, and covers 450 square miles, or 288,000 acres. The soil in this area is very rich and lakes and streams are abundant.

J. M. Peck, A Gazetteer of Illinois (Jacksonville, IL: R. Goudy, 1834), 6-7, 146.