Bloody Island
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Bloody Island was a sand bar in the Mississippi River, opposite St. Louis, Missouri, which became densely wooded and a rendezvous for duelists. Appearing first above water in 1798 its continuous growth menaced the harbor of Saint Louis. In 1837 Capt. Robert E. Lee, of U. S. A. Engineers, devised and established a system of dikes and dams that washed out the western channel and ultimately joined the island to the Illinois shore.
Source: Dictionary of American History by James Truslow Adams, New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1940
External link: RiverWebSM - Further details on the formation and elimination of Bloody Island.
