SCOTT COUNTY, Miss. (WTOK) – The Mississippi Highway Patrol responded to a fatal wreck Monday morning in Scott County.

MHP said 44-year-old Paul Johnson of Jackson, Miss., died in the crash.

Officials said Johnson’s 2009 Chevrolet Express collided with a Freightliner on Highway 25 about 10 a.m.

The Freightliner, which was driven by William Golden, 53, of Little Rock, Miss., was traveling slowly as a crew collected garbage along the route.

The crash remains under investigation by the Mississippi Highway Patrol.

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A massive prehistoric discovery was made in central Mississippi with a seven-foot-long ice-age elephant tusk being found.

Earlier in August, geological survey scientists with the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ) were notified by avid artifact and fossil collector Eddie Templeton of the giant finding. Templeton was exploring rural Madison County when he stumbled upon the tusk in a steep embankment.

Knowing that leaving the fossil exposed to the current Mississippi heat could dry the tusk out and ultimately destroy it, he acted quickly and called experts to the scene. When paleontological scientists arrived at the fossil site, they found the fossil tusk in quality condition as it was only partially exposed just above the water under a bluff. Based on the strong curvature of the massive tusk, it was suspected that they had encountered a Columbian mammoth and not that of the more common mastodon. This would be the first of its kind for the area.

Mississippi was home to three Proboscideans during the last ice age: the mastodon, gomphothere, and the Columbian mammoth. All three possessed ivory tusks. Mastodons are by far the most common Proboscidean finds in Mississippi as they were browsers, like modern deer, and inhabited a variety of different environments. Mammoths, which were related to modern elephants, are far less common finds in Mississippi as they were open grassland grazers and would have been at home in only a select few environments, particularly the prairie regions of Mississippi. Gomphothere are more closely related to mastodon than to mammoths, but very little is known about their ice-age presence here in the Magnolia State as they are only known from a few isolated teeth found along the Mississippi River.

After carefully removing all of the substances covering the tusk to unveil the fossil in its entirety, it was discovered that the tusk had been deposited entirely intact — meaning it was one whole structure, instead of the more common makeup of fragments that are usually pieced together. 

Preservation methods then took place at the scene to have the fossil ready for transportation. The tusk was then delivered to the Mississippi Museum of Natural Science for further curation and careful study. 

Once at the laboratory, the fossil tusk was confirmed by the Mississippi Museum of Natural Science paleontologist as indeed belonging to a mammoth. According to officials, Templeton’s discovery offers a rare window into the Columbian mammoths that once roamed Madison County along the Jackson Prairie of central Mississippi.

Columbian mammoths were much larger than the infamous woolly mammoth that roamed the colder, more northern regions of North America. They grew up to 15 feet at the shoulder and could weigh over 10 tons. These colossal mammals played an important role in maintaining the rich fertile prairie ecosystem, much as their modern elephant relatives do in other parts of the world today.

MDEQ confirms that the ice-age prairie ecosystem of what is now Madison County was also home to herds of now-extinct horses and giant bison, along with giant ground sloths, giant tortoises, and tapirs. It was also home to a number of ice age predators such as dire wolves, saber-toothed cats, American lions, and even the earliest human inhabitants of our region.

More information can be found here.

The longest river in North America, the Mississippi River, along with its major tributaries, drains an area of almost 1.2 million square miles and carries water from nearly one-eighth of the continent. It starts at Lake Itasca in Minnesota and flows virtually due south across the continental interior. Halfway through its 3,766-kilometre journey to the Gulf of Mexico, where it void via a vast delta southeast of New Orleans, it is already fed by such important tributaries as the westward-flowing Missouri River and, to the east, Ohio River.

Role of Mississippi River in the United States of America

Economic importance
The Mississippi River is heavily involved in the transportation of goods, both domestic and international— such as agricultural produce, raw materials, and manufactured products—because it connects the United States with the Gulf of Mexico.It provides easy access to trade with other countries. It contains farmland (fertile) that is a larger part of farmland in any country, making it vital to agricultural produce likely to be grown there, such as soybeans, corn, and wheat.
Cultural and historical impact
The historical and cultural significance of the Mississippi river particularly played a strategic importance during the Civil war as the control of the river was the priority in seizing the main areas along the river that were majorly critical due to the war.
The Mississippi River also plays a significant role culturally as well. The river has inspired a great deal of American literature, music. This also includes Mark Twain’s books emphasising the river’s significance in the cultural identification of America.
Support for ecosystems and wildlife
The Mississippi River acts as the pillar of support for a varied range of ecosystems and wildlife. As it provides the habitat for numerous species of fish, birds and other animals. The flow of the river and the various wetlands being associated with it, played a significant role in the flood control. Numerous efforts were made to manage flooding as the floodplain of the river has been prone to flooding historically.
Demographic influence
Since the Mississippi river acts as the natural boundary for the various US states and marks as the historical marker for state borders.
This river flows through the major cities that include Minneapolis, St Louis, New Orleans etc. These cities hold a major significance in economic and cultural development.
Significance of Mississippi river
In terms of the significant role in shaping the Mississippi River, tourism, and fishing provide approximately $21.4 billion revenue annually supporting over 350000 jobs. The river and floodplain support around 400 different species of wildlife and protect the Mississippi river.
Being the country’s second longest river, the Mississippi provides water for drinking to millions of people and sustains an approximately $12.6 billion shipping industry. This river is one of the world’s important waterways, for trade, transportation and food.