Lake St. John: A Mississippi River Oxbow

We are currently building a history of Lake St. John on this page.  If you have information to share, please e-mail us.  We will add your information and photos to the page.  We especially love old historical pictures of homes and folks using the lake.  

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Lake St. John is what is referred to as an oxbow lake, one of the many lakes created when the Mississippi River changed course in prehistoric times.  The Mississippi River is a meandering river, which means it wiggles like a snake across the country side as its dynamic forces eat away at its banks.

When the Mississippi River makes what are referred to as hairpin curves, the river elects to shorten its course to the see and cuts through the narrow neck, leaving a slack-water oxbow lake in the process.

Overtime, the sediment builds up along the river bank and the former channel of the river is cutoff from the river, except at high stages.

Similar oxbow lakes in this region are Eagle Lake in Mississippi and Lake Bruin about an hour north of Lake St. John.

The photo below shows how often the Mississippi River and other local rivers changed course over the ages and left old scars and lakes throughout this area.