DESOTO COUNTY, Miss. (WREG) — The record-low Mississippi River is quickly becoming a major attraction for people to see what’s considered a historical event and to hunt for hidden treasures.
Thomas Bennett, from Horn Lake, was at Desoto River Park Thursday with binoculars at the ready to watch the record-low Mississippi.
“I’ve seen it get low where you can see the beaches, but not where barges could not pass,” he said.
Bennett prefers to watch the river from a safe place and not risk walking its banks. It’s a wise decision since a wrong step could land you in the river where there are still dangerous currents.
“I haven’t been down to the edge yet. There still can be two feet of mud where you can get in it, too soft to go out on,” he said.
Emmo Hein, the owner of Memphis Hobbies and Games in East Memphis, sells a variety of metal detectors and says the low river has raised customer interest and sales.
“We sell them year-round, but yea, just in the last few weeks with the water level being so low, I think people are interested in going down and seeing what they can locate,” Hein said.
Hein says detector prices vary depending on their signal strength and what you hope to find.
“I think down on the river they’re looking for parts of boats or parts of cargo or cars or anything that has slipped into the river,” he said.
You’re bound to see old tires on the river bank and, if you look hard enough, the remains of a submerged vehicle that’s been here for no telling how long.
Of course, not everything is going to be a treasure, but there’s probably a good story about why and how these things wound up in the river.
Hein says it’s always a good idea to hunt for treasure with a group of people so you won’t be alone if you run into a problem.