(3-96) Mouth of Baxter Bayou at Lake Providence. From Site Marker at Lake Providence Canal Observation Pier: On January 30, 1863, Federal troops, under the command of General James B. McPherson, arrived in Lake Providence to dig a canal from the Mississippi River into Lake Providence. Grant's plan was to bring his gun boats into Lake Providence, with an outlet through Baxter Bayou, into Bayou Macon to the Tensas, Black, and Red Rivers to a point south of Vicksburg, just upstream from Port Hudson, LA. The canal project began in January 1863, and continued until March 1863. It was 100 feet wide and 5 feet deep from the Mississippi River into Lake Providence. On March 18, 1863, the levee was cut and water flowed in the lake from the river filling the lake and bayous. Small boats were brought into the lake and could navigate through Baxter Bayou to Bayou Macon

(3-96) Baxter Bayou approximately 100 yards west of Lake Providence, west view