Lake Keokuk, part of the muddy Mississippi River, is featured in this northeast-looking, low-oblique photograph. The lake and the 53-foot (16-meter) gravity dam, which was completed in 1913, provide hydroelectric power for Keokuk, located on the west bank of the Mississippi River (just below center). Immediately south of Keokuk, the Des Moines River joins the Mississippi River. North of Keokuk is Fort Madison, a river port and a rail, commercial, and industrial center in a rich agricultural area. The city, originally established in 1808 as a trading post, was the site of the first fort west of the Mississippi River.