Island Number 5 (Wolf Island)

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The sandy island once sat in the middle of the Mississippi with the main navigational channel on the westside thus technically under Kentucky's jurisdiction but the 1927 and 1937 floods caused that channel to silt up and attaching the island to Missouri. The US Supreme Court had to intervene as both Kentucky and Missouri laid claim to the island. The final decision allowed Kentucky to keep the island, based on original ownership even though it is now firmly on the Missouri side.

As for its name, Island number 5 dates from 1801 when Z Cramer published his book of navigational charts of the Lower Mississippi (downstream from Cairo, IL). Instead of using names for the river's many sandy islands, which frequently have many conflicting local names, he opted to use numbers starting with Island Number 1 some five miles south of Cairo, IL. Island number 5 was the 5th island on the river as boats proceed south. Many islands have since disappeared due to the Mississippi's changing course, thus Island Number 5 is no longer the 5th island, yet the original name persisted. It is one of the largest islands on the Mississippi.