Western rivermen, 1763-1861 : Ohio and Mississippi boatmen and the myth of the alligator horse / Michael Allen.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Allen, Michael, 1950-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

River life--Ohio River--History.

River life.

River life--Mississippi River--History.

Boaters (Persons)--Ohio River--History.

Boaters (Persons).

Folklore.

Manners and customs.

History.

Ohio River.

Boaters (Persons)--Mississippi River--History.

Mississippi River.

Ohio River--Social life and customs.

Mississippi River--Social life and customs.

Folklore--Ohio River.

Folklore--Mississippi River.

Mississippi River Region.

Ohio River Region.

Physical Description:

xiii, 261 pages : illustrations, maps ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

Baton Rouge : Louisiana State University Press, [1990]

Summary:

In Westem Rivemen, 1763-1861, Michael Allen explores the rigorous lives of professional boatmen who plied nonsteam vessels--flatboats, keelboats, and rafts--on the Ohio and lower Mississippi rivers from 1763 to 1861. Drawing on more than eighty firsthand accounts--ranging from a short letter to a four-volume memoir--Allen reveals that the boatmen's livelihood was actually a lonely, dangerous job. He discusses the social and economic aspects of their profession, the river towns they visited, and the impact on their lives of the steamboat and advancing civilization. This comprehensive, highly informative study sheds new light on a group of men who played an important role in the development of the trans-Appalachian West and the ways in which their lives were transformed into one of the enduring themes of American folk culture.

Contents:

1 Alligator Horses 6

2 1803: The World the Boatmen Knew 27

3 Hard Way to Make a Living 58

4 Kentucky Boatmen 88

5 Flatboating in the Steamboat Age 140

6 The New Flatboatmen 170

7 Myths and Other Realities 214

Epilogue: Last of the Boatmen 225

Appendix Two Songs and a Poem 233.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

0807115614

OCLC:

21336446