Wicked river : the Mississippi when it last ran wild / Lee Sandlin.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Sandlin, Lee.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Social change.

History.

Manners and customs.

Community life.

River life.

Environmental conditions.

Geography.

Mississippi River--History--19th century.

Mississippi River.

Mississippi River--Geography.

Mississippi River--Environmental conditions.

River life--Mississippi River Region--History--19th century.

Community life--Mississippi River Region--History--19th century.

Mississippi River Region--History--19th century.

Mississippi River Region.

Mississippi River Region--Biography.

Mississippi River Region--Social life and customs--19th century.

Social change--Mississippi River Region--History--19th century.

Genre:

Biographies.

Physical Description:

xxviii, 270 pages, 8 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations, maps ; 24 cm

Edition:

First edition.

Other Title:

Mississippi when it last ran wild

Place of Publication:

New York : Pantheon Books, [2010]

Summary:

A chronicle of the Mississippi River in the first half of the nineteenth century--before it was tamed by commerce and technology--draws on first-hand accounts to describe life along the river, natural and man-made disasters, acts of piracy, and cultural celebrations.

Contents:

Prologue

pt. 1. The river rising

Gone on the river

Old Devil River

The comet's tail

Like bubbles on a sea

pt. 2. "Do you live on the river?"

The desire of an ignorant Westerner

Bloody island

The roar of Niagara

The cosmopolitan tide

A pile of shavings

The coasts of dark destruction

pt. 3. The course of empire

The mound builders

A young man of splendid abilities

The oracles

pt. 4. Behemoth

The sky parlor

The alligator

pt. 5. The good and the thoughtless

The last of the floating life

Epilogue.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages [249]-255) and index.

Local Notes:

Athenaeum copy: Hagen fund bookplate.

ISBN:

9780307378514

0307378519

OCLC:

669825802