Working the Mississippi : two centuries of life on the river / Bonnie Stepenoff.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Stepenoff, Bonnie, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Mississippi River--History--19th century.

Mississippi River.

Mississippi River--History--20th century.

Mississippi River--Description and travel.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (201 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Columbia, Missouri : University of Missouri Press, 2015.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

The Mississippi River occupies a sacred place in American culture and mythology. Often called The Father of Rivers, it winds through American life in equal measure as a symbol and as a topographic feature. To the people who know it best, the river is life and a livelihood. River boatmen working the wide Mississippi are never far from land. Even in the dark, they can smell plants and animals and hear people on the banks and wharves. Bonnie Stepenoff takes readers on a cruise through history, showing how workers from St. Louis to Memphis changed the river and were in turn changed by it. Each chapter of this fast-moving narrative focuses on representative workers: captains and pilots, gamblers and musicians, cooks and craftsmen. Readers will find workers who are themselves part of the country's mythology from Mark Twain and anti-slavery crusader William Wells Brown to musicians Fate Marable and Louis Armstrong.

Contents:

Introduction

St. Louis, Missouri

Captains

Ste. Genevieve, Missouri

Pilots

Chester, Illinois

Mates, deckhands, and roustabouts

Cape Girardeau, Missouri

Stewards, cooks, and maids

Cairo, Illinois

Engineers

New Madrid, Missouri

Confidence men and gamblers

Memphis, Tennessee

Musicians and entertainers

Conclusion

Appendix One. Glossary of names

Appendix Two. Glossary of boats.

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (ebrary, viewed June 17, 2015).

ISBN:

9780826273499

0826273491

OCLC:

910847819