Popular history done well. This reads like a collection of short narratives of life on and near the Mississippi River from the first European/American settlements to just after the Civil War when railroads reduced the importance of the river as a form of transportation and began to "tame" the river's natural cycles, making it safer but also less interesting. Lots of action and character sketches, a little light on historical background, this is definitely history as entertainment. But, Sandlin is careful to note sources and he also raises questions about the reliability of historical evidence that will leave the reader pondering. ( )

A colorful, fascinating mix of history, culture, folklore, and geography. ( )

6. Wicked River: The Mississippi When It Last Ran Wild (Audio CD) by Lee Sandlin, read by Jeff McCarthy (2010, 368 pages in paper format, listened Jan 17-29)

A history of the Mississippi river that begins as a natural description, evolves into a history of early European settlement and use, then devolves into an overwrought, under-focused history of this and that with way way too much detail. Somewhere in here I think it lost sight the river in its entirety.

I would have liked this better about twenty years ago. The writing itself is fine and can be very good. I think structurally it was a trainwreck...but other readers did not seem to feel that. However, I'm so happy to have read a very clear and quite thorough description of the 1811 New Madrid earthquakes. Sandlin shows the timeline, covers the descriptions and explores the rumors, the backwash that caused the river to flow backward (only the shallower flow, apparently) and the two waterfalls that existed for a few weeks or so. That may have been worth all the hours wasted on southern brutality and the Civil War siege of Vicksburg.

2014
http://www.librarything.com/topic/163456#4536354 ( )

Fascinating history of the river. Enjoyed it from cover to cover. ( )

A fascinating, if often hyperbolic and disjointed, look at the Mississippi River and especially the communities surrounding it, not to mention the customs and eccentric characters that thrived on the river frontier. It might also be called, the Book of Lists.

I was surprised by the importance of prostitution to communities in the 19th century frontier society. Their importance was so crucial as to be almost "structural." Women were a rarity, often outnumbered by men 20-1, and it was common for some women who wanted to secure their financial future to marry several at once, visiting them on a rotational basis and being provided for. It was a system that suited all parties, apparently. The institution was so crucial to the army, they were imported to all forts, respected and called seamstresses. Brothels in St. Louis could be lavish places and held in high esteem by the community despite ostensible moral antagonism.

Religious camp meetings were immensely popular. One such event pulled a gathering of 20,000 people at a time when the population of New Orleans was about half that. The events became occasions of ecstatic behavior with "jerkings," falling", other kinds of physical religious behavior we would now label pejoratively as "holy rollers." It also included orgies, the sexual component of ecstatic behavior being quite strong, and until the vigilantes moved in to put a lid on it, it was quite common for groups to move off into the woods to consummate their religious fervor resulting in a high birth rate about nine months after the camp meeting.

Corruption was endemic. It was assumed and understood that everyone along the river would cheat, shorting the steamboats on piles of wood, counterfeiting (although very much frowned on it was helped by the number of different banks issuing money, species being quite rare and always in demand.) Con men thrived.

The story of Stewart's pamphlet and John Murrell was fascinating. Stewart had written and published a pamphlet that purported to report on his infiltration into the infamous Murrell gang. Murrell supposedly had revealed to him that Murrell was orchestrating a vast conspiracy that would result in an enormous slave rebellion on July 4th, 1835. The names of many so-called conspirators who belonged to this "Mystic Klan" were fomenting the rebellion were included. The ultimate purpose was so they could rob and pillage virtually the entire south. Always fearful of slaves revolts, the end result of publicity surrounding the pamphlet was the formation of vigilante committees and extensive use of "Lynch Law." Fear of slaves spilled over into antagonism toward river-town gamblers in Vicksburg and soon bodies were hanging from trees on virtually every road. Some people, after interrogation by the "committees," were lucky to get off with 1,000 lashes. Neighbors would inform on neighbors they didn't like and it must have been like scenes out of mob actions of the French Revolution. (Tom Sawyer and Huck talk about looking for "Murel's treasure.")

Lots of really good stories and cultural history. If you are looking for information about the river itself, however, you might be better served by [b:The Big Muddy: An Environmental History of the Mississippi and Its Peoples, from Hernando de Soto to Hurricane Katrina|13687170|The Big Muddy An Environmental History of the Mississippi and Its Peoples, from Hernando de Soto to Hurricane Katrina|Christopher Morris|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1348606093s/13687170.jpg|19307823] ( )