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. Full description
- 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.