Mississippi River Mayhem: Disasters, Tragedy, and Murder on Ol' Man River

In his memoir, Life on the Mississippi, Mark Twain personified the river as "Sudden Death and General Desolation! Sired by a hurricane, dam'd by an earthquake, half-brother to the cholera, nearly related to the small-pox on the mother's side! Look at me! I take nineteen alligators and a bar'l of whiskey for breakfast when I'm in robust health, and a bushel of rattlesnakes and a dead body when I'm ailing!" Twain's time as a steamboat pilot showed him the true character of The Great River, with its unpredictable moods and hidden secrets. Still a vital route for U.S. shipping, the Mississippi River has given life to riverside communities, manufacturing industries, fishing, tourism, and other livelihoods. But the Mighty Mississippi has also claimed countless lives as tribute to its muddy waters. Climate and environmental conditions made the Mississippi the perfect incubator for diseases like malaria. Natural disasters, like tornadoes, floods, and even an earthquake, have changed and reshaped the river's banks over thousands of years. Shipwrecks and steamboat explosions were once common in the difficult-to-navigate waters. But when there was money to be made, there were some willing to risk it all-from the brave steamboat captains who went down with their ships, to the illegal moonshiners and pirates who pillaged the river's bounty. In this book, author and Mississippi River historian Dean Klinkenberg explores the many disastrous events to have occurred on and along the river in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries-from steamboat explosions, to Yellow Fever epidemics, floods, and Prohibition piracy. Enjoy this journey into the darkest deeds of the Mississippi River.

Author: Dean Klinkenberg
Publisher: Globe Pequot Press
Published: 09/15/2022
Pages: 256
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 0.84lbs
Size: 9.00h x 6.00w x 0.58d
ISBN13: 9781493060726
ISBN10: 1493060724
BISAC Categories:
- History | United States | State & Local | Midwest(IA,IL,IN,KS,MI,MN,MO
- Nature | Ecosystems & Habitats | Rivers

About the Author
Dean Klinkenberg is a St. Louis-based freelance writer and former academic researcher. In 2008, he gave up the life of an academic psychologist to write about the Mississippi River. Since that time, he has traveled extensively along the entire river, mostly by car but also in canoes and on river cruises. For over a decade, he has been learning about the whole river from a variety of perspectives: historical, cultural, economic, and environmental.