Father Mississippi

The Story of the Great Flood of 1927

Lyle Saxon

• Publisher: Pelican Publishing
• Year: 2022
• Print ISBN: 9781565547957
• eBook ISBN: 9781455604166
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: North American History
• Index: History

As Lyle Saxon writes in his introduction: "This book is not a history of the Mississippi River in the strict sense of the word, although I have outlined the discovery, the exploration, and the settlement of the valley?but this volume is like a scrap-book in which I have collected men?s thoughts, my own thoughts. These incidents seem to me informative, or amusing, or terrible, or tragic, or fantastic, but they are all a part of the living pageant which moved down the river through the changing years." First published in 1927, Father Mississippi contains accounts of those who lived their lives along the Mississippi River, and documents the first ripple in a wave of tremendous changes that took place in its environment. Over 70 years later, Father Mississippi still stands as an important history of the floods of 1927, most often remembered for their far-reaching impact on the cities along the Mississippi River, and the devastation they caused to towns in the southern Mississippi River Valley region. The accounts provide easy reading while acquainting the audience with characters such as Father Hennepin and Molly Glass, the murderess, who speak in their own words. Photos of life along the river and of the floods accompany these captivating excerpts.

Table of contents

• Front Cover
• INTRODUCTION
• ILLUSTRATIONS
• Part One: PLANTATION
• Chapter I: A CHILD LOOKS AT THE RIVER
• Chapter II: PLANTATION LIFE AND A WEDDING
• Chapter III: RIVER MUSIC
• Chapter IV: "AUNTS AND "UNCLES"
• Chapter V: THE MAIL-BOAT
• Chapter VI: CREVASSE
• Part Two: IN THE BEGINNING
• Chapter VII: BEFORE THE WHITE MEN CAME
• Chapter VIII: THE NAME "MISSISSIPPI"
• Chapter IX: DISCOVERY
• Chapter X: EXPLORATION
• Chapter XI: IBERVILLE AND BIENVILLE
• Chapter XII: NEW ORLEANS
• Chapter XIII: A CAT LOOKS AT A KING
• Part Three: "I HEAR THE TREAD OF PIONEERS"
• Chapter XIV: IN THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY
• Chapter XV: MOLLY GLASS, THE MURDERESS
• Chapter XVI: A WOMAN PIONEER
• Chapter XVII: A VOYAGE DOWN THE RIVER IN 1817
• Part Four: LEVEES AND STEAMBOATS
• Chapter XVIII: OLD STEAMBOAT DAYS
• Chapter XIX: COMMERCE ON THE MISSISSIPPI
• Chapter XX: LEVEES
• Part Five: 1927
• Chapter XXI: THE RISING RIVER
• Chapter XXII: THE FLOOD SWEEPS ON
• Chapter XXIII: Episode: Down On The Levee
• Chapter XXIV: WHAT HAPPENED AT NEW ORLEANS
• Chapter XXV: DYNAMITE
• Chapter XXVI: REFUGEES
• Chapter XXVII: Episode: Acadians in The Flood
• Chapter XXVIII: THE WAY OF THE RIVER
• Chapter XXIX: AND THE WATERS RECEDED
• Appendix
• BIBLIOGRAPHY FOR "FATHER MISSISSIPPI"
• INDEX