| Contents Notes |
Prologue -- Introducing Old Man River -- Majestic river bluffs and beautiful valleys -- Glaciers : sculptors of the upper Mississippi River basin -- The upper Mississippi River : child of the Pleistocene -- The land missed by the glaciers -- After the glaciers -- The Mississippi's prehistoric Native Americans : hunters, gatherers, farmers, and city planners -- The quest for furs and a northwest passage : changing ownership of the Mississippi River basin, 1673-1803 -- Prairie, savanna, and the big woods : the riverine landscape at the time of exploration and settlement by Americans and Europeans -- Early exploitation of natural resources -- Steamboats 'round the bend -- "Improving" the river, 1878-1930 -- Mission impossible : the nine-foot channel project -- The glory years -- Diesel-driven towboats and steel barges : a rebirth of commercial river transportation -- The Corps giveth, the Corps taketh away : long-term impacts of the nine-foot channel and related projects -- Vital strands in the river's web of life -- "Mayflies! : what the hell good are they?" -- Flooding : "the river is a strong brown god--sullen, untamed and intractable" -- Pollution : has a defiled river been reborn? -- Who's in charge? -- Can this be the same river? : St. Louis to the mouth of the Ohio and beyond -- Epilogue : the river yesterday, today, and tomorrow. Documents the history of the Mississippi River and the dramatic changes that have transpired as humans have exploited and attempted to subdue the waters since their discovery. |
