Our Mississippi River
The Mississippi River means something different to each of us. Hear directly from people about why they enjoy the Mississippi and what the river means to them.
Episode 9: What If We’d Named the Mississippi Something Else?
What’s in a name? Would the Mississippi sound as sweet by any other name? If Colbert had carried the day, would Mark Twain have still been inspired? Big Muddy, Old Man River, Father of Waters, we sure seem to have a hard time sticking to one name for this river. In this solo episode, I
Native American Historic Sites in Arkansas
I used a big chunk of my unplanned down time in 2020 to read books and articles about the history of Native Americans along the Mississippi Valley. Before I started this reading binge, I considered myself pretty well informed about indigenous communities along the Mississippi. It didn't take long for me to realize, though, that
A September Paddle on the Mississippi River
When our flotilla of five canoes pushed off from Louisiana, Missouri, the sky was flat gray, and a promising forecast had turned into warnings about heavy rain and potential flash flooding. This wasn’t the introduction to joys of paddling on the Mississippi River that I had hoped for with this group of friends. Six
Low Water Hike to Duck Island
Last weekend, I hiked to Duck Island through a dust storm. That's not a sentence I ever expected to type. For one thing, Duck Island, as the name implies, is an island. It sits just downriver from the c0nfluence of the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers in Columbia Bottom Conservation Area and is usually best
The Lives of Dred and Harriet Scott
The story of Dred and Harriet Scott's pursuit of freedom is one of the most significant in American history, but what do we know about their lives?