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
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
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
I've had the chance recently to check out a couple of new exhibits that feature art inspired by Mississippi River. I highly recommend both, but you'll need to go soon as they will only be around for a limited time. From the Surface: Paintings by Thomas Paquette Painter Thomas Paquette grew up
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?
I met Lucille Keil when she was a spry 84-year-old museum guide. She was my docent at the Young Museum in Bellevue, Iowa, leading me around the house filled with souvenirs collected by Joe and Grace Young during their world travels. During that first tour, she scowled when we reached a glass cabinet near
