Louisiana Sojourns

by De Caro, Frank; Jordan, Rosan Augusta

• ISBN13: 9780807122396
• ISBN10: 0807122394
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 1998-06-01
• Publisher: Louisiana State Univ Pr

Summary

A sweeping collection of observations and episodes penned by visitors to Louisiana from the 16th century to the 1990s. These 76 pieces include writings by well-known figures ranging from Mark Twain to William Least Heat Moon and less famous wayfarers. The combination of riveting first-person narratives and informative analyses provides an enormously enriching dimension to travel in Louisiana today. Illustrated.

Table of Contents

Preface	xvii
The Importance of Passing Through: Traveler Writers in Louisiana	1	(10)
1 AMERICAN NILE: THE RIVER	11	(58)
Discovering the Mississippi's Mouth	14	(2)
Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vaca
Vive le Roi: La Salle Reaches the Mississippi's Mouth	16	(3)
Jacques de la Metairie
A Near Ambush	19	(2)
Jean Bernard Bossu
Entrance of the Mississippi	21	(3)
Frances Trollope
Waiting for a Boat	24	(2)
Sir Charles Lyell
Steamboat Accommodations	26	(5)
Frederick Law Olmsted
Gambling on the River	31	(4)
George Devol
Castles and Plantations	35	(3)
Mark Twain
The 1927 Flood	38	(8)
Lyle Saxon
Show-Boat	46	(5)
Kent and Margaret Lighty
Canoeing the Mississippi	51	(3)
Eddy L. Harris
The Invisible Corridor	54	(2)
B. C. Hall
C. T. Wood
Travel Update	56	(13)
2 A SPLENDID BEDLAM OF A CITY: NEW ORLEANS	69	(60)
New Orleans in the 1760s	73	(4)
Philip Pittman
Where Human Life Can Be Enjoyed	77	(1)
William Darby
Congo Square	78	(2)
Benjamin Latrobe
Parrots, Spider-Monkeys, and Sun Umbrellas	80	(1)
Arthur Singleton
The Levee	81	(1)
Donald MacDonald
Rain and Mosquitoes	82	(4)
A. Oakey Hall
The French Quarter	86	(3)
George Augustus Sala
The French Market	89	(5)
Will H. Coleman
Episode	94	(3)
William Faulkner
Real Jazz	97	(7)
Simone de Beauvoir
In the Quarter	104	(3)
Walker Percy
New Orleans	107	(3)
Joy Harjo
Between Trains	110	(8)
George F. Scheer III
Travel Update	118	(11)
3 A HAUNTING THING: PLANTATION REALMS	129	(56)
A Visit to Valcour Aime Plantation	134	(5)
Eliza Ripley
St. James Parish Plantations	139	(8)
W.H. Russell
Magnolia Plantation	147	(4)
Edward King
Plantation Life in Southern Louisiana	151	(4)
Ernst von Hesse-Wartegg
"The Shadows"	155	(13)
Henry Miller
Weighing and Paying	168	(7)
Richard Schweid
Travel Update	175	(10)
4 TELLING THE STORY OF OUR LIVES: THE AFRICAN AMERICAN PRESENCE	185	(56)
The Runaway	189	(6)
John James Audubon
Slave Markets	195	(5)
Fredrika Bremer
Fear of a Slave Uprising	200	(1)
Charles Cesar Robin
How the Slaves Celebrate Christmas	201	(6)
Solomon Northup
The Cheerleaders	207	(11)
John Steinbeck
A Certain Meeting South	218	(8)
Sherwood Anderson
Free People of Color	226	(3)
Frederick Law Olmsted
The Quadroon Ball	229	(2)
The Duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach
The Quadroon Ballroom	231	(3)
Frederick Turner
Travel Update	234	(7)
5 NEVER SO MANY TRAVEL ACCOUNTS: THE WAR	241	(32)
New Orleans, Just After Secession	244	(2)
W.H. Russell
Fleeing the Yankees	246	(3)
Eliza McHatton-Ripley
A Very Swarthy and Travel-Stained Warrior	249	(9)
James K. Hosmer
Christmas at Marksville	258	(3)
Joseph P. Blessington
Taking the Oath	261	(6)
Sarah Morgan Dawson
Travel Update	267	(6)
6 LAND PICTURESQUE AND FERTILE: CAJUN COUNTRY	273	(50)
The Acadian Coast	278	(2)
Charles Cesar Robin
Acadians	280	(2)
Frederick Law Olmsted
A Tour of the Acadian Country	282	(11)
Alcee Fortier
The Fais Do Do at Mamou	293	(7)
Emily Kimbrough
Cajun Music	300	(5)
William Least Heat Moon
South of the South	305	(11)
Frederick Turner
Travel Update	316	(7)
7 RED CLAY HILLS AND PINEY-WOODS: CENTRAL AND NORTH LOUISIANA	323	(48)
The Post of the Ouachita	327	(4)
Charles Cesar Robin
Crossing Central Louisiana	331	(6)
Amos A. Parker
Manner in Which the Survey Was Made	337	(13)
Samuel H. Lockett
Nothing But a Little Pissant	350	(16)
A.J. Liebling
Travel Update	366	(5)
8 WHERE ALL THINGS SEEM TO DREAM: BAYOU, MARSH, COAST	371	(48)
A World Apart	375	(6)
Ben Lucian Burman
Moss Pickers of the Lafourche Interior	381	(12)
Carolyn Ramsey
Dance of the Oyster Luggers	393	(6)
Christopher Hallowell
Cruising the Marshes and Coast	399	(6)
Matilda Charlotte Houstoun
Grand Isle	405	(7)
Charles Tenney Jackson
Sailing to Cheniere Caminada	412	(5)
Kate Chopin
Travel Update	417	(2)
9 SPORTSMAN'S PARADISE: WILDLIFE AND THE NATURAL ENVIRONMENT	419	(56)
Ibis-Shooting in Louisiana	424	(9)
Anonymous
Alligator Hunting	433	(5)
Clifton Johnson
In the Louisiana Canebrakes	438	(10)
Theodore Roosevelt
On the Road with John James Audubon	448	(7)
Mary Durant
Michael Harwood
Traveling on the Natural and Scenic Streams System	455	(9)
C.C. Lockwood
Travel Update	464	(11)
10 COWBOY'S SHANGRI-LA: FESTIVALS, FEASTS, AND OTHER DIVERSIONS	475	(50)
A Journey Through Mardi Gras	480	(16)
Lyle Saxon
Country Mardi Gras	496	(4)
Harnett T. Kane
A Cockfight	500	(6)
Ernst von Hesse-Wartegg
Bonfires on the Levee	506	(3)
Hope J. Norman
An Attempt to Compile the Definitive History of Didee's Restaurant	509	(9)
Calvin Trillin
Travel Update	518	(7)
11 THE WORLD OF THE SPIRITS	525	(42)
Holy Week	528	(4)
Benjamin Latrobe
Cities of the Dead	532	(2)
A. Oakey Hall
The Element of True African Worship	534	(4)
Fredrika Bremer
A Voodoo Dance	538	(7)
Charles Dudley Warner
A Voodoo Initiation	545	(11)
Zora Neale Hurston
Travel Update	556	(11)
Index	567