We're sorry, but eCampus.com doesn't work properly without JavaScript.
Either your device does not support JavaScript or you do not have JavaScript enabled.
How to enable JavaScript in your browser.
Need help? Call 1-855-252-4222
Note: Supplemental materials are not guaranteed with Rental or Used book purchases.
Purchase Benefits
What is included with this book?
A fascinating account of how the Mississippi River shaped America
In Old Man River, Paul Schneider tells the story of the river at the center of America's rich history—the Mississippi. Some fifteen thousand years ago, the majestic river provided Paleolithic humans with the routes by which early man began to explore the continent's interior. Since then, the river has been the site of historical significance, from the arrival of Spanish and French explorers in the 16th century to the Civil War. George Washington fought his first battle near the river, and Ulysses S. Grant and William T. Sherman both came to President Lincoln's attention after their spectacular victories on the lower Mississippi.
In the 19th century, home-grown folk heroes such as Daniel Boone and the half-alligator, half-horse, Mike Fink, were creatures of the river. Mark Twain and Herman Melville led their characters down its stream in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and The Confidence-Man. A conduit of real-life American prowess, the Mississippi is also a river of stories and myth.
Schneider traces the history of the Mississippi from its origins in the deep geologic past to the present. Though the busiest waterway on the planet today, the Mississippi remains a paradox—a devastated product of American ingenuity, and a magnificent natural wonder.
Prologue The American Watershed 1
Book One: River of GiantsContinents Collide, Glaciers Recede, Mastodons Bellow, and Humans Arrive 1. Ice on the Rocks 9 2. The Missouri Leviathan 13 3. Bones and Stones 20 4. Broken Arrows 30 5. Mammoth Season 35
Book Two: River of MoundsThe Rise and Fall, and Rise and Fall, and Rise of Native America 6. Among the Effigies 43 7. Poverty Point 54 8. 60,000 Pearls 58 9. The Mississippian Moment 64 10. The Great Serpent 73
Book Three: River of FortuneThe Spanish Exit, the French Arrive, the Iroquois Take Action 11. Bonjour Great Khan 81 12. In the Iroquois Longhouse 88 13. The American Bottom 98 14. The Illinois Country 102 15. Adrift 111 16. The Incomparable La Salle 120 17. Nous Sommes Tous Sauvages 129 18. The Wrath 136 19. If the River Don’t Rise 145
Book Four: River of EmpiresThe English Enter, the French Exit, the Iroquois Negotiate, and the Americans Take Over 20. The Scramble for the Forks 153 21. The Half King 159 22. Adieu New France 171 23. The American Watershed 180 24. Allegheny Mornings 194
Book Five: Life on the MississippiFlatboats and Keelboats, Steamboats and Showboats, Songsters and Soul Drivers 25. Down a Lazy River 205 26. I Long to See You 223 27. Up the Wicked River 236 28. All Aboard 246 29. Down Below 257
Book Six: River of bloodLincoln and Davis, New Orleans and Vicksburg, Victory and Defeat 30. Blood on the Tracks 267 31. Anaconda 272 32. Up in Flames 285
Book Seven: On the Lake of the EngineersFloods Rise, Levees Rise, Dams Rise, while Mountains Fall and Grasses Sink 33. The Mouth 305 34. All the Lists of Clay 314 35. Old Man River 331
Acknowledgments 335Source Notes 337Bibliography 353Index 381
The New copy of this book will include any supplemental materials advertised. Please check the title of the book to determine if it should include any access cards, study guides, lab manuals, CDs, etc.
The Used, Rental and eBook copies of this book are not guaranteed to include any supplemental materials. Typically, only the book itself is included. This is true even if the title states it includes any access cards, study guides, lab manuals, CDs, etc.