An early illustration of Natchez, Mississippi
As we watch the devastation along the Mississippi River through the media we feel helpless knowing that when the river crests flood waters will remain for days. We have seen it before and will see it again.
The Mississippi River is one of the truly important places in the United States. In its own way it unites us and divides us at the same time. Historically it gained prominence even before it became part of the United States. Almost immediately after the final shot was fired in the American Revolution, farmers headed westward over the Appalachian Mountains to the frontiers that would become Tennessee, Kentucky, and Ohio. They planted corn, wheat, and other grains; more than they could personally use. How to get the crops back over the mountains to sell on the eastern seaboard or sent to Europe? The mountain route was too difficult; but what about the great waterways of the west, the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers?
While water routes were generally much faster and easier than overland routes, the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers presented some special dangers unique unto themselves. First, there were the robbers at Cave-in-Rock in southern Illinois. Next, were the currents, sandbars, and river pirates on the Mississippi River. After selling their cargo, the farmers or river men had to return home on foot or horseback. From New Orleans to Natchez wasn’t so bad; but at Natchez the traveler started up the Natchez Trace full of robbers, snakes, and highway men. So, were the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers a safer and easier means of travel?
An interesting book about the area during the period following the Louisiana Purchase in 1803 is An Artist in Treason: the Extraordinary Double Life of General James Wilkinson, Commander in Chief of the U. S. Army and Agent 13 in the Spanish Secret Service by Andro Linklater. I highly recommend it.