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Mary Ann Sternberg has spent twenty years challenging the idea that the River Road between Baton Rouge and New Orleans is nothing more than rows of noxious chemical plants interspersed with 19th century plantation houses, so in this episode, we dig into its past and present. Mary Ann begins by orienting us to the geography of the River Road and the region’s indigenous inhabitants. She describes the arrival of European settlers, which included an influx of Germans in the early 1700s. We talk about the role of the Mississippi River in the daily lives of people along the River Road and the development of early agriculture. She talks about the Slave Revolt of 1811 (also called the German Coast Uprising) and where visitors can learn more about that tragic event, as well as which plantations best incorporate the history of enslaved people into the stories they tell. We touch on the history of Canary Islanders and Cajuns who settled in the region, as well as the Jewish community in Donaldsonville. She describes the transition from agriculture to heavy industry, then we finish with a few tips about visiting the River Road.

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In this episode, I talk with Jim Gass, Director of Research and Education at the Centre for French Colonial Life, about the long and rich history of Sainte Genevieve, Missouri. We begin with a discussion of what we know about the indigenous people who lived in the area before Europeans arrived, then talk about the French settlers who moved into the region in the 18th century. Jim describes their daily lives, the crops they grew, connections to other early settlements (including New Orleans), and how they had fun. We then talk about the architectural style the town is best known for today, including how it developed, what makes it unique, and its advantages and disadvantages. We talk about the different organizations working to preserve Sainte Genevieve’s architectural past and wrap up with a discussion of the work of the Center for French Colonial Life.

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In this episode, I interview long-time river guide and Sage of the Lower Mississippi, John Ruskey. John has been guiding and living on the Mississippi for nearly 30 years, so I start by letting him describe the Lower Mississippi River that he knows. We talk about some of the river’s characteristics that make it a special place, including its vastness, its extreme variations from high water to low water, and the diversity of life it supports. Still, John emphasizes that to get to know the river, to learn its language, we have to be willing to slow down and look at the details around us. He offers ideas on how we can encourage more people to connect with the river, overcome their fears about it, and grow into stewards. He also offers a few observations about how the river has changed over time. John closes out the interview by singing an original song inspired by the river he knows so well.

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A hundred years ago, shantyboat communities could be found along many rivers in the US. Historian Gregg Andrews went in-depth to research these communities, inspired in part by the discovery of a personal connection to them, which resulted in a book called “Shantyboats and Roustabouts: The River Poor of St. Louis, 1875 to 1930.” In this episode, I talk with Gregg about those shantyboat communities. After Gregg describes how he got interested in shantyboat communities, he describes what a shantyboat was and who lived in them, what it was like to live in one of these communities and their frontier-like culture, some of the characters he came across, including Louis Seibt and Rose Mosenthein, the legal basis shantyboaters used to defend their communities (often successfully), and their eventual dissolution.

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You probably know a little bit about Hannibal, Missouri, because of the books written by a guy named Mark Twain, but I bet you don’t know much about the history of African Americans who’ve lived in Hannibal, even though Hannibal has had African American residents from its earliest days. I didn’t until I talked with Faye Dant, founder of a Hannibal museum called Jim’s Journey.

In this episode, Dant fills me in on the history that’s been hard to come by. We talk about her deep family roots in Hannibal and Missouri, and how the lack of recognition for Black history in Hannibal inspired her to create the museum. She describes how she researches the history of the area’s African American communities, and what she learned about the first African Americans in Hannibal. She gives an overview of the city’s Black neighborhoods and how African Americans weren’t allowed to be in many Hannibal neighborhoods after dark.

She describes the limited economic and educational opportunities available to African Americans in town, and her own experience going through the public schools as they integrated. We talk about the foundations of community life, and a couple of people who left an outsized mark on the area’s history: Joe Douglas and George Coleman Poage. We wrap up with a discussion of what she learned about Mark Twain growing up in Hannibal and what she thinks about the way Hannibal presents Mark Twain today.

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Our summer road trip down the Great River Road continues in this episode. We start just after Lake Pepin and make our way to the Mississippi’s confluence with the Ohio River at Cairo, Illinois. Along the way, I’ll comment on the following places: the Upper Mississippi River National Fish & Wildlife Refuge; Winona, Minnesota; in Wisconsin: Alma, Fountain City, La Crosse, and Prairie du Chien; Dubuque, Iowa, and Galena, Illinois; the Quad Cities of Illinois and Iowa; in southeast Iowa: Muscatine, Burlington, Fort Madison, and Keokuk; in Illinois: Nauvoo, Quincy, Grafton, Alton, Chester, Shawnee National Forest, and Cairo; in Missouri: Hannibal, St. Louis, Sainte Genevieve, and Cape Girardeau, plus a few places in between these. I obviously won’t be going into great depth about any particular place but instead want to give you a sense of the variety of attractions and experiences you can expect along the Mississippi River, with some picks about my favorite spots (and where to get good food and drinks).

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It’s summer and many of y’all will be hitting the road to travel and see something new (or revisit places you enjoy). I haven’t done a travel-themed podcast in a while, so in the next couple of episodes, I’m going to go over the highlights of driving the Great River Road. In this episode, I start with an overview of what to expect from the drive plus some overall highlights. Then, I start a north to south trek down the Great River Road from Itasca State Park and ending at Lake Pepin. Along the way, I’ll comment on the following places: Bemidji, Grand Rapids, Crosby, Brainerd, Little Falls, St. Cloud, Minneapolis, Saint Paul, and the communities around Lake Pepin. I obviously won’t be going into great depth about any particular place but instead want to give you a sense of the variety of attractions and experiences you can expect along the Mississippi River, with some picks about my favorite spots (and where to get good food and drinks). In the next episode, I’ll cover the rest of the Great River Road from Lake Pepin to the Mississippi’s confluence with the Ohio River at Cairo, Illinois.

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In this episode, we continue our detour along the Missouri River with part 2 of my conversation with Steve Schnarr from Missouri River Relief. In part two, Steve describes the process the Corps of Engineers used to channelize the river, how it changed the river, what we lost, and how some folks gained new land. He talks about a Missouri River bridge that was built over land, and about the hopes for commercial navigation on the Missouri River that just never seem to realize.

We talk about the growing community of Missouri River paddlers and the special relationship between residents of river towns and the Missouri River. Steve offers a few tips on places to visit the Missouri River, including a couple of areas where you can check out remnants of the old river. We finish with a description of the mission of Missouri River Relief and their big annual event, the race known as the MR340.