In this landmark work of natural history\, Boyce Upholt tells the epic story of the wild and unruly Mississippi Rive r\, and the centuries of efforts to control it.
\nOver thousands of years\, the Mississippi watershed was home to millions of Indigenous peopl e who regarded &ldquo\;the great river&rdquo\; with awe and respect\, ador ning its banks with astonishing spiritual earthworks. The river was ever-c hanging\, and Indigenous tribes embraced and even depended on its regular flooding. But the expanse of the watershed and the rich soils of its flood plain lured European settlers and American pioneers\, who had a different vision: the river was a foe to conquer.
\nCenturies of human attempt s to own\, contain\, and rework the Mississippi River\, from Thomas Jeffer son&rsquo\;s expansionist land hunger through today&rsquo\;s era of enviro nmental concern\, have now transformed its landscape. Upholt reveals how a n ambitious and sometimes contentious program of engineering&mdash\;govern ment-built levees\, jetties\, dikes\, and dams&mdash\;has not only damaged once-vibrant ecosystems but may not work much longer. Carrying readers al ong the river&rsquo\;s last remaining backchannels\, he explores how scien tists are now hoping to restore what has been lost.
\nBoyce Upholt&n bsp\;is a journalist and essayist whose writing has appeared in The&nb sp\;Atlantic\, \;National Geographic\, Oxford American\, and \;Virginia Quarterly Review\, among other publications. He is the winner of a James Beard Award for investigative journalism\, and he lives in New Orleans\, Louisiana.
\nSponsored by Friends of Hubbell Library
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