2 / Phantom River: The Mississippi Ain't Where It Used to Be
adeepersouth.substack.com
“Vicksburg, Mississippi, used to be a riverfront town, but it’s not anymore.” One of the Mississippi River’s most prominent nineteenth century steamboat hubs was by the middle of the twentieth a shadow of its former self. Learn how a massive flood altered the city’s fortunes and gave us one of the most extraordinary map series of the century, and how modern technology is adding a new dimension to those old maps. We will also learn about oxbow lakes, bodies of water orphaned by the ever-shifting river, and how some historical events, like the Vicksburg massacre, become like ‘oxbow lakes’ of history, removed from the main thoroughfare of American memory.
2 / Phantom River: The Mississippi Ain't Where It Used to Be
2 / Phantom River: The Mississippi Ain't…
2 / Phantom River: The Mississippi Ain't Where It Used to Be
“Vicksburg, Mississippi, used to be a riverfront town, but it’s not anymore.” One of the Mississippi River’s most prominent nineteenth century steamboat hubs was by the middle of the twentieth a shadow of its former self. Learn how a massive flood altered the city’s fortunes and gave us one of the most extraordinary map series of the century, and how modern technology is adding a new dimension to those old maps. We will also learn about oxbow lakes, bodies of water orphaned by the ever-shifting river, and how some historical events, like the Vicksburg massacre, become like ‘oxbow lakes’ of history, removed from the main thoroughfare of American memory.