Mississippi River Mayhem: Disasters, Tragedy, and Murder on Ol' Man River

by Dean Klinkenberg

In his memoir, Life on the Mississippi, Mark Twain personified the river as “Sudden Death and General Desolation! Sired by a hurricane, dam’d by an earthquake, half-brother to the cholera, nearly related to the small-pox on the mother’s side! Look at me! I take nineteen alligators and a bar’l of whiskey for breakfast when I’m in robust health, and a bushel of rattlesnakes and a dead body when I’m ailing!” Twain’s time as a steamboat pilot showed him the true character of The Great River, with its unpredictable moods and hidden secrets. Still a vital route for U.S. shipping, the Mississippi River has given life to riverside communities, manufacturing industries, fishing, tourism, and other livelihoods. But the Mighty Mississippi has also claimed countless lives as tribute to its muddy waters. Climate and environmental conditions made the Mississippi the perfect incubator for diseases like malaria. Natural disasters, like tornadoes, floods, and even an earthquake, have changed and reshaped the river’s banks over thousands of years. Shipwrecks and steamboat explosions were once common in the difficult-to-navigate waters. But when there was money to be made, there were some willing to risk it all—from the brave steamboat captains who went down with their ships, to the illegal moonshiners and pirates who pillaged the river’s bounty. In this book, author and Mississippi River historian Dean Klinkenberg explores the many disastrous events to have occurred on and along the river in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries—from steamboat explosions, to Yellow Fever epidemics, floods, and Prohibition piracy. Enjoy this journey into the darkest deeds of the Mississippi River.

256 pages, Paperback

Published September 15, 2022

About the author

Dean Klinkenberg, the Mississippi Valley Traveler, explores the back roads and backwaters of the Mississippi River Valley, a place with an abundance of stories to tell, big characters, epic struggles, do-gooders and evil-doers. Some of those stories are in the Frank Dodge mystery series; others you’ll find in the Mississippi Valley Traveler guidebooks. He lives in St. Louis with his husband, John, and a parrot, Ra.

Reviews

[La Crosse County Library · Rating 4 out of 5]

4/5 stars

Just typing "Mississippi," I can’t help reciting it in my head. It’s just a fun word to spell!

Mississippi River Mayhem is a fascinating historical record of natural disasters, shipwrecks, murder, and tragedies on the river.

One little known tragedy included in the book is of the steamboat Sultana, which is the worst maritime disaster in American history. The Sultana explosion killed upwards of 1,600 people. Also, read about the I-35W bridge collapse in Minneapolis or the drownings that took place on the Mississippi River in La Crosse.

Author Dean Klinkenberg traveled extensively along the entire Mississippi by car, canoe, and river cruises learning about the historical, cultural, economic, and environmental impact the river has had on the people and land along its shores.

Greed, illegal moonshiners, risk, disease, and bravery can be found in the historical stories written about Ol’ Man River Himself: the Mississippi.

Find this book and other titles within our catalog.

-Paula

[Kyle Ferguson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ends abruptly without conclusion following a string of chapters, each covering a different topic. Felt like it needed a wrap up of some kind. interesting material in the book, though.