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Last Days of Last Island: The Hurricane of 1856, Louisiana's First Great Storm
Last Days of Last Island is the most comprehensive account of the great 1856 Isle Derniere hurricane, its aftermath, and its legacy. Dixon includes a complete listing of victims and survivors, numerous firsthand and primary source accounts, a thorough examination of the poetry and literature inspired by the tragedy, and thirty-two pages of illustrations.
290 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2009
About the author
Bill Dixon
1 bookBill Dixon (1943–2015), a native Texan, graduated from Texas State University in 1965 and took a job with the Social Security Administration before serving for two years in US Army. In 1969, Dixon accepted the first of three assignments to Social Security field offices in Louisiana—Baton Rouge, New Orleans, and Lake Charles. Throughout his twenty-eight-year journey in the state, he repeatedly stumbled across references to the disaster at Last Island—a captivating story of contradictions and myths, a story that had not been fully told. Dixon, a spare-time freelancer for and editor of a national newsletter for Social Security managers, eventually decided to tackle this story that he couldn't shake. Over ten years of determined research across the country, he wrote his first nonfiction book, Last Days of Last Island, published in 2009. Ultimately, Dixon’s career with the Social Security Administration and Medicare lasted nearly fifty years. He lived with his wife and son in Baltimore, Maryland, until his passing in 2015.
Librarian note: There are multiple authors with this name in this data base. This one is Bill^^Dixon.
Librarian note: There are multiple authors with this name in this data base. This one is Bill^^Dixon.
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
October 2, 2021
"Mr. Editor--I address you with a heart bowed down with grief at the sudden and unexpected loss of so many friends and acquaintances by the terrible and unexampled storm that devastated Last Island on Sunday...but with feeling of the deepest gratitude to the Great Author of my being for the unexpected mercy extended to myself and those nearest and dearest to me, in delivering us, with many others, from the waters of the mighty sea, which entombed so many, many, of our friends and fellow citizens.
Bill Dixon's Last Days of Last Island is a blow by blow account of the Category 4 storm which passed just west of Last Island on Sunday, August 10, 1856. The island was basically a sandbar off the southeastern coast of Louisiana which wealthy antebellum plantation owners decided would be a great setting for a resort, so entrepreneurs built wooden cottages, a hotel with dance hall, advertised vacation passages across Caillou Bay to their local "Nahant." That weekend, the resort was buzzing. Dixon describes the ominous clouds, the foam-flecked waves, and a few furrowed brows scanning the horizon--and voila! It's a living history of the times and calamities of the last days of Last Island.
Dixon's research is expansive and impressive. He organizes the reports, anecdotes, and post-storm writings into a detailed account. He has pored over family papers and contemporary newspaper reports, organizing the material in a chronological series of events. The book does repeat incidents and whole passages in multiple chapters, but Dixon ensures we get every nuance from his material. Dixon provides more than descriptions of devastation, though--he also provides insight into post-storm rescue efforts and descriptions of vigilantes searching for despicable pirates who desecrate and pillage the dead and dying. In the end, he even examines poetry and literature about the event. Like I said: Dixon's research is expansive and impressive.
While I enjoy Dixon's attention to minutia, I did not enjoy his dramatization of events. I would have preferred if he kept to reviewing and summarizing historical documents and press releases. Dixon becomes a little too enthusiastic with hyperbole during his descriptions of people battling the elements: "On Last Island, the Spinner of the Years cried "Now!" and Col. W.W. Pugh watched his world unravel."
Despite his literary enthusiasm at times, Dixon's work is historically relevant and fascinating. He dismantles myths and misinformation about the storms (though the cover of the book has the "planned" hotel that many mistakenly believe was the hotel devastated by the storm) and provides insights into life in antebellum Louisiana. I recommend it to Louisiana history buffs as well as readers who enjoy a good storm tale.
Bill Dixon's Last Days of Last Island is a blow by blow account of the Category 4 storm which passed just west of Last Island on Sunday, August 10, 1856. The island was basically a sandbar off the southeastern coast of Louisiana which wealthy antebellum plantation owners decided would be a great setting for a resort, so entrepreneurs built wooden cottages, a hotel with dance hall, advertised vacation passages across Caillou Bay to their local "Nahant." That weekend, the resort was buzzing. Dixon describes the ominous clouds, the foam-flecked waves, and a few furrowed brows scanning the horizon--and voila! It's a living history of the times and calamities of the last days of Last Island.
Dixon's research is expansive and impressive. He organizes the reports, anecdotes, and post-storm writings into a detailed account. He has pored over family papers and contemporary newspaper reports, organizing the material in a chronological series of events. The book does repeat incidents and whole passages in multiple chapters, but Dixon ensures we get every nuance from his material. Dixon provides more than descriptions of devastation, though--he also provides insight into post-storm rescue efforts and descriptions of vigilantes searching for despicable pirates who desecrate and pillage the dead and dying. In the end, he even examines poetry and literature about the event. Like I said: Dixon's research is expansive and impressive.
While I enjoy Dixon's attention to minutia, I did not enjoy his dramatization of events. I would have preferred if he kept to reviewing and summarizing historical documents and press releases. Dixon becomes a little too enthusiastic with hyperbole during his descriptions of people battling the elements: "On Last Island, the Spinner of the Years cried "Now!" and Col. W.W. Pugh watched his world unravel."
Despite his literary enthusiasm at times, Dixon's work is historically relevant and fascinating. He dismantles myths and misinformation about the storms (though the cover of the book has the "planned" hotel that many mistakenly believe was the hotel devastated by the storm) and provides insights into life in antebellum Louisiana. I recommend it to Louisiana history buffs as well as readers who enjoy a good storm tale.
November 2, 2011
Wow. I meant to skim this book and ended up spending most of the day reading it. Dixon did a great job of informing the reader without chucking up hunks of dry facts. The book reads in a somewhat dramatic, informative journalistic style, comparable to "A Night to Remember."
Before Katrina, before Camille, the great hurricane (unnamed) of 1856 sacked Isle Derniere A.K.A. Last Island, a fashionable coastal watering hole for the affluent classes seeking cool, scenic refuge from the muggy Louisiana summer. The up-and-comming resort never reached its zenith as a vacation spot, but when tragedy struck the barrier island already boasted a luxurious hotel and numerous guest cottages as well as private homes. It is estimated over 400 people were in residence the day catastrophe struck, and nearly half those people perished while their surviving comarades faced hours of hell on earth.
Dixon has put together a remarkable book, putting faces and personalities to names and events. He carefully addresses some of the myths and rumors that have grown up from the tragedy (No, the people didn't literally dance the night away until the ballroom flooded!) but at the same time, he's honest about his limitations. There are some mysteries about the last days of Last Island which will never be clarified, and the author doesn't pretend to try.
If you crave some quick reading non-fiction, this is one book worth reading. : )
Before Katrina, before Camille, the great hurricane (unnamed) of 1856 sacked Isle Derniere A.K.A. Last Island, a fashionable coastal watering hole for the affluent classes seeking cool, scenic refuge from the muggy Louisiana summer. The up-and-comming resort never reached its zenith as a vacation spot, but when tragedy struck the barrier island already boasted a luxurious hotel and numerous guest cottages as well as private homes. It is estimated over 400 people were in residence the day catastrophe struck, and nearly half those people perished while their surviving comarades faced hours of hell on earth.
Dixon has put together a remarkable book, putting faces and personalities to names and events. He carefully addresses some of the myths and rumors that have grown up from the tragedy (No, the people didn't literally dance the night away until the ballroom flooded!) but at the same time, he's honest about his limitations. There are some mysteries about the last days of Last Island which will never be clarified, and the author doesn't pretend to try.
If you crave some quick reading non-fiction, this is one book worth reading. : )
August 1, 2013
I have read several books about the storms of the past. I had a home destroyed by Hurricane Wilma in 2005 (with me in it) so I feel a strange connection to these stories. This was a very good book. The author did a amazing job researching this event. The book never drags or slows down. It jumps right into the story and keeps a good pace throughout. Never lingering to long on certain areas and not throwing in to much info that strays away from the event itself. You get a good amount of info about the many people important to the story without having to read a lot of info about them you really don't need to know. I think these events amaze me because these people did not have the warning systems we have today. (not that it helped me much in my event) One day is a nice day, the next day things start to change, then the world around them explodes! I have to say, this book almost deserves 5 stars. But I try to save that for the books that I consider extra extraordinary. I would say it deserves 4 and half stars(but can't give half stars on here). This is a VERY well written book. Great research. And pieced together masterfully. The first great hurricane of Louisiana. A tragic yet amazing story. It ranks up there with books like Killer Cane(1928 hurricane that hit Florida/Lake Okeechobee area), Storm of the Century(1935 Labor Day hurricane that hit the Florida Keys) and Isaacs Storm(1900 Galveston, Texas hurricane). All are amazing books.
February 17, 2021
Amazing story! This author did a great job describing the details of what these people experienced trying to survive during this Cat 4 hurricane with 140 mph winds that hit Last Island, off the Louisiana coast, on August 10, 1856.
Step-by-step, the author leads into the storm with a mix of reporting and novel-style writing with information gathered from first account news reports and personal journals from the survivors, ship logs, and records from various university archives. All facts are cited for further reading or research. He did his best to try and dispel a lot of myth's and wild stories passed down surrounding this storm, which may have stemmed from the fictional novel, "Chita: A Memory of Last Island" by Lafcadio Hearn. I love that it read more like a novel with facts and quotes inserted. Although I didn’t feel like I got to know the true survivors, I sure did feel like I experienced this storm with them. He follows through with the aftermath of the storm as well.
Last Island was only about 23 miles long and ½ a mile wide and only 5 or 6 feet above sea level. Normal tides were normally 2 feet. This hurricane brought in a 8 to 9 foot tidal surge and combined with a storm surge at high tide, this presented a huge problem for everyone on the island. The storm separated the island into three small islets: Raccoon, Whiskey and Trinity.
It was estimated that close to 400 people (white and black) were on this island resort at the time of the hurricane. They were able to account for at least 190 lives lost, with dozens that were washed out into Caillou Bay and up to 25 miles down the coastline to Oyster Bay and deep into marshes, which some were most likely not accounted for. Some survived, but most died after a period of time from thirst and/or starvation. There were 250 who survived the ordeal in the beached hull of the STAR for three days, and still other survivors found floating on debri, trees or hiding from the storm in water cisterns. The author does provide a list of survivors and deaths on the island, as well as a list of survivors on the ships, which were few, and ones lost (pgs. 226-38).
You’ll find a few photos of some survivors, but I was a little disappointed. I thought there should have been more. These were wealthy plantation owners. I’m sure they would have been photographed at some point in their life. If I was the author, I definitely would have tried to chase down more of those photographs to use with this historical book. Pictured in the book, considered to be the very last living survivor of the storm, is Thomas Bryan Pugh. He was only 3 years old on that day. His story was told by his parents who also survived. He lost two siblings in the storm. Thomas died one day after his 99th birthday, on May 4, 1952.
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My ancestors who were alive and living around Iberia Parish area during this time:
2nd great-grandparents:
Jean Clebert Broussard (1822-1900)
Modeste Emelie Decuir (1829-1897)
and
Jules LeBlanc (1819-1884)
Marguerite Pamela Boudreaux (1824-1869)
3rd great-grandmother:
Marie Felonise Broussard (1792-1879)
Step-by-step, the author leads into the storm with a mix of reporting and novel-style writing with information gathered from first account news reports and personal journals from the survivors, ship logs, and records from various university archives. All facts are cited for further reading or research. He did his best to try and dispel a lot of myth's and wild stories passed down surrounding this storm, which may have stemmed from the fictional novel, "Chita: A Memory of Last Island" by Lafcadio Hearn. I love that it read more like a novel with facts and quotes inserted. Although I didn’t feel like I got to know the true survivors, I sure did feel like I experienced this storm with them. He follows through with the aftermath of the storm as well.
Last Island was only about 23 miles long and ½ a mile wide and only 5 or 6 feet above sea level. Normal tides were normally 2 feet. This hurricane brought in a 8 to 9 foot tidal surge and combined with a storm surge at high tide, this presented a huge problem for everyone on the island. The storm separated the island into three small islets: Raccoon, Whiskey and Trinity.
It was estimated that close to 400 people (white and black) were on this island resort at the time of the hurricane. They were able to account for at least 190 lives lost, with dozens that were washed out into Caillou Bay and up to 25 miles down the coastline to Oyster Bay and deep into marshes, which some were most likely not accounted for. Some survived, but most died after a period of time from thirst and/or starvation. There were 250 who survived the ordeal in the beached hull of the STAR for three days, and still other survivors found floating on debri, trees or hiding from the storm in water cisterns. The author does provide a list of survivors and deaths on the island, as well as a list of survivors on the ships, which were few, and ones lost (pgs. 226-38).
You’ll find a few photos of some survivors, but I was a little disappointed. I thought there should have been more. These were wealthy plantation owners. I’m sure they would have been photographed at some point in their life. If I was the author, I definitely would have tried to chase down more of those photographs to use with this historical book. Pictured in the book, considered to be the very last living survivor of the storm, is Thomas Bryan Pugh. He was only 3 years old on that day. His story was told by his parents who also survived. He lost two siblings in the storm. Thomas died one day after his 99th birthday, on May 4, 1952.
----------
My ancestors who were alive and living around Iberia Parish area during this time:
2nd great-grandparents:
Jean Clebert Broussard (1822-1900)
Modeste Emelie Decuir (1829-1897)
and
Jules LeBlanc (1819-1884)
Marguerite Pamela Boudreaux (1824-1869)
3rd great-grandmother:
Marie Felonise Broussard (1792-1879)
September 6, 2021
I was intrigued by stories of Last Island (Isle Dernier in French) as a child. It was part of south Louisiana mythology and included the ancestors of my friends and neighbors. This was a well researched and gripping story.
March 11, 2022
Last Days of Last Island is truly a fantastic read. Bill Dixon does a remarkable job of taking an oft overlooked tragedy in American history and making it personal. A must read for fans of any form of literature, and anybody who has ever resided in south Louisiana.
November 13, 2017
Fascinating account of Louisiana's first great storm. I would recommend this for anyone interested in weather, Louisiana history, or both.
August 31, 2020
I grew up in southern Louisiana and was shocked I had never so much as heard of Last Island. It's an amazing story!
Read
February 7, 2022Absolutely fascinating American history that we never talk about. So glad I read this!
May 14, 2025
This is a very problematic book. The accounts of people struggling to survive when the storm hits are interesting, but the author overloads the book with boring minutiae.
June 30, 2016
[Last Days of Last Island] by [Bill Dixon] shows that being rich doesn't always come with common sense. In the mid 1800 in America the rich were looking for new ways to enjoy their wealth. In Louisiana the plantation owners found a beautiful island off the coast. It had great views and fishing. Also the breezes were a nice change from the temperatures inland in the South.
The catch is this "island" was little more than a large sandbar. What we know as barrier islands. This did not deter them from building it up as a resort for the well to do. What could go wrong?
There was no weather forecasting as their is today and the Gulf Coast was as prone to hurricanes then as it is now. There also was no easy escape since the only way to the island was by boat.
[Dixon] tell the tragic story of life and death on Last Island during the Hurricane of 1856. The research is well done and the narrative makes the saga of the inhabitants real in this pre Civil War natural disaster. Although he does get quite repetitive with details it was still a very informative read.
The catch is this "island" was little more than a large sandbar. What we know as barrier islands. This did not deter them from building it up as a resort for the well to do. What could go wrong?
There was no weather forecasting as their is today and the Gulf Coast was as prone to hurricanes then as it is now. There also was no easy escape since the only way to the island was by boat.
[Dixon] tell the tragic story of life and death on Last Island during the Hurricane of 1856. The research is well done and the narrative makes the saga of the inhabitants real in this pre Civil War natural disaster. Although he does get quite repetitive with details it was still a very informative read.
August 3, 2011
This was a very interesting book. I've read "Isaac's Storm" and it is very similar although there is far less documentation available for this hurricane. I liked the way he worked through some of the myths and was a stickler for details, but it wasn't boring. I would have like a more detailed map of the coast which labeled the various bayous and rivers that he mentioned.
July 14, 2014
It was good, and must've been a bear to research, hence the 4 starts. I was somewhat confused by the jumping around from family to family. There was repetition as well, mostly near the end. But I generally liked it.
I would like to get down to "the Isles Dernieres" (there are multiple islands there now), if it's allowed (it's a wildlife refuge currently).
I would like to get down to "the Isles Dernieres" (there are multiple islands there now), if it's allowed (it's a wildlife refuge currently).
April 27, 2014
The subject matter was interesting, but the author jumped around too much from family to family. It was hard to keep track of who was who and what was going on!
October 9, 2016
Very good. learned lot about a storm
I had only heard about
I had only heard about
April 1, 2018
Thinking about fishing off the Gulf Coast of Louisiana brings this book to mind. I read it several years ago on a fishing trip and could not put it down. The story is haunting and stays with me. Great story about a place totally unknown to me. Definitely worth the read!
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews