[8TE]≡ Read Gratis When the Mississippi Ran Backwards Empire Intrigue Murder and the New Madrid Earthquakes Jay Feldman 9780743242783 Books

When the Mississippi Ran Backwards Empire Intrigue Murder and the New Madrid Earthquakes Jay Feldman 9780743242783 Books

Download As PDF : When the Mississippi Ran Backwards Empire Intrigue Murder and the New Madrid Earthquakes Jay Feldman 9780743242783 Books

When the Mississippi Ran Backwards Empire Intrigue Murder and the New Madrid Earthquakes Jay Feldman 9780743242783 Books

I found this book very easy reading and generally accurate, but somewhat superficial since a lot of detail could have been included about the fascinating career of the Prophet, future president Harrison, with only passing reference to one of my personal favorite character Indian Agent William Wells. It's a fairly short and simple recounting of the days of the New Madrid earthquakes of 1811-12. George Morgan founds New Madrid when his land speculation plans fall through by negotiating a settlement with the Spanish ambassador. James Wilkinson had poisoned New Orleans governor Miro with false statements as he tries to carve out his own lucrative trade deal while hinting that he might bring grumbling Kentucky settlers over to the Spanish cause. But Morgan prevails and choses a congenial looking bluff on the north bank of a great Mississippi bend. But the site fails to prosper because the bluff is eroding and the poorly drained lands farther inland are just not hospitable. It doesn’t matter for him since he inherits some more profitable lands in Pennsylvania. So it becomes a modestly prosperous river port town but little more. Meanwhile Tecumseh is forming his coalition and legend has it that he predicted the great earthquakes. There’s the non-battle at Tippecanoe when the prophet Tensketawa was forced to defend the village. Meanwhile, Nicholas (steam boat engineer and paddle wheel inventor) and Lydia Roosevelt sail his technology pushing New Orleans down the Ohio to be just above the quake region on the fateful night of the first event. The boat performs flawlessly throughout and sets the stage for regular steam ship traffic on the river. A brief but generally accurate description of the fault system and the quakes, except that the magnitude is perhaps overstated at 8.0. Lots of graphic descriptions of the quakes themselves, even with lots of contradictory statements from understandably terrified observers. The tragic story of the Lewis brothers and their murder of the slave George are just a sidebar. Another sidebar is the story of Richard Johnson who supposedly was the trooper who shot down Tecumseh and uses that claim to fame to launch a political career through Congress and the Vice Presidency with Harrison. Far more interesting is the result of the first Congressional disaster relief. The idea is to provide local landowners with a land exchange voucher. But Saint Louis residents learn first and buy up plots for a song. Then, when locals find out, they resort to selling the same plot many times over. Then Saint Louis banks fail and the currency used for payments loses all value. A general fiasco all around.


Tags : When the Mississippi Ran Backwards: Empire, Intrigue, Murder, and the New Madrid Earthquakes [Jay Feldman] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. An account of the ecological and historical impact of a series of Mississippi River Valley earthquakes that took place in 1811 and 1812 documents how towns were destroyed,Jay Feldman,When the Mississippi Ran Backwards: Empire, Intrigue, Murder, and the New Madrid Earthquakes,Free Press,0743242785,Indians of North America;Missouri;History;19th century.,Mississippi River;History;19th century.,New Madrid Earthquakes, 1811-1812.,1812-1815,19th century,Earthquakes & Volcanoes,History,History - U.S.,History General,History United States 19th Century,History United States General,History: American,Indians of North America,Missouri,New Madrid Earthquakes, 1811-1812,United States - 19th Century,Wars,Mississippi River,New Madrid Earthquakes, 1811-1,History: World

When the Mississippi Ran Backwards Empire Intrigue Murder and the New Madrid Earthquakes Jay Feldman 9780743242783 Books Reviews

To go back in time when the cost of Freedom and opportunity of land was worth the risk of Indian attacks and the unknown variables that Mother Nature can destroy. Political influences, broken promises are deciphered clearly by the writer to create a total consumption of what life was like to travel west into the wilderness.
And if these were not enough hardships, experience what it is like being near the center of one the largest earthquakes in North American History.
A well written book that combines intelligently the events that led to the U. S. expansion west and the cost to achieve the American dream. A mature adventure that compares to Mark Twain's stories.
I teach geology, and I've long wondered about the New Madrid faultline and the big earthquake that occurred there in the early 1800's. I know way more about the San Francisco 1906 earthquake because I was raised in the Bay Area, and I'm familiar with the San Andreas fault. That's actually why I became interested in geology. Everyone always worries about the West Coast having earthquakes, not realizing the middle of the country has an faultline just as dangerous to worry about...

This book is a mix of genres. It is a lot of history, some biography, and some geography in order to tell the whole story of not just the quake but the impact that the 1811/1812 quake and shocks had on a variety of characters in a historical context. The author brings alive how interconnected everything is...one domino falls and it impacts so many other things. In this case the quake altered the Mississippi River, caused a murder to be discovered, it led to some changes in where towns were placed along the river, and impacted the 1812 War between the British/Native Americans and the U.S.

The writing was excellent, with a lot of very good research that made the book very readable and brought a long forgotten time back to life. What I really appreciate is having a lot more knowledge about the New Madrid Fault (there were some good maps in the book) and about the future potential and probability for another quake to happen. The next one will be much more devastating as this area is a lot more populated...
Some years ago I took my son to Jefferson's Monticello and stopped at the research building near the entrance, wanting to check and see if they had anything on our family line which descends from his sister Lucy. She married Charles Lilburne Lewis (her first cousin) who moved the family to western Kentucky. I was thrilled to see a book had actually been written about this family but was a bit dismayed when I read the title "Jefferson's Nephews, A Frontier Tragedy" by Boynton Merrill Jr. This was my first exposure to the story of how my uncles Lilburne and Isham Lewis killed a slave named George and burned his remains and walled them up inside a chimney.

The discovery of this murder came about due the the events chronicled in the book by Feldman, namely the New Madrid earthquake which caused the chimney to crumble and expose the bones. Rather than face trial, Lilburne and Isham Lewis decided on a suicide pact in the family graveyard. Lilburne shot and killed himself and Isham decided to run,and was later killed in the Battle of New Orleans. (Under an assumed name but I have not been able to determine what that was.)

The New Madrid earthquake, named for the town on the Mississippi River, was the strongest ever recorded in the Eastern U.S. estimated at magnitude 7.5-8.1 and this book tells the tale of the time when "The Mississippi ran backwards". It incorporates the legend of Techumseh, the Indian chief who supposedly "caused" the quake, the history of steamship travel on the river, the story of the War of 1812, the issue of Indian relations, a bit of history and the geology behind earthquakes as well as the story of the murder above. For a relatively small volume of about 300 pages, it sure packs in a lot. Well written and interesting book.
I found this book very easy reading and generally accurate, but somewhat superficial since a lot of detail could have been included about the fascinating career of the Prophet, future president Harrison, with only passing reference to one of my personal favorite character Indian Agent William Wells. It's a fairly short and simple recounting of the days of the New Madrid earthquakes of 1811-12. George Morgan founds New Madrid when his land speculation plans fall through by negotiating a settlement with the Spanish ambassador. James Wilkinson had poisoned New Orleans governor Miro with false statements as he tries to carve out his own lucrative trade deal while hinting that he might bring grumbling Kentucky settlers over to the Spanish cause. But Morgan prevails and choses a congenial looking bluff on the north bank of a great Mississippi bend. But the site fails to prosper because the bluff is eroding and the poorly drained lands farther inland are just not hospitable. It doesn’t matter for him since he inherits some more profitable lands in Pennsylvania. So it becomes a modestly prosperous river port town but little more. Meanwhile Tecumseh is forming his coalition and legend has it that he predicted the great earthquakes. There’s the non-battle at Tippecanoe when the prophet Tensketawa was forced to defend the village. Meanwhile, Nicholas (steam boat engineer and paddle wheel inventor) and Lydia Roosevelt sail his technology pushing New Orleans down the Ohio to be just above the quake region on the fateful night of the first event. The boat performs flawlessly throughout and sets the stage for regular steam ship traffic on the river. A brief but generally accurate description of the fault system and the quakes, except that the magnitude is perhaps overstated at 8.0. Lots of graphic descriptions of the quakes themselves, even with lots of contradictory statements from understandably terrified observers. The tragic story of the Lewis brothers and their murder of the slave George are just a sidebar. Another sidebar is the story of Richard Johnson who supposedly was the trooper who shot down Tecumseh and uses that claim to fame to launch a political career through Congress and the Vice Presidency with Harrison. Far more interesting is the result of the first Congressional disaster relief. The idea is to provide local landowners with a land exchange voucher. But Saint Louis residents learn first and buy up plots for a song. Then, when locals find out, they resort to selling the same plot many times over. Then Saint Louis banks fail and the currency used for payments loses all value. A general fiasco all around.