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When the Mississippi Ran Backwards: Empire, Intrigue, Murder, and the New Madrid Earthquakes
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, a massive lake was created, and political loyalties were altered, changing the course of the War of 1812. 35,000 first printing.
307 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2005
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January 11, 2009
Growing up in Chicago where earthquakes are extremely rare, we talk about the New Madrid (not pronounced like the city in Spain at all but more like MAD - as in "I'm mad at you," RID - as in "get rid of that.")fault as if it belongs to us when it is really hundreds of miles away. The New Madrid earthquakes of 1811-12 were devastating, landscape changing and life changing events which occured just as Americans were expanding westward but all most people know about them is that the Mississippi ran backwards!
Feldman's book is truly a social history of the westward expansion and the early growing pains of American society rather than an exposition about the earthquakes. This is the typical formula for social histories in that the author chooses an event as a metaphor for a turning point in social or cultural history. Barbara Tuchman was well known for this with her books The Guns of August which is more about how technology changed early 20th century culture and A Distant mirror which was about the transition from medieval warrior culture to the more sophisticated and materialistic Renaissance.
Feldman's books is about out with the old and in with the new. It's about leaving colonial culture behind and expanding west with new ideas and new ways of doing things. New Madrid was originally planned as a modern, humanistic settlement on the Mississippi - quite aradical idea for the time. Also Nicholas Roosevelt was tkaing the first steamboat down the Mississippi at this time. How many of us can imagine that there was ever a time when there weren't steamboats on the river?
Feldman is also clearly a follower of the Fredrick Jackson Turner thesis about the importance of the frontier in American culture. The westward expansion gave us (Americans)this idea that we could reinvent ourselves if we could tame the land and that we didn't have to be anybody we didn't want to be. This is still part of our cultural identity whether we live in Boston or Wyoming.
Finally, Feldman does give us some idea of the plight of Native American as the white Americans move west but rather than focus on their suffering as most current histories do, Feldman gives us an excellent view of how the pan-Indian movement tried to organize and resist the westward expansion. In general, our histories look at Native Americans as primitive and disparate groups who fought off the ugly Americans in tipis. Of course, the real picture is more complex than that and there were some very sophisticated Native American politicians such as Tecumseh who tried toreverse the trend.
The New Madrid earthquakes changed the world as many people knew it in those days but it was only one of many big changes. The westward expansion opened up new posibilities and changed the way American saw themselves.
Feldman's book is truly a social history of the westward expansion and the early growing pains of American society rather than an exposition about the earthquakes. This is the typical formula for social histories in that the author chooses an event as a metaphor for a turning point in social or cultural history. Barbara Tuchman was well known for this with her books The Guns of August which is more about how technology changed early 20th century culture and A Distant mirror which was about the transition from medieval warrior culture to the more sophisticated and materialistic Renaissance.
Feldman's books is about out with the old and in with the new. It's about leaving colonial culture behind and expanding west with new ideas and new ways of doing things. New Madrid was originally planned as a modern, humanistic settlement on the Mississippi - quite aradical idea for the time. Also Nicholas Roosevelt was tkaing the first steamboat down the Mississippi at this time. How many of us can imagine that there was ever a time when there weren't steamboats on the river?
Feldman is also clearly a follower of the Fredrick Jackson Turner thesis about the importance of the frontier in American culture. The westward expansion gave us (Americans)this idea that we could reinvent ourselves if we could tame the land and that we didn't have to be anybody we didn't want to be. This is still part of our cultural identity whether we live in Boston or Wyoming.
Finally, Feldman does give us some idea of the plight of Native American as the white Americans move west but rather than focus on their suffering as most current histories do, Feldman gives us an excellent view of how the pan-Indian movement tried to organize and resist the westward expansion. In general, our histories look at Native Americans as primitive and disparate groups who fought off the ugly Americans in tipis. Of course, the real picture is more complex than that and there were some very sophisticated Native American politicians such as Tecumseh who tried toreverse the trend.
The New Madrid earthquakes changed the world as many people knew it in those days but it was only one of many big changes. The westward expansion opened up new posibilities and changed the way American saw themselves.
December 8, 2008
I was really really disappointed. The earthquakes are so often overlooked in American history surveys so I was excited to find a book dealing with the topic. And the sections about the quakes and their aftermath were fascinating. But the arguments by the author to cite the earthquakes as a contributing factor to the War of 1812, the collapse of Tecumseh's confederacy and Thomas Jefferson's position on slavery were tenuous, no that's too positive a word, how about fantasmacorical? (I made that one up!) Seriously - two dissolute nephews of TJ heinously murder a slave and that has what to do with the great scope of things? It's a tragic story, but has NOTHING to do with TJ and his position on slavery. NOTHING. TJ had no connection to the crime, or its cover up, or the ultimate undoing of the pair by the quakes. The author was using TJ sorta' like a loss-leader at Walmart. I do not recommend this book for anything other than the section directly dealing with the quakes. His historical analysis is shoddy and his conclusions asinine.
April 22, 2012
This book wasn't exactly what I expected, but how many pages could you expect to write about an event that happened in 1811 in a place where only a few hundred people lived? I liked the author's approach though....trying to tie in all the stories of the various groups for whom the Earthquakes were a significant historical event - explorers, pioneers, Native Americans, and enslaved Africans. Also, I'm a little bit fascinated about this time period when Ohio and Indiana were still considered "the West," so I really enjoyed the book's many vignettes.
November 8, 2016
I've heard of the New Madrid fault and the earthquakes there in 1811-12. It was an interesting read to learn more details of the event but nothing extraordinary.
March 30, 2013
Hmmm - not bad but somewhat unsatisfying as a book as, in my opinion, the author tried to pull together several disparate strands with the context of the new Madrid Earthquakes as the backdrop. It just about works but frankly, the earthquakes themselves almost seem to take a back seat to the history of the settling of the frontier. That's OK, since it is an interesting topic in itself, but I wanted to know more about the earthquakes themselves and it seems as though that was a little lacking here.
Normally I read books like this for the historical context so it may seem churlish to make such an observation, but in this case the balance seems a little wrong. It may be my fault - after all the last few words of the title are the only place where the earthquakes are mentioned (although the title itself is suggestive of it).
The murder is interesting in itself, as is the history of the New Madrid settlement, but the tremors themselves, and the fact that there is a major fault line in the middle of the US that has been largely forgotten, seems to me to be the most interesting aspect of the whole area, and this is not really developed in any detail. Unlike Simon Winchester's most excellent "A Crack in the Edge of the World" this book fails to really explain the geology and why it is so important and why we should pay attention. The desciptions of the events themeselves are most interesting, but again lack great detail in my opion.
Worth reading, I certainly learned a lot, but I felt the structure and emphasis weren't quite as good as I had hoped.
Normally I read books like this for the historical context so it may seem churlish to make such an observation, but in this case the balance seems a little wrong. It may be my fault - after all the last few words of the title are the only place where the earthquakes are mentioned (although the title itself is suggestive of it).
The murder is interesting in itself, as is the history of the New Madrid settlement, but the tremors themselves, and the fact that there is a major fault line in the middle of the US that has been largely forgotten, seems to me to be the most interesting aspect of the whole area, and this is not really developed in any detail. Unlike Simon Winchester's most excellent "A Crack in the Edge of the World" this book fails to really explain the geology and why it is so important and why we should pay attention. The desciptions of the events themeselves are most interesting, but again lack great detail in my opion.
Worth reading, I certainly learned a lot, but I felt the structure and emphasis weren't quite as good as I had hoped.
May 20, 2009
For some reason, I neglected to fully process the subtitle, "Empire, Intrigue, Murder, and the New Madrid Earthquakes."
If you're looking for an unexpected take on the first decade of the nineteenth century, this is adequate but not satisfying. If, like me, you want a healthy dose of geology spiced with history, definitely read something else.
If you're looking for an unexpected take on the first decade of the nineteenth century, this is adequate but not satisfying. If, like me, you want a healthy dose of geology spiced with history, definitely read something else.
June 12, 2012
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...
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...
May 14, 2012
Having read this, I'm not sure what it's about. For awhile, it seems to be about how lawless the Old West Before the Old West was. Then it seems to be about how white people of the new USA treated people of color badly. Then for a short while, it's about the New Madrid Earthquakes. Then--well, I'll stop here. And I searched for a thesis that somehow brought all these topics together, but I never found it. It felt like some grad student's four favorite papers presented end to end.
The second problem with it is something that irks me greatly, and that is that when the author makes fun of white people's bad guesses about what caused the earthquake, he finds those quite risible. But when he talks about Indians' equally as ludicrous ideas, it is with great reverence. If unscientific metaphysical mumbo jumbo is risible, it's risible no matter the fool's skin color. It's racist, in fact, to say otherwise.
But let's suspend our disbelief for a moment, as if we're reading science fiction. If the Indian chief wanted to hurt america by causing an earthquake by stomping his feet, he made a pretty idiotic choice by stomping them in such a low population area. Why didn't he stomp down Philadelphia and Baltimore? Seems more effective.
As I get older, I resent wasting a day with a book like this.
The second problem with it is something that irks me greatly, and that is that when the author makes fun of white people's bad guesses about what caused the earthquake, he finds those quite risible. But when he talks about Indians' equally as ludicrous ideas, it is with great reverence. If unscientific metaphysical mumbo jumbo is risible, it's risible no matter the fool's skin color. It's racist, in fact, to say otherwise.
But let's suspend our disbelief for a moment, as if we're reading science fiction. If the Indian chief wanted to hurt america by causing an earthquake by stomping his feet, he made a pretty idiotic choice by stomping them in such a low population area. Why didn't he stomp down Philadelphia and Baltimore? Seems more effective.
As I get older, I resent wasting a day with a book like this.
October 12, 2016
The day of the first New Madrid earthquake was the kind of day we've all seen in movie trailers: the spewing of water and sand into the air, the buildings collapsing, sinkholes, the land folding in on itself, buildings being subsumed by the earth, trees uprooting, tsunamis, birds screeching, people dying
and it all actually happened.
In this book, Feldman takes us back to a time and place that few know much about, the turn of the 19th century. He talks about the American settlers, their farms and their markets; about slavery and its impact on the west, about the building of the steamship, and about the Native American efforts to stop the land grab. He shows how all of these things are affected by one unimaginable earthquake (with unimaginable aftershocks).
The best story, though, is that of the world's worst human being who had the world's worst luck. He committed a crime, hid it, and the earthquake brought it to light...so he hid it again, and an aftershock brought it to light.
Socially, economically, politically,and geographically, the aftershocks of what happened in the early 19th century reverberate today. What an interesting book.
and it all actually happened.
In this book, Feldman takes us back to a time and place that few know much about, the turn of the 19th century. He talks about the American settlers, their farms and their markets; about slavery and its impact on the west, about the building of the steamship, and about the Native American efforts to stop the land grab. He shows how all of these things are affected by one unimaginable earthquake (with unimaginable aftershocks).
The best story, though, is that of the world's worst human being who had the world's worst luck. He committed a crime, hid it, and the earthquake brought it to light...so he hid it again, and an aftershock brought it to light.
Socially, economically, politically,and geographically, the aftershocks of what happened in the early 19th century reverberate today. What an interesting book.
March 26, 2020
2020 bk 110: Long on my want to read list, this title met all of my expectations plus. This was not just a history of the New Madrid Earthquake and the science behind it - although that is a good portion of the book. Feldman provides an excellent overview of the events of the time period (remember this was frontier area with land speculators, river pirates, native americans, settlers and a very young U.S. with its citizens learning to live with their new country and in moving west, with Spain as owner of all land west of the Mississippi). Tecumseh and his brother The Prophet, for those old enough to remember Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, or Illinois history, figure largely in this account. Lesser known people and their accounts of the earthquake include John Jay Audubon, several residents of the towns along the Mississippi, the brothers-in-law of Thomas Jefferson, and Mrs. and Mrs. Nicholas Roosevelt (think 3 x great aunt/uncle of Theodore). The only account that I wish it had was that of my 5 x great grandfather who had just moved to southwest Kentucky. This is a thorough book that kept me captivated. I think I grabbed a sandwich each time I knew I had to eat, because I did not want to stop to cook. Excellent, well written book.
July 31, 2019
This book provides an interesting history of a under-represented historical period of American history. Several loosely interconnected stories are told on subjects including Tecumseh, a major earthquake on the Mississippi, steamboats and a murder. The work is well-researched with plenty of citations and excerpts from relevant, illustrative primary sources, but the writing is noticeably weak and under-edited.
My favorite parts were the wealth of long passages cited from primary sources. I think that these descriptions provided valuable insight into the time period and provided distinct flavor from the standard historical narrative. For example, the sections on how the British army that defeated Napoleon was routed by US forces in New Orleans, or how Tecumseh stopped a massacre through his sheer presence, or how an 7.5 magnitude earthquake was felt were all quite strong.
My favorite parts were the wealth of long passages cited from primary sources. I think that these descriptions provided valuable insight into the time period and provided distinct flavor from the standard historical narrative. For example, the sections on how the British army that defeated Napoleon was routed by US forces in New Orleans, or how Tecumseh stopped a massacre through his sheer presence, or how an 7.5 magnitude earthquake was felt were all quite strong.
November 13, 2017
Fairly interesting book about the early days of the American Republic, westward expansion, Indian conflicts, the War of 1812, and how the New Madrid earthquakes impacted all of these events. We all know about the fault lines in California, and the potential for earthquakes in that region, but little is ever said about the fault lines in the middle of the country that generated some of the worst earthquakes in the country’s history in the early 1800's.
April 21, 2018
New Madrid: Nightmare of the Modern Emergency Manager.
Ask most Americans where earthquakes happen and they will probably point you to California. But, while not as prolific as the Golden State’s temblors, there are other areas of the country where earthquake danger lurks – the Cascadia Subduction Zone of the Pacific Northwest and Charleston, South Carolina, for example. And smack dab in the middle of the American heartland, deep beneath the Mississippi River valley lies the New Madrid Faultline. On December 16, 1811, the fault shuddered, releasing a catastrophic series of more than 2,000 quakes – three of which would have measured more than 8.0 on the Richter scale.
Only the scarcity of population in the area kept the New Madrid Earthquake from being one of the world’s worst natural disasters.
With When the Mississippi Ran Backwards, historian Jay Feldman plays archeological detective, piecing together from a relatively scarce trove of records the story of one of North America’s greatest earthquakes and the destruction wrought along the Mississippi River valley. And while first-hand accounts of devastation may be slim, there’s actually a lot more detail to be had that I would have imagined. Feldman weaves a rather gripping account of the horrors unleashed on the little frontier settlement of New Madrid and upon the numerous boats plying the Mississippi River when the ground rumbled.
Feldman also makes up for the paucity of information on the earthquake itself by using the disaster as a locus point against three other historical threads: the U.S. government’s ongoing war with the Native American Chief Tecumseh, the maiden voyage of the first Mississippi steamboat New Orleans (which would famously ride the backflowing current of the Mississippi northwards as the New Madrid Earthquake temporarily reversed the river’s flow), and a hideously macabre murder on the eve of quakes perpetrated by none other than Thomas Jefferson’s nephews. It would have been all too easy for this material to feel simply like filler, but I found the Feldman’s painting of the age – of frontier wars, scientific advancement, and murder – compelling, richly detailing the time period in which the quakes occurred, and creating context that gave the disaster a compelling context.
(The murder and dismemberment of the poor slave named George is particularly compelling – a real life echo of Poe’s House of Usher -- as the very walls of the Kentucky plantation crumble to give-up evidence of the horrific crime, the courthouse itself trembling with aftershocks during the trial. Only the battles with Tecumseh feels just a bit too long in tooth by book’s end).
Verdict: The historical fat may be a bit thick for the diehard 'disaster-book-buff' but for the armchair historian When the Mississippi Ran Backwards is a wonderful read. For the modern emergency manager, chapter eight of the book – when ‘all nature was in a state of dissolution’ – is must reading and should send chills down the spine as one considers the ‘what if’ of a similar catastrophic quake hitting the same area of the country – now far more densely populated – today.
P.S. Live in the mid-Mississippi River Valley? Get ready for the next New Madrid Earthquake – yes, it could happen! – now. Check out the Central United States Earthquake Consortium (at http://cusec.org/) or the The Great Shakeout! (at https://www.shakeout.org/) for real-life resources!
November 5, 2014
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.
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.
October 11, 2013
There is plenty of history in this book, lots of anecdotes. It was like a sampler of history, so I do think that a person could use this book as a springboard for discovering more historical events to learn about. For instance, because of this book I am interested in learning more about Tecumseh and William Henry Harrison. I thought the author tried very, very hard to use the big New Madrid earthquakes as a thread that laced all of these events in this historical sampler together, but I don't think that was terribly successful. I thought the book seemed unfocused, and the link between the historical events discussed and the New Madrid earthquakes was tenuous at best. Much more about the actual earthquakes and their aftermath would have been worthwhile; I just finished this book about these quakes, and honestly, I don't feel very educated about the quakes, the New Madrid fault system, the science and study currently being done on this fault system, the social and economic impacts of those quakes, and what an earthquake of similar magnitude along the New Madrid fault system would mean for our nation if it was to happen today. I'm just not sure what I was supposed to take away from this book.
Read
July 31, 2011This is a short, readable history of a pivotal decade in American history, when the Mississippi was the far west, and Americans struggled with Native Americans for control of what is today's Midsouth and Midwest. The episode of the book's title is only referred to in a couple of accounts. I really enjoyed Feldman's recounting of Tecumseh and his threat to the Creek Indians that he would "stamp his foot" in retaliation for their failure to join his confederacy. Also making an appearance in the book are villain and spy, James Wilkinson, and Nicholas Roosevelt, scion of the Roosevelt family. There is a little bit of everything in this short work: seismology, the War of 1812, first attempts at the steam boat, and river rafting.
March 8, 2011
Growing up in California I knew all about earthquakes. I studied them in school, experienced them at home, etc. I knew they occurred around the Pacific Ocean in the "ring of fire". What I didn't know was that our country's Midwest area experienced a very large earthquake which actually changed the course of the mighty Mississippi River. This book is a wonderful read. There is historical information, both the earthquake itself but the other stories which became connected to this event. I highly recommend this book.
March 2, 2016
Loved this book. Intertwined several historical events, stories, and personages including the Indian Chief Tecumseh, Andrew Jackson, Nicholas Roosevelt, scoundrel/murderous family members of Thomas Jefferson, the back story of "Tippecanoe and Tyler Too", and places I have visited and known into a fascinating tale all tied to the series of disasterous New Madrid earthquakes of 1811-1812 centered in southeast Missouri. Highly recommend it.
June 2, 2019
Not a very well written historical account, sometimes confusing and missing the human element of the various tragedies it covers. Not as much about the earthquakes as some other extraneous events that may or may not have been influenced by the earthquakes. This book would have been much better if Feldman had concentrated on the earthquakes and the murder, there is more than enough source material for it.
June 28, 2019
I was originally drawn to this book looking for information on the New Madrid quakes in 1811-1812 but this is much more than that.
It was a time of wonders - the Great Comet of 1811 was visible to the naked eye for 4 months. Steamboats were starting to travel the Ohio to take on the mighty Mississippi and even begin to make timely return trips back upstream. The U.S. just doubled its size with the Louisiana Purchase.
It was a time of tension - Tecumsah was trying to unify various southern and western tribes to counter the American expansion and confiscation of Native land. Slavery in all its horror. Spain, in turn, had just ceded New Orleans back to the French even as the French sold the territory to the U.S. The town of New Madrid was created due to a former American receiving a large land grant from the Spanish. The U.S. borderland with Canada and their former British overlords was tense as Britain was awaiting the chance to take back it's wayward colony. Kentucky was luring settlers with land grants and little oversight from the law and justice.
And this was just setting the stage. In a matter of months after the quakes that decimated towns along the Mississippi - and yes, it did run backwards as well as undermine its banks with tsunami-like waves - this would all be history. By the end, the War of 1812 was over, settling any doubts that the U.S. was able to defend itself not only from the British but the French and Spanish - those bits of land that connect Alabama and Mississippi to the Gulf were taken from the Spanish as Americans were attacking - basically - everyone. Various Indian tribes were massacred - there was no distinction between tribes in 'revolt' and those that were neutral as well as Tecumseh's dream of a pan-tribal confederation to counter the Americans. The issue of slavery was heading for a major confrontation in the decades to come.
Interesting enough, William Henry Harrison, the 9th president, was elected partially due to his victory at the Battle of Tippecanoe. From the author's description of the battle, he 'won' due to the Indians retreating after inflicting large amounts of damage to the American forces. He lucked out.
I have to admit the arrogance of the white Americans toward not only their black slaves but the native peoples is repulsive. The sense of entitlement is distasteful to the modern palate. And it is not just Americans as Europeans spread their sense of privilege across the world. This book just gives a snapshot of what was prevalent at the time.
The old town of New Madrid is currently beneath the Mississippi River as it continues to make it's own way. The earthquake fault zone is still very active. In fact, I took a look over at the USGS, and there was a quake in that region less than a week ago on 06/22/2019. Centered in Ridgely, TN, it's about 20 miles from the 'new' New Madrid. "Only" a 2.5 but it shows that a major quake similar to the swarm in 1811-1812 is still a very live threat.
2019-092
It was a time of wonders - the Great Comet of 1811 was visible to the naked eye for 4 months. Steamboats were starting to travel the Ohio to take on the mighty Mississippi and even begin to make timely return trips back upstream. The U.S. just doubled its size with the Louisiana Purchase.
It was a time of tension - Tecumsah was trying to unify various southern and western tribes to counter the American expansion and confiscation of Native land. Slavery in all its horror. Spain, in turn, had just ceded New Orleans back to the French even as the French sold the territory to the U.S. The town of New Madrid was created due to a former American receiving a large land grant from the Spanish. The U.S. borderland with Canada and their former British overlords was tense as Britain was awaiting the chance to take back it's wayward colony. Kentucky was luring settlers with land grants and little oversight from the law and justice.
And this was just setting the stage. In a matter of months after the quakes that decimated towns along the Mississippi - and yes, it did run backwards as well as undermine its banks with tsunami-like waves - this would all be history. By the end, the War of 1812 was over, settling any doubts that the U.S. was able to defend itself not only from the British but the French and Spanish - those bits of land that connect Alabama and Mississippi to the Gulf were taken from the Spanish as Americans were attacking - basically - everyone. Various Indian tribes were massacred - there was no distinction between tribes in 'revolt' and those that were neutral as well as Tecumseh's dream of a pan-tribal confederation to counter the Americans. The issue of slavery was heading for a major confrontation in the decades to come.
Interesting enough, William Henry Harrison, the 9th president, was elected partially due to his victory at the Battle of Tippecanoe. From the author's description of the battle, he 'won' due to the Indians retreating after inflicting large amounts of damage to the American forces. He lucked out.
I have to admit the arrogance of the white Americans toward not only their black slaves but the native peoples is repulsive. The sense of entitlement is distasteful to the modern palate. And it is not just Americans as Europeans spread their sense of privilege across the world. This book just gives a snapshot of what was prevalent at the time.
The old town of New Madrid is currently beneath the Mississippi River as it continues to make it's own way. The earthquake fault zone is still very active. In fact, I took a look over at the USGS, and there was a quake in that region less than a week ago on 06/22/2019. Centered in Ridgely, TN, it's about 20 miles from the 'new' New Madrid. "Only" a 2.5 but it shows that a major quake similar to the swarm in 1811-1812 is still a very live threat.
2019-092
December 5, 2020
I'd heard of this event, but didn't really know anything about it. For such a major event in American history, it doesn't get talked about a lot or covered in most history classes. Feldman brings together local history as various people prepare to cross paths in roughly the same area as December 16, 1811 approaches. One of the things I hadn't realized was that there was a series of quakes spread over months, not just the major first one.
Among the people of varying degrees of fame who were affected by this: Stephen Austin, the "Father of Texas," Tecumseh, the leader who almost united most of the eastern nations against the whites, two nephews of Thomas Jefferson, a steamboat inventor and pioneer from the accomplished family of the Roosevelts, and many others.
People always think of the American frontier as "out West," but at this point in history, the Mississippi was the western border of the United States. It's fortunate that the region was so sparsely populated or the death toll would have been much greater. Events playing out around the quakes where the run up to the War of 1812, ongoing tensions between white and Indians, and political maneuvering from, among others, William Henry Harrison, who would go on to become the briefest serving American President. There's also an appearance from Andrew Jackson, in my opinion one of American's worst Presidents, although at this point, he's a military commander.
The damage from the initial quake was amazing. The mighty Mississippi was briefly blocked with fallen riverbanks and the bed being thrust up from the seismic forces (hence the titular part of things.) Buildings collapsed, which killed many, made others homeless, and revealed a murder. There was massive property damage, the terrain rearranged itself, and so many strange things happened, like massive lightning discharges and oddities like a woman finding her smokehouse and well survived, but were now on the other side of the river.
The book is very detailed and well researched, with a lot of detail and a really impressive series of historical figures drifting in and out of the picture. It's a fascinating and all but forgotten bit of American history. And, as the author points out on the last page, the fault is still there, and at some point will become active again. Isn't that a comforting thought?
Among the people of varying degrees of fame who were affected by this: Stephen Austin, the "Father of Texas," Tecumseh, the leader who almost united most of the eastern nations against the whites, two nephews of Thomas Jefferson, a steamboat inventor and pioneer from the accomplished family of the Roosevelts, and many others.
People always think of the American frontier as "out West," but at this point in history, the Mississippi was the western border of the United States. It's fortunate that the region was so sparsely populated or the death toll would have been much greater. Events playing out around the quakes where the run up to the War of 1812, ongoing tensions between white and Indians, and political maneuvering from, among others, William Henry Harrison, who would go on to become the briefest serving American President. There's also an appearance from Andrew Jackson, in my opinion one of American's worst Presidents, although at this point, he's a military commander.
The damage from the initial quake was amazing. The mighty Mississippi was briefly blocked with fallen riverbanks and the bed being thrust up from the seismic forces (hence the titular part of things.) Buildings collapsed, which killed many, made others homeless, and revealed a murder. There was massive property damage, the terrain rearranged itself, and so many strange things happened, like massive lightning discharges and oddities like a woman finding her smokehouse and well survived, but were now on the other side of the river.
The book is very detailed and well researched, with a lot of detail and a really impressive series of historical figures drifting in and out of the picture. It's a fascinating and all but forgotten bit of American history. And, as the author points out on the last page, the fault is still there, and at some point will become active again. Isn't that a comforting thought?
October 20, 2021
In telling the story of the New Madrid Earthquake which was actually three large earthquakes; December 16, 1811, January 23, 1812, and February 7,1812. This was followed by thousands of tremors throughout that time. These quakes were felt 600 - 900 miles away as well. Feldman places the earthquake within the events of that time and place. This is a time of innovation, speculation, expansion, settlement, and conflict along the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers. Feldman discusses the flawed settlement of New Madrid founded by George Morgan, the horrors of slavery with the Lewis plantation owners, the development of steamboat traffic with the steamboat New Orleans and the Roosevelts, and the conflict between Native Americans led by Tecumseh versus the state and federal governments represented by W. H. Harrison. The author foreshadows in these stories the impending, destructive earthquake. It’s like watching a disaster movie where character stories are developed prior to the disaster and then you watch how each was impacted with the disaster. The last third of the book focuses on the War of 1812 and how the earthquake impacted it. In actuality, only about 20% (47 out of 241 pages) of the book is about the earthquake. Still, a pretty good read of that time and place.
October 7, 2017
It is amazing that such a major geologic event as the New Madrid Earthquakes could be so forgotten. I had heard of the lake created by an earthquake, but I didn't realize that the quakes continued on for several months and had such consequences. The geology aspect is what caught my attention, but the related history was equally fascinating.
This book uses one event to tie together several larger topics: the Indian Wars of the Mississippi River Valley (I usually think of the West when I think of Indian Wars), steamboat transportation, and slavery. This is a period of history that I didn't know much about - or maybe I did when I was in school, but had forgotten! Although the connection seems a bit thin at times, it works. The images the author created in my mind's eye will stick with me - a young couple on a steamboat surviving a huge backward surge of the Mississippi River, the gruesome murder of a slave, the botched cover-up, and the inspiring Indian leader, Tecumseh, who nearly united his people to change the course of U.S. history.
This book uses one event to tie together several larger topics: the Indian Wars of the Mississippi River Valley (I usually think of the West when I think of Indian Wars), steamboat transportation, and slavery. This is a period of history that I didn't know much about - or maybe I did when I was in school, but had forgotten! Although the connection seems a bit thin at times, it works. The images the author created in my mind's eye will stick with me - a young couple on a steamboat surviving a huge backward surge of the Mississippi River, the gruesome murder of a slave, the botched cover-up, and the inspiring Indian leader, Tecumseh, who nearly united his people to change the course of U.S. history.
September 12, 2019
An engrossing and fact-filled read.
The geology and seismology of the New Madrid earthquakes of 1811-1812 is clearly presented, with a wealth of information on how historic and current-day quakes are measured. Surrounding this is the information on the town's creation and already-existing challenges, and personal tales of experiences and actions during and after this event.
Woven into and around the story of the quakes is history of the time:
-- Tecumseh's prophecy and his pan-tribal movement, and an even-handed assessment of his character, actions and motivations.
-- Slavery, murder, the laws and times. A couple of surprising facts on pre-Civil War laws that had been enacted.
-- early progress in making the Mississippi river a viable trade waterway
-- The War of 1812
-- ordinary people and public figures - the good and the bad
The geology and seismology of the New Madrid earthquakes of 1811-1812 is clearly presented, with a wealth of information on how historic and current-day quakes are measured. Surrounding this is the information on the town's creation and already-existing challenges, and personal tales of experiences and actions during and after this event.
Woven into and around the story of the quakes is history of the time:
-- Tecumseh's prophecy and his pan-tribal movement, and an even-handed assessment of his character, actions and motivations.
-- Slavery, murder, the laws and times. A couple of surprising facts on pre-Civil War laws that had been enacted.
-- early progress in making the Mississippi river a viable trade waterway
-- The War of 1812
-- ordinary people and public figures - the good and the bad
July 26, 2022
This was very disappointing to me because of the approximate 240 pages of actual text, probably less than 50 of those pages dealt with the earthquakes. The earthquakes actually seemed to be more as a footnote to the actual thrust of the book, which was an examination of the atrocities whites committed against blacks and Indians in the New Madrid area, 1790-1815, with some slight attention given to the War of 1812.. Of course, this is a subject that is worthy of attention, but the book title was more a marketing ploy to get people to buy it, which I greatly resented.
And not only that but except for the description of Tecumseh, the book was DULL. Some authors can make history exciting and come to life, but Feldman is not one of those people -- or at least not in THIS book, in my opinion.
And not only that but except for the description of Tecumseh, the book was DULL. Some authors can make history exciting and come to life, but Feldman is not one of those people -- or at least not in THIS book, in my opinion.
October 18, 2021
This is kind of an odd book. The New Madrid earthquake, which is supposedly about, it only a minor part of the book. It gives history of New Madrid, which is interesting. The majority of the book is about white settler and Native American conflicts, two nephews of Thomas Jefferson who moved to Kentucky, and one of the inventors of the paddlewheel steamboat who was the first to sail down the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers in said steamboat. It provides history on those three topics before and after the earthquake and sort of how the earthquake affected those histories, but the connection is not all that strong. The book and the histories were interesting, but more information about the earthquake itself and the affect it had on more general history would have been far more interesting to me.
September 29, 2022
Hard to review this one. As other reviewers have noted, this book is much more about conditions in the Missouri-Illinois-Kentucky region in 1811-12 than focused on the New Madrid earthquakes. And Feldman's attempts to tie the War of 1812 to the event are only marginally successful.
That said, however, I enjoyed this book -- I knew little to nothing about the War of 1812, much less the lead-up to it, and this book provides a lot of detail about the Western portion of that time and war. It's so easy to forget that this region WAS the west at that time and the more conventionally understood West clearly had nothing on Kentucky. I will read a book of that war now, and this book deserves the credit for making it interesting in a way that had eluded me previously.
That said, however, I enjoyed this book -- I knew little to nothing about the War of 1812, much less the lead-up to it, and this book provides a lot of detail about the Western portion of that time and war. It's so easy to forget that this region WAS the west at that time and the more conventionally understood West clearly had nothing on Kentucky. I will read a book of that war now, and this book deserves the credit for making it interesting in a way that had eluded me previously.
November 11, 2021
Parts of this book were fascinating, but even at 241 pages of relatively accessible reading, I was aching for the book to be done.
Kudos to Feldman for all the research he did, and his use of primary sources is admirable - yet somehow the book became dry with the endless quotes that showed the peculiarity of 19th century writing but little else. And the blow-by-blow retelling of the War of 1812...dry.
If Feldman had paired down the number of threads, omitted half of the quotes, and focused on the quake, the steamboat, and the gruesome murder, I would have learned as much and been better entertained.
Kudos to Feldman for all the research he did, and his use of primary sources is admirable - yet somehow the book became dry with the endless quotes that showed the peculiarity of 19th century writing but little else. And the blow-by-blow retelling of the War of 1812...dry.
If Feldman had paired down the number of threads, omitted half of the quotes, and focused on the quake, the steamboat, and the gruesome murder, I would have learned as much and been better entertained.
December 10, 2023
The cover of the book is the best part but misleading. In December 1811 an earthquake hit New Madrid, Missouri which measured 8.0 on the Richer Scale causing tremors up and down the Mississippi Valley. The author makes weak arguments on the effects of the earthquake on Western Expansion. Using the earthquake as a factor in starting the War of 18112, implying that Thomas Jefferson was involved at all, and suggesting that the fall of Tecumseh and his followers were a result is not based on the facts in the book. As a social history of Western Expansion, the invention of the steamboat and the plight of the Indians as settlers moved West, the book is more relevant
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