Life on the Mississippi

Through the writings of Mark Twain Katherine Fischer has forged a lasting connection with the Mississippi River. The Mississippi of Huck Finn and Tom Sawyer captured Fischer’s imagination in a way that the tamer Lake Michigan, where she grew up, did not. In Dreaming the Mississippi Fischer presents a collection of essays, some of which have been published as newspaper columns, recording her growing awareness of the river, its history, its traditions, and its people. The essays reflect both her passion for the river and her sense of urgency about its preservation.

Fischer moved to Dubuque, Iowa, to attend Clarke College and later returned there to teach. Family and career responsibilities initially left little time for the Mississippi; but soon she wanted “to breathe the river, write the river.” The purchase of a boat enabled Katherine Fischer and her family to explore the river more fully. Through boating trips and camping on its islands, Fischer increased her knowledge of the Mississippi. She listened appreciatively to the voices of the people who lived and worked there: the individuals she met at local hangouts; those with whom she worked while sandbagging the river to prevent flooding; the riverboat pilots and engineers she interviewed; and women who had grown up on the river. These people whose lives were so closely linked to the Mississippi informed her thinking, but she acknowledges that her vision for its future—that further engineering projects be halted—would be at cross-purposes with theirs.

Three of Fischer’s essays focus on the conditions created by government efforts to channelize the Mississippi to keep it open for navigation. In “River Rising,” “Locking Through,” and “Gloria in Excelsis Polka,” Fischer describes the different methods used to make the river more navigable: wing dams, flood walls and levees, locks and dams, and dredging. Fischer argues that these efforts have destroyed the river’s ecosystems; but, in “Gloria in Excelsis Polka,” she acknowledges the complexity of the environmental issues related to attempts to improve the navigability of the Mississippi. For example barges wreak less havoc on the environment than trucks. Fischer argues that FEMA is headed in the right direction in buying up property in the residential floodplains. She would also settle for keeping the existing locks and dams without further escalation. Fischer’s analysis of the deteriorating condition of the river is interspersed with philosophical musings about the importance of the river in her life, making it possible for her family to escape the city and enjoy the natural world.

Much of the richness of Dreaming the Mississippi springs from the author’s ability to capture the colorful lives of the residents along the Mississippi River. As Fischer overcame her distrust of the Mississippi, she expanded beyond her middle-class background to develop real friendships with the regulars at various river hangouts. She relishes their tall tales; respects their sense of loyalty to one another, especially in times of crisis; and appreciates their openness.

Of particular interest in Dreaming the Mississippi are Katherine Fischer’s interviews with three women associated with the river, women far from the usual stereotypes. The stories of Joy Manthey, Sue Mueller, and Anise Bonnet illustrate the surprising amount of freedom accorded girls growing up on the Mississippi. Joy Manthey of New Orleans began working on the steamer The President when she was in the fifth grade. After being graduated from Louisiana State University in 1978 she earned her pilot’s license, becoming the only woman pilot on the Mississippi. She was supported by male captains when she was piloting excursion boats, but had trouble with the other pilots when she started piloting a towboat. Sue Mueller grew up at Massey Station and started running boats at an early age. She remembers camping out on Nine Mile Island with girlfriends for weeks at a time. Anise Bonnet of Fentress Lake, who took over from her mother the management of Fentress Lake Resort, recalls: “It’s been good being a girl and woman on the Mississippi. There was...