Gone to the Swamp: Raw Materials for the Good Life in the Mobile-Tensaw Delta (review)

J U L Y 2 0 0 9 231 Rohrboughlinkseventsofthe1840s—emigrationtoTexasandOregon, and the California Gold Rush—with the close of the trans-Appalachian frontier. For all practical purposes, the volume should have concluded there because of its imposing length. Although remarkably comprehensive , it lacks readable maps and, surprisingly, a bibliography of secondary sources, so necessary for understanding the field’s currency. Nearly all the first-hand accounts are still male, despite the availability of women’s accounts. Equally important is the failure to include the major historiographic shift toward assessing the internal improvement movement (nor is the term indexed). This would have given Rohrbough pause before stating that western pioneers “effortlessly made the transition to support Andrew Jackson” (p. 230). In reality, Jackson’s reluctance to support internal improvements for the West created a major impediment for continued western support. These shortcomings aside, a library would not be complete without this work. GINETTE ALEY University of Southern Indiana Gone to the Swamp: Raw Materials for the Good Life in the Mobile-Tensaw Delta. By Robert Leslie Smith. Tuscaloosa: University of Alabama Press, 2008. vi, 273 pp. $29.95. ISBN 978-0-8173-5494-7. “Each change to the river course by nature or man and each variation of rainfall that causes the river to change the speed of its current or to run at a different depth cause a shifting of sandbars, always downstream. The shifting sandbars are known to hide manmade objects that the river has stolen, to preserve them for an age, and then to reveal them to a new generation” (p. 249). I am an archaeologist. In the early 1990s I spent three summers excavating the Bottle Creek site, a major Indian mound center in the middle of the Mobile-Tensaw Delta of south Alabama. As our work involved survey , numerous times my crews would head off into the swamp searching for sites. My fondest hope at such times was that at the end of the day each team would find its way back to the boats. This was a hope, not a certainty. The natural beauty and wildness of the Delta gives one a false impression of discovery, but closer inspection always reveals multiple signs of those who came before. The heaps of clam shells that were deposited by prehistoric Indians or the immense trenches cut by pullboats are vivid reminders that the Mobile-Tensaw Delta has been a draw for people for hundreds if not thousands of years. In my own limited experi- T H E A L A B A M A R E V I E W 232 ence, I often wished that there was a book that might serve as an introduction to all that I saw. Now, thankfully, there is one. Gone to the Swamp is a fascinating story of twentieth-century life in the Mobile-Tensaw Delta, told by a man who lived along its edge. The phrase itself, “he’s gone to the swamp,” was all that was ever needed to explain the prolonged absence of a relative or friend. Robert Leslie Smith, his father, his grandfather, and all it seems who were linked to him by blood were forever drawn to this land of plenty, a landscape richly endowed with organic resources. Although the book focuses on the logging industry , it is so much more than that. Contained between the covers of this delightful volume are forty-five stories of life in the swamp. They are highly entertaining vignettes drawn from Smith’s memory, with an occasional contribution by relatives or friends. There is no logical order to the presentation, but that matters little. Although many of the accounts are pithy Brer Rabbit–like tales wherein some poor neophyte receives his comeuppance from various tricksters, there are also several longer pieces that are excellent historical studies. The description of the Kennedy Mills, located southeast of Stockton, and the preservation of Red Hill Spring in the Latham community come readily to mind. Also, if ever someone wishes details on how to build a double ender boat (or how to paddle it) this is the book to read. There is a marvelous glossary, titled “Dictionary of Logging Languages,” which is...