The Georgia-South Carolina Boundary: A Problem in Historical Geography (review)

Southeastern Geographer Vol. 23, No. 1, May 1983, pp. 51-53 REVIEW The Southeastern Geographer reviews selected recently published works in geography and closely allied disciplines on the South. The opinions expressed are those of the reviewers and do not necessarily reflect the views of the editor or of the Southeastern Division of the Association of American Geographers, who assume no responsibility for their contents. The Georgia-South Carolina Boundary: A Problem in Historical Geography . Louis De Vorsey, Jr. Athens: University of Georgia Press, 1982. xii and 219 pp., maps, tables, bibliography, and index. $20.00 cloth. (ISBN 0-8203-0591-X) Forensic geography, the application of the science and art of geography to problems of law, gains increasing notice, and in the fore stands Louis De Vorsey, Jr. For some years, now, he has provided something of a model for one style of the practice offorensic geography. His study of the boundary between Georgia and South Carolina now becomes available for those who want a detailed account of much of the historical research lying behind the case of the State of Georgia. The book's subtitle promises a study in historical geography; more accurately, it comprises the documents gathered to support the Georgian position in the litigation. These documents, joined in narrative style, present a history of the portrayal of the Savannah River from just above Savannah to the Atlantic. The discussion includes full repetition of the florid titles of the old maps, the cartographers' names, and the dates. Long verbatim extracts—one of more than five pages—add to the ponderousness of the discussion. Numerous details, extraneous to the ostensible purpose of the book, further burden the narrative. Thus one interested in finding a documentary history of the lower Savannah as presented on historic maps will find this book indispensable. Most of the 23 maps printed in the book are historic maps; a few are historical maps prepared to illustrate parts ofargument. The historic maps present for the most part the results of river surveys by the Corps ofTopographical Engineers and the Corps of Engineers, plus royal and 52Southeastern Geographer colonial charts of the Savannah River and the area around Savannah. As such, this history also provides a review of the development of cartography in America during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Inasmuch as much of the concern of administrators during these two centuries lay in making the port of Savannah more amenable to large ships, the discussion, which proceeds by extensive extracts, concerns navigability and its improvement. Reports of sailing difficulties and of dredging provide much of the bulk of the text. De Vorsey's history of the portrayal of the lower Savannah has, it seems, three shortcomings. First, it leaves the distinct impression that it was padded out to the publisher's desired length of 219 pages; the protracted quotation of often extraneous material clutters the reader's vision ofthe problem. Second, the book has too much ofthe appearance of a brief for the State of Georgia; forensic geographers must avoid both the substance and the appearance of merely serving the interests of those who retain them as expert witnesses. Third, despite allusions to "bank morphology,'' "the process of siltation," and such, the book hardly amounts to an example of geographical or even historical geographical work; more accurately, it is a study in cartographic history, focusing on the lower Savannah. It lacks any of the areal perspective that we should expect from a geographer. The lower Savannah remains throughout an experiential island, languishing for want of comparison to other places in terms of process or any other aspect of general, comparative geography . The only share of De Vorsey's expertise presented here is his detailed knowledge of the maps of this one place. Despite any opinions as to the nature of geography that may flow from it, De Vorsey's history of the boundary between Georgia and South Carolina will serve as an excellent specimen for showing young geographers the kind of historical research needed to prepare for forensic work. To read the book is to read much of the undigested evidence , still ensconced in its matrix of less than useful detail. With this history in...