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Book Review
| Immortal River: The Mississippi in Ancient and Modern Times. By Calvin R. Fremling. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 2005. xii + 429 pp. Includes illustrations, bibliographical references and index. Cloth $70.00, paper $29.95.
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| This book is not an environmental history. Its author, an aquatic ecologist, makes no pretense that it is, although the title emphasizes a temporal perspective. This book is not a natural history, although it includes many elements of one and the classification included on the cover defines it that way. Calvin Fremling, a professor emeritus at Winona State University, states that it "documents the history of the Mississippi River and the dramatic changes that have transpired as humans have exploited and attempted to subdue the Father of Waters" (p. 6). Yet this description is incomplete. I think the publisher's description is most apt: it is a "primer" to the upper Mississippi River. |
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In four major sections, The Immortal River seeks to acquaint the educated lay person with the (1) geology, biology, and archaeology of the upper river (above Cairo, Illinois), (2) early European encounters with the river, (3) human endeavors to transform the river's environment during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, and (4) the ecological relationships between humans and the river. Of these four sections, the author does the most effective job with the physical setting and its natural and early human history. Indeed, the author is quite effective with distilling millennia of geologic activity into a very accessible account. Likewise, the discussion of the vegetative prehistory is well informed and readable. |
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The subsequent sections tend to be detached from the rather voluminous environmental history on the upper river and leave the reader wanting. While written for a lay audience, the author overlooked some fundamental works by environmental and regional historians. These works could have provided a stronger framework for the several discussions on forest removal, navigation, wetland drainage, and agriculture. Although sound, the narratives on these topics are somewhat disjointed and the interpretations dated. |
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In the fourth section, Fremling effectively employs his personal insights gained as a fisherman and as a scientist who has conducted ecological studies of the river to illustrate his discussion of river management efforts. This gives his sharp critique of the Corps of Engineers some teeth and provides the reader with unique insight into the behind-the-scenes activity that informs deliberations about managing the river's highly altered ecology. |
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In many respects, this is a laudable capstone publication to a lengthy career that brought the author into close and frequent contact with the upper Mississippi River. It might not be suitable for either an undergraduate or graduate environmental history class, but it would provide extensive background for someone planning a exploration of the area. The author's enthusiasm for and familiarity with the waterway, so thoroughly woven into the text, have much to offer a visitor. |
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Craig E. Colten is the Carl O. Sauer Professor of Geography at Louisiana State University. He is author of An Unnatural Metropolis: Wresting New Orleans from Nature (Louisiana State, 2005). |
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