For years, I’ve been visiting the places along the Mississippi and writing guidebooks about the history and culture of the towns and people. Now I’ve got something new to add to the list: a guide to the natural history of the river itself. In my new book, The Wild Mississippi: A State-by-State Guide to the River’s Natural Wonders, I describe the complex and varied world of the Mississippi River and offer practical tips about how to experience the river’s world. In this episode, just ahead of the book’s formal release on May 21, I talk about The Wild Mississippi, so you know what to expect from it: how it’s organized and what content to expect. I also pull back the curtain and describe what I set out to do with this book and why I included what I did. But, wait: there’s more! At the end of the episode, I read the preface, so you can get a sneak peek at what’s to come.

In July 2002, Trapper and Mandy Haskins set out an epic trip to row a handcrafted boat down the Mississippi. The boat performed great, but the grind of dodging industrial traffic around Baton Rouge wore them down, so they ended the trip at New Orleans. That decision turned out to be hard for Trapper to live with, so a few years later, he and his family put the boat back in the Mississippi where they’d left off in 2002. The last 100 miles presented more drama and challenges than they had imagined, but they made it to the Gulf. Trapper wrote a book about the experience called Crooked Old River that releases on April 13 (2024).In this episode, I talk with Trapper about his childhood experiences with the Mississippi growing up in Memphis, how he got interested in boat building and the idea that sparked an interest in rowing down the Mississippi, how he and his wife prepared for the trip, his love of history and how that added to the experience, the circumstances around ending their trip early in 2002, and then going back years later. Trapper talks about how the trip changed him and how traveling on a river can encourage introspection and reflection. In the Mississippi Minute, I look ahead to a busy summer of Mississippi-themed books to read. From sweeping histories of the river itself, to novels that reimagine river life from new perspectives, you’ll have plenty to keep you busy this year.

In 1924, Will Dilg and the newly formed Izaak Walton League of America fought the proposed drainage of the lush Winneshiek Bottoms near Lansing, Iowa by lobbying for the creation of a new, unprecedented-in-scope federal refuge. In less than a year, they succeeded, and the Upper Mississippi River National Wildlife and Fish Refuge was born. This year, events throughout the upper Mississippi mark its centennial.Will Dilg was probably more responsible for the success than anyone else. He was one founder of the Izaak Walton League and intimately familiar with the channels and islands of the upper Mississippi River. In this episode, I talk with Steven Marking, a musician and riverlorian who was so fascinated by Dilg’s story that he wrote an entire show about him.In this episode, Marking talks about his own childhood on and near the Mississippi and explains how he felt connected to Dilg. We talk about Dilg’s love of the upper Mississippi, a tragedy on the river that changed his life, his role with the Izaak Walton League and lobbying for the refuge creation. We also talk about some of Dilg’s character traits that didn’t always endear him to others. We finish with a description of the new show that Marking created about Dilg.In the Mississippi Minute, I preview some events coming up this summer to mark the centennial and mention a couple of my favorite spots.

The Mississippi River has inspired artists of many stripes, including Prairie du Chien-based sculptor Florence Bird. In this episode, I talk with Bird about her path into a career as a professional artist, how she found inspiration from the Mississippi, and the details of how she goes from idea to a life-sized bronze statue. Bird is enthusiastic about her art and the Mississippi and was an absolute delight to interview. I start this episode with a brief review of the history of the area that Bird finds so inspiring.In the Mississippi Minute, it’s spring! But it’s also very early for spring, especially Up North. I describe some of the action going on and wonder what you’re seeing in your part of the river.

On April 8, 2024, a full solar eclipse will make is way across North America from Texas to the Northeast. It’ll cross the Mississippi River south of St. Louis. Much of southeast Missouri and all of southern Illinois will be in the path of totality, with some places experiencing the eclipse for just over four minutes, including Trail of Tears State Park just north of Cape Girardeau. Many of these places were in the path of another total eclipse just 7 years ago. In this episode, I talked with Alison Dubbert from Missouri State Parks and Cory Jobe from Great Rivers and Routes in Alton, Illinois. We gave an overview of the places that will have a good view of the total eclipse in Missouri and Illinois, with an emphasis on public lands, and some of the special events going on to celebrate it. Accommodations will be hard to come by in the eclipse zone if you haven’t booked a place yet, so we offered some tips about where you should look. We have some tips for daytrippers, too, and a few thoughts on how to deal with the expected crowds. (Hint: Be patient.) We also talked about some of the lessons learned from 2017, when crowds got very big in many places. In the Mississippi Minute, I share a few memories about viewing the eclipse in 2017.

In The Log of the Easy Way, John Mathews wrote about a honeymoon trip he and his wife took in 1900. No, they didn’t relax at an all-inclusive resort in Jamaica; they traveled a couple thousand miles down the Illinois and Mississippi Rivers in a homemade shantyboat. Their book is just one of many written by people who have taken a long trip on the Mississippi, from Charles Lanman’s trip in 1841 straight to shantyboat travelers like Mathews and on to the present and the many books from long-distance paddlers on the Mississippi. In this episode, I offer a few impressions about what these books have to say about the Mississippi, what it was like in the past and what it is today. While river travelers weren’t shy about detailing what they liked and what they didn’t, their stories go far beyond expressing simple preferences.Stories from people who traveled the Mississippi at different points in time illuminate how we’ve changed the river’s world. Wildlife sightings are less common than they used to be, for one thing. They also highlight the transition from the wonder travelers felt at the river’s natural abundance to the days when we dumped anything and everything into the river to today when water quality is much better. The books document the increasing presence of engineers, especially from the Army Corps of Engineers, along the river, and the coincident decline in communities of people who lived off the river. The accounts of river travelers offer a peek inside those vanished river communities, along with unflinching descriptions of the deeply held prejudices toward African Americans and Native Americans, views that many of the travelers themselves shared. Join me in this episode and let’s time travel along the Mississippi River!In the Mississippi Minute, I suggest a few books from river travelers that I think you’ll enjoy.

What’s it like to work on a riverboat? Lee Hendrix entered riverboat work in 1972 as a deckhand, worked his way up to mate, then into the pilothouse. He has spent most of his adult life as a pilot of riverboats big and small, from tows pushing barges to elegant overnight cruise ships. In his new book, Peep Light: Stories of a Mississippi River Boat Captain, Lee shares stories from those years on the river. In this interview, we talk about how he got his start working on the river, the grueling but satisfying work of a deckhand, and the jobs on a towboat. We also discuss his path to the pilothouse, the basics of steering a tow pushing a load of barges, and the differences between piloting big and small boats. Near the end, Lee talks about the allure of river life and the long, sometimes lonely life of working on a towboat. In the Mississippi Minute, I offer a few tips for paddling on the Mississippi River around commercial and recreational boat traffic.Find out more about the Mississippi River at mississippivalleytraveler.com.

Men have dominated the world of outdoor adventuring and guiding for so long, that it’s easy to overlook the increasing presence of women in all spheres. More women now complete long-distance paddles on the Mississippi, as well as through hikes on the major trails. The world of guided paddling on the Mississippi reflects the trend. In this episode, I talk with five women who worked this past season as river guides on the Mississippi for one of the outfitters or river-focused organizations. I asked each to talk about their paths to guiding, to describe their stretch of the Mississippi, and to spotlight a few places and experiences that highlighted their year. At the end of the conversation, I asked each woman to identify something about their experience on the Mississippi this year that they’re grateful for. You’ll hear from:Amber “Sparky” Lynum from Paddle Bridge in the Twin CitiesMelissa Sauter from the Mississippi River Water Trail Association in St. LouisHeather “Red River Otter” Crosse from the Quapaw Canoe Company in Clarksdale, MississippiCory Maria Dack and Sarah Lent In the Mississippi Minute, I mention a few things that I’m grateful for.

It’s easy to take weather forecasting for granted, especially given the difficulties with producing accurate forecasts, but at least we almost never get surprised by big storms. That wasn’t true in 1940, when an unusually warm November day turned deadly. In this episode, I tell the story of the Armistice Day Blizzard, a massive storm that plowed through the central part of the United States, shutting down cities and killing around 200 people. Thousands of people scrambled for makeshift shelter in downtown Minneapolis, while rural families took in hundreds of school children when buses got stuck in snow drifts. Duck hunters, though, were hit the hardest. The storm stranded hundreds of them in perilous conditions along the Mississippi River. Dozens died. The storm also brought out the best in many people, as strangers helped strangers, and ordinary people went to extraordinary lengths to rescue storm victims. This story is an except from my book Mississippi River Mayhem. In the Mississippi Minute, I have a few thoughts about low water on the Mississippi, and— hint— I don't see it as a tragedy.

Drive anywhere along the Mississippi or most any other river and you’ll see a levee, an earthen wall that parallels the river to keep water in the main channel and out of the adjacent floodplain. In this episode, I talk with Nicholas Pinter about levees and the good and bad that has come with them. We discuss the evolution in responsibility from local jurisdictions to the federal government, how levees have altered the ecology of big rivers, and who pays for them. We talk about how levees provide a false sense of security and the concept of residual risk, which is one way to quantify how much of our property and lives is at risk behind levees. We also talk about options for reversing some of the worst damage from levees and the obstacles to putting them in place. Levees didn’t just rise on their own, of course. In the Mississippi Minute, I give a brief history of who built the levees and the deplorable working conditions that were often present in levee camps, especially for Black workers. And in the end, I offer a playlist of songs about levees and levee camps.

I don’t know if there’s another animal that has been simultaneously reviled and admired like wolves. We have a primal fear of them—their howls can make the bravest among us pick up their pace. But wolves also occupy a unique place in many cultural myths representing family, loyalty, and intelligence. In this episode, I talk with conservation biologist Matt Fox about those contradictions and much more. Fox describes the two species that are native to the Mississippi Valley—red and gray wolves—and how they’re doing today, then we get into their life cycles, myths about their behavior, and how they deeply influence the ecosystems in which they live. We also talk about our conflicting and troubled relationships with wolves and what we may be able to do to turn that around. In the Mississippi Minute, I mention two places where you can see and learn about wolves up close and personal, the International Wolf Center in Ely, Minnesota, and the Endangered Wolf Center near St. Louis, Missouri.

In this episode of the podcast, we wade into food traditions in the places along the Mississippi. Chef Regina Charboneau, a 7th generation Natchezian and author of Mississippi Current Cookbook: A Culinary Journey Down America’s Greatest River, is our guide as we talk about food traditions in places as different as Minnesota and Natchez, Mississippi. Chef Regina talks about her path to a stellar culinary career that has included owning a popular restaurant in San Francisco and her role as culinary director for the American Queen Steamboat Company. We talk about the foods that have inspired her and how her love of regional food is helping me reshape the menus on river cruises. We also spend a few minutes getting to the essentials of enjoying catfish.In the Mississippi Minute, we continue the food theme. I talk with St. Louis’ Andy Fair about gelato, sourcing local food, and his dreams for the restaurant he owns, the Gelateria Coffee Company.

Coffee shops, bars, diners, churches, bowling alleys—these are all important places in our social lives, so-called third places after home and work. When I’m traveling, I am drawn to them, whether I’m traveling for work or fun. They are not only great places to learn about the community, but I’ve also made new friends at many of them. In this episode, I share a list of some of the places where I’ve had especially good luck meeting people and offer a few tips about being a good guest. This list covers places from northern Minnesota to Mississippi, and includes a mix of businesses, from coffee shops to craft breweries and bars to restaurants. In the Mississippi Minute, I share my love for Sherburne National Wildlife Refuge in Minnesota.

Welcome back! Last week, I shared the first part of my conversation with General Gerry Galloway, the person chosen by President Clinton to lead a review what happened in 1993 and what could be done to prevent such extensive damage in the future. Because our discussion ran long, I split it into two episodes. Check out the previous episode to hear the first half of our conversation, as well as a summary of the events of the 1993 flood. In this episode, our discussion turns to talking about how we define and count costs and benefits for river projects, and how those analyses have slowly moved beyond simple mathematical formulas. We also talk about the difficulties with trying to assign dollar values to many of the benefits, including environmental benefits. We touch on issues related to who has a voice in determining river management policies, as well as what values our policy choices reflect. We end by talking about the idea of sustainable infrastructure, one of General Galloway’s primary interests. In the Mississippi Minute, I have a few thoughts about how federalizing projects blurs the lines between people who merely have an interest and those who have a stake.

In 1993, the Great Mississippi River Flood upended lives throughout the Midwest, although the greatest damage was in the Mississippi River floodplain from the Quad Cities south to around Cairo, Illinois. Thousands of people were forced into temporary shelters, and 52 people. In the aftermath of the flooding, President Clinton established a commission to review the events of the Great Flood and to make recommend policies that could reduce future damages from big floods. He appointed Gen. Gerry Galloway to head the commission, which, after its release, became known as the Galloway report.In this episode of the Mississippi Valley Traveler podcast, I have a wide-changing conversation with Gen. Galloway to review how we’ve done in the past 30 years to prepare for floods and reduce damages from those inevitable periods of high water. Our conversation went long, so I’m splitting the interview into two parts. In part one, we talk about how flood policy has evolved since 1993 and get into some of the difficult issues were still facing, such as who is ultimately responsible for flood protection and dealing with the risks of high water, who should pay for it, the challenges of coordinating floodplain policies among federal, state, and local governments and how expectations of federal bailouts can complicate those policies; the newer problems we’re facing with intense rainfall events that flood urban areas like the recent flooding in Burlington, Vermont, and the complications and problems with the federal flood insurance program.In the Mississippi Minute, I share a couple of my memories from the flooding around St. Louis in 1993, but mostly I want to hear from you. What are your stories from the Great Flood of 1993? Share your stories with me at MississippiValleyTraveler.com/contact, and I’ll choose a few to share on the next podcast.

Louisiana is known for its swamps, and for good reason. In spite of some of the associations with have with the word swamp, I find them beautiful, mysterious, and magnetic. In this episode, I talk with Jessica Gauley about a section of swamp along the Pearl River known as Honey Island. Jessica grew up with the swamp and today runs Honey Island Kayak Tours, a company that specializes in intimate tours of the swamp. We talk about her childhood in the swamp, the rich plant and animal life at Honey Island, how the swamp changes with the seasons, and the fears inspired by the word swamp. She offers a few tips on visiting and paddling around Louisiana’s swamps. Alligators come up a couple of times in our conversation, so in the Mississippi Minute, I offer a brief peak into the world of alligators.

Dense forests of white and red pine once ranged across northern Wisconsin and Minnesota. Tall, ancient trees that were part of a rich ecosystem well-adapted to the northern climate and one that had evolved to rely on periodic fires to stay healthy. Those trees were also highly desired by logging companies and builders who needed vast amounts of lumber to feed the appetites of growing communities in the middle part of America. In this episode, I describe what those forests were like, then get into stories from the era when those forests were leveled. I talk about the logging camps, the men who worked in them, and life in the communities that grew up around those camps. You’ll hear stories about the daily life for a logger, the speed of frontier justice, and the rapid decline of the industry. People once believed that those tall trees were a virtually infinite resource, yet almost of them were taken down in Minnesota and Wisconsin in just a couple of decades. I finish with a few thoughts on what those forests are like today. In the Mississippi Minute, I talk about a couple places where it’s still possible to walk around old growth pine forests.

People in North America have been getting around in canoes for thousands of years. The basic design was so perfectly engineered that we’re still using it today. In this episode, I talk with Mark Neuzil, who co-wrote “Canoes: A Natural History in North America” with Norman Sims. We talk about the basic design, variations in materials used to build them from traditional bark canoes and dugouts to modern composites. We cover the ways canoes were engineered for specific purposes, and the transition from canoes as transportation to canoeing for fun. Mark shares a couple of standout memories from canoe trips he’s taken, and in the Mississippi Minute, I share a couple of my own. Paddles up! We’re all about canoes in this episode!

It’s summer, which means it’s a great time to get out on or along the Mississippi River, and this year’s version of River Days of Action is a great place to start. In this bonus episode, I talk with Michael Anderson, Director of Outreach and Education for the Mississippi River Network, about what’s happening for River Days of Action this year, why it matters, and how anyone can participate. We also talk about how Michael cultivated his own strong connection with the river and his hopes for the kind of Mississippi River he’d like his children to know. In the Mississippi Minute, I talk about the mental health benefits of spending time along the river and being outside.

What are the challenges involved with managing a small rivertown? And how does a dyed-in-the-wool Northeasterner and international business consultant end up living in a small town on the Mississippi River in the middle of America? That’s the path Philip Stang has followed to Kimmswick, Missouri, where he has served multiple terms as Mayor. In this wide-ranging interview, we pull the curtain back for a look at what it takes to manage the historic community. We talk about his old career as a corporate consultant, his current life as an artist, and his entry into local politics. We discuss challenges that include fighting floods that are increasingly threatening and looking for ways to diversify the small town’s revenues. And we do it all with plenty of laughs along the way. In the Mississippi Minute, I offer a few tips for visiting Kimmswick, including what to expect when you visit for one of the city’s two big festivals.