Western Rivermen, 1763–1861

Western Rivermen, 1763–1861
Author :
Publisher : LSU Press
Total Pages : 284
Release :
ISBN-10 : 0807119075
ISBN-13 : 9780807119075
Rating : 4/5 (75 Downloads)

Book Synopsis Western Rivermen, 1763–1861 by : Michael R. Allen

Download or read book Western Rivermen, 1763–1861 written by Michael R. Allen and published by LSU Press. This book was released on 1994-04-01 with total page 284 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Western Rivermen, the first documented sociocultural history of its subject, is a fascinating book. Michael Allen explores the rigorous lives of professional boatmen who plied non-steam vessels—flatboats, keelboats, and rafts—on the Ohio and lower Mississippi rivers from 1763-1861. Allen first considers the mythical “half horse, half alligator” boatmen who were an integral part of the folklore of the time. Americans of the Jacksonian and pre-Civil War period perceived the rivermen as hard-drinking, straight-shooting adventurers on the frontier. Their notions were reinforced by romanticized portrayals of the boatmen in songs, paintings, newspaper humor, and literature. Allen contends that these mythical depictions of the boatmen were a reflection of the yearnings of an industrializing people for what they thought to be a simpler time. Allen demonstrates, however, that the actual lives of the rivermen little resembled their portrayals in popular culture. Drawing on more than eighty firsthand accounts—ranging from a short letter to a four-volume memoir—he provides a rounded view of the boatmen that reveals the lonely, dangerous nature of their profession. He also discusses the social and economic aspects of their lives, such as their cargoes, the river towns they visited, and the impact on their lives of the steamboat and advancing civilization. Allen’s comprehensive, highly informative study sheds new light on a group of men who played an important role in the development of the trans-Appalachian West and the ways in which their lives were transformed into one of the enduring themes of American folk culture.


Western Rivermen, 1763–1861 Related Books

Western Rivermen, 1763–1861
Language: en
Pages: 284
Authors: Michael R. Allen
Categories: History
Type: BOOK - Published: 1994-04-01 - Publisher: LSU Press

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Western Rivermen, the first documented sociocultural history of its subject, is a fascinating book. Michael Allen explores the rigorous lives of professional bo
The Louisiana Economy
Language: en
Pages: 232
Authors: Thomas R. Beard
Categories: Louisiana
Type: BOOK - Published: 1969 - Publisher:

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Overland Explorations of the Trans-Mississippi West
Language: en
Pages: 194
Authors: Hunt Janin
Categories: History
Type: BOOK - Published: 2020-04-23 - Publisher: McFarland

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

In 1528, the Spanish explorer Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vaca and his three companions were shipwrecked and, looking for help, began an eight-year trek through the d
Steamboats and the Rise of the Cotton Kingdom
Language: en
Pages: 489
Authors: Robert H. Gudmestad
Categories: History
Type: BOOK - Published: 2011-10-24 - Publisher: LSU Press

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

The arrival of the first steamboat, The New Orleans, in early 1812 touched off an economic revolution in the South. In states west of the Appalachian Mountains,
Reader's Guide to American History
Language: en
Pages: 930
Authors: Peter J. Parish
Categories: History
Type: BOOK - Published: 2013-06-17 - Publisher: Routledge

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

There are so many books on so many aspects of the history of the United States, offering such a wide variety of interpretations, that students, teachers, schola