Click Here To Purchase From Amazon When the Mississippi Ran Backwards

ISBN: 0-7432-4278-5

Publisher: Free Press

Jay Feldman skillfully builds the opening of the west around the New Madrid earthquakes into an historical perspective of national building.

Perhaps the most powerful character in the books is Tecumseh. Trying to build a coalition of tribes to stand against the white man, he met with resistance. He warned the tribes that he would stamp his feet and bring down their houses. Whether you believe in fate or coincidence doesn’t matter, but houses did come down. The first quake was December 16, 1811. From mid December 1811 to late April 1812, more than 2,000 tremors rumbled through the Ohio Valley. So strong were the initial quakes that the course of the Mississippi changed forever. In fact, the earth released so much power that the mighty river flowed backward.  

Feldman combines first-hand memoirs and diaries with geological information to lead the reader right through the terrifying days when the earth ripped her seams, fouled the air with noxious gas, and flooded the land. Along the way, he exposes a brutal murder, Indian wars, and the political deception and conspiracy that opened the Mississippi Valley to settlers.

The book’s most endearing character, Lydia Roosevelt, shines as a woman of strength, endurance, loyalty, and sense of self. She and her family were on the first steamboat to take on the Mississippi—just miles from the quake’s epicenter. Long before the 20^th century feminists, Lydia was traveling down the Mississippi—not once, but twice!—at a time when only the heartiest of men took on the river. The first time she was pregnant. During the second time she gave birth, and yet, her story is virtually untold and unknown.  

It’s hard to imagine how Feldman could work all the characters and events into a cohesive story, but that’s exactly what he did.

 The above review was contributed by:  Susan Sales Harkins: Susan is a Software consultant and the author of several articles and books on database technologies. She and her husband, William, collaborate on children's non-fiction. Click Here to read more of Susan’s Reviews.