Great River : an environmental history of the upper Mississippi, 1890-1950
Abstract
This study examines the evolving relationship between the river and the people who lived along its shores, focusing on the period from 1890 to 1950. The analysis proceeds from the assumption that in modern urban, industrial societies, such as the United States, people have increasingly transformed the natural environment into a human artifact. Such is certainly the case with the upper Mississippi. Between the late nineteenth century and the mid-twentieth century, both the river and its valley underwent major alterations that affected both the face of the land and the underlying fabric of the original ecosystems.
Table of Contents
The Keokuk, Iowa, hydroelectric Project : synchronizing the River with the needs of an industrial society -- The Keokuk, Iowa, hydroelectric project : the unanticipated consequences of river development -- Shells, sewage, and silt : the bureau of fisheries and the pearl-button Industry, 1890-1930 -- Conservation crusade : the Izaak Walton League of America -- Pollution of the upper Mississippi River.