They Called Us River Rats
They Called Us River Rats

Author: Macon Fry

Publisher: Univ. Press of Mississippi

Published: 2021-05-04

Total Pages: 230

ISBN-13: 1496833090

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They Called Us River Rats: The Last Batture Settlement of New Orleans is the previously untold story of perhaps the oldest outsider settlement in America, an invisible community on the annually flooded shores of the Mississippi River. This community exists in the place between the normal high and low water line of the Mississippi River, a zone known in Louisiana as the batture. For the better part of two centuries, batture dwellers such as Macon Fry have raised shantyboats on stilts, built water-adapted homes, foraged, fished, and survived using the skills a river teaches. Until now the stories of this way of life have existed only in the memories of those who have lived here. Beginning in 2000, Fry set about recording the stories of all the old batture dwellers he could find: maritime workers, willow furniture makers, fishermen, artists, and river shrimpers. Along the way, Fry uncovered fascinating tales of fortune tellers, faith healers, and wild bird trappers who defiantly lived on the river. They Called Us River Rats also explores the troubled relationship between people inside the levees, the often-reviled batture folks, and the river itself. It traces the struggle between batture folks and city authorities, the commercial interests that claimed the river, and Louisiana’s most powerful politicians. These conflicts have ended in legal battles, displacement, incarceration, and even lynching. Today Fry is among the senior generation of “River Rats” living in a vestigial colony of twelve “camps” on New Orleans’s river batture, a fragment of a settlement that once stretched nearly six miles and numbered hundreds of homes. It is the last riparian settlement on the Lower Mississippi and a contrarian, independent life outside urban zoning, planning, and flood protection. This book is for everyone who ever felt the pull of the Mississippi River or saw its towering levees and wondered who could live on the other side.

Tales of a River Rat
Tales of a River Rat

Author: Kenny Salwey

Publisher: Fulcrum Publishing

Published: 2016-12-14

Total Pages: 225

ISBN-13: 1938486765

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In Tales of a River Rat, famed storyteller and self-described hermit Kenny Salwey informs and entertains readers as he weaves his life story on the Mississippi River. Salwey knows the river ecosystem with an intimacy unavailable to most. Here he shares his love of and knowledge about the mighty river in an accessible manner sure to appeal to all ages.

Mississippi River Rat
Mississippi River Rat

Author: Nitha Ann Nebbitt

Publisher: Archway Publishing

Published: 2020-05-01

Total Pages: 34

ISBN-13: 1480887803

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Starting in St. Louis, Missouri, River Rat journeys down the Mississippi River for an adventure of discovery. The river measures 2,320 miles and can be very wide in places. There are a lot of exciting things to see. Along the way, River Rat experiences the sights and sounds typically found on a large waterway, from fishing to birds to wildlife and more. He arrives in New Orleans, Louisiana, just in time for Mardi Gras. Inspired by author Nitha Ann Nebbitt’s experiences on the Mississippi as a child, this picture book for children introduces kids to nature and the wonder of this mighty river.

The Last River Rat
The Last River Rat

Author: Kenny Salwey

Publisher: Fulcrum Publishing

Published: 2017-10-16

Total Pages: 184

ISBN-13: 1938486919

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Kenny Salwey is a modern-day American hermit who has lived most of his life in the Mississippi river bottoms, coming to know the river ecosystem with an intimacy unavailable to most. Now, Kenny shares his love of, and knowledge about, the mighty river. The Last River Rat is a seasonal look at Kenny's unique life.

The Old-Time River Rats
The Old-Time River Rats

Author: Kenny Salwey

Publisher: Voyageur Press

Published: 2009-11-15

Total Pages: 240

ISBN-13: 1616731699

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Colorful characters once populated the Upper Mississippi River Valley swamps and floodplain forests. These are the river rats, hill folk, and swamp dogs whose stories Kenny Salwey tells so well. Now long gone, these legendary denizens of the river bottoms come alive in Kenny’s signature brand of storytelling, rife with insight and laughter, woodslore and a time-tested philosophy of the natural world. With a foreword by regional historian Gary Schlosstein, this deep delving into the old-time community of the Mississippi River presents a rich picture of a life as fascinating as it is fast-disappearing in our fast-paced, high-tech world.

River Rats
River Rats

Author: Caroline Stevermer

Publisher: Open Road Media

Published: 2022-03-15

Total Pages: 187

ISBN-13: 1504074041

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“Calling to mind such widely disparate writers as Mark Twain, Andre Norton and Peter Dickinson, Stevermer paints a realistic ruin of society.” —Publishers Weekly The award-winning author of the Scholarly Magic series delivers the thrilling adventure of a crew of young kids working their way through a post-apocalyptic world on a steamboat they call home . . . No one knows for sure what caused the Flash. They just know that nothing has been the same since. Cities have been destroyed by pestilence, riots, and fires. The paddleboat River Rat, once a museum, was turned into an orphanage. But a dangerous storm forced the children to flee with the boat to safer waters, making it theirs for good. Since then, Tomcat, Toby, Esteban, Lindy, Spike, and Jake have traveled, bartered, and performed their way up and down the Mississippi River. One rule that has served them well: no passengers. But after watching a man on shore being pursued by a vicious pack of locals, the group has no choice but to save him. At every stop, the boat is met by the man’s tireless hunters. They want what the fugitive knows: the location of a bunker filled with guns. A currency more valuable than gold . . . and one that the crew of the River Rat might well pay for—with their lives. “An unusual, compelling futuristic novel . . . wry, sharp, lively, and perceptive.” —The Horn Book (starred review) “Too good to miss.” —Booklist An ALA Best Book for Young Adults A New York Public Library Book for the Teen Age

Old Man River
Old Man River

Author: Paul Schneider

Publisher: Henry Holt and Company

Published: 2013-09-03

Total Pages: 416

ISBN-13: 0805098364

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A fascinating account of how the Mississippi River shaped America In Old Man River, Paul Schneider tells the story of the river at the center of America's rich history—the Mississippi. Some fifteen thousand years ago, the majestic river provided Paleolithic humans with the routes by which early man began to explore the continent's interior. Since then, the river has been the site of historical significance, from the arrival of Spanish and French explorers in the 16th century to the Civil War. George Washington fought his first battle near the river, and Ulysses S. Grant and William T. Sherman both came to President Lincoln's attention after their spectacular victories on the lower Mississippi. In the 19th century, home-grown folk heroes such as Daniel Boone and the half-alligator, half-horse, Mike Fink, were creatures of the river. Mark Twain and Herman Melville led their characters down its stream in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and The Confidence-Man. A conduit of real-life American prowess, the Mississippi is also a river of stories and myth. Schneider traces the history of the Mississippi from its origins in the deep geologic past to the present. Though the busiest waterway on the planet today, the Mississippi remains a paradox—a devastated product of American ingenuity, and a magnificent natural wonder.

Muskrat for Supper
Muskrat for Supper

Author: Kenny Salwey

Publisher: Fulcrum Publishing

Published: 2016-07-20

Total Pages: 81

ISBN-13: 1555917534

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Muskrat for Supper inspires young people to explore nature's life cycles and understand the concept of the circle of life, as told through the tale of a family that embarks on a hunting and trapping adventure. It is an endearing story that weaves together such themes as sustainable living, our natural environment, and living closer to nature. The first book for children by this acclaimed storyteller and author, Muskrat for Supper includes questions young people have asked Kenny Salwey about his lifestyle as a river rat living off the land. The story will be illustrated with black-and-white photographs as well as nonfiction material to supplement the text.

Big River's Daughter
Big River's Daughter

Author: Bobbi Miller

Publisher: Holiday House

Published: 2013-10-04

Total Pages: 224

ISBN-13: 0823427692

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Raised by her pirate father on a Mississippi keeler, River is a half-feral river rat and proud of it. When her powerful father disappears in the great earthquake of 1811, she is on the run from buccaneers, including Jean Lafitte, who hope to claim her father's territory and his buried treasure. But the ruthless rivals do not count on getting a run for their money from a plucky slip of a girl determined to find her place in the new order. Filled with down-home humor, raucous hijinks, and one-of-a-kind characters, this historical novel captures the Mississippi River at a time when its denizens were as untamed as its waters.

Roadtrip With a Raindrop
Roadtrip With a Raindrop

Author: Gayle Harper

Publisher:

Published: 2014-11-01

Total Pages: 240

ISBN-13: 9781938905636

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A raindrop that falls into the headwaters of the Mississippi River in Minnesota will reach the Gulf of Mexico 90 days later. When I learned that, my world was sent spinning in a new direction. I knew in that instant that I would make a 90-day road trip, following the entire course of the Mississippi River, while keeping pace with an imaginary raindrop that I would call ""Serendipity."" From that moment on, this adventure has created itself in ways that often seem magical. People offered lodging in places that let me slide body and soul into the local culture. There was a fisherman's cabin, a trendy downtown loft, a tugboat converted to a B&B, a plantation mansion, a sharecropper's cabin - and once, an entire 30-room manor! The Mississippi is one of America's greatest treasures. It is embedded in our history, our present and our identity as a nation. Along its roughly 2,400 mile journey, it is transformed from a tiny creek into an immense force of nature. It passes through dramatic changes in geography, climate, culture, lifestyles and accents. "