Mark Twain, renowned American writer and satirist, crossed the Mississippi River in 1852 at the young age of eighteen. As a steamboat pilot in the Western rivers, Twain transversed the 2,340 mile river, which stretched from its source in Minnesota to the mouth of the Gulf of Mexico in Louisiana. He often described the Mississippi with dark, intense sentimentality, encapsulating the experience of passing some of America’s most picturesque landscapes and traversing through the chapters of history which were etched unto the landscapes of the river and its adjacent areas.
The river forms the backbone of the United States, weaving its way from New Orleans to St. Louis, Memphis, and Columbus along the way. These towns were burgeoning communities of urban culture and industry, but also representations of the country’s colonial history. It was also the site of much of Twain’s early writing, including his stories “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer” and “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.”
Twain’s experience served as an essential foundation for his later writings and widely-recognized style. During his tenure as a steamboat pilot, Twain dedicated his years of work marinating himself in a world of people and places that he later depicted with such palpable realism. In his published works, Twain worked to capture the history of the era, its multilayered characters and its meandering river roads.
Historians, geographers, and other experts have long acknowledged the significance of Twain’s experience on the Mississippi for his development as a writer. Through Twain’s eyes, we experience the economic expansion of the late 19th century United States, a period when the seeds of modern industry and finance sprouted in the fertile soil of the Mississippi Basin. Each of his works further reveals an artist’s eye for detail in which he captures the nuances of everyday life apace the river.
Today, nearly two centuries after Twain embarked on his journey, the Mississippi River watershed still serves as an indispensable waterway for the continent It spans 37 states, contains over 240 tributaries, and drains an area of 1,151,000 square miles. In 2014, the port of New Orleans surpassed the Port of Los Angeles to become the United States’ highest-volume port, handling 608.1 million tons of cargo annually.
Impressively, the river has withstood rapid modernization and even man-made attempts to re-direct its flow. Although the river is considered one of the most altered rivers in the world, its bedrock characteristics remain intact for centuries, to the extent that Twain’s attributes of the river continue to reverberate. This is largely due to the sheer grandeur of the river and its powerful currents, both literally and figuratively.
The magnitude of the Mississippi River’s significance is without question. Yet there’s an undeniable charm in the way Twain captured its essence, as he so vividly and artfully described it in his works. For Twain, the Mississippi was more than just a river – it was a rite of passage, the locus in which he found himself as a writer and in which his beloved works were born and continue to remain relevant and cherished today.
The Steamboat Industry
Mark Twain’s experience as a steamboat pilot also informed his perspectives on the state of the steamboat industry in 19th century America. His works provide insight into the social and economic significance of the industry, how it drove the economic development of towns along the river and created a bustling tourism culture in the mid-1800s. Therefore, Twain was well aware of how the industry helped shape the landscape of the Mississippi Valley and the people who lived in it.
At the peak of the steamboat industry, over 4,000 steamboats traveled up and down the Mississippi, carrying passengers and goods. The industry also spurred a number of inventions, such as steam dredges, which were used to deepen the river bed and make it more navigable. Twain was keenly aware of this and certainly understood the importance of the industry, despite its waning popularity in the years afterward.
As an experienced pilot, Twain was tasked with navigating the dangerous waters of the Mississippi, a treacherous task that required of him an intimate understanding of the river and its dynamics. To this end, he popularized the term “mark twain,” which is a nautical expression meaning two fathoms, or 12 feet – a depth at which the waters become safe for navigation. The term has since entered the popular lexicon and is used to this day.
With such keen attention to detail, Mark Twain was able to effectively communicate the intricate and delicate balances in the Mississippi River and steamboat industry, providing a comprehensive narrative about the daily lives of riverboat pilots and the dangers of navigated such a behemoth of a river.
The Impact of the Mississippi River on World Commerce
The Mississippi River has had a tremendous impact, both historically and contemporarily, on the world’s commerce. As a result of the river’s long and winding path through the heart of the North American continent, it has provided an avenue of transportation, communication and development for a variety of businesses. Its inter-continental reach and navigability has directly impacted industries including agriculture, manufacturing, trade, tourism and industry.
Agriculture and manufacturing have long been major beneficiaries of the river’s expansive pathway. The river facilitates a transportation network between the North American interior and the Atlantic Ocean, one of the most important water-routes for goods. Furthermore, the Mississippi’s wide and deep channel encourages larger vessels to pass through, allowing for more goods to be shipped at once.
The river has also been integral to the development of world trade. As goods can be shipped from the Mississippi to its various tributaries, connecting different nations, the river provides an efficient and cost-effective way for goods to be exchanged and consumed internationally. This has made it possible for many countries, particularly those located along the two coasts of the United States, to increase their imports and exports of goods to the rest of the world.
Additionally, the Mississippi River has been a crucial factor in the development of the modern tourism industry. The river’s ports have served as gateways for large tourism-focused vessels to enter the continent, providing easy access to well-known touristic landmarks along the river like New Orleans and St. Louis. Consequently, more people from all over the world have come to appreciate the United States’ natural and cultural heritage, boosting the nation’s economy in various ways.
The Mississippi River is one of the most historically and politically significant sites in the United States. Mark Twain’s experience crossing the river was an essential part of his development as a writer and serves as a lasting reminder of its immense impact on American culture and international commerce.
The Preservation of the River
Despite the immense significance of the Mississippi River, its preservation is a growing concern. Over a period of two centuries, the river has become vastly altered due to a range of human activities. This includes the development of numerous dams and locks that enable navigation against the river’s current, as well as large-scale irrigation projects that have drained some of its wetlands and changed the course of the river.
The environmental impacts of these developments are concerning. Damming has restricted the movement of fish, leading to a decrease in the number of species. Similarly, irrigation and drainage has caused water pollution, with chemical pollutants from crops, herbicides and other compounds entering the river. This has caused various species living in the river to be impacted, in some cases leading to their extinction.
As such, there has been a growing push for the preservation and restoration of the river. This includes the imposition of more stringent regulations upon large-scale developments and the introduction of more environmentally friendly practices. More specifically, environmentalists have been advocating the development of restoration plans to help the river recover and retain its vibrant ecosystem, which itself was threatened by the long-term impacts of human activities.
It is clear that the Mississippi River is a delicate and resilient body of water which has provided invaluable services to the North American continent throughout its history. Thus, it is important that preservation and restoration efforts continue in order to protect the Mississippi River and its extraordinary environment.
The Mississippi River in American Literature
The Mississippi River has been a long-standing source of inspiration for many American authors, offering a backdrop for tales of everyday life, romance, adventure and tragedy. The river’s unique cultural presence has made it the subject of countless works in both fiction and non-fiction. From Mark Twain to Hemingway, Faulkner and countless others, the significance of the Mississippi River in American literature remains ever-present.
Mark Twain’s work had a particularly profound effect on the viewing of the Mississippi River in American literature, as he was able to capture the landscape and life around it with such vivid detail. His stories of Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn have become near-universal, immortalizing the characters and experiences he encountered along the river and solidifying it as one of the most iconic rivers in all of literature. Twain’s works, in turn, inspired a new generation of Mississippi River storytellers, including Nobel Prize-winning author Ernest Hemingway, who famously wrote ‘The Old Man and the Sea’, set upon the Mississippi.
In particular, Twain’s experiences on the river exposed him to a variety of stories and characters, which provided the groundwork for some of his most memorable, celebrated works. The stories he encountered along the way were filled with details that he would later incorporate into his works, giving them a timeless quality and richness. As such, the Mississippi River, and Twain’s own experience along it, continues to be an essential fixture of American literature.
The mark of American literature is indelibly linked to the Mississippi River – an iconic body of water whose history and beauty have been celebrated and memorialized by some of the world’s greatest authors. Twain’s experience crossing the river allowed him to look upon it with a unique perspective and to capture its cascading beauty in the resplendent of language. Due to his works, the grandeur of the Mississippi River has been enshrined into our literary canon, its imprint permanently placed upon the page.
