George Byron Merrick (1841–1931)
Författare till Old Times on the Upper Mississippi: The Recollections of a Steamboat Pilot from 1854 to 1863 (Borealis)
Verk av George Byron Merrick
Taggad
Allmänna fakta
Medlemmar
Recensioner
Statistik
- Verk
- 2
- Medlemmar
- 32
- Popularitet
- #430,838
- Betyg
- 4.5
- Recensioner
- 1
- ISBN
- 7
This book is a memoir, so some early chapters focus on his childhood--but don't skip them. They are a fascinating portrait of a young boy free in the world. He had a number of harrowing experiences that are fascinating in the telling, and his description of the Wisconsin/Minnesota region in that period is also engaging. He lived in a town of 200 whites between a village of 1000 Sioux and 500 Chippewa that would occasionally come into his hometown of Prescott, Wi, to trade--and fight.
As a former steamboat cub engineer, clerk, and pilot, Merrick is very interested in the business of steamboating, so he breaks down the particular job of every officer on board, devoting a chapter to each. In each chapter he adds anecdotes and tales from his river experiences which are many and varied. Not only do you get a strong sense of the Upper Mississippi and its winding course of sandbars and snags, but also the people and work found along it. There are many details on the river towns, some no longer in existence, and the cargoes they provided. There are tales of various emergencies. The book not only describes how boiler explosions, snags, crushing ice and fires destroyed many a steamer, but he also adds examples and lots of technical detail that you don't find in other steamboat books.
If the book has any problem, it's that he writes for a more contemporaneous audience, so he assumes you know what a steamboats 'buckets' are, for example (they're the boards comprising the 'paddle' of the paddlewheel). There isn't a lot of jargon, but a glossary like the one found here can be helpful.
If you enjoy listening to an old man reflect on a youth that he loved and desperately misses, then pick up this book. It's history in its purest form, the first person narrative, told by an expert.
[Note: this book is available free on Google Books]… (mer)