Baton Rouge to New Orleans: 1882
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29 January 2023
Vicksburg to Baton Rouge: 1882
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29 January 2023
Chapter 29 of Life on the Mississippi:
WHERE the river, in the Vicksburg region, used to be corkscrewed, it is now comparatively straight—made so by cut-off; a former distance of seventy miles is reduced to thirty-five. It is a change which threw Vicksburg's neighbor, Delta, Louisiana, out into the country and ended its career as a river town. Its whole river-frontage is now occupied by a vast sand-bar, thickly covered with young trees—a growth which will magnify itself into a dense forest by-and-bye, and completely hide the exiled town.
Vicksburg, 1882
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29 January 2023
WE used to plow past the lofty hill-city, Vicksburg, down-stream; but we cannot do that now. A cut-off has made a country town of it, like Osceola, St. Genevieve, and several others. There is currentless water—also a big island—in front of Vicksburg now. You come down the river the other side of the island, then turn and come up to the town; that is, in high water: in low water you can't come up, but must land some distance below it.
May 1882
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29 January 2023
May – Sam’s notebook carries an entry to “see Dickens for a note on Cairo [Illinois]” [Gribben 187]. In LM Sam focused on the improvements in Cairo, no longer the place Dickens had described, a:
“…hotbed of disease, an ugly sepulcher, a grave uncheered by any gleam of promise.”
April 30, 1882 Sunday
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29 January 2023
April 30 Sunday – 7 AM at the train depot, Sam met Joel Chandler Harris, who’d traveled from Atlanta. Harris registered at the St. Charles Hotel, where Sam was staying; the two then met George Cable and attended church services of the Prytania Street Presbyterian Church, Rev. J.H.
April 29, 1882 Saturday
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29 January 2023
April 29 Saturday –Sam’s notebook records a mule race staged to benefit the Southern Art Union, a group promoting New Orleans artists:
Mule race with Burke & Houston. Later mentioned the Voudoo superstitions. Among old creoles if one meets a funeral he removes his hat & walks back with procession one block.
April 28, 1882 Friday
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29 January 2023
April 28 Friday – At 8 AM, the Charles Morgan arrived at New Orleans. Sam stayed at the St. Charles Hotel [MTNJ 2: 458n84]. While in the city, he met up with George W. Cable. From Sam’s notebook:
April 27, 1882 Thursday
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29 January 2023
April 27 Thursday – The Charles Morgan stopped a half an hour at Baton Rouge, La. [MTNJ 2: 546].
“Baton Rouge was clothed in flowers, like a bride—no, much more so; like a greenhouse. For we were in the absolute South now—no modifications, no compromises, no half-way measures. The magnolia trees in the Capitol grounds were lovely and fragrant…” [Ch.40 LM].
April 26, 1882 Wednesday
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29 January 2023
April 26 Wednesday – The Gold Dust arrived at Vicksburg, Miss., where Sam, Osgood and Phelps boarded the Charles Morgan [MTNJ 2: 436]. A notebook entry for the date at 11 AM may be the time of the Morgan’s departure [462]. Before boarding, the party took a ride to the National Cemetery, where Sam jotted the motto over the gateway:
Arkansas City, Arkansas
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29 January 2023
From 1879, Arkansas City grew into a thriving river city for the next forty years. It had a natural harbor for steamboats and two railways, as well as fourteen salons and three sawmills.
An opera house was moved to Arkansas City in 1891. The building was also used as an unofficial "town hall"; at other times it became a ballroom, and citizens danced to music of groups from Memphis, Tennessee. The city then had several churches and two doctors.
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