Always a River: The Ohio River and the American Experience (1991) Edited By Robert L. Reid

For almost the entirety of my life Lake Michigan was the dominant geographic feature of where I lived – childhood in the Indiana Dunes, and as an adult in Chicago.  When I retired earlier this year, I moved to Golconda, a small town in southern Illinois where the Ohio River reigns as the dominant geographic feature.  My new home is three blocks from the river -- and importantly, on a hill.  I’ve been studying my surroundings ever since I arrived.  Geography is a key part of local history.

Golconda, before bridges, was originally an Ohio River ferry-crossing between Illinois and Kentucky.  Later, it became home to Lock and Dam 51, part of the massive infrastructure of the “interior coast” of America.  Since the early 1800s, controlling the navigation of the Ohio and its dozens of tributaries has been a major government concern, the nuts and bolts of which was not known to me.  As I often do, I found a book to help explain it to me. 

The book, Always a River, is edited by Robert Reid, Professor of History Emeritus at the University of Southern Indiana, upriver from Golconda.  The book is a compilation of essays by various experts on topics relating to the Ohio River, which streams from Pittsburgh, to its mouth at Cairo, IL (63 miles downriver from me) where it merges into the Mississippi River.  The essays cover such topics as: Native history; the importance of the river in colonial times (French & Indian Wars, War of 1812, and War of Independence); settlement by European immigrants; early industrialization, coal, salt & clay mining,  coal powered electricity, steelmaking, hydro-energy (the TVA includes the Tennessee River, a tributary of the Ohio), uranium enrichment; and the impact all of that has had on river ecology including its role in acid rain.  Also in the book are parts of Reuben Gold Thwaites’ fun “travelogue” Afloat on the Ohio, which I previously read and blogged back in 2015..

One of the key takeaways I have from this book is the chapter on the changing navigation of the river over the years.  What I never realized (or thought about actually) before is that the Ohio River is not particularly deep – wide, but not deep.  Rainy seasons, and dry seasons, greatly impacted the traffic on the river.  Seasonal changes among other factors led to Congress directing the Army Corps of Engineers to develop and implement a plan to make navigation on the Ohio River possible year-round: clearing snags, dredging, wing dams, canalization (part 1) and deeper & longer canalization (part 2).  Not to mention the changes in shipping: canoes, flat boats, keel boats, steamboats, tugboats & barges.  Sounds boring?  It was actually fascinating to this non-engineer. 

Lock and Dam 51 in Golconda, by-the-way, no longer is.  It was built to handle narrow and short barge traffic.  It, along with Dam 50 (Marion, KY), has been dismantled and replaced by the Smithland Lock & Dam (between Golconda & Brookport), capable of handling longer, heavier, barges.  All that remains of Lock and Dam 51 are a row of houses constructed for its Lockmaster staff. Today, those riverfront houses are available as vacation rentals. 

Recommendation:  Yes, for history buffs.