The title promises two tales; both are actually the same story, told with different levels of detail and suspense. The first is from The Earthquake that America Forgot by Dr. David Steward and Dr. Ray Knox. (These authors have a whole series of books about the New Madrid earthquakes, all of which seem to include [...]
Above is from the addendum of Zadok Cramer’s The Navigator from which I have quoted previously. Written buoyantly, it makes jokes of specie (‘new notes of the “first water“‘ refers to the breadth of bank notes available at the time) and law (“club law” is the lynch mob). The text: [i2] STACK ISLAND, not long since, was [...]
The following is from the 1824 edition of Zadok Cramer’s The Navigator on Island 94: No. 94, Stack or Crow’s nest Island, six miles below 93, Has been sunk by the earthquake, or swept off by the floods; but just below where it stood is a high sandbar, covered with young willows, and is about the [...]
As the 4th anniversary of this blog nears (November 12) I’ve been revisiting research that was near impossible when I began it. The namesake of this blog was Island 94, formerly sitting within the Mississippi River, which I was introduced to through the very excellent book When the Mississippi Ran Backwards by Jay Feldman. When [...]
