Legacy Magazine

by Paul Caputo

This issue of Legacy focuses on the interpretation of rivers. At first glance, you might imagine that, because rivers are a natural feature, this issue would focus on natural heritage. But the opposite is the case. As authors proposed articles for this issue, it became abundantly clear that when we think of rivers, we don’t just think of the veins of rushing (or sometimes trickling) water that dissect our maps. We think of the people who lived along the shores, depending on rivers for sustenance, transportation, or whatever else affected their lives or livelihoods.

As Mark Carr of AEP River Operations points out in the profile, even most landlocked cities came into existence because there was access to clean water. Rivers are the lifeblood of the nation, and thus are home not only to unique and interesting natural habitats, but also to much of our cultural heritage.

Feature articles in this issue about America’s “Great River,” the Mississippi, and eastern Arkansas’s St. Francis River detail histories that weave through time the way the rivers themselves carve indelible, unpredictable marks on the landscape. These stories, “Navigating the Timeless Waters of the Upper Mississippi” by Julie Cutler on (posted February 2, 2009) and “A Meandering Memoir: A River’s Impact on Shaping the Arkansas Delta” by Mary Anne Parker, Debbie Van Winkle, and Shea Lewis (posted January 7, 2009), tell of a balancing act between man and nature that becomes, at times, more of a shoving match. Even a Visitor’s View about DeSoto National Wildlife Refuge in Iowa (posted February 16, 2009) tells not of the power and beauty of the Missouri River, but the unhappy fate of the steamboat Bertrand, which succumbed to one of a million dark obstacles and sank in 1865.

As always, I welcome your feedback.

Paul Caputo is the art and publications director for the National Association for Interpretation.