The Lost History of the New Madrid Earthquakes

The Lost History of the New Madrid Earthquakes PDF Author: Conevery Bolton Valencius
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 022605392X
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 471

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Book Description
From December 1811 to February 1812, massive earthquakes shook the middle Mississippi Valley, collapsing homes, snapping large trees midtrunk, and briefly but dramatically reversing the flow of the continent’s mightiest river. For decades, people puzzled over the causes of the quakes, but by the time the nation began to recover from the Civil War, the New Madrid earthquakes had been essentially forgotten. In The Lost History of the New Madrid Earthquakes, Conevery Bolton Valencius remembers this major environmental disaster, demonstrating how events that have been long forgotten, even denied and ridiculed as tall tales, were in fact enormously important at the time of their occurrence, and continue to affect us today. Valencius weaves together scientific and historical evidence to demonstrate the vast role the New Madrid earthquakes played in the United States in the early nineteenth century, shaping the settlement patterns of early western Cherokees and other Indians, heightening the credibility of Tecumseh and Tenskwatawa for their Indian League in the War of 1812, giving force to frontier religious revival, and spreading scientific inquiry. Moving into the present, Valencius explores the intertwined reasons—environmental, scientific, social, and economic—why something as consequential as major earthquakes can be lost from public knowledge, offering a cautionary tale in a world struggling to respond to global climate change amid widespread willful denial. Engagingly written and ambitiously researched—both in the scientific literature and the writings of the time—The Lost History of the New Madrid Earthquakes will be an important resource in environmental history, geology, and seismology, as well as history of science and medicine and early American and Native American history.

The Lost History of the New Madrid Earthquakes

The Lost History of the New Madrid Earthquakes PDF Author: Conevery Bolton Valencius
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 022605392X
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 471

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Book Description
From December 1811 to February 1812, massive earthquakes shook the middle Mississippi Valley, collapsing homes, snapping large trees midtrunk, and briefly but dramatically reversing the flow of the continent’s mightiest river. For decades, people puzzled over the causes of the quakes, but by the time the nation began to recover from the Civil War, the New Madrid earthquakes had been essentially forgotten. In The Lost History of the New Madrid Earthquakes, Conevery Bolton Valencius remembers this major environmental disaster, demonstrating how events that have been long forgotten, even denied and ridiculed as tall tales, were in fact enormously important at the time of their occurrence, and continue to affect us today. Valencius weaves together scientific and historical evidence to demonstrate the vast role the New Madrid earthquakes played in the United States in the early nineteenth century, shaping the settlement patterns of early western Cherokees and other Indians, heightening the credibility of Tecumseh and Tenskwatawa for their Indian League in the War of 1812, giving force to frontier religious revival, and spreading scientific inquiry. Moving into the present, Valencius explores the intertwined reasons—environmental, scientific, social, and economic—why something as consequential as major earthquakes can be lost from public knowledge, offering a cautionary tale in a world struggling to respond to global climate change amid widespread willful denial. Engagingly written and ambitiously researched—both in the scientific literature and the writings of the time—The Lost History of the New Madrid Earthquakes will be an important resource in environmental history, geology, and seismology, as well as history of science and medicine and early American and Native American history.

When the Mississippi Ran Backwards

When the Mississippi Ran Backwards PDF Author: Jay Feldman
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 1416583106
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 330

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Book Description
From Jay Feldmen comes an enlightening work about how the most powerful earthquakes in the history of America united the Indians in one last desperate rebellion, reversed the Mississippi River, revealed a seamy murder in the Jefferson family, and altered the course of the War of 1812. On December 15, 1811, two of Thomas Jefferson's nephews murdered a slave in cold blood and put his body parts into a roaring fire. The evidence would have been destroyed but for a rare act of God—or, as some believed, of the Indian chief Tecumseh. That same day, the Mississippi River's first steamboat, piloted by Nicholas Roosevelt, powered itself toward New Orleans on its maiden voyage. The sky grew hazy and red, and jolts of electricity flashed in the air. A prophecy by Tecumseh was about to be fulfilled. He had warned reluctant warrior-tribes that he would stamp his feet and bring down their houses. Sure enough, between December 16, 1811, and late April 1812, a catastrophic series of earthquakes shook the Mississippi River Valley. Of the more than 2,000 tremors that rumbled across the land during this time, three would have measured nearly or greater than 8.0 on the not-yet-devised Richter Scale. Centered in what is now the bootheel region of Missouri, the New Madrid earthquakes were felt as far away as Canada; New York; New Orleans; Washington, DC; and the western part of the Missouri River. A million and a half square miles were affected as the earth's surface remained in a state of constant motion for nearly four months. Towns were destroyed, an eighteen-mile-long by five-mile-wide lake was created, and even the Mississippi River temporarily ran backwards. The quakes uncovered Jefferson's nephews' cruelty and changed the course of the War of 1812 as well as the future of the new republic. In When the Mississippi Ran Backwards, Jay Feldman expertly weaves together the story of the slave murder, the steamboat, Tecumseh, and the war, and brings a forgotten period back to vivid life. Tecumseh's widely believed prophecy, seemingly fulfilled, hastened an unprecedented alliance among southern and northern tribes, who joined the British in a disastrous fight against the U.S. government. By the end of the war, the continental United States was secure against Britain, France, and Spain; the Indians had lost many lives and much land; and Jefferson's nephews were exposed as murderers. The steamboat, which survived the earthquake, was sunk. When the Mississippi Ran Backwards sheds light on this now-obscure yet pivotal period between the Revolutionary and Civil wars, uncovering the era's dramatic geophysical, political, and military upheavals. Feldman paints a vivid picture of how these powerful earthquakes made an impact on every aspect of frontier life—and why similar catastrophic quakes are guaranteed to recur. When the Mississippi Ran Backwards is popular history at its best.

The New Madrid Earthquake

The New Madrid Earthquake PDF Author: Myron L. Fuller
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Earthquakes
Languages : en
Pages : 146

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Book Description


Disaster Deferred

Disaster Deferred PDF Author: Seth Stein
Publisher: Columbia University Press
ISBN: 023115139X
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 298

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Book Description
Coinciding with the 200th anniversary of the New Madrid earthquakes of 1811-12, Disaster Deferred revisits these earthquakes, the legends that have grown around them, and the predictions of doom that have followed in their wake. Seth Stein clearly explains the techniques seismologists use to study Midwestern quakes and estimate their danger.

Convulsed States

Convulsed States PDF Author: Jonathan Todd Hancock
Publisher: UNC Press Books
ISBN: 1469662191
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 205

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Book Description
The New Madrid earthquakes of 1811–12 were the strongest temblors in the North American interior in at least the past five centuries. From the Great Plains to the Atlantic Coast and from the Great Lakes to the Gulf of Mexico, a broad cast of thinkers struggled to explain these seemingly unprecedented natural phenomena. They summoned a range of traditions of inquiry into the natural world and drew connections among signs of environmental, spiritual, and political disorder on the cusp of the War of 1812. Drawn from extensive archival research, Convulsed States probes their interpretations to offer insights into revivalism, nation remaking, and the relationship between religious and political authority across Native nations and the United States in the early nineteenth century. With a compelling narrative and rigorous comparative analysis, Jonathan Todd Hancock uses the earthquakes to bridge historical fields and shed new light on this pivotal era of nation remaking. Through varied peoples' efforts to come to grips with the New Madrid earthquakes, Hancock reframes early nineteenth-century North America as a site where all of its inhabitants wrestled with fundamental human questions amid prophecies, political reinventions, and war.

The New Madrid Earthquake

The New Madrid Earthquake PDF Author: Myron L. Fuller
Publisher: Care Publications
ISBN: 9780934426497
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 138

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Book Description
This is an unabridged reprint of the first book and first thorough scientific work ever published on the great New Madrid earthquakes of 1811-12. The winter of 1811-12 experienced the greatest burst of seismic energy in the history of the original 48 states. Geologist, Myron Fuller, spent several years in the field between 1900-1905 scouting the New Madrid fault zone on foot and on horseback, mapping the consequences of these giant cataclysms that had so permanently and so profoundly changed the landscape of this region 90 years before. Originally published by the U.S. Geological Survey, this book is the starting point for all serious researchers on these world-class temblors. Foreword to this 1995 printing is by seismologist, David Stewart, Ph.D.

The New Madrid Earthquakes

The New Madrid Earthquakes PDF Author: James L. Penick
Publisher: University of Missouri Press
ISBN: 9780826203441
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 204

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Book Description
Previously published as: The New Madrid earthquakes of 1811-1812.

On Shaky Ground

On Shaky Ground PDF Author: Norma Bagnall
Publisher: University of Missouri Press
ISBN: 0826210546
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 129

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Book Description
Describes the severe earthquake which changed the course of the Mississippi River in several places, destroyed timberlands, drained swamps, and formed lakes.

The Mississippi Valley

The Mississippi Valley PDF Author: Eugene S. Schweig
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Earthquake engineering
Languages : en
Pages : 2

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Book Description


New Madrid Earthquake

New Madrid Earthquake PDF Author: Bobby Akart
Publisher: Independently Published
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 460

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Book Description
In the not too distant past, along the Mississippi River, North America tried to tear itself in half. It failed. It won't the second time. New Madrid. A standalone disaster thriller from international bestselling author, Bobby Akart, one of America's favorite storytellers, who has delivered up-all-night thrillers to readers in 245 countries and territories worldwide. "Akart is a master of suspense, keeping us on the edge of our seats. But, he does it with fact-based fiction that would scare even the most hardened readers." Two hundred years ago, several faults within the New Madrid seismic zone along the Mississippi River ruptured triggering some of the largest earthquakes in American history. The three massive quakes ripped open America's Heartland, shaking residents as far away as New York City and Washington, DC while ringing church bells in Boston and Charleston, South Carolina. "No one can research like Bobby Akart and then turn this meticulous research into one exciting thrill ride." Akart's standalone novel, New Madrid, is based on actual events. It just hasn't happened yet, until now. 200 years later after the historic quake sequence of 1811-12, it's reawakened. "This is a story of fortitude and love for family - do you have what it takes to survive and make it back to your loved ones." The New Madrid fault zone, six times larger than the San Andreas in California, has generated a series of massive earthquakes thrusting the Atwood and Chandler families in a fight to survive. Attorney Jack Atwood and his brother-in-law Tony Chandler are winding up their year-end tax planning presentation atop The Met, a skyscraper in St. Louis, before returning to Memphis for their family's Christmas celebration. Jill Atwood, her daughter Emily and teenage son Tate, are in a downtown Memphis performing arts theater attending the dress rehearsal for Emily's Christmas pageant. Beth Chandler, 28 weeks pregnant, together with her 3-year old autistic son, are traveling from Louisiana to join the rest of the family in Memphis. Will they arrive for Christmas? Will they arrive at all? Their lives are about to change forever. "You are there. Feeling what they feel. Anger, joy, love, mourning. You feel it all. Not everyone can write a book like this. It takes a special writer to make you feel a book." Bobby Akart has delivered intense, up-all-night thrillers causing you to whisper just one more chapter until the end.