19th century earthquakes shifted land, rivers and history
Submitted on August 4, 2005 - 12:00am.
Ansley Haman - Summer 2005
WASHINGTON – Jay Feldman could not write a historical novel about the New Madrid earthquakes of 1811-1812 because no one would have believed it. Instead, he wrote a non-fiction account.
His book, “When the Mississippi Ran Backwards: Empire, Intrigue, Murder and the New Madrid Earthquakes,” tells five separate stories surrounding the seismic events.
“It was just way too far-fetched to be a novel,” he said Thursday at a book signing at the Library of Congress. “The instances were just too far of a stretch to be credible.”
The series of earthquakes help set in motion the War of 1812 with the Creek Indians, led to the arrest of two of Thomas Jefferson's nephews and restructured the frontier in Missouri, Tennessee, Mississippi and Louisiana.
His book, “When the Mississippi Ran Backwards: Empire, Intrigue, Murder and the New Madrid Earthquakes,” tells five separate stories surrounding the seismic events.
“It was just way too far-fetched to be a novel,” he said Thursday at a book signing at the Library of Congress. “The instances were just too far of a stretch to be credible.”
The series of earthquakes help set in motion the War of 1812 with the Creek Indians, led to the arrest of two of Thomas Jefferson's nephews and restructured the frontier in Missouri, Tennessee, Mississippi and Louisiana.
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