<a target="_blank" href="https://www.buzzsprout.com/2020383/fan_mail/new">Send us Fan Mail</a>Deep into the night on April 27, 1865, the boilers on the steamboat Sultana exploded, triggering the worst maritime disaster in US history. More than a thousand people died, either from the explosion itself or trying to survive in the freezing cold Mississippi River afterward. The disaster was tragic well beyond the number of casualties as most of the dead were Union soldiers returning home from Confederate prison camps at the end of the Civil War. In this episode, Jeff Kollath, the executive director of the Sultana Disaster Museum, gives a detailed recounting of the events that led to the Sultana’s demise, from the corrupted boarding process at Vicksburg, to the conditions on the boat before the boilers exploded, to the immediate impact of the explosion, and how people scrambled to survive. We finish the episode with a discussion about the Sultana Disaster Museum’s plans to expand their ability to tell the story of the disaster and its victims.

<description>&lt;p&gt;&lt;a target="_blank" href="https://www.buzzsprout.com/2020383/fan_mail/new"&gt;Send us Fan Mail&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Deep into the night on April 27, 1865, the boilers on the steamboat &lt;em&gt;Sultana&lt;/em&gt; exploded, triggering the worst maritime disaster in US history. More than a thousand people died, either from the explosion itself or trying to survive in the freezing cold Mississippi River afterward. The disaster was tragic well beyond the number of casualties as most of the dead were Union soldiers returning home from Confederate prison camps at the end of the Civil War. In this episode, Jeff Kollath, the executive director of the Sultana Disaster Museum, gives a detailed recounting of the events that led to the &lt;em&gt;Sultana’s&lt;/em&gt; demise, from the corrupted boarding process at Vicksburg, to the conditions on the boat before the boilers exploded, to the immediate impact of the explosion, and how people scrambled to survive. We finish the episode with a discussion about the Sultana Disaster Museum’s plans to expand their ability to tell the story of the disaster and its victims. &lt;/p&gt;</description>

Send us Fan Mail Deep into the night on April 27, 1865, the boilers on the steamboat Sultana exploded, triggering the worst maritime disaster in US history. More than a thousand people died, either from the explosion itself or trying to survive in the freezing cold Mississippi River afterward. The disaster was tragic well beyond the number of casualties as most of the dead were Union soldiers returning home from Confederate prison camps at the end of the Civil War. In this episode, Jeff Kolla...

After Andersonville: The Sultana and the Cruelest Twist of the Civil War

<a target="_blank" href="https://www.buzzsprout.com/2020383/fan_mail/new">Send us Fan Mail</a>From the brothels of post-Civil War-era St. Louis to the streets of New Orleans&apos; Storyville, this episode traces the history of prostitution along the Mississippi River — and the endless tug-of-war between tolerance, regulation, and suppression that has defined it.We start with Eliza Haycraft, a remarkable St. Louis woman who arrived penniless by canoe in 1840 and built a fortune running brothels, becoming one of the city&apos;s most generous philanthropists — and one of its most socially shunned residents. Her story opens a window into how 19th-century river towns grappled with an industry that was everywhere and officially nowhere.The episode moves through St. Louis&apos;s short-lived Social Evil Ordinance of the 1870s — a bold experiment in regulated prostitution that sparked fierce debate, drew powerful opponents like Washington University co-founder William Greenleaf Eliot, and ultimately collapsed under the weight of corruption and public backlash. Then it&apos;s downriver to New Orleans, where Storyville&apos;s cleverly worded 1897 ordinance created a ten-block entertainment district that boomed for 20 years before the federal government forced it shut in 1917.We also stop in La Crosse, Wisconsin and Winona, Minnesota, where local officials spent decades cycling through raids, crackdowns, quiet reopenings, and willful blindness. Throughout it all, one theme keeps surfacing: no matter what officials decided, the industry simply adapted and carried on.

<description>&lt;p&gt;&lt;a target="_blank" href="https://www.buzzsprout.com/2020383/fan_mail/new"&gt;Send us Fan Mail&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;From the brothels of post-Civil War-era St. Louis to the streets of New Orleans&amp;apos; Storyville, this episode traces the history of prostitution along the Mississippi River — and the endless tug-of-war between tolerance, regulation, and suppression that has defined it.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;We start with Eliza Haycraft, a remarkable St. Louis woman who arrived penniless by canoe in 1840 and built a fortune running brothels, becoming one of the city&amp;apos;s most generous philanthropists — and one of its most socially shunned residents. Her story opens a window into how 19th-century river towns grappled with an industry that was everywhere and officially nowhere.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The episode moves through St. Louis&amp;apos;s short-lived Social Evil Ordinance of the 1870s — a bold experiment in regulated prostitution that sparked fierce debate, drew powerful opponents like Washington University co-founder William Greenleaf Eliot, and ultimately collapsed under the weight of corruption and public backlash. Then it&amp;apos;s downriver to New Orleans, where Storyville&amp;apos;s cleverly worded 1897 ordinance created a ten-block entertainment district that boomed for 20 years before the federal government forced it shut in 1917.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;We also stop in La Crosse, Wisconsin and Winona, Minnesota, where local officials spent decades cycling through raids, crackdowns, quiet reopenings, and willful blindness. Throughout it all, one theme keeps surfacing: no matter what officials decided, the industry simply adapted and carried on.&lt;/p&gt;</description>

Send us Fan Mail From the brothels of post-Civil War-era St. Louis to the streets of New Orleans' Storyville, this episode traces the history of prostitution along the Mississippi River — and the endless tug-of-war between tolerance, regulation, and suppression that has defined it. We start with Eliza Haycraft, a remarkable St. Louis woman who arrived penniless by canoe in 1840 and built a fortune running brothels, becoming one of the city's most generous philanthropists — and one of its most...

You Can Make It Illegal, But You Can't Make It Unpopular: History of Brothels and Prostitution in Mississippi River Towns

<a target="_blank" href="https://www.buzzsprout.com/2020383/fan_mail/new">Send us Fan Mail</a>Of all the great archaeological sites around the world, I suspect the one near my hometown, Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site, is among the least appreciated. While the rich floodplain along the Mississippi River south of Alton, Illinois (known as the American Bottom) has a long history of human settlements, around the year 1050 a new community sprung up that would grow into the largest pre-Colombian settlement in North America, what we now call Cahokia Mounds. In this episode, I talk with Dr. Julie Zimmerman about how Cahokia grew into such a large and important city. We talk about the immigrants who migrated into Cahokia and what their daily lives might have been like, as well as how the community was connected to other indigenous people in North America. Julie theorizes that storytelling was the primary factor that attracted so many people into Cahokia, and she describes what we know about a couple of the stories that were likely the centerpiece of Mississippian beliefs. Julie offers her insights into the factors that may have led to the eventual decline and depopulation of the city, although Mississippian people and culture didn’t go away, they just spread out. We finish with a discussion of the role of contemporary Native American communities in the interpretation and preservation of the site. In the introduction, I offer a couple of tips for making a visit to Cahokia richer and more meaningful.

<description>&lt;p&gt;&lt;a target="_blank" href="https://www.buzzsprout.com/2020383/fan_mail/new"&gt;Send us Fan Mail&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Of all the great archaeological sites around the world, I suspect the one near my hometown, Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site, is among the least appreciated. While the rich floodplain along the Mississippi River south of Alton, Illinois (known as the American Bottom) has a long history of human settlements, around the year 1050 a new community sprung up that would grow into the largest pre-Colombian settlement in North America, what we now call Cahokia Mounds. In this episode, I talk with Dr. Julie Zimmerman about how Cahokia grew into such a large and important city. We talk about the immigrants who migrated into Cahokia and what their daily lives might have been like, as well as how the community was connected to other indigenous people in North America. Julie theorizes that storytelling was the primary factor that attracted so many people into Cahokia, and she describes what we know about a couple of the stories that were likely the centerpiece of Mississippian beliefs. Julie offers her insights into the factors that may have led to the eventual decline and depopulation of the city, although Mississippian people and culture didn’t go away, they just spread out. We finish with a discussion of the role of contemporary Native American communities in the interpretation and preservation of the site. In the introduction, I offer a couple of tips for making a visit to Cahokia richer and more meaningful.&lt;/p&gt;</description>

Send us Fan Mail Of all the great archaeological sites around the world, I suspect the one near my hometown, Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site, is among the least appreciated. While the rich floodplain along the Mississippi River south of Alton, Illinois (known as the American Bottom) has a long history of human settlements, around the year 1050 a new community sprung up that would grow into the largest pre-Colombian settlement in North America, what we now call Cahokia Mounds. In this episo...

The Power of Story: How Cahokia Became North America's Greatest City, with Dr. Julie Zimmerman

<a target="_blank" href="https://www.buzzsprout.com/2020383/fan_mail/new">Send us Fan Mail</a>The lower half of the Mississippi grows to an immense scale that is hard to comprehend until you’re sitting on a small boat in the middle of it. In this season of the Mississippi Valley Traveler podcast, we’re going to go deeper into that world, of the lower Mississippi. We’re kicking off this new season with an episode where we dive into the ecology of the lower River. Long-time fisheries biologist Jack Killgore takes us through the past and present of the lower river’s world. We talk about the lower Mississippi before engineers began to remake it, then talk about how human engineering has altered the lower river’s ecology. He describes the significance of the 2,000 miles of uninterrupted channel that run down the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers, and describes work in progress to restore ecosystems harmed by river engineering. We finish with a description of the fish the river sustains, with an emphasis on the big ones, such as sturgeon, paddlefish, and alligator gar, as well as the problems posed by invasive carp.

<description>&lt;p&gt;&lt;a target="_blank" href="https://www.buzzsprout.com/2020383/fan_mail/new"&gt;Send us Fan Mail&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The lower half of the Mississippi grows to an immense scale that is hard to comprehend until you’re sitting on a small boat in the middle of it. In this season of the Mississippi Valley Traveler podcast, we’re going to go deeper into that world, of the lower Mississippi. We’re kicking off this new season with an episode where we dive into the ecology of the lower River. Long-time fisheries biologist Jack Killgore takes us through the past and present of the lower river’s world. We talk about the lower Mississippi before engineers began to remake it, then talk about how human engineering has altered the lower river’s ecology. He describes the significance of the 2,000 miles of uninterrupted channel that run down the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers, and describes work in progress to restore ecosystems harmed by river engineering. We finish with a description of the fish the river sustains, with an emphasis on the big ones, such as sturgeon, paddlefish, and alligator gar, as well as the problems posed by invasive carp. &lt;/p&gt;</description>

Send us Fan Mail The lower half of the Mississippi grows to an immense scale that is hard to comprehend until you’re sitting on a small boat in the middle of it. In this season of the Mississippi Valley Traveler podcast, we’re going to go deeper into that world, of the lower Mississippi. We’re kicking off this new season with an episode where we dive into the ecology of the lower River. Long-time fisheries biologist Jack Killgore takes us through the past and present of the lower river’s worl...

Wild at Heart: The Natural World of the Lower Mississippi with Jack Killgore

<a target="_blank" href="https://www.buzzsprout.com/2020383/fan_mail/new">Send us Fan Mail</a>Coming soon! The Mississippi Valley Traveler Podcast resumes a new season on March 4. Listen for a quick preview of upcoming episodes.

<description>&lt;p&gt;&lt;a target="_blank" href="https://www.buzzsprout.com/2020383/fan_mail/new"&gt;Send us Fan Mail&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Coming soon! The Mississippi Valley Traveler Podcast resumes a new season on March 4. Listen for a quick preview of upcoming episodes.&lt;/p&gt;</description>

Send us Fan Mail Coming soon! The Mississippi Valley Traveler Podcast resumes a new season on March 4. Listen for a quick preview of upcoming episodes. 

Preview of 2026 Mississippi Valley Traveler Podcast Season

The Mississippi River has cut a deep path through the heart of America for thousands of years, but how well do we really know the river beyond Huck Finn and headline-grabbing floods? In this podcast, Dean Klinkenberg wades into stories about the characters and places from the big river’s past and present.

The Mississippi Valley Traveler Podcast

Details

Recent Episodes