Wicked River: The Mississippi When it Last Ran Wild by Lee Sandlin

This is a very good book. It covers the history of the Mississippi River from the early nineteenth century through the Siege of Vicksburg.

Books have been written on the subjects the author relates, but Lee Sandlin condenses them into chapters. This book has the best first-hand accounts of the New Madrid Earthquake that I have ever read. It also covers the Mound Builders, river pirates, and the Sultana disaster. Would you like to know about dueling, counterfeiting, gambling, and other assorted debaucheries that occurred on the Mississippi River? It has those too.

This one I highly recommend.