Eight must-see historic sights on a Mississippi river cruise
The name Mississippi derives from the words for ‘great water’ in Algonquian languages, and the river has been instrumental in the development of the United States since before European colonisers saw its mighty length.
A journey down it will introduce you to the beauties and tensions that shaped the nation, from Native American sites and Civil War battlefields to the National Civil Rights Museum and grand antebellum mansions.
Most itineraries divide the navigable length, with Lower Mississippi cruises majoring on Deep South staples including plantations, Civil War history and the great music cities of Memphis and New Orleans. Cruise the Upper Mississippi and the focus is more on the formation of the nation, with Native American history, the pioneers’ push westward, and the birthplace of the river’s greatest chronicler, Mark Twain.
1. Mark Twain's hometown
One time Mississippi river pilot Samuel Langhorne Clemens took his pen name from the call that signifies a depth of two fathoms – safe water for a steamboat. Mark Twain based Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn’s fictional home, St Petersburg, on Hannibal.
His name is all over this Missouri town on the banks of the Mississippi, but the most rewarding spot to visit is the Mark Twain Boyhood Home & Museum, which has a large collection of memorabilia including Tom Sawyer’s white picket fence, plus 15 Norman Rockwell originals painted for the special print runs of the books.
2. Vicksburg National Military Park
“The Father of Waters again flows unvexed to the sea.” So said Abraham Lincoln when he heard the Siege of Vicksburg was over. Combined with the Battle of Gettysburg one day later, the Confederate defeat at Vicksburg was the turning point of the Civil War. Here on the banks of the Mississippi, after a 47-day siege, the garrison surrendered their fortifications, ceding control of the river to the Union. The site is now home to 20 miles of reconstructed trenches and earthworks, 144 cannons, a restored ironclad gunboat, a visitors centre and 17,000 graves.
3. National Civil Rights Museum
Even if it’s your first time to Memphis, you’ll recognise the Lorraine Motel from photographs. The yellow and red, quintessentially Fifties sign, the turquoise doors, and the large white wreath outside room 306 are familiar because this is where Martin Luther King was assassinated. Now it’s the National Civil Rights Museum, a hard-hitting, immersive attraction tracing the history of resistance since the early days of slavery.
Take a seat next to Rosa Parks on a vintage Montgomery bus, enter a jail cell like the Birmingham civil rights protestors, and stand on the threshold of King’s room, left as it was on the day he was shot.
4. Oak Alley Plantation
The antebellum mansions of the Deep South are both things of beauty and symbols of a dark past, their lavish designs built with the profits of slavery. At Oak Alley Plantation, Louisiana, both elements are explored, with an exhibit on the slaves themselves, as well as the grand, Revival-style Big House and its occupants. Does the pillared façade, framed by its majestic tunnel of oaks look familiar? The house has starred in numerous productions, including Interview with a Vampire and Beyoncé's Déjà Vu music video.
5. Blackhawk State Historic Site
Sauk war chief Black Hawk – or Ma-ka-tai-me-she-kia-kiak in his native tongue – fought on the side of the British in the war of 1812, and led a band of Sauk and Fox warriors against settlers 20 year later. After his capture, he told his life story to an interpreter. The first Native American autobiography published in the US was an immediate bestseller, and you can learn about his life, and the Sawk and Meskwaki tribes, at the Hauberg Indian Museum in Rock Island’s Black Hawk State Historic Site.
6. Frogmore Plantation
While there are plenty of grand plantation homes to explore in the South, Frogmore Plantation near Natchez is unique in showcasing the way cotton was harvested and processed in the 1800s. Owners Lynette and Buddy Tanner will take you to pick cotton, see how the heritage machinery functioned, visit authentically furnished slave quarters and be transported by the strains of gospel music performed in the chapel. Then contrast this with the modern plantation, where a computerised gin processes 900 cotton bales per day.
7. Lewis & Clarke State Historic Site
Shortly after the 1803 Louisiana Purchase, Thomas Jefferson commissioned an exploration west of the Mississippi through territory uncharted by European colonists to the Pacific Coast. It was at Camp Dubois, on the river’s eastern bank, that Lewis and Clark prepared for their expedition. Their launch point, over the river from St Louis, is now the Lewis and Clark State Historic Site, with gallery spaces dedicated to their journey and a reconstruction of the camp.
8. USS Kidd Gunboat
This museum ship, berthed in Baton Rouge, may be your neighbour at the dock, but it couldn’t be more different from a pleasure cruiser. Commissioned in 1943, the Fletcher-class destroyer saw heavy action in World War Two. Never modernised, and restored faithfully to its 1945 configuration, this ship is the best way to understand the lives of those who served in the fleet.
Visit the tight quarters, see the dented helmet of an infantryman who stormed the Normandy beaches and learn about the aircraft who went head to head with the ‘Pirate of the Pacific’.
Book it
From £2,372 for a 9-day Mark Twain’s Mississippi itinerary from Red Wing (Minneapolis) to Alton (St Louis) on American Duchess departing October 11, 2020 (Americanqueensteamboatcompany.co.uk)
From £3,161 for an 8-day Lower Mississippi River cruise from Memphis to New Orleans on Queen of the Mississippi departing June 6, 2020 (americancruiselines.com).
