8. Down the Mississippi on the American Queen. Vicksburg, Baton Rouge and Cotton

The American Queen was boarded at Memphis for our 1,030 km or 640 mile voyage down the Mississippi River. The boat (since it has a flat bottom) is the largest steam powered paddle-boat ever built. The engine is a modern diesel/electric steam combination. 436 guests are on board attended to by 160 crew. Carrol and Don were the youth of the trip.

The Queen showing typical mooring method bumped up against the bank.

Boat ramp monopolised by the one boat.
The towns, however, welcomed the Queen due to the influx of 400+ tourists.

The propulsion unit at the blunt end of the boat; an early version of an outboard motor.

The Grand Saloon showing great shows nightly and interesting talks daily.

Ladies' Parlor showing sexism still exists.
Gentlemen cannot enter the Ladies' Parlor unless invited, however,
ladies can enter the Gentlemen's Card Room at will.

Fully functioning hoists from the old days.

An Arctic blast has hit the USA.
Temperatures were the lowest in 40 years, down to -8C early morning.

Vicksburg is the location of the final major battle of the Civil War. We were guided through the Vicksburg National Military Park where all the details of battles are noted with monuments and celebrated.

Cannons shot with a Canon.

The Civil War gun boat USS Cairo looking good after 102 years of being at the bottom of the Yazoo River off the Mississippi.
It sank in 1862, was discovered in 1956 and was finally raised in 1964.

Propulsion by paddle wheel within the boat giving a top speed of 9 miles per hour (15kph).
The noise inside from the steam engine and cannons would have been incredible.

Unbelievable timber work.
Seven of these boats were delivered within 100 days of being ordered.

Old iron sides.
Cladding similar to rail lines curved around the boat.
These steam driven armour plated boats had 13 cannons and a crew of 251.

The Legacy.

Since the earlier days, the right to bear arms to defend one's self in the USA, seems to have altered to bear arms to shoot others and themselves.
Our online research show 38,942 gun fatalities of school age children in the United States among 5 to 18 years olds from 1999 to 2017.
To put it in perspective, in 2017; 144 police officers died in the line of duty, about 1,000 USA military throughout the world; and 2,462 school-age children were killed by firearms.
Now that is a serious problem which should be seriously addressed!!!

Anchuca House was built on the proceeds of cotton. It also survived a cannon ball through the front wall.

Cool start for the day.

Opulence unlimited.

Icicle chandelier fountain. This is a seasonal feature.
We were grateful for our long johns.

We can see why "Autumn" is called "Fall" over here.

The Coca-Cola Museum in Vicksburg celebrates the early days of Coca-Cola dating back to 1890, in days before use-by dates were added to the bottles.

Pepsi does not even warrant a mention in the town.

Reminiscent of the Knock 'em Down stalls at the Newcastle Show.
This was, however, very much frowned upon.

Frogmore Plantation is a privately owned cotton plantation dating back to the 1800s. It shows the contrast between the new and the old methods of cotton production.

Australia built on the "Sheep's back".
America in the South seems to have been built on the Slave's back!

This "factory" was two stories high, to allow for work upstairs, and airflow and fallout from production underneath.
Holding its age well.

The cotton press.
The slaves wouldn't have considered this a free press, so much desired for freedom of speech.

We were so impressed with the timber joinery on this gaol.

The Forks of the Road was a slave market, ironically on the corner of Liberty Road and Washington Road in Natchez, was one of the largest slave markets in America.
The stories of the hardships are almost incomprehensible.

Up to 500 slaves were traded daily.

About time after years of oppression.

The city of Natchez features some of the grandest houses in the south, and was to experience some of the heaviest fighting and shelling from the Union gunboats on the Mississippi. The opulence at the expense of so many of the disadvantaged was hard to come to grips with.
Magnolia Hall was one such example, to which Don mentioned to the guide that our home was almost identical in every respect right down to the 16 foot ceilings, antiques and paintings. She asked in complete awe where we came from?

Almost just like home!!

Furnished for appearance, not comfort.

Grey was fashionable in the South.

Beautiful outfits back from the day showing that toilet rolls came in various sizes.
We always had one of these on the top of the toilet cistern back in the 60s.

Lace and frills will one day come back into vogue.

Child walker and rocker and no sign of plastic.

Rosalie Mansion was another fine example of untold opulence, however, we could not take internal photos due to insurance (probably in case we advertised the furniture on eBay). We could, however, buy a book on the furniture outlining every detail for $16.

Southern architecture

Ol' man river
That ol' man river
He don't say nothing
But he must know something
'Cause he just keeps rolling
He keeps rolling along
Rollin' along.

Baton Rouge gave us a chance to see life from the other side at the LSU Rural Life Museum, where authentic buildings were brought in from surrounding areas.
The small slave cottages were divided to allow two families to share. Each person was issued with one set of clothes and a blanket each year. Just a few days earlier, we had experienced -8 degrees Celsius. We don't know how they survived.

The upmarket slave quarters.
The bed ropes led to the saying "Sleep tight".

The more common mode of sleep.

A quad toilet.
The structure is picked up and moved over a new hole in the ground once the old one is full.

Double toilet allow a parent and child relief at the same time.
Corn husks were the toilet paper of the day.

Kitchens were always away from the homestead due to heat and risk of fire.

The church of 1850 had lead light windows, actually painted to look like coloured glass.

Staying out the kitchen if you can't handle the heat, also applied to the blacksmith's shop.

The Oak Gaol, or jail, was made of three slabs of oak tallying about 4 inches thick altogether with nails punched through every few inches making it impossible to cut or push a way through.

One solid timber structure.

Nails punched through making escape far more difficult and painful.
Not conducive to leaning against.

Baton Rouge has the distinction of the highest State Capitol Building in the USA. This gave the opportunity of being taken on a private tour by Republican Louisiana House of Rep, Steven Pugh, who happened to be in town for the day before his election as Mayor of Ponchatoula.
The opulence once more of the houses was evident, as were the bullet holes in the marble of one of the corridors where Senator Huey Long was assassinated in 1935; along with a pencil in the ceiling of the Representatives Chamber, driven 50m by a bomb blast under the speaker's chair in 1970. (Only in America!!)
Carrol presented Senator Pugh with a Koala carrying an Australian flag pin which found a home on his lapel, as she passed on the good wishes of the Australian people.

The Louisiana State Capitol Building is the tallest Capitol building in USA.
Looks as if it belongs in a Superman movie.

Carrol had just run up the stairs like Rocky Balboa.

Nice timber-work.

Working on American/Australian relations.

From the top of the Capitol Building we saw great views of Baton Rouge, the Mississippi and pollution.
We had previously seen an artwork which depicted petrochemical and nuclear power plants between Memphis and New Orleans.
The strip between Baton Rouge and New Orleans has been called Cancer Alley due to the 150 refineries and petrochemical plants in the 85 mile stretch.
Cut backs to fuel consumption hasn't hit the USA yet. Petrol can be bought for as low as US$1.99/ gallon, which equates to about half that of Australia at the time.

Beautiful view downstream.

The massive river taking ocean going vessels.

Standard barges are 200 feet long by 35 feet wide, all cabled together.
Can be longer than three football fields in tow by a single tow vessel.
They are pushed, but it is still called a tow.

The not so appealing view upstream from the same location.

The USS Kidd is a 1943 destroyer said to be still fully functioning and ready to go to sea. All looked a little antiquated, but what do we know?
The sailors certainly had no secrets from each other.