Chapter 19 Summary

Plaquemines Parish and St. Bernard Parish lie along the course of the Mississippi River, below New Orleans. If the levees below New Orleans are purposefully destroyed, both parishes will be flooded. Both parishes are rural, largely swamp and lightly settled except for a slender strip of higher land near the ribbon of river.

Residents are fishermen, trappers and bootleggers. Bootlegging liquor is extremely profitable, and this illegal activity is the foundation of most of the political power and structure in the area. Discussions are held to determine whether the Mississippi River Commission will approve the dynamiting of the levee. One night, a skiff approaches a levee too closely, and the men aboard are shot at. One is killed.

An ad hoc Citizens Flood Relief Committee is formed in New Orleans to promote dynamiting the downstream levees. The Mounds Landing crevasse clearly demonstrates the...