From the time I was four years old, my father would take me fishing on the Mississippi River. He would frown and say explicit things about the litter left behind by fishermen, partiers and fellow river rats. Then we would pick up after them, that being my first lesson in taking responsibility to protect and preserve our great river.
Litter flows downstream and collects on the shoreline.
My grandfather drove a coal train for a cement factory along the River too and used to let me run down to the River to play and explore. I couldn’t believe it when I saw locals litter when there where trash receptacles in plain sight. I would fight with fishermen who would trash the place where they fished daily.
From then on, I made it a point to walk down to the River to pick up fishing line, beer cans, bottles and anything else left lying around.
My stewardship of the River continues in my current work. When I joined the Mighty Quapaws, “the downstream people”, one of our first paddles was to Island 64 where we loaded a thirty three foot voyager canoe with tires, propane tanks and other trash. We do cleanups in Helena with the Kipp-Delta kids and in Clarksdale where our headquarters is located with the Griot Arts program along the Sunflower River the Huspuckna River.
That’s me in the middle organizing tires found on the River for recycling.
One day Driftwood Johnny called me into his office and gave me the opportunity of a lifetime to become an ambassador of the River with 1 Mississippi. I remember it like yesterday. “I’m sending you to Memphis for 1 Mississippi training,” Driftwood said. It was one of the best days of my life.
The next day, my fellow
1 Mississippi ambassadors and I trained on the Living Lands & Waters barge, learning about the trouble the River was in and how to inspire people to get involved. That is when I first met Chad Pergracke and the Living Lands & Waters crew whose humanitarian efforts have pulled 7 tons of trash from the River in fifteen years. We got firsthand experience with these professional River cleaners that weekend when we got involved with a cleanup. If you haven’t read Chad’s book, From the Bottom Up, you are missing out on a classic.
In my time on the River I have noticed the River really is cleaner than those days of my boyhood. We see the difference the volunteers make on our beautiful islands, sandbars and forests and we even hear amazement and wonder at the cleanliness of the River from our clients.
Thank you to all the other great organizations all along the River who are cleaning it up: the University of Minnesota River Life Program, the Mississippi River Fund, the Izaak Walton League, the Piasa Palisades Sierra Club, the National Great Rivers Research and Education Center, Missouri River Relief, Big Muddy Adventures and the Memphis River Warriors (as well as anyone I might have missed). Thank you to every volunteer who picks up trash along the River and in your neighborhoods.
We recognize we are 1 Mississippi, all for one and one for all.
Now back to that old cement factory along the River where I grew up playing. It was almost turned into an industrial wonderland when the creative genius behind St. Louis’ spectacular City Museum, the late Bob Casilly, took it over with plans to create Cementland to bring people from all walks of life to the River. He dreamed of and began creating a whimsical oddball amusement park that would inspire people to see the River from a new vantage point and connect to it in a new way.
Photos from Cementland by Paul Sableman. On the left is the castle constructed by Mr. Casilly, center is the view from Cementland with the Mississippi River and the St. Louis Arch visible and on the right is a island built to be part of Cementland.
Though Mr. Casilly is not with us any longer, I think we River Citizens are continuing to dream in his stead. We dream of a cleaner River and are taking action to make it happen. When attending the St. Louis 1 Mississippi Barge Bash celebrating our 10,000th River Citizen, I could feel the energy in the air and had a variety of conversations on the changing attitudes towards the River and its popularity among paddlers.
With Chad Pergracke winning CNN Hero of the year award, we should use this momentum and bring more people to the River so we can assure its systemic health forever. We have a great team, so let’s rally the troops and make it cool to take care of the River. I recall the day between Greenville and Vicksburg on our Rivergator expedition when we got the news that Chad had won. It was a rainy, cold day, but it didn’t stop our celebration. We screamed and shouted throughout the canoes and that’s when I knew it was our time.
Quapaw Canoe Company and the Lower Mississippi River Foundation truly thank all who make it part of their daily lives to keep our River clean. Become a River Citizen today and join the ultimate team!
-Mark River
Mark River Peoples is a guide and teacher with Quapaw Canoe Company and is also the 1 Mississippi Ambassador Southern Region representing the Lower Mississippi River Foundation. You can get on the River too on the Rivergator website or signing up for a guided trip with Mark and the Quapaw Canoe Company.