Come visit an enchanting place too long overlooked in American History, where steamboats battled difficult waters to bring life to the banks of the Arkansas and Louisiana waterway known as Bayou Bartholomew. Artfully written, this narrative flows like the landscape it describes, brimming with facts, details and family names so valuable to historians and genealogists. Beginning with the first inhabitants and a brief description of the archeological remains they left behind, the author explores the bayou through chapters like The Colonial Wilderness, Early Bayou Settlements in Southeast Arkansas, Early Bayou Settlements in Northeast Louisiana, A Steamboat Thoroughfare, A Watery Land, Hunters and their Prey, Good Times on the Bayou, and more. Part II is devoted to family histories; and lists births, deaths and marriages for hundreds of surnames including: Abraugh, Boone, Bunch, Chambliss, Crawley, Currie, Day, deYampert, Doles, Foster, Harp, Kinnaird, Robertson, Naff, Norris, Pugh, Robertson, Shackelford, Thomas and White. Twenty-three pages of notes and a twelve-page bibliography reveal and enhance the archival effort behind this book which also includes a list of the oral respondents interviewed by the author, their date of birth and the date of their meeting. An appendix lists the names of all signers of the Canal Petition to Congress by Citizens of Chicot County in 1833 and six tables contain information about commerce, population, and the names of all the steamboats documented on the Bayou Bartholomew. For Arkansas and Louisiana natives, this is a must have addition to your library, and for the curious reader, it guarantees an enjoyable and enlightening experience.