New Orleans was a creation of the River-the great River, the River that divides the country as it joins it, almost too wide to see the other shore at places but only ankle deep in much of it. New Orleans is a city on the Gulf and a city that became, by simple geographic destiny, a center of commerce between the heart of America, the plantations of the Caribbean, the markets of Europe, and the slave-trade with Africa. Some scoffed, some cried, some laughed, but many rejoiced when Jefferson negotiated the Louisiana Purchase for $5 million in 1803. To many, that was a fair price for the city of New Orleans alone, the city on the River, the birth place of Jazz. This was the birth place of Honey Boy Golden, too--the one whe started it all"