How do I know? I've just stumbled upon one of the first articles I ever cut out of the New Yorker. It's called "The Control of Nature" and it was written by John McPhee in 1987. I have subsequently read a dozen books by McPhee and he's one of the reasons I have loved the New Yorker for over two decades.
"The Control of Nature" is about the Army Corps of Engineers' attempt to reroute the Atchafalaya. Somehow the Atchafalaya is a co-river with the Mississippi. I can't remember how it works. I think I'll have to reread the article. Can't believe it's been almost 25 years since I read it.
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What a wonderful piece of writing. Oddly enough, the spring of 1973 (when the river overwhelmed the control structure) was the same year a tornado took out half of my home town and blew my house away. I guess that's why I wasn't aware of was happening on the Mississippi.
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