Mighty Mississippi: Civil War history attracts river tourists

FRIAR'S POINT, Miss. —

Flo Larson, this river town's most dedicated historian, says she can only dream about the view her ancestors had of the scenic Mississippi before the levees.

That's why she often packs her 3-year-old grandson into the car and drives to the local levee so they can watch the sun set over the river's opposite bank.

They listen to a version of "Old Man River" while she tells him stories she's discovered while gathering history about the town named after early settler Robert Friar.

"I want him to love the river and just get the flavor of it," Larson said.

One tale Larson tells is about 45 Union gunboats and transit ships that gathered at the Mississippi River's bend near Friar's Point during the Civil War. They brought, she explains, 20,000 troops to the area in preparation for the historic battle for control of the river at Vicksburg, Miss.

The view on the other side of the levee, where the town has been slowly disintegrating since the railroad was built through nearby Clarksdale decades ago, is one Larson doesn't talk about. Many of the old storefronts and homes are boarded up or have been torn down. Employment rates are low and crime rates are high for a city its size.

Yet tourists have been flocking to Vicksburg for decades to see its famous Civil War battlegrounds and historic downtown business district. Laws that legalized floating casinos helped swell the crowd of visitors.

Even in Helena, Ark., which is just up the river from Larson's home, there's a Delta Cultural Center that has been built with state and county help. It draws thousands of tourists to the city each year. The annual King Biscuit Blues Festival draws thousands more to the city.

In Coahoma County, where Friar's Point is located, it seems like people have forgotten about the river and its history, said Larson.

"We have a great story to tell," she said. "There's so much that could be developed, but the powers that be won't help it happen. Basically, if it's not in the limits of Clarksdale, they're not interested - especially with tourism. So we do our own thing down here in Friar's Point."

Dan Nienaber is a CNHI News Service Elite reporter.