Lil' River and the Beaver - Part 2
The Mark River story continues!
~~~Lower Mississippi River Dispatch No. 1018~~~ Since 1995 ~ “Voice of the Lower Mississippi River” ~Quapaw Canoe Company, Clarksdale, Mississippi~
Back in August 2025, Mark River Peoples shared a lively & colorful childhood fishing tale from his East St. Louis youth: 6 years old and a day of fishing with his father and brother, and what became of their catch. Synopsis: As the day ends and they are getting ready to return home, a beaver swims around the eddy. His father, never one to let an opportunity slip by, dispatches and brings home the beaver, not wasting any part -- the tail will be eaten, the fur will be skinned and made into a hat or rug. And the meat? It will be quietly added to a community barbecue planned for that Saturday. The story continues below. Note: as part of our survival plan, we have added a paywall for extras like this story, where we use our creative skills to bring to you original writing, photos, artwork, and music related to our mission as the worker bees of the Lower Mississippi. Please consider becoming a paying subscriber and helping us document and share the unique qualities of the biggest river in North America.
Lil River and the Beaver- Part 2
Mark River Peoples, photos by John Ruskey
It was a beautiful Saturday in the neighborhood. The smoke from my Father's grill had people from blocks away following their noses, up and moving, early in the morning. The fields outside our back door were rich farmland between an elevated railroad track levee and our buildings. Farmers would grow the best tomatoes, cucumbers, sweet corn, and watermelons. The old timers would discuss how the Mississippi River flowed through our town years ago. The many "horseshoe lakes" surrounded our town, proved them correct. In the offseason we would hunt rabbits with BB guns in the harvested feilds. It wasn't abnormal for us kids to carry restaurant salt and pepper packages in our pockets - spending weekend and afternoons in the field eating our fill of produce. I personally used to carrying a potato peeler in my pocket for the cucumbers.
