Out of the Swampy Heart of the Muddy Mississippi Delta...
...via Colorado, Utah, Arizona ~ Quapaw Canoe Company Memphis ~ the rest of the story!
LMRD #866, Saturday, Mar 26, 2022 ~~Quapaw Canoe Company~~ Memphis ~ Clarksdale ~ Vicksburg
Out of the Swampy Heart of the Muddy Mississippi Delta:
Recap: As related in last issue, Capt. “Mississippi" Matthew Burdine has arrived out of the Swampy Heart of the Muddy Mississippi Delta to open up Quapaw Memphis. In this issue, Miss Matt greets everyone, and we provide a little back story, as the spirals of life keep circling around, and the river that forever flows, keeps a-flowing on downstream!
“… it’s a place where adults become kids again, and kids become adults…”
-“Mississippi" Matthew Burdine
Whoo-whooop! It’s an honor to become a part of this river family and I’m looking forward to meeting as many of you as possible. Most of my life has been spent between the Mississippi Delta and the mountains of Colorado... Over the past ten years in the summers, I’ve guided whitewater rivers in the mountains, and taught kids how to ski during the winter. It was a wild and wonderful time, but the Mississippi River was calling me home. In those river canyons out west, it’s a vertically grand world... Here we have a horizontally grand world, under the same big sky. Most people think you need rapids to enjoy a river, but this river valley has something entirely different... It has the same ancient and pre-historic feel as those river valleys in the deserts and mountains, but here, it’s lush... Thriving with wildlife and wildness. A paradise of wilderness for the wild spirit. A river is a place where we time travel... While spending time with the flow, it’s a place where adults become kids again, and kids become adults... It’s a place where we can see our authentic individuality. There’s something more than magic out here... We can’t compare a river to another river, but we can have our personal favorites... The thrills I’ve had on those wild western rivers, in no way, can compare to the thrills I have when I’m on the Mississippi. I know most of you can relate. Rivers humble us, they inspire us, and remind us of the river within... Can’t wait to see y’all out there... Big River Love! Whoo-whooop!! Matthew Burdine Quapaw Canoe Memphis www.canoememphis.com Capt. “Mississippi” Matthew Burdine matthew@canoememphis.com 901-820-6136
Related Story: “A few days ago, Matt Burdine saw a golden eagle and a bald eagle lock talons and fall hundreds of feet through the sky…” Click here for the rest of the story!
Back story leading to the creation of Quapaw Memphis: I started Quapaw Canoe Company in 1998 in Clarksdale, MS, and it has grown slowly but steadily over the past 23 years, from a simple small-town outfit with a couple of canoes, to its present status as a regional powerhouse with a full-time staff of 4, and part-time staff of 12, and a fleet of canoes, trailers, and suburbans, providing river adventures for approx 30,000 people. We have won many accolades along the way, such as Southern Living’s "Southerner of the Year” award, the Clarksdale/Coahoma County 2018 business of the year, and the Business Star of the Year award from the Community Foundation of Northwest Mississippi in 2016, and the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Mississippi Institute of Arts & Literature (2019). We have the best guides on the Lower Mississippi River expertly guiding our canoes, and changing lives through adventure and education. We also build canoes — the best voyageur canoes ever seen on the big river — in our Clarksdale, MS, canoe shop.
Memphis Paddlers: Our biggest clientele over the years has been Memphis, which is not surprising. The greater Metropolitan area of Memphis is the biggest population in the Mid and Deep South (along the Mississippi River that is), and has the most paddlers, and the most people looking for outdoor adventure. The Buffalo River has been a favorite destination for millions of Memphians.
In years past, thousands of Memphians have flocked south to Clarksdale, Helena, or Vicksburg to enjoy our services on the big river. But now that Capt. Matthew is opening, you Memphians will not have to travel far!
Memphis is our greatest potential market, and commands one of the best positions on the entire Lower Mississippi River, with good boat ramps, safe harbors, and extensive infrastructure — and a basketful of over-hanging fruit. Capt. Matthew has courageously invested heavily into this start-up, but we expect he will break even in 2022, and that the business will grow upwards every year following — God willing — and with the blessings of our Queen, the Lower Mississippi River herself!
Memphis friends and river-rat family, you can help support this new vision and pathway! Go to your new adventure website, CanoeMemphis.com and sign up for one of Capt. Matthew’s offerings! You will not be disappointed!
Connected to the Memphis Community: Capt. “Mississippi” Matthew will foster all long-term relationships we have already established over the decades, as appropriate, with many of Memphis’ finest, including partnerships, educational programming, adventure activities, fundraising campaigns, media campaigns, tourism marketing — such as Carpenter Art Garden After School Arts Program, The Healthy City, the Memphis Commercial Appeal, the Memphis Flyer, the Outdoors Inc Canoe & Kayak Race, the Wolf River Conservancy, the City of Memphis, the Lower Mississippi Conservation Committee and the Community Foundation of Greater Memphis.
Elsewhere: Our river business model has been replicated across the south, and the midwest: for instance, Big Muddy Adventures opened in St. Louis in 2003 as a Quapaw partnership. (Today, Big Muddy Adventures stands on its own, and has enjoyed great success — it is a steadily expanding and growing venture — celebrating its 20th Anniversary this year! Whoo-whoop! to Big Muddy Mike and Big Muddy Roo — and team!) In 2016, Capt. Layne Logue opened Quapaw Vicksburg, and now Capt. Matthew Burdine is opening Memphis. (Furthermore, we inspired smaller river guiding operations elsewhere in Mississippi, Louisiana, and Arkansas, such as the Bayou Teche Experience Company, run by Cory Werk in Breaux Bridge, LA).
Rivers humble us, they inspire us, and remind us of the river within... Can’t wait to see y’all out there... Big River Love! Whoo-whooop!! Matthew Burdine Quapaw Canoe Memphis www.canoememphis.com Capt. “Mississippi” Matthew Burdine matthew@canoememphis.com 901-820-6136