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Press Book
The Bark River Chronicles
Stories from a Wisconsin Watershed
Milton J. Bates
Take a journey along a vital Wisconsin waterway and experience the geological, historical, and cultural influences that shaped it and its surrounding world.
304 pages, 5.5 x 8, 25 b&w photos, 14 maps
Paperback: $18.95 | ISBN: 978-0-87020-502-6
Ebook: $12.99 | ISBN: 978-0-87020-604-7
Publication Date: 9/25/2012
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Description
The Bark River valley in southeastern Wisconsin is a microcosm of the state’s—indeed, of the Great Lakes region’s—natural and human history. The Bark River Chronicles reports one couple’s journey by canoe from the river’s headwaters to its confluence with the Rock River and several miles farther downstream to Lake Koshkonong. Along the way, it tells the stories of Ice Age glaciation, the effigy mound builders, the Black Hawk War, early settlement and the development of waterpower sites, and recent efforts to remove old dams and mitigate the damage done by water pollution and invasive species.
Along with these big stories, the book recounts dozens of little stories associated with sites along the river. The winter ice harvest, grain milling technology, a key supreme court decision regarding toxic waste disposal, a small-town circus, a scheme to link the Great Lakes to the Mississippi River by canal, the murder of a Chicago mobster, controversies over race and social class in Waukesha County’s lake country, community efforts to clean up the river and restore a marsh, visits to places associated with the work of important Wisconsin writers—these and many other stories belong to The Bark River Chronicles.
For the two voyageurs who paddle the length of the Bark, it is a journey of rediscovery and exploration. As they glide through marshes, woods, farmland, and cities, they acquire not only historical and environmental knowledge but also a renewed sense of the place in which they live. Maps and historical photographs help the reader share their experience.
Author Bio
Milton J. Bates
Milton J. Bates is Professor Emeritus of English at Marquette University. His teaching and research focused on three areas of American literary expression: modernism, the Vietnam War, and the American landscape. His interest in literary responses to the American landscape serves as a point of departure for the study of American intellectual history, contemporary environmental issues, the emerging field of ecocriticism, and creative nonfiction as a genre. Bates lives in Wauwatosa, Wisconsin.
Like finding old letters in your attic that reveal who you really are and significant details of where you live. Only better. Wisconsinites, ‘The Bark River Chronicles’ are a canoe trip with a book instead of a canoe, full of little discoveries more important than big ones. Inviting, fun to read, exquisitely researched—have a great ride!
“Every Wisconsin river has a story. Many of them are obscured by the legends of the more prominent rivers. One of those lesser known rivers, the Bark, finally gets its due in this thorough and engaging account of its course through Wisconsin’s historical and cultural landscape.”
—Denny Caneff, executive director of the River Alliance of Wisconsin
“If you care about history and the natural world and you enjoy paddling small watercraft, this book is for you. A great read.”
—Kenny Salwey, the Last River Rat, author of Muskrat for Supper
The Bark River Chronicles
Stories from a Wisconsin Watershed
Milton J. Bates
304 pages, 5.5 x 8, 25 b&w photos, 14 maps
To purchase a copy, follow the links below or visit your favorite bookseller.
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