Blog
Farting Around Muscatine and a Sudden Road Trip
We explore small town Iowa life and take a brief…
Continue reading
The Final Fate of the Shantyboat Dotty and a Question
What became of us? What became of the Shantyboat Doty?…
Continue reading
The Pearl Button Capital of the World
At the turn of the 20th Century, the Mississippi River…
Continue reading
Mark Twain’s Favorite View of the River
In Muscatine, Iowa there is a point overlooking the river…
Continue reading
A Land of Sweet Melons and Excellent Tacos
In Muscatine, I met many new friends, received generous gifts,…
Continue reading
Adventures on the Other Side
In which we reveal a possible obsession with bridges to…
Continue reading
Midwest Cultural Envy from a Californian
I arrive in the Quad Cities, towns with traces of…
Continue reading
Seriously, What Have We Learned?
An excerpt from an academic journal in which I attempt…
Continue reading
You Won’t Believe what they found when they opened my outboard engine
Though stuck in this small town made famous by the…
Continue reading
Facing a New Day of Bad News
In which we discover that things don't look good, though…
Continue reading
“How do you pay for this?”
If you have a little bit to spare, and thing…
Continue reading
A Day of Danger, A Time of Troubles
An Aggressively Friendly Man. Big Big Waves. Serious Engine Trouble.…
Continue reading
Heeeello? This is Iowa
We meet an angel. We are famous. A slew of…
Continue reading
Mini Stories from Clinton, Iowa
Clinton Marina History My Grandmother owed and operated the Marina…
Continue reading
A Teeny Tiny Journey Through History
It is only by the good grace of God, that…
Continue reading
Twin Towns of Gritty Charm and Regret
A reality TV star, a gay couple, a 12-year old…
Continue reading
Rumors of the Death of Drive-Ins Greatly Exagerated
While we were in Galena I got a wild hair.…
Continue reading
Life with the Party People of Galena
We came to Galena for the day and stayed for…
Continue reading
The Magic of the Lock 11 Fishing Barge
Ed told us we absolutely have to go up around…
Continue reading
Hazel on the River
Since Hazel has a more devoted following than the project,…
Continue reading
Setbacks, the Musical – A Nautical Tragicomedy
The scene opens with the newly recruited shipsmates standing in…
Continue reading
Two Nuns, A Gambler, and an Heiress walk onto a boat… (updated)
We’ve been the talk of the town to some degree.…
Continue reading
National Mississippi River Museum in Dubuque
The shantyboat is in Dubuque at the National Mississippi River…
Continue reading
The Real Reason We’re Here
Naturally, the adventure down the river, the playful interactions of…
Continue reading
A Brief Visit to Harper’s Ferry and a Mysterious Man
We meet a mysterious man in a historic town, but…
Continue reading
WTF Secret History?
Short video that explains the project and offers a tour…
Continue reading
An Unexpected Accident, Clamming Goldrush, and Bald Eagles in Lansing
A breakfast disaster, repairs, an interview with a clammer, and…
Continue reading
The Night of the Biblical Plagues
We try to be just and virtuous people, but God…
Continue reading
Inside the Shantyboat through the Driftless Area
A tour of the shantyboat and the Misssissippi's unique Driftless…
Continue reading
Karen Galema, Mississippi River fisherman [video]
Karen Galema in her life has been a fisherman, an…
Continue reading
Shantyboat Guys New Episodes!
On the shantyboat we are 24 hours in each other's…
Continue reading
Introducing The Shantyboat Guys!
A few years ago when I was working on the…
Continue reading
Fellow Workers
I was sitting with Jeremiah in the Donboat under a…
Continue reading
The Story of the Donboat
We brought the Painted Pig, a small johnboat we bought…
Continue reading
Louise and the Winona Backwaters
A promised date with Louise results in a shantyboat tour…
Continue reading
Two Prairie Island Indian Community Interviews
I had the tremendous honor of interviewing two members of…
Continue reading
A Word About Hazel Dog
Of course you know our ships hound Hazel. Did you…
Continue reading
We lost Amy, Minnesota recycling, and missing contacts
e lost Amy. Somewhere between last summer's fieldwork and this…
Continue reading
Showing Off the Shantyboat in the Twin Cities
We were fortunate to have the opportunity to exhibit twice…
Continue reading
Two Great Interviews in the Twin Cities
All and all, it was an amazing and emotionally exhausting…
Continue reading
An Afternoon Thunderstorm [AUDIO]
A summer rainstorm blows in while we are in the…
Continue reading
Down to St. Paul and Out in a Storm
A lock and dam, a sacred place, and then out…
Continue reading
Mississippi Launch and an Evening Expedition
Another blowout, a launch, a full house, an expedition, a…
Continue reading
A Midnight Journey to the Bone Yard
The potholes were deep, nearly as deep as our growing…
Continue reading
Roadtrips are always more interesting when your wheels fall off
As we were about to hit the road, a lady…
Continue reading
River City Revue — People of the River
Are you in or near Minneapolis? See the Secret History…
Continue reading
24 Hours
Tomorrow morning early we pull out of Santa Cruz towing…
Continue reading
Dry Docking the Shantyboat
In preparation for our journey to the Mississippi River in…
Continue reading
24 Hours and Gory Details
Just 24 hours and just over $1000 to go on…
Continue reading
Readying Shantyboat and Other Trip Details
So while the Kickstarter has been doing its thing and…
Continue reading
A Request to Tell a Friend or Three
Thanks for your support of A Secret History of American River…
Continue reading
Secret History Summer 2015 Kickstarter
We are excited to announce the Secret History Upper Mississippi…
Continue reading
The Producer’s Log: MFA Exhibition Reportback
Introducing Regina Ortanez who has been working as a producer…
Continue reading
Introducing Freddie
You remember last year when we were on the river…
Continue reading
2015 Summer Voyage on Upper Mississippi
Starting in late June, the Secret History shantyboat will be…
Continue reading
What happened to the last 5 months?
Grad school. That’s what. MFA Exhibition prep. Reading books. Production…
Continue reading
Meet the Production Team
Meet the production team that helped make the Secret History…
Continue reading
Maiden Launch (vintage remix) [Video]
The shantyboat Dotty's maiden launch. Dropping a completely untested boat…
Continue reading
Life On the River – 2015 Trailer [VIDEO]
The amazing Secret History River Life trailer by filmmaker Monica…
Continue reading
Jessica Bierbrauer and the Future River
Jessica Bierbrauer, director of the Great River Road Visitor &…
Continue reading
John Sullivan and Fish Kills
John Sullivan, retired DNR officer in La Crosse WI, talks…
Continue reading
Jessica Bierbrauer and Lost History
Jessica Bierbrauer, director of the Great River Road Visitor &…
Continue reading
Kali Arlene and Latsch Island
Kali Arlene, Latsch Island boathouse resident in Winona MN, talks…
Continue reading
(Frozen) Water Under the Bridge
A week on the Mississippi River in the dead of…
Continue reading
Ice Fishing Shack on Lake Winona [Video]
One of my goals in returning to the Upper Mississippi…
Continue reading
La Crosse Boathouses [Video]
Down in La Crosse for the day, I hung out…
Continue reading
Ice on Frog Slough [Video]
The other day I had just finished talking to the…
Continue reading
An Intense Winter Fieldwork Trip
Tomorrow I am leaving for Minnesota and Wisconsin for a…
Continue reading
Experiments with Multimedia [Video]
The production team and I are working on cutting various…
Continue reading
Shantyboat at FIGMENT Oakland [Video]
A Secret History exhibited at FIGMENT in Oakland, a one…
Continue reading
Lauren Donovan and the Creepy Guy [VIDEO]
Lauren Donovan, who kayaked the length of the Mississippi River…
Continue reading
Sunset on the Sacramento Delta [VIDEO]
A relaxing evening at sunset from a recent trip on…
Continue reading
Beautiful People I’ve Interviewed
With help from numerous people who work and live on…
Continue reading
History of Flatboating and a Charming Educational Film
A very brief history on the evolution of river craft…
Continue reading
Ken Lubinski on the Resilience of Nature [Video]
Ken Lubinski, river ecologist at the USGS Upper Midwest Environmental…
Continue reading
Unusual photos of the Shantyboat
Two unusual portraits of the shanyboat from inside, one a…
Continue reading
Support For This Project
We had a successful fundraiser which covered a portion of…
Continue reading
PA’s Diary #2, lovingly entitled A Leaf on the Wind
The Production Assistant's report, a lock and dam, a cute…
Continue reading
This River Life Drawing to a Close
For weeks and miles people have been asking us, "How…
Continue reading
Brownsville Boathouses
After La Crosse, we made our way down to Brownsville…
Continue reading
Jim Ehrsam and Other People Not Interviewed
On the day before we were leaving La Crosse I…
Continue reading
A Night in Winona and the Production Assistant’s Report
A report back by PA Jeremiah upon his departure at…
Continue reading
Small and Not So Small Town Press [Updated]
We’ve done our best to try to let people know…
Continue reading
Typical Shantyboat Questions and Answers
Within minutes of arriving at the town docks, we have…
Continue reading
Charming La Crosse, Wisconsin and a Theory About the Uneven Distribution of Social Capital
A sprained ankle, a man in a bowler hat, charming…
Continue reading
Into the Storm on the Open River
Unless we survive this storm. We are anchored on a…
Continue reading
Electronics Are Not Waterproof (URGENT)
URGENT SITUATION: My iphone took at drink in the Mississippi…
Continue reading
A Fog Brings to Mind Huck and Jim
We wake to a fog and make our way finally…
Continue reading
Stuck on a Sandbar, Civil Defense, and Flying Predators
While making our way downriver, we saw lots of barges…
Continue reading
A Watery Death on Lake Pepin Narrowly Averted
The sun was shining and the wind was still and…
Continue reading
A High Speed Water Chase, Flyswatting, and Madness
We venture on to Lake Pepin where we encounter both…
Continue reading
Engine Solutions, Party in the Lock, River Days, and a 97 Year Old Woman
More of the generosity of strangers in Prescott, WI and…
Continue reading
Lauren Donovan on Nearly Drowning at Lock 11 [Video]
Lauren Donovan, who kayaked the length of the Mississippi River…
Continue reading
Mike’s Shantyboat
Mike Mosedale is a great fella I met in St.…
Continue reading
Engine Troubles, Burger Lexicon, A Theft, and Much Generosity
St. Paul, MN to Prescott, WI and the many awesome…
Continue reading
Peter Rachleff on the Creativity of Poor People [Video]
Peter Rachleff, Professor of History, talks about how poor people…
Continue reading
First Few Days on the River
We’ve had our first few days on the river. We…
Continue reading
Found Photos
Tag your photos with #shantyboat to share them on social…
Continue reading
Living on the Shantyboat
Here are a few shantyboat details minutes before our departure…
Continue reading
Send Off Party
Our Minneapolis friends are organizing us a Shantyboat Send Off…
Continue reading