Blog

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