1897 National Geographic Article Demonstrates Knowledge about Louisiana Coastal Subsidence and the Resulting Damages Mississippi River Levees Would Cause

It is pretty hard for someone to surprise me with an archival document find on the Mississippi River Delta these days, but it has happened today.  Len Bahr published an article in his La Coast Post Blog on July 31, 2009 entitled, The Mississippi River delta – what the corps knew and when they knew it! I thought that I had seen the best stuff in my research. I, however, had not ever seen the December 1897 National Geographic article entitled, The Delta of the Mississippi River. Bahr claims to have received the article from a retired general that at one time was the commander of the Mississippi River Valley Division of the Corps of Engineers.

Read the first paragraph on page 354 of the National Geographic article linked above.

The level of knowledge that this author and the Corps had in 1897 about the coast of Louisiana and the impact on the coastal wetlands of depriving sediment from the river is stunning even by my jaded and cynical standard. The article actually discusses the costs and benefits of purposely destroying the coastal wetlands, and what would ultimately have to be done in a few generations in response. I cannot say it frequently enough. I am stunned at the statements in this article.

This is further proof of the “BIG LIE.” I have long believed that the statements in the modern Corps reports on Louisiana coastal wetland loss that claim the problem was discovered in the 1970’s were a lie likely aimed at better public relations and at avoiding the knowledge piece of any negligence claim made against the federal government for the damage to the Louisiana coastal wetlands. The Corps has long admitted causing the damage to coastal Louisiana, but also claimed they did not know it was going to happen when they did what they have done to destroy the wetlands. I have called those types of statements the BIG LIE. I have previously found materials from the 1930’s to 1960’s that contradict the Corps statements about discovery of the problem and have even published some of the items here. I, however, have never found anything from the 1800’s this explicit, and I have never found someone, anywhere, actually discussing the costs and benefits of destroying the wetlands before the federal government undertook the action that led to their destruction.

I also find it interesting that the person giving this article to Len Bahr is a retired Army General from the Corps. I would love to know when and where he first discovered this article.