Valley of mud -- Knee Deep in water and snakes -- Rice -- The rise of New Orleans and the fall of Natchez -- Consolidation, transformation, conservation -- King Cotton meets Big Muddy -- The Cotton kingdom's edges made and Unmade -- Engineering the river of empire -- Drought, disease, and other symptoms of a pathological landscape -- Cotton, chemicals, catfish, crawfish -- Nature's return : hurricane Katrina and the future of the Big Muddy.