Population trajectory, demographic composition, and the institutions that shaped this place
Notable People
Vicksburg, Mississippi
People born, lived, worked or died within 50 km
The Civil War
Vicksburg, Mississippi
How the Civil War touched this ground - battles, regiments, camps, and the men and women who lived it
The Soldiers
Vicksburg, Mississippi
The American Civil War, 1861-1865: regiments and the men who served in them, in searchable rosters drawn from 6.27 million real service records
Spotlight
The genuinely remarkable, verifiable history that an ordinary search will not surface, unearthed from the buried record and shown with its source.
The buried landscape
The Day the River Left Vicksburg
On the afternoon of April 26, 1876, the Mississippi River rerouted itself and stranded the city miles from the water on which its wealth depended.
Vicksburg had been built on the commanding bluffs of a horseshoe bend, 2.5 miles wide, where the Mississippi curved sharply just north of the city. On the afternoon of April 26, 1876, the river broke through the narrow neck of De Soto Point and rerouted itself, cutting Vicksburg off from the Mississippi. A Herald reporter was present to witness it: the newspaper noted the moment was met not with alarm but with a silent expression of pleasure that the end had finally come.
The old channel silted into an oxbow lake called Lake Centennial. The city would not regain direct river access for 27 years, until the Army Corps of Engineers completed the Yazoo Diversion Canal in 1903. A deputy sheriff later claimed that landowners south of the city had used gunpowder to accelerate the cutoff to raise their own property values, adding a layer of deliberate human scheming to what looked like an act of nature.
1876
River breaks through De Soto Point on April 26; Vicksburg stranded
1876
Old channel silts into Lake Centennial
1903
Yazoo Diversion Canal completed; city regains river access
How this was unearthed
Surface
The cutoff is a known episode in Mississippi River history
Deeper
Local newspaper testimony places an eyewitness at the scene and records the city's muted reaction
Buried record
Allegation that landowners used gunpowder to hasten the break survives only in a deputy sheriff's account
Date of cutoffApril 26, 1876Width of the horseshoe bend2.5 milesYears cut off from the river27 years, until 1903Silted remnantThe old channel became Lake CentennialRiver access restoredArmy Corps completed the Yazoo Diversion Canal in 1903
Jane Ellen McAllister's Vicksburg school did not teach geometry or Latin, so her parents borrowed the books. In 1929, she became the first African American woman anywhere to earn a doctorate in Education.
Jane Ellen McAllister. Unknown authorUnknown author. Public domain
Jane Ellen McAllister was born in Vicksburg in 1899. The public school available to her was ill-equipped and did not teach the necessary language and math prerequisites for college, so her father, a postman, borrowed textbooks, and her mother, a teacher, tutored the children at night. McAllister graduated high school at 15, earned honors at Talladega College, an M.A. from the University of Michigan, and in 1929 a doctorate in Education from Columbia University. It was the first doctorate in Education ever awarded to an African American woman in the United States; she was also the first African American female in the world to be a doctoral candidate in Education.
Columbia professor Mabel Carney wrote that the real history of the study of American Negro education on the advanced level began with McAllister's dissertation on teacher training in Louisiana. After her retirement, McAllister lived in her home in Vicksburg, Mississippi, until her death in 1996. A state historical marker was installed at her home in 2019, more than two decades after she died.
1899
Born in Vicksburg
1929
Earns Ed.D. from Columbia, a world first for an African American woman
1996
Dies in Vicksburg
2019
State historical marker installed at her home
How this was unearthed
Surface
Wikipedia records her as the first African American female doctoral candidate in Education
Deeper
Columbia Teachers College documentation preserves Mabel Carney's assessment of her dissertation's significance
Buried record
Mississippi Encyclopedia details the specific gaps in her Vicksburg schooling that her parents had to fill by borrowing books
BornVicksburg, Mississippi, 1899Obstacle overcomeHer Vicksburg school did not teach geometry or LatinDegreeEd.D., Columbia University, 1929Historic firstFirst African American woman in the world to earn a doctorate in EducationHistorical marker installed2019, more than 20 years after her death in 1996
On December 12, 1862, the ironclad USS Cairo became the first warship in history destroyed by a remotely detonated mine. She lay in the Yazoo River mud for nearly a century before anyone found her.
An event
Sunk in twelve minutes, December 12, 1862 -- the first warship ever destroyed by a remote-detonated mine
On December 12, 1862, the Union ironclad USS Cairo was helping clear Confederate mines from the Yazoo River north of Vicksburg in preparation for an attack on Haines Bluff. Volunteers hiding on the river bank detonated a Confederate torpedo, or naval mine, beneath her hull. The Cairo sank in twelve minutes. No lives were lost, but the event was a first: no warship had ever before been destroyed by a mine detonated remotely by hand.
She remained on the bottom for 94 years, sealed in the Yazoo mud. In 1956, National Park Service historian Edwin Bearss located the wreck using a simple magnetic compass, with the assistance of Don Jacks and Warren Grabau. When the vessel was eventually recovered, thousands of crew artifacts were found preserved in the mud. The Cairo is now displayed at Vicksburg National Military Park.
1862
Cairo sunk on December 12 by a Confederate mine in the Yazoo River
1956
Edwin Bearss locates the wreck using a pocket compass and iron-bar probes
How this was unearthed
Surface
Wikipedia records the Cairo as the first ship sunk by a remotely detonated mine
Deeper
Naval History Magazine identifies it as the first vessel sunk by an electrically detonated torpedo
Buried record
A Project Gutenberg primary source confirms the electrically detonated torpedo detail
Date sunkDecember 12, 1862Historic firstFirst warship ever sunk by a remotely detonated mineTime to sinkTwelve minutesYears on the riverbed94 years, until located in 1956Discovered byNPS historian Edwin Bearss, using a pocket compass and iron-bar probes
