Gone to the Swamp

In the hinterland behind the port of Mobile lies the vast swampy convergence of the Mobile and Tensaw Rivers, a delta rich in fish, game animals, hard and softwood resources, and the beauty and solitude of the wild - but also rich in varmints big and little, including some human ones, and the manifold dangers of a world where land, sky, and water seem to blend together and one can become lost 100 paces in any direction, if not drowned or devoured first.To make a living here, one had to be capable, confident, clever and inventive, know a lot about survival, be able to fashion and repair tools, navigate a boat, fell a tree, treat a snakebite, make a meal from whatever was handy without asking too many questions about it, and get along with folks.This fascinating and instructive book is the careful and unpretentious account of a man who was artful in all the skills needed to survive and raise a family in an area where most people would be lost or helpless. Smith's story is an important record of a way of life beginning to disappear, a loss not fully yet realized. We are lucky to have a work that is both instructive and warm-hearted and that preserves so much hard-won knowledge.