I kin 'member how my Massa tell 'bout "how dey decides hit wont be much of a war if dey has any at all, jes take two or three months to whip de damn Yankees an' teach dem to tend to dey own business an' let de folks down South alone wid dey slaves an' dey business."So de plantation went 'long jes as usual, de field hands would git up by daylight an' be in de fields by de time de sun was up, de house maids would be up an' cleanin' de house by daylight an' de overseer of de plantation would be on de watch for de run-a-way nigger, everything going on jes dis way. W'en dey had de 'lection for de President, I 'members hearin dem talk 'bout how de war seems to be cumin sure, if old Abe Lincoln is 'lected, well hit did cum an' he was 'lected, an' den dey commence to fightin' after awhile right down to Memphis, Tennessee. I kin 'member dat we could hear de guns go boom-boom, way over in dat direction, an' so de Massa decided dat hit was time to refugee farther away from de fightin', so we goes down to another plantation near Vicksburg, Missippi. We lives over near whar Joe Davis plantation was. Dis was de place his daddy had dey slaves an' raised everything from fruit to cotton an' corn, but de bigges' thing was de cotton. Dis was de place dey call de Hurrican House whar de Davis fambly lived befo' de war. Dey was de old Massa Davis dat died an' left de place to de fambly, but Young Massa Joe Davis took charge of hit. De river run right thro' hit an' dey had a boat landing, I think dey call hit Hurricane Landing. Dey tell de story of how de young Massa Joe goes to New Orleans an' marries a young Mistis named Mistis Eliza , she was jes 17 years old, but she takes charge of de place an' w'en de other young Massa Jeff Davis cum wid his wife from up North, dey make a big celebrashun of hit; how dey all meets him at de boats' Landing, an' how dey has de place all fixed up in hit's best, wid de big dinner in de old dining room whar dey had de fine silver an' everything fine an' dandy. De old house was not a big two story house like most of de plantashun's was, hit was what dey would call a ramblin' house, as dey needed more room, de old Massa would keep buildin' so hit was spread all over de place. W'en we was down here hit was durin de war an' I has seen Massa Jeff Davis , dat was de President of de Confederacy, as he pass goin' to de old Hurricane House, but as de war got worse, den his young wife went away an' he did'nt cum any more. I 'members w'en de blockade was on at New Orleans an' how all de folks had to git out dey spinnin' wheels to make de cloth dey called de Homespun for dey clothes, for dey could'nt git anything shipped into New Orleans or up to Memphis for de blockade. De folks on de plantations raised most dey had to eat an' what dey had to buy was so high dat dey did widout lots of things dey needed.

In 1862, dey had a big flood on de Missippi River. Dis an' de fall of Vicksburg caused de white folks to refugee, our Massa stayed on until Vicksburg fell, an' den he went back over near Oxford. De Yankees had been thro' an' taken his cattle to kill, to eat, an' so did de rebels, but de house was still standin' so we stayed here until de war was over. De Davis fambly had to refugee too an' de Yankee officers cum an' took de Hurricane House for part of dey headquarters w'en dey was keepin' Vicksburg under de siege. De stray niggers from all over de country went there, an' so dey had a nigger garrison an' used de ole corral for dey place to stay. Dey had so many to take keer of dat dey put old Ben , de Davis overseer dat had stayed w'en Massa Joe Davis refugeed, at de head of de commissary to help to look after dem, an' he made dem go to work on de plantashun w'en dey was not solderin' to raise dem somethin' to eat. While de Yankee officers was stationed in de Hurricane House hit caught fire an' burned up. Dey was de story of how de Yankee boat called de "Polly Jones" was startin' to take de officers to Vicksburg, an' how one of de ole slaves dat had stayed on after de Davis fambly left, had raised some watermelons an' had stood on de good side of de Yankees an' got dey permission to take dese melons to Vicksburg to sell, an' how de boat caught fire an' dey all had to swim to de banks of de river, an' how w'en dey found old Bob who was takin his melons to de market, he was lying on de bank whar he swim ashore an' bemoanin' de fate of his watermelons After we went back to Memphis an' de war was over, de Massa paid us an' de most of de slaves stayed on wid him, I was fourteen den, an' so I stays until I is sixteen, den I goes to de city to work. I thinks I am too much of a dude to work on de river, so I work in de towns of Oxford an' Memphis. I 'member how we would go to see de steamboats cum in, an' how w'en dey have de dances on dem at night, we niggers from de city would go an' have big times. De old steamboats never lost dey call for de landsmen as well as de river men, w'en dey hear hits whistle dey would make for de wharves to see dem cum in an' unload dey freight or passengers. Dey was de races dat we never git tired of goin' to de river to see dem swing by like a big white bird wid wings on her. Dey all had dey names, jes three years after de war, in 1869, dey was a race between de "Annie Johnston" an' de "Phil Sheridan". De excitement was as much as w'en de city of Richmond fell. At every town de folks would be at de river to see de races an' jes as long as I lived at Memphis dey still had de steam-boat races. An' you jes ought to have seen dem pushin' de big lumber rafts, dey was slower to push dan de log rafts, an' hit was always a big thing to take de boats under de bridges wid dese rafts safe; de rafts was make of logs an' dey was wide an' long, dis is whar dey put de lumber an' freight dey ship in dese days. Den dey was de river boat captains, de most popular one was Captain Isaac Moulton dat cum from La Crosse. On every boat dat he commanded he must have de music, every night he had de dancin' in de cabin, an' led it himself. He could dance any kin of dance, but his favorite was de Virginia Reel. He would bring his passengers on de deck an' make de most timid have a good time. I has heard de river men tell how de towns along de river boats of each one havin' de prettiest gals. Dey tell de story of how one of de old river boats was huntin' slack water an' cum's up on an' old Irishman's wood-yard, an' run right up into de bank whar his daughter, Mary Dee , was hangin' out de wash. She was a beauty an' had de black hair, de Irish blue eyes, an' de pink skin, all way out in de wilderness, so dis river Captain or de pilot, maybe hit was, he makes up a song 'bout her to de tune of de Buffalo Gals, an' hit went like dis,

Oh, de Corn Fed Gals, dey are de best, in all de west, Dey are de best, an' of all de tribe dat I has seen, Mary Dee, she is de Queen. Corn-Fed Gal, see de moon shine bright, Aint you cumin' out tonight Aint you cumin' out tonight? Oh Corn Fed Gal, Aint you cumin' out tonight, Wid your little hand in mine? De rest of de story goes like de ole time ones went, de Corn-Fed Gal named Mary Dee, run away wid dis boat pilot an' dey lived happy ever after. Dese old river captains all lived to be old men. I could give you de names of many a one, but den you would not know 'bout dem if I did, how did dey happen to live so old? Some say hit was de open air on de river, some say one thing an' another, but to my mind hit was de gift of de river. I has often wished dat I had been a river man, dey all had de love of her in dey hearts, so life never grew stale an' weary to dem, to watch de river an' talk 'bout hit, de old times up an' down it, an' read de old stories 'bout hit, an' all de news, dey tell agin' de ways an' dey love for hit. Men wear out first in dey spirits. No riverman's spirit grew old as long as he kind 'member de river. If I had my life to live over agin, I would have left de town for de river, an' I wonder dis way. De forests is gone an' will not cum back, but de river still runs on hit's way to de sea, an' offers to man hit's use jes as hit did in de old days. Maybe some day de business world will wake up to hit's use agin', stid of useing de costly highways to haul dey freight, w'en here is de cheapest way, an' de everlasting highway of de river goes on wid little use. I has wandered all over Missippi, Arkansas, an' Texas, but my heart still turns in my old age to de days w'en I used to stand on de river's bank an' wonder at de life dat went on in de days of hit's glory. Maybe some day de world 'round hit will see hit again in hit's glory an' discover agin' hit's beauty an' hit's use, an' dey may decide hit is better dan all de other wealth like de forests dat dey fathers wasted. "De favorite song de boatmen sing was de "Buffalo Gals", as de boats run into de landing. "Buffalo gals, can't you cum out tonight? Can't you cum out tonight, can't you cum out tonight Buffalo gals can't you cum out tonight, an dance by de light of de moon." Jes as de river keep runnin along so de songs of de river stay in de heart of de river man as he sings in his watch.