Ask Rufus: When the Mississippi River Flowed Backward

It's been an interesting couple of weeks for earthquakes.

On Thanksgiving Day, an earthquake hit the Jackson area, and then on Monday, a group of seven earthquakes tore through the fault line in New Madrid, Missouri. Although I saw no reports of damage, I couldn't help but think of the timing and December 15, 1811, when the New Madrid earthquake struck. The earthquake shook almost the entire country, caused the Mississippi River to flow backwards, and even rang church bells in Charleston, South Carolina.

One of the best accounts comes from the steamship New Orleans, which was the first steamship to run on the Mississippi River, and was on its maiden voyage down the river. On the night of December 15, Orleans was about 70 miles from New Madrid, Missouri, when the ground suddenly shook and then opened. It was an earthquake so terrible that the Mississippi River turned red for a while and flowed backwards. To add another element of amazement, this happened when Halley's Comet was lighting up the sky.

With Halley's Comet fresh in people's minds, this 1836 woodcut shows a comet lighting up the American sky. In ancient times, comets were viewed with awe as harbingers of political and social unrest. This was the view published by a Natchez newspaper in 1812 when it discussed the New Madrid earthquake and Halley's Comet, which lit up the skies of the Mississippi Territory in 1811. Image courtesy

Newspapers across the country were filled with reports of the devastation in January and February of 1812. A report from Natchez dated January 1, 1812 spoke of the earthquake being felt in Natchez. It reported that the steamer Orleans had just arrived and brought news of “great damage to the settlements on the Ohio and Mississippi, by pulling down houses, chimneys, &c.” In one or two cases, large islands in the Mississippi River were sunk or destroyed. The novel tells of collapsing river banks, including an example of “about 300 acres of solid bodies in one place” falling into the river.

A message from a flatboat at Chickasaw Bluffs (now Memphis) tells us that he was 17 miles below New Madrid when the first shock struck. She described how “in the second shock, the ends of millions of trees that had been embedded in the mud at the bottom of the river suddenly rose to the surface, rendering the river almost uninhabitable.” A report from New Madrid spoke of the devastation and described the same shocks.

“The ground was so convulsive that it became difficult for one to maintain an upright position, the movement being estimated at about twelve inches back and forth. The shocks were accompanied by partial darkness, tremendous noise, and a sulfurous smell.”

The Richmond (Virginia) Inquirer reported that buildings in New Madrid were severely damaged. …much of the surrounding land was under water and the few remaining inhabitants camped…and that in innumerable places the land opened in great fissures…and the inhabitants of the town of New Madrid saw that the ground on which the city stood had sunk about fifteen feet…and moments later From the first violent shock, it rose about ten feet. They had heard that many boats had been lost, and that the land on which the town of Little Prairie stood, was sixteen feet under water. In addition to the above, we have been kindly informed of public dispatches from near New Madrid mentioning the number of missing boats already reported, as high as 50… plus a number of lives lost.

The Vermont Republic reported that “two or three shocks of the earthquake were felt at Charleston and Columbia, S.C., and at Raleigh, North Carolina; at Richmond, Norfolk and Alexandria, Va.; Georgetown, Md.; Philadelphia &c. … Church bells rang in Charleston Some even assumed there was a fire.

In the Columbus area, Halley's Comet was clearly visible and there was one incident possibly related to the New Madrid earthquake. John Kincaid was working at John Pitchlynn's in Plymouth Bluff at the time of the earthquake when his horse suddenly stumbled, fell and died.

The Natchez Gazette and Mississippi General Advertiser of January 23, 1812 commented on the earthquake, Halley's Comet, hurricanes that had occurred, and other natural events that were occurring.

“The great scale on which nature operates should serve as a solemn warning to men (or those animals in the form of men) to abandon their pitiful groveling, and the schemes of corruption and depravity in which they so enthusiastically engage. Only a true heart can see those great events with equanimity.” Political swindlers, reputation killers, must feel harshly the visits of conscience at such crucial periods…”

Rufus Ward is a Columbus native and local historian. Email your questions about local history to Rufus at [email protected].

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