Way down yonder, at the mouth of the Mississippi River sits a land like no other on this continent. A land occupied by man but belonging to a force greater than he. A force who fights daily to prove that no man's barriers or diversions will stop it from plowing its own path. Louisiana's Plaquemines Parish (County) is the Mississippi River. It was the great 'father of waters' who built it and it is the 'Ominous Lady' who over the years has fought to reclaim the lands she deposited. So begins Janice P. Buras' history of the land known as Plaquemines. Land, of course, is not a highly appropriate term. Marsh, or swamp, or even water, could be used to more accurately describe much of Plaquemines. Yet this isolated and humid area has also been home to people of many different cultures throughout the history of Louisiana. It is also some of the most fertile land in the world. The varieties of plant life found in Plaquemines are almost as numerous as the many stories that have arisen on the Mississippi banks of this area. Janice P. Buras, in her crusade to spread the word about her beloved Plaquemines Parish, has published a monthly magazine highlighting the people and events of the area. Feeling that the history of this area has been neglected or forgotten for far too long, she was compelled to write this book.
