Fred Kniffen

The American Covered Bridge

T HE covered bridge belongs in the same category as keelboats, prairie schooners, and other picturesque and largely obsolete traits of a formative stage in American development. Besides its romantic and antiquarian appeal, to the student of man and his works the covered bridge is a conspicuous detail of the cultural scene. By its presence or absence in a complex of traits it aids the recognition of regions. Knowledge of the origin and diffusion of the covered bridge contributes to an understanding of cultural differentiation.

Bayou Manchac: A Physiographic Interpretation

HE typical distributary of the lower Mississippi is a shallow, slow-flowing stream, meandering through a low, featureless plain of recent alluvium in a channel bordered by marked natural levees. Such are Bayou Plaquemine and Bayou Lafourche, two of the better known distributaries. A cursory look at the map classes Bayou Manchac as a similar feature, but a close examination of the stream itself reveals several striking differences. Leaving the flood plain of the Mississippi, its channel cuts through a well defined terrace, joins the Amite River, and reenters recent deltaic deposits. A portion of its bed is maintained at depths below sea level, and the direction of its flow may be reversed by backwater from the Amite. In marked contrast with every other stream in the vicinity, the Manchac is flanked by a small terrace of its own through a short part of its course.