By DONNA S. BALLARD

SPECIAL TO THE DAILY LEADER

The Lawrence County Historical Society will host its next program on the deck overlooking the Pearl River at Cooper’s Ferry Park in Monticello. Ernest Herndon, an author from the southwest Mississippi area, will speak about his most recent book, “Paddleways of Mississippi: Rivers and People of the Magnolia State.” The Pearl River and its tributaries will be Herndon’s focus during the presentation.

The location of the Historical Society program will be near the corner of Brookhaven Street and Brinson Street, behind the Lawrence County Civic Center and Regional History Museum. The event will take place on Saturday, Nov. 2, at 4 p.m. This gathering will begin at the conclusion of the festivities of the Monticello Marketplace on Broad Street. If convenient, you may bring your own lawn chairs to sit in. There will be other seating available. The program is free to the public and everyone interested in Lawrence County history and the Pearl River is welcome. 

There are 32 major waterways of Mississippi presented in the book. The publication is co-authored by Patrick Parker, who also provided river maps with the assistance of his wife, Elise Parker. Paddleways of Mississippi is divided into geographic areas, which include the Mississippi River, Delta, Southwest, Down the Middle, Northeast, Southeast, and Coastal. The Pearl River is included in the section of “Down the Middle”, along with the Strong River, Bogue Chitto River, and the Big Black River. 

The Pearl River (Down the Middle) section begins with the origin of the 444-mile-long Pearl River from Nanih Waiya, the legendary home of the Choctaw nation, located about 20 miles northeast of Philadelphia, Mississippi, to Stennis Space Center (NASA), and the Gulf of Mexico. There is plenty of information about the Pearl River and adjoining waterways within “Down the Middle”, which comprises 63 pages. 

A vertical stripe down the center of the State of Mississippi is characterized by rolling hills of red clay with areas of deeper topsoil of mixed clay and organic soil, which make good growing conditions for a little bit of everything from hardwood to pine to prairie. Likewise, the paddleways flowing through the center of the state illustrate a little bit of everything. 

In addition to this opening statement about the Pearl River waterways, Herndon and Parker go on to discuss Indians, swamps, wildlife, early Europeans, steamboats, the Civil War, the Ross Barnett Reservoir, Pearl River below the Reservoir, threats to the lower Pearl, the Pearl River Keepers and the One Lake Project, Red Bluff, the Tatum Salt Dome nuclear tests, and the Honey Island Swamp. 

Ernest Herndon has worked at the McComb Enterprise-Journal since 1979. Though essentially retired, he continues to serve as outdoors editor. He has also written many magazine articles and earned numerous journalism awards. 

Since 1987, he has written 18 books, including two adventure travel narratives and two canoe guides. Ernest is also a musician, playing the banjo, fiddle, and banjo-mandolin instruments.