Flatboats, Travelers, Infectious Diseases, and Other River Thoughts

A constellation of synonyms exist for the word “river”: what distinguishes these naturally flowing watercourses from a beck, bourn, brook, burn, creek, rill, rivulet, runnel, or tributary may come down to the size of the stream or may simply be a regional preference. Rivers flow across every continent and on all but the smallest islands, carving, eroding, and reshaping the Earth’s topography; connecting populations; enabling access to natural resources, commerce, and trade; defining boundaries; and offering sustenance and energy. Rivers have provided routes for explorers and adventurers and have roused the imaginations of writers and artists across cultures and history. An iconic depiction of life on North American rivers in the 1840s, The Jolly Flatboatmen, this month’s cover image, is one of the most celebrated works by American painter George Caleb Bingham. This well-preserved painting is considered an early example of luminism, an American painting style that depicts the effects of light played out across tranquil settings, calm waters, and hazy skies. Drifting downriver, Bingham’s happy-go-lucky crew pays little mind to their surroundings: nothing in this painting hints at the potential dangers of river life—shifting sandbars and shoals, flash flooding, submerged trees, injuries and diseases, or scheming pirates. The National Gallery of Art’s overview states that “The composition is at once dynamic—the dancing man