Shantyboat On The Bayous

by Harlan Hubbard

Since the publication of A River Way of Life in 1953, Harlan Hubbard achieved a wide reputation as a modern-day Thoreau. Not content simply to advocate a life of simplicity and self-sufficiency, Hubbard and his wife Anna in 1944 built with their own hands a houseboat on the banks of the Ohio near Cincinnati and in 1946 set out on a leisurely, five-year journey down the Ohio and Mississippi rivers. Shantyboat , Hubbard's recounting of their journey to New Orleans, and Payne Life on the Fringe of Society , his sequel telling of their life in a corner of rural Kentucky after their return, won him a host of readers.

Shantyboat on the Bayous is the middle chapter of the Hubbard saga. It tells of Harlan and Anna's voyage of explorations into the remote reaches of Louisiana. For more than a year after reaching New Orleans, the Hubbards meandered through the lush Cajun country on the Intracoastal Waterway, along Bayou Lafourche, thought the marshes around Avery Island, and finally up the storied Bayou Teche toward the farthest point of navigation.

The story of these travels, along with the author's illustrations of the bayou country, offers a portrait of one of the most unusual and least-known regions of our country and of the people who inhabit it. In this book, the Hubbards once again demonstrate their gift for living in simple and eloquent harmony with the land. As Don Wallis notes in his foreword, Shantyboat on the Bayous completes Hubbard's autobiography of "the life he shared with Anna, self-created and self-sustained, difficult and joyful, full of achievement and discovery, diligence, pleasure, and reward."

Here is a jewel of a travel book, certain to be treasured by Hubbard's many admirers and discovered by scores of new ones.

160 pages, Hardcover

First published June 21, 1990

Reviews

[John Benson · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book continues Harlan and Anna Hubbard's time on their shantyboat after they had reached New Orleans, after their voyage down the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers, which was recounted in SHANTYBOAT: A RIVER WAY OF LIFE. Wanting to explore the bayous of Louisiana, they bought a small motorboat to help push their shantyboat through the bayous on the Intercoastal Waterway in 1950 and 1951. They only traveled about 100-150 miles during that year but it gives a good portrait of the Cajun way of life and the Louisiana bayous during that particular moment in time. Harlan's ink portraits of the places they stopped along the bayous add to the book. These books remind me of those by Florence and Francis Jaques. They were about ten years older than the Hubbards, but like them, married later in life with no children. Florence wrote about their travels in Minnesota and other places, while Francis illustrated them with his ink drawings. CANOE COUNTRY and SNOWSHOE COUNTRY about the Boundary Waters Canoe Area in different seasons are their most famous books. This book is not as compelling as the first book, but a nice addition to bringing out their slow exploration of America's waterways.

[Mike · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the second book in the trilogy about Harlan and Anna HubbardIn this book we find the conclusion of their 7 years living on a Shanty boat. After reaching New Orleans they and their two dogs went through the Harvey Canal and began an odyssey of life in the bayous and coastal wetlands that make the southern shore of Louisiana so unique and intriguing.

They are floating pioneers, living off the land and waters, they lead a sustainable life and work as a couple in this partnership. Set in 1950 this is long before we began to see the need for small houses, sustainable living, low impact choices. This is a voyage that is not based on money, but rather fortitude.

They are not trapped by schedules, but, rather, stop and go as they desire. Sometimes it is overnight, sometimes a month. It is leisurely and yet it has the demands of finding food, repairing the boat and keeping themselves stocked with necessities.

They fish, gather wild pokeweed, and find a way to observe the Cajun People, places, and lifestyles. The two artists have an eye for life around them and share their keen observations with the reader.

It is also a historic photo of the land that has now succumbed to the ravages of land loss, oil exploitation and intrusions of our corporate greed into these isolated regions. Today many islands and lands they saw are no longer there.

But the hint of what will happen in the 65 years since they lived here are in the book. The flames and sounds of oil rigs, the new road...

[Bob Peru · Rating 5 out of 5]

harlan and anna hubbard along with helen and scott nearing along with hank thoreau.
heroes.