Narratives about the Rappahannock River & the Removal of Emery Dam

I started this week’s readings off by reading the Friends of the Rappahannock interview with Chief Anne Richardson of the Rappahannock Tribe. I chose to do this one first because I thought if was a nice segway from last week’s readings on Native Americans into environmental history and issues associated with the river. I really loved hearing about the Rappahannock Tribe’s history with the Rappahannock River. Chief Anne offered such a unique and interesting perspective on the river, especially issues related to conservation and fracking. I thought it was interesting how she discussed the disconnection from nature that has occurred with younger generations, and how she hopes to encourage her people to reconnect to their roots. I think her perspective shows that not all human interaction with nature is destructive, so long as people respect nature. This is such as different perspective from what we read about happening in Shenandoah National Park. I especially enjoyed her story about the eagles, because I recently have been seeing eagles around my home in great numbers. And since I live so close to Indian Neck, I like to think that maybe they have seen them as well.

John Tippett’s interview has so much behind the scenes information on the removal of Emery Dam. The amount of back and forth needed to gain approval and then the finances to remove the dam honestly does not surprise me. I’m quite surprised that they were able to remove it at all, but the funniest thing to me was that it took a couple people essentially putting their foot down, holding the Water Resources bill hostage, to get the thing removed. Also, seeing Tippett in the videos was a nice touch. It really helped enforce the effort he and FOR put in to removing the dam.

The Pitts interview was a sharp contrast from the other two. I enjoyed his stories of his time growing up in and around Colonial Beach and on the Rappahannock, however I think his talk of the constant fishing merits thought. I am not that familiar with the ecology of the Rappahannock River, but I know it was mentioned that many of the fish Pitts used to fish were gone but are now starting to return thanks to the removal of the dam. All of it in so heavily interconnected, but I think his perspective is unique and interesting given his age.

1) What was some of the effects of removing Emery Dam? (e.g. ecological, environmental, appearance, economic, etc.)

2) How does the Rappahannock’s treatment of the river, and nature in general, differ from other examples we’ve seen?

3) What sort of narratives surround the Rappahannock River? We got some of this from Chief Anne’s interview, but what about other areas where the river touches?

Citations

James Pitts Sr., “Life Along the Rappahannock: An Oral History Project,” interviewed by Woodie Walker, March 6, 2018, i n King George County, Va . Friends of the Rappahannock and the University of Mary Washington. Digital transcript and recording at https://www.riverfriends.org/oralhistory /, physical transcripts at the Historic Fredericksburg Foundation Inc., Central Rappahannock Regional Library Virginiana Room, Fredericksburg Area Museum, and the University of Mary Washington Special Collections and University Archives.

Chief Anne Richardson, “Life Along the Rappahannock: An Oral History Project,” interviewed by Woodie Walker, Aug. 21, 2017, at Kendale Farm, Port Royal, Va. Friends of the Rappahannock and the University of Mary Washington. Digital transcript and recording at https://www.riverfriends.org/oralhistory /, physical transcripts at the Historic Fredericksburg Foundation Inc., Central Rappahannock Regional Library Virginiana Room, Fredericksburg Area Museum, and the University of Mary Washington Special Collections and University Archives.

John Tippett, “Life Along the Rappahannock: An Oral History Project,” interviewed by Nancy Milroy, April 13, 2017, at Fredericksburg, Va. Friends of the Rappahannock and the University of Mary Washington. Digital transcript and recording at https://www.riverfriends.org/oralhistory /, physical transcripts at the Historic Fredericksburg Foundation Inc., Central Rappahannock Regional Library Virginiana Room, Fredericksburg Area Museum, and the University of Mary Washington Special Collections and University Archives.