Land's End: A History of the New Orleans District, U. S. Army Corps of Engineers, and Its Lifelong Battle with the Lower Mississippi and Other Rivers Wending Their Way to the Sea

In 1975 members of the Corps of Engineers celebrated their organizations 200th anniversary-a remarkable record of service to the American people. Conscious of our long history, we have undertaken to secure from competent scholars accurate and readable studies of our past. On arrival in New Orleans, I found that a history of the New Orleans District had been prepared red by one of my predecessors. However, since the other publication, much water had flowed down many rivers, hurricanes had spread death and destruction over wide areas, and other major and minor disasters had occurred requiring new solutions. The Congress and the White House had also passed laws and regulations which required new thinking and new methods in promulgating new life and property saving projects. These were all taken into consideration by Dr. Cowdrey as we updated the history. He has not only brought the history up to date but he has also strengthened and upgraded the whole narrative. The result is more than a simple district history. Here we gain appreciation of how the people of our region made their land habitable by learning to control the waterways for navigation and flood control and then set out to solve the problems of pollution which had been caused in part by their own success. The role of the Corps in both development and protection has been a great one. For 174 years the men and women of our organization have worked for and with the Louisiana environment. Their accomplishments have woven an outstanding story that has become a study piece for students from over the world. Above all, this book is the story of the New Orleans District and its people, past and present.