The River is Home - Chapter One - A gentle breeze through the cypress swamps

Aug 25, 2026

Uploaded by Connor

Chapter One opens with a calm, rain-touched morning in the Pearl River swamps, where Abner Corey repairs fish traps while the household life around him moves in quiet rhythm. The narrative details the family’s isolated, years-long struggle to survive after arriving with nothing, relying on fishing, hunting, and carefully managed trading trips. Their fragile economy, crude shelter, diet, and the roles of Jeff, Skeeter, Theresa, and their fear-averse father establish both hardship and hope for change.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryStory & Novel

FormatPDF

Pages20

Reading Time31 min

AccessFree to download

Chapter One

Swamp morning and daily work

The Corey family’s survival and isolation

Home, food, and trading routes

Family members and their roles

The River is Home by Patrick D. Smith Chapter One A gentle breeze was blowing through the cypress trees, as Abner Corey sat on the stoop of his shack, mending fish traps. There had been a light rain that morning, and now the sun was sending long shafts oflight into the swamp to draw the water up again. The drops of rain, clinging to the cypress boughs, glittered like thousands of diamonds in the air. The cries of wood ducks and cranes mingled with the chatter of squirrels and the incessant bellowing of frogs for more rain. Everything was full of activity but the Corey family. Abner's wife, Glesa, was stretched out on the back stoop basking in the sun. The two boys, Jeff and Skeeter, were throwing knives into the bare plank floor, while Theresa, the only daughter, was helping Abner mend the fish traps. The traps were the most valuable possessions ofthe Coreys because they represented their only means of getting cash money. The Coreys had been living in the swamp for five years now. They had previously been sharecroppers, wandering to and from different parts of Mississippi and Louisiana year after year, getting what jobs they could and eating when they could, but always being without much of either. And then Abner had brought them to the Pearl River swamps of lower Mississippi to begin a new and strange life. They arrived with nothing and had to build their small shack with their bare hands. Abner had chosen a little clearing on a bayou several hundred yards from the muddy Pearl. The clearing was bounded by tall, moss-covered, cypress trees, mingled with magnolia and willow. From their clearing to the river lay long stretches of flat marsh grass, and behind the clearing was the almost impenetrable swamp. The swamp was joined by long, rolling hills covered with pine and scrub oak, but the only way to cross from the clearing to the hills was by boat through the murky swamp. Five miles down the river was a little settlement called Mill © Pineapple Press and Patrick Smith [PatrickSmithOnline.com](PatrickSmithOnline.com) Page 1 Town, and twenty miles to the north was Fort Henry. Once a week Abner and the boys would row to Mill Town and trade fish for money and supplies, and once a year they would go to Fort Henry to sell their winter trappings of hides. Fort Henry was a bustling port town on the steamboat route to Jackson, far to the north. Abner had promised the family if they ever got enough money he would take them on the steamboat to Jackson, but that time never seemed to come. Most of the Coreys' time was spent on the river and in the swamp – Abner and the boys fishing, hunting, and trapping, while Glesa and the girl did the house chores and tended the small garden on the edge of the clearing. They grew a few onions, peas, and peppers, but their main diet usually consisted of fish, game, and the wild poke salat that grew along the clearing. They were planning this year to have pork, because Abner had traded for three hogs in Mill Town and had built a pen on the banks of the bayou. The Corey shack was built of drift lumber and cypress logs. The house had three rooms and no windows, and the roof was made of hand-hewn cypress shingles stuffed with moss. Two rooms ofthe house were used for sleeping, and the other for cooking and eating. There were two beds in one room and one in the other. The beds were made of cypress slats, and the mattresses were made of croaker sacks sewn together and stuffed with moss. Ma and Pa Corey slept in one room and the boys and Theresa in the other. The kitchen contained a bare plank table, awashstand, and a clay hearth in one corner for cooking. All the water for cooking and drinking came from the bayou. The Coreys used the banks of the bayou for their privy and bath. The oldest of the children was Jeff, who was nineteen. Theresa was fifteen and Skeeter thirteen. The Coreys had named their youngest boy Skeeter because he was born prematurely, and Pa Corey said that he was no bigg

FAQs

Where does Chapter One take place, and what is the opening scene like?

It takes place in the Pearl River swamps near the Coreys’ clearing. The chapter begins with a gentle breeze and sun shafts after light rain, with daily activities underway.

How does the Corey family make money and obtain supplies?

They rely on fish traps, trapping, and selling goods in Mill Town and Fort Henry. The men row to Mill Town weekly to trade fish for money and supplies.

What does the chapter describe about the Coreys’ living conditions?

Their shack has three rooms, no windows, and uses drift lumber and cypress logs. Water comes from the bayou, and their privy and bath are along the bayou banks.

How are family responsibilities divided among Abner and the children?

Abner and the boys handle fishing, hunting, and trapping, while Glesa and Theresa manage house chores and a small garden. Theresa also helps Abner mend the fish traps, while Pa Corey avoids the swamp when setting traps.

Aug 25, 2026

Uploaded by Connor