ABSTRACT

INTERVIEWEE NAME: A.L. McMurray # 4700.0043

IDENTIFICATION: [1902- ], retired master pilot on Mississippi River and resident of Bayou Sorrel and Plaquemine

INTERVIEWER: Sue Hebert

PROJECT: local history of the Plaquemine, Louisiana, area

DATE: October 4, 1979 FOCUS DATES: 1904-1967

ABSTRACT:

Tape 53

His father's farming; getting to school; flood of 1912; working on government surveying boat; use of willow mats to prevent both the Mississippi River's banks from caving in and the river's changing course; various jobs on boats on the Mississippi River and what it was like to live on the boats; work for Standard Oil; requirements to receive pilot's license; advances in navigation and communication; Pilots' Association and salaries; debate about whether the levees and spillways are in the public's best interest

TAPES: T 53 TOTAL PLAYING TIME: 1 hr. 30 min

# PAGES INDEX/TRANSCRIPT: 2/34

RESTRICTIONS: None.