ZAK MARMALEFSKY
Bloody Island is a real place—as unlikely as its veracity might seem, given the lurid mythos surrounding it. As well as that—the placec—there is also, of course, the stories, the “colorful history,” a window into a world not very different but also very different, where folks were bitter, petty, gossipy, and vindictive but also gentlemanly and frivolous enough to semi-frequently duel to the death as an act of honor. Historians use the Bloody Island nugget the infuse otherwise dull city history with some drama and intrigue and cultural commentators often employ its colorful imagery to imbue discussions of the real-world, unglamorous violence in East St. Louis with a little classic charm.
These are all things that interested me, inspiring my decision to approach the subject matter—the story itself (I am a sucker for exciting, apocryphal, local trivia, with which St. Louis’ story brims, conveniently), but also the story of its use in telling stories, the story of the retelling of stories. Here is the story, in brief, one more time:
Some time at the turn of the nineteenth century, an island appeared in the Mississippi, just literally appeared one day according the records (does that happen? I picture a dramatic entrance with a loud plop). Soon enough locals realize that the island is not subject to Missouri law and thus is quite a convenient location for activity of dubious legality. It quickly becomes a site for celebrity duels, participation in which the local press celebrates as a hallmark of refined, gentlemanly excellence. Then Bloody Island gets too big—Captain Robert E. Lee leads a military engineer faction who dike the river and fill in the gaps (explanation involves the most minimal understanding of scientific jargon and commonsense). The duels stop shortly thereafter, especially with the advent of libel laws. Bloody Island—now “the island,” the sandy shore of Illinois—becomes the first downtown for East St. Louis, and serves as the site for the infamous East St. Louis race riots in 1917. Now it houses a freeway off-ramp, off the Poplar Street Bridge, and a semi-vacant train yard owned by the Terminal Railroad Association of St. Louis.
To the best of my knowledge, that story does not exist in a concise, inclusive form. At the gallery opening some long-time locals agreed that, although of course they know about Bloody Island, they had never encountered the narrative altogether. That was one part of my desire to retell the story in the form of my approximately seventy-five foot scroll-drawing. My research included reading a lot of contradictory accounts—mostly reprinted newspaper articles contemporary to the events described—and the hammy showmanship in the language used compelled me (it, so removed from modern standards for journalistic prose). So I became a participant, joining—rather than commenting on or responding to—that chorus of yarn-spinners.
Somewhere down the line I did venture to the place itself, an excursion which included getting lots many times and driving back and forth over the many bridges crossing the Mississippi in the St. Louis metropolitan area. When I finally found it—as the sun rose—I drew some pictures en plein aire (though these were not included in my final presentation) and generally absorbed and appreciated the marsh, brushy surroundings.
The last final component—that big drawing on the wall came out of a desire to at last depict the aspect thus far avoided, namely the blood & guts stuff. So I stripped the tale of its specifics—the site specificity—and reduced it to cartoon violence, to the man-to-man, gun-to-gun conflict. Because ultimately—despite whatever delusions of grandeur, of “sport”—that is really what it came down to.
Works Cited
Barnes, Harper. Never Been a Time: The 1917 Race Riot That Sparked the Civil Rights Movement. New York: Walker & Company, 2008.
“Bloody Island.” East St. Louis Action Research Project . University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, n.d. Web. 14 Dec. 2009. <http://www.eslarp.uiuc.edu/IBEX/ARCHIVE/guidebook/bloody%20island.htm>.
Missouri: A Guide to the ‘Show Me’ State (American Guide Series). New York: Scholarly Pr, 1981. Print.
“Missouri Digital Heritage: Education. “Crack of the Pistol: Dueling in 19th Century Missouri”.” Missouri Secretary of State Home Page. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Dec. 2009. <http://www.sos.mo.gov/archives/education/dueling/political-duels.asp>.
“St. Louis Historic Preservation.” St. Louis Missouri. St. Louis Historical Society, n.d. Web. 14 Dec. 2009. <http://stlcin.missouri.org/history/structdetail.cfm?Master_ID=1408>.
Tags: Student Exhibition
