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Origin Pre-War Post-War What Outsiders Know The Reality Population Territory and Locations Organization Government, National and Local Tolls Justice, Social Control, Punishment Political Factions, Dissent Famous/Infamous Persons Relationships with Other Groups Culture Ethnic Groups, Immigration and Emigration Social Divisions and Castes Religion, Beliefs and Superstition Morality and Values Progress and Failure Family, Age, Sexuality and Gender Education and Language Environment and Agriculture Food Art and Entertainment, Music, Literature, Recreation Fashion and Appearance Urban and Rural Areas, Architecture Equipment and Resources Economy Science, Medicine and Technology Weapons and Military Equipment Communications Vehicles Aircraft Watercraft

 

     An important center of trade on the Mississippi River. Memphis is of course not the Ancient City of that name, which lies in ruins on the far bank of the river, atop the Chickasaw Bluff.

Origin

 

Pre-War

     A largely rural district in Arkansas, on the west side of the Mississippi River, facing Memphis, Tennessee. About 40,000 persons lived there, mostly in Crittenden County. The county seat was in Marion.

 

Post-War

     Eight or more nuclear weapons struck at or near Memphis, Tennessee at the start of the Atomic War, each with a power of more than 100 kilotons. Within a day, a wall of water carrying radioactive debris roared down the Mississippi, sweeping away the remaining bridges and ruining the levees.

     The river kept refugees from coming west, and refugees elsewhere didn't come in any large numbers -- Little Rock was particularly hard hit, and the Arkansas River was heavily contaminated for decades.

 

What Outsiders Know

     It's one of the points where large trading caravans can cross the Mississippi River. The community is fairly well off, by 22nd Century standards; the shops in Memphis can conduct minor repairs on trucks. Various boats and barges carry on trade up and down the Mississippi River from here. Houston, Mobile, Little Rock, Chattanooga, Nashville, Louisville (or even Wheeling during high water), Kaskaskia, and Minneapolis. Flatboats come down the Fox River waterway, and from Pittsburgh.

 

The Reality

     Pretty much as known by outsiders. The locals are concerned about the various destructive groups they hear about, but haven't quite gotten to the level of raising a military force.

 

Population

     The entire region supports 20,000 persons, of whom 1,800 live in Memphis, another 3,200 live in a dozen or so other towns, and the remaining 15,000 live on ranches and farms.

     2745 children age 6 to 18 live in the nation; 200 of these children live in the town of Memphis.

 

Territory and Locations

 

various minor rivers not shown; roads shown are turnpikes within the borders of the nation

 

     The nation of Memphis lies between the Mississippi River and Crowley's Ridge. The ridge is about 100 meters above the surrounding flood plain, and is covered in oak and hickory forests. Except for the ridge, the nation's land is flat and very fertile -- the areas within 10 kilometers of the Mississippi are regularly flooded. There are a bit more than 2,500 square kilometers of territory controlled by Memphis; the border is 250 kilometers long, including 60 or so kilometers along the Mississippi River.

     The area on both banks of the L'Anguille River is swampy; except for the old freeways, it's not easy to approach Memphis overland from the west or south.

     The actual 22nd Century town of Memphis is located about where West Memphis was before the Atomic War. The town is surrounded by a 7 meter high levee, 6 kilometers long, which also serves as a defense against raiders. Within the levee, many of the inhabitants work supporting the river trade. Several workshops, two boatyards, a brewery, and some other small industrial facilities can be seen, along with four bars and taverns, a gambling house, two hotels (the Cattlemen's Club and the Memphis House), a theater and a bawdy house along the east end of the main street. At right angles along the waterfront are freight houses and cargo sheds, with piers extending into the river; the waterfront is 900 meters long.

     The town smells of metalworking, river, outhouses, and wood smoke.

     With a population of 1800, the town consists of:

 

• 300 adult members of trading clans

• 200 school children (including those sent here from rural families, and children of the trading clans)

• 100 people in entertainment and hospitality trades

• 300 people working in boatyards, foundries, engine shops, and other "steam heavy industrial" technical trades

• 200 people employed or owning stores, lumberyards, and markets

• 100 teamsters, truck drivers, truck mechanics, and other transport trades

• 50 professional occupations:  doctors, barbers. dentists, clerks, school teachers, tutors, locksmiths, gunsmiths, jewelers, clock repairmen ...
  

• 100 housewives (not otherwise employed) and retired people

• 20 persons employed at "elegant leisure"

• 50 servants, maids, cooks

• 50 carpenters, millhands, joiners, masons, and other "construction trades". Much of their business is actually conducted outside the town (on farms or in smaller towns)

• 330 others (including constables, brewers, arsenal staff, priests, etc.)

 

     Marion, a few kilometers to the north, was for many years a prime salvage source -- two huge railway freight yards were located there. Once (new) Memphis grew in size, it took over as the seat of government.

     Crawfordsville, Earle, and Forrest City are the largest towns after Memphis -- each around 700 persons.

 

Organization

 

Government, National and Local

     Memphis is a limited democracy -- persons have an uneven number of votes. Any adult (age 21) who's lived there at least a year has 1 vote; land owners, steam boat owners, business owners employing residents, doctors and other professionals, etc. get more votes (and you can qualify to accumulate votes from several categories). A person owning several farms, and a trading company, owning several steamboats and serving as captain on one will have up to 20 or 30 votes. The total number of votes is a bit more than 10,000; a few hundred people have 4 or more votes each.

     There are rules about who qualifies as a doctor, steamboat captain, etc. of course; however, there are also no government requirements for licensing in any profession.

     The highest authority is the Memphis Council, composed of a dozen persons; each must qualify for at least 2 votes themselves. They are elected from twelve districts, four of which are Memphis, Crawfordsville, Earle and Forrest City.

      The government's main income is a property tax on the unimproved value of land -- currently it's $0.20 per acre per year for most of the nation; inside the Memphis Dike it's $50 per acre per year (there are 585 acres inside the dike). Government annual revenue is about $125,000. Major expenditures are:

 

• $60,000 :  education (primary and some secondary)

• $10,000 :  flood control, especially maintenance and repair of the Memphis Dike

• $10,000 :  law enforcement

• $10,000 :  military affairs (training, arsenals)

 

Tolls

 

     The main roads, ferries over the Mississippi, and bridges over smaller rivers are supported by tolls:

 

• Tolls for crossing the Mississippi at Memphis are $5 for a truck, $1 for an automobile, $0.75 for a horse-drawn wagon, $0.15 for a horse with rider, $0.10 for passengers, $0.40 per ton of cargo.

• The major roads collect tolls every 10 kilometers or so, at a rate of $1 for a truck, $0.25 for an automobile, $0.15 for a horse-drawn wagon or 4-wheel carriage, $0.07 for a two-wheel carriage. Non-wheeled transport is free on the roads (and would probably avoid the toll booths). There are more than 200 kilometers of toll roads.

• Bridges charge $2 for a truck, $0.50 for an automobile or horse-drawn wagon or four-wheel carriage, $0.25 for a two-wheeled carriage or cart, and $0.10 for a mounted rider. Pedestrians cross for free.

 

     There are a complicated web of exemptions from tolls -- people attending funerals, voters, doctors, militiamen attending muster, people living within 5 kilometers from the toll booth or bridge, etc.

 

Justice, Social Control, Punishment

     "Every crime has a victim" -- there are no laws against prostitution, gambling, drug use, etc. The more moralistic Memphisites like to point this out, even though very few communities or cultures in 22nd Century North America have laws against those practices anyway.

     There's a jail for minor crimes, but sentences exceeding six months are rare. Death by hanging is the punishment for murder, piracy, fraud, banditry, etc. The phrase "initiation of force" gets used sometimes when referring to violence.

     People considered feral, savage, etc. tend to get expelled (deported) for minor infractions, or if the community is feeling bad about outsiders that day.

     Piracy and other attacks on trade receive swift and violent attention from the government. Bounties of $50 are paid for pirates.

     Slavery is currently illegal, but that wasn't the case for a few decades in the mid-21st Century.

 

Political Factions, Dissent

     Eight trading clans each own a freight house along the waterfront, and several steamboats. They compete vigorously with each other, and have an outsized amount of political power in both the city and the nation. 

     The smaller towns and farm areas to the west often feel excluded from national government.

 

Famous/Infamous Persons

 

     The twelve main steamboat-owning clans are listed below; each owns at least two steamboats, one own five. Not everyone in the clan has the same surname, but usually about half the clan (and the clan chief) does. In the following list, the number of steamboats operated is given.

 

• Corbair (4)
  

• DeLancey (3; R-36 has met these)
  

• Franklin (2)
  

• Fox (4)
  

• Goldman (4)
  

• Mason (5, including the largest, the Emmylou Harris)
  

• North (4)
  

• Oakland (2)
  

• Presley (4)
  

• Slate (2)
  

• Tempest (3)
  

• Washington (3)
  

 

     There are another dozen steamboats owned by other persons (usually by their captain). Not everyone in the clans lives in Memphis; but two or three hundred of Memphis' residents are clan members (about one-sixth of the town's population, and about one-third of the town's votes).

     Some members of the clans live in other cities along the Mississippi and its tributaries.

 

Relationships with Other Groups

     Memphis has close ties with other riverine merchant cultures; loose ties with other trading groups (especially the Cartel); and deals carefully with the Savant Empire.

     Specifically, Memphis doesn't have any diplomatic contact with the Savants, but various steamboats trade with the Empire, either at Houston or at Shreveport.

     Most steamboat captains have good relations with various "feral" communities along the Mississippi and its tributaries.

 

Culture

 

Ethnic Groups, Immigration and Emigration

 

     The locals are pretty evenly blended from the 20th Century population.

     Immigration to Memphis (the city) is rare; it's an expensive town for most people in the Midwest. The trading clans don't want more competition in river trade. Marrying into one of the trading clans is the most common path to citizenship.

     Refugees and hopeful settlers from less-sophisticated regions (especially ferals) make up about 10% of the rural population; they are usually living in tar-paper barracks, employed as field hands; or, they are women married to Memphisite men. A number of sneaky tricks are employed to deny them the right to vote (which would normally occur after a year's residence in Memphis territory).

 

Social Divisions and Castes

     "Urban" and rural; trade clans vs. less mobile folks; educated/literate vs. not ... none of these are impossible to alter.

 

Religion, Beliefs and Superstition

     There's a Baptist and a Catholic church in Memphis, but they aren't very well-attended. Most of the town's inhabitants are agnostic.

     The steamboat crews have some minor superstitions, odd customs, traditions, and hazing practices.

 

Morality and Values

     They're not a very empathic community; beggars and the poor aren't well-regarded. Especially in the city itself, there's little loyalty to the "nation of Memphis" -- individuality, independence and utility rate higher. "Taking care of business" is the town motto. There's an aversion to anyone getting a "free ride".

     "There's no money in it, and they aren't related to me" is a common excuse for not doing something.

     Being called a loafer, slacker, goldbrick, etc. are notable insults.

     People from unsophisticated, illiterate or non-technological cultures -- especially hunter-gatherers or subsistence farmers -- face a lot of discrimination in Memphis. They usually don't have much cash, and many people don't want to do business with them, and overcharge them. They're called "ferals" when people are being polite; "scavs", "savages" and other rude terms otherwise. There's no law against them settling in Memphis, but nobody will sell them land. They can only get low-paying, manual labor jobs in rural areas.

 

Progress and Failure

     Outside of the town of Memphis, success is viewed much the same as in late Nineteenth Century American West -- raising a family, paying the mortgage, good crops, etc.

     Within the town of Memphis, there's a very striving, commercial atmosphere, and strong competition between the trading clans.

 

Family, Age, Sexuality and Gender

     Marriage is allowed between any number of consenting adults; in fact, it's just another sort of contract. There are few polygamous (or polyandrous) marriages, but they do exist. Divorce is more common in Memphis than in nearly any other community in North America; and the attempts to assign paternity and hold parents (or someone else?) responsible for the upbringing of children takes up a lot of the small government's time and energy.

     Pregnancies end in stillbirths more often "than they should", and more male children are born than female. The gender of the stillborn fetuses is usually not reported, but everyone presumes that they are female. For every 100 female children born, 120 males are born; thus, about 45% of the population are female.

     For several decades the government paid mothers $25 for each male child born, $50 for each female child (this policy ended about a generation ago). Homosexuality, and other relationships that reduce the birthrate, are frowned on by People Who Speak Out About Issues, by religious figures, and by the more rural population.

     The practice of bringing "feral" women into the nation as brides has been criticized on several grounds, but continues.

     The fertility rate (births per 1000 population) is 28; about 550 children are born each year.

     Women are generally educated as well as men -- better, in the fields of arts and literature. A quarter to a third of the workers in even the most arduous professions are female. There are no restrictions on female military service.

 

Education and Language

     There are a few grade schools around the rural areas; in Memphis itself there is also a high school. Funding for the rural schools is one of the more contentious issues in the nation.

     English is the normal language, but many steamboat crews and traders know other languages.

 

Environment and Agriculture

     Cotton, rice, corn, wheat, sorghum, soybeans, orchard products (apples, peaches, etc.), herds of horses, goats and sheep, flocks of ducks and geese ...

     Cotton is picked from late July to the middle of September, depending on the weather. Rice is harvested from late August to Late October. Wheat is harvested from June 5 to July 5.

     A tradition with an obvious origin states that Mississippi River fish are poisonous.

     Most tobacco comes from Kentucky, but a few farmers have tried raising it here. It's got a lot more nicotine in it than 20th Century smokers are used to.

     Deer, waterfowl, elk, moorhens, bears, rabbits, squirrels, doves, muskrats, nutria, and turkeys are hunted.

 

Food

     More on this later. Fish are not popular. The Highwater Brewery makes most of the beer consumed in the town.

 

Art and Entertainment, Music, Literature, Recreation

     There is a subscription library in Memphis; it has a lot of random 20th Century books.

     Pipe, cigar and cigarette smoking is common, along with chewing tobacco.

 

Fashion and Appearance

     Rather Tom Sawyer-ish:  denim trousers or overalls, cotton or linen shirts, straw or felt hats, horse-leather boots or sandals; dresses for housewives and most school girls. There's no "suit and tie" tradition. Men wear knee-length pants in good or hot weather.

 

Urban and Rural Areas, Architecture

     The town of Memphis itself is busy, and largely controlled by the twelve trade-and-riverboat clans. New construction is mostly wood; a number of 20th Century masonry buildings have been repaired or rebuilt. The streets are oiled or paved with tar.

     Fires have swept through the town several times in the last century.

     A few buildings in the town of Memphis -- hotels, butcher shops, the casino and theater, and a couple of expensive homes -- have swamp coolers.

 

Equipment and Resources

 

Economy

     The nation is rated AG, R (agricultural, rich) in regards to trade. Their technology level (for possessions) is D (late Steam Age, circa 1880).

     The usual mix of 20th Century coinage is employed.

     Banks come and go; they tend not to last very long. Co-ops, mutual benefit societies, lending circles, etc. last longer.

     There's a lot of "churn" in the business community. Trading ventures, investments in steamboats, get-rich-quick schemes can sometimes produce big returns, but often go broke.

     Goods brought from west of the Rockies (i.e., Styx) will be about double the price you'd pay at the factory. Goods from East Broad Top or the Great Lakes are also rare and expensive. The price list for items around Memphis can be found here.

     Some examples of rents in Memphis, per month:

 

• office for 4 clerks and a professional:  $5 to $10

• boat house on the waterfront, 3 m wide by 10 m long:  $10

• wharf or pier, 3 m wide by 20 m long:  $10 (but needs annual repairs)

• freight house, 15 m by 40 m, partially two stories, with barracks for two dozen clan members, small workshop, secure store room, private pier, etc.:  $100

• small three-bedroom home without basement, no indoor plumbing:  $15, +20% inside Memphis dikes
  

• nice four-bedroom home with a basement, indoor plumbing, steam heat, hot water and bath:  $45, +20% inside Memphis dikes

• doctor's home and dispensary:  $30

• workshop or barn, 5 m by 15 m, big doors at both ends, small storeroom included:  $15, +20% inside Memphis dikes

• hotel room with twin bed, per night:  $1

• nice hotel room with large bed, wardrobe, bathtub:  $3

   

     Purchase prices:

 

• doctor's home and dispensary in Memphis:  $900

• farmland west of town averages $11 per acre including improvements (but not including homes, see below)

• family house on a farm:  $400 for a 3-bedroom house, wooden foundation, no basement, no indoor plumbing, to $1200 for a nice home with stone foundation, basement, plumbing, steam heat, hot water and bath
  

• specifically, those are the costs to build a new home, not including the land; and of course some people live in cruddy shacks worth almost nothing

 

Science, Medicine and Technology

     There are three doctors in Memphis proper, and one each in Earle, Crawfordsville, and Forrest City. There is no medical school anywhere in the area where steamboats travel; a doctor is anyone who wishes to hang up their shingle. Several of the doctors are clearly (to Morrow personnel) quacks, depending on the curative power of hot springs, ancient medical equipment, or laying on hands. Aspirin and ether are available (not made locally, however).

     Some products available in Memphis, produced locally or brought by trade along the Mississippi:

 

• ammonia
  

• calcium lactate
  

• coal:  mostly from towns along the Ohio River 
  

• coal tar:  produced in Kentucky and other areas to the east. Much of this is shipped into the West.
  

• coke: Most of this is shipped into the West. 
  

• gasoline, diesel, kerosene, lubricating oil, grease, tar, etc.:  mostly produced in Bend City, Texas. 
  

• gypsum 
  

• hydrogen
  

• ice 
  

• lactic acid
  

• lead 
  

• methanol (aka wood alcohol)

• nitrates are produced in Memphis and some of the other Mississippi River towns, or shipped down from the Great Lakes.
  

• phosphorus
  

• potash:  Some comes downstream along the Fox River, from the Great Lakes; and much of it is shipped into the West.

• sodium hydroxide (aka lye)
  

• sodium lactate

 

     The following items are produced in the western United States, and are available on an irregular basis.

 

• calcium oxide (aka quick lime, burnt lime, unslaked lime):  produced by burning limestone and slaked with water. Used in steel making, concrete and cement production, glass making, and many other uses
  

• calcium hydroxide (aka slaked lime, caustic lime):  produced from calcium oxide mixed with water
  

• cordite:  a propellant used in small arms and artillery
  

• mercury
  

• nitric acid

• pyrites

• salt

• sodium carbonate  

• sulfur 

• sulfuric acid:  when available, it's usually at the "battery" level of concentration

• smallpox vaccine

 

Weapons and Military Equipment

 

     Handguns are not made in Memphis -- they're either salvaged from Ancient cities, or bought from Cartel traders. Ammo was from Styx or other already-known production sources. They might have had some guns or magazines as salvage. This list shows the 20th Century (or older!) handguns available from Memphis stores in the fall of 2140:

 

• Luger, in 7.65mm Luger caliber; $200

• Walther PPK, gold plated, ivory grips, .380 ACP/9mm Short. Comes with one magazine. $100

• Colt Cobra revolver, in .38 Special. 6 shots, 2" barrel, aluminum frame. $13

• S&W Model 36 "Chief's Special" revolver, 5 rounds, .38 Special, 3" barrel. $20.

• Colt Python .357 Magnum revolver, 6" barrel, dark blue with gold scrollwork, fancy wood grips. $100

• M1911 (not A1), dark blued,  with weird blue "rock" grips, letter "E" on grip panels, "WW1 Commemorative" scrollwork. Comes with one standard magazine. $500

• M1911A1 nickel-plated with lots of scrollwork engraving, and TCB/lightning medallion on ivory grips. Comes with one nickel-plated magazine. $500

• Remington .38 Special double-derringer, gold-plated with pearl grips. $20

• Beretta Model 70, in 380 ACP/9mm Short, with one 7-round magazine, gold plated. $100

• there are always some working .38 Special revolvers available, in reasonable condition. These cost $15 each.

 

     And longarms:

 

• Winchester M1866, in .44-40. $30

• scoped single-shot express rifle, in .458 Winchester Magnum caliber. $50

     

    One thing they do have in Memphis are, in fact, 1 pounder (37x94mm) guns and shells -- river boatmen use them fairly often.

 

• The gun without carriage, pedestal, or mount weighs only 40 kg, costs (in Memphis) $1200. At any one time, only two or three are available -- POWx3% to find more than two.
  

• A simpler version of this gun, without any recoil system, costs only $800. It's pretty much just the barrel and breechblock. Availability is POWx3% for one, more on a better roll.
  

• For $30 each, you can get a simple cone-shaped pedestal mount, made of iron, about a meter tall, weight 40 kg each.

• A tripod weighs 68 kg, including small wheels. None are available in Memphis, though.

• Proper horse-drawn carriages and caissons could be made, also. The gun, limber and caisson would be pulled by one horse or mule.
  

• "Low explosive" (black powder filled) cartridges cost $8 each in Memphis, and they have quite a lot. Mass of round, 0.7 kg.
  

• "High explosive" (cordite filled) rounds cost $12 each. The number available is equal to your POW. Mass of round, 0.7 kg.

• Gun shields are available:  6mm of mild steel, about a meter to each side, and a meter tall, they don't cover down to the ground (it's assumed your boat will have bulwarks, apparently).  90 kg each, $10 each.

 

Communications

     A few CB and AM radios, of the type used by truck convoys, are used by steamboats. There are several competing post and courier services.

     There's no newspaper currently, although there have been a few in the years since the Atomic War. There are a couple of simple printing presses in town; they print flyers, simple textbooks, catalogs, and some official reports.

 

Vehicles

     There are almost no "personal" motor vehicles; horses and horse-drawn wagons are used for minor transport. A half-dozen trucks (including pickups) from the 20th Century, along with a few dozen tractors, haul heavy loads from the agricultural areas to the towns.

     In Memphis itself there are a few eccentric vehicles, due to the workshops fiddling with salvage. A couple of steam-powered vehicles putter along the streets, for example.

     Trade convoys arrive from time to time; some of them can have as many as a dozen trucks, plus scout cars, motorbikes, etc. manned by 50 drivers, guards and merchants.

 

Aircraft

     None.

 

Watercraft

     The best-known vessels on the Mississippi River are steam boats. A typical steamboat is 18 meters long, with a displacement of 30 tons; there are 52 boats, the largest of which (the Emmylou Harris) has a displacement of 250 tons. Note that some of these are actually powered by diesel engines or other non-steam propulsion, but for our purposes we'll call them all "steamboats". The culture of the riverboat crews feels that a proper steamboat has an enclosed cabin, and a pilothouse on top.

     A few steamboats operate east of the Falls of the Ohio; they are never seen in Memphis.

     Some wooden barges, and a few larger steel barges from the 20th Century, are used to carry cargo. They are either towed, pushed, or lashed alongside the steamboats.

     Long-tail boats, fast open boats powered by internal-combustion engines, are common around the city. They can carry four to ten persons, or 100 kg of cargo for each person they don't carry. The propeller shaft is very long, and the engine is mounted on the tiller. Some have a simple post mount for a machine gun.

a 10 meter long-tail boat

 

     As a note, water currents in the Mississippi River above St Louis are about 2 kph; at the mouth of the river, the currents are about 5 kph.