SPANISH FORT, Ala. — Ready to ride a riverboat? No, you don’t have to go to New Orleans or along the Mississippi to get a taste of what rivers might have looked like during Mark Twain’s time. The Mobile-Tensaw Delta provides plenty of unspoiled adventure.

Contact Blakeley State Park. The park has a 50-foot pontoon boat, Delta Explorer, that can take up to 50 guests along a variety of routes. The park’s website is www.blakeleypark.com, or call 251-626-0798 for more information.

No, it’s not a paddle-wheel steamer. But the boat provides plenty of adventure and expert guides.

That’s just fine with John and Marg Sheridan of Fairhope.

“We are from Scotland, from Glasgow,” said Marge, adding the couple has been in the country for two years. “We like to explore the area.”

“We love it here,” said John. “It’s (the Explorer) a great way to see things you would not otherwise.”

A few weeks ago, the Delta Explorer headed up the river on the Bottle Creek Tour. The site, near what is now Stockton, was occupied around A.D.1250 to 1550, according to Dr. Gregory Waselkov, professor of anthropology at the University of South Alabama. Waselkov is also director of the U.S.A. Center for Archaeological Studies.

“This was the ‘Mississippi Period,’” explained Waselkov. While it’s not possible to be absolutely sure, scholars believe the site, with 18 flat-topped mounds for temples and leaders to dwell on, held religious significance for the Native Americans who lived there. It was also a center for trade. Because of frequent flooding at the site, Waselkov explained, the residents would keep many large dug-out canoes nearby, ready to float away if the water should rise. The people there also took advantage of the bounty the land and nearby sea offered for food.

Because the site is protected by the swamps and streams surrounding it, it has remained relatively untouched. Anthropology students on the trip uncovered shards of pottery, but left them at the site to conform with state law.

Scott Paper Co. donated the site to the state of Alabama and it is now administered as a preserve by the Alabama Historical Commission.

Of course, learning about the mounds is also a lesson in human nature.

“The elite lived on top,” said Waselkov. He pointed out that the lower classes would live below the tops of the mounds.

The mounds are something “most people around here never get out to see,” he said. “The biggest lesson is that a lot of people lived here before us.”

Exactly why the Native Americans chose this site is unknown.

“Perhaps they came for access to salt,” he speculated. “We know they were here until the Conquistadors came.” Current thinking, he added, believes that the diseases the Conquistadors brought with them might have reduced the native population.

Even the trip out to the mound site brought things many people don’t see. It was the first day of deer hunting season, so the Explorer passed and was passed by boats bearing hunters and their dogs to their camps. One boat chugged downstream with the carcass of a large wild pig strapped to the deck.

There were plenty of waterbirds to gawk at, and several times passengers on the boat were treated to sights of alligators slipping into the water.

While the crew of the Explorer pointed out a plank that may have been needed to reach shore, the crew was able to put the boat ashore right on the bank. Because hunting season was in full swing, the passengers were told to don orange vests before stepping ashore.

“This is the second largest prehistoric site (in Alabama) after Moundville,” explained Waselkov to the group. “We don’t know (what the people there) called themselves.” He added they were “good farmers” and that both men and women could be chiefs.

The mud-insulated homes they built, Waselkov said, would have allowed for comfort in summer and winter.

The mounds, built up over years, are marvels of engineering. Waselkov says the mounds might have symbolized the “creation of the world” to the people there.

According to USA archeologist Bonnie Gums, getting to visit the site is rare.

“We have to go when the weather is cool enough and the water not high enough to flood the area,” she said. “That usually means fall.”