Our Team
John “Driftwood Johnny” Ruskey is a musician, painter and writer, and lives in Clarksdale, Mississippi. He was the first curator of the Delta Blues Museum (1992-98) and is co-founder of the Delta Blues Education Fund. In 1998 he founded the Mighty Quapaws Apprenticeship Program for the youth of the Mississippi Delta, most of whom come from severely distressed neighborhoods. In 2011 he founded the Lower Mississippi River Foundation for access, education, and the betterment of public outdoor recreation on the Middle & Lower Mississippi Rivers. He is owner and founder of the Quapaw Canoe Company, which celebrated its 25th anniversary in 2023, and provides guiding & outfitting to the raw wild power & beauty of the Mississippi River between St. Louis and the Gulf of Mexico.
He has floated and written about many of the major rivers of North America, including the Mississippi, the Colorado, the Rio Grande, the Arkansas, the Platte, the Columbia, the Missouri, and most recently the Atchafalaya. His guiding philosophy comes from Thoreau’s statement: “in wildness is the preservation of the world.”
In 2019 John was awarded the Noel Polk Lifetime Achievement Award from the Mississippi Institute of Arts and Letters, and in 2022 John was awarded the St. John’s College Award of Merit for distinguished and meritorious service to the United States, to the Mississippi River, for “outstanding achievement in the arts and exploration.”
John is the author of the Wild Miles (www.wildmiles.org) and the Rivergator: Paddler’s Guide to the Lower Mississippi River (www.rivergator.org).
Ceili “Mayfly” Hale is a big canoe guide and worker bee on the Mississippi River.
Originally from Jackson, Mississippi, she went on a Magic on the Mississippi trip in 2023 that led to a permanent move to Clarksdale to join the Quapaw team.
In Clarksdale, if Ceili is not on the river, she can be found in our Canoe Shop, sending emails and updating our social media, making movies and videos with her friends, dancing at Ground Zero and Hambone, or stargazing with her astrophotographer boyfriend Walt.
Layne “River Possum” Logue is the leader and River Guide at Quapaw Canoe Company – Vicksburg Outpost. He was born in New Orleans, Louisiana (Chalmatte) and moved to Vicksburg, Mississippi when his father got a job with the Corps of Engineers.
Fishing, hunting, and playing outside was his childhood…and he still plays outside today. Layne also lived in Saudi Arabia for five years (age 9-14) when his father volunteered for an overseas tour.
He is currently a Civil Engineer working with the Mississippi Dept. Of Transportation. Layne has always loved the Mississippi River and once he found paddling and John Ruskey, his life was forever changed to support the Mississippi River and all life on it.
Layne is also a River Angel and helps the long distance paddlers with providing them a place to stay and resupplying them.
Layne is a Bluz Cruz Committee member and helps coordinate the 22 mile Canoe & Kayak Mississippi River race held in Vicksburg every April.
He has an eagle eye when it comes to spotting wildlife, and uses his passion of photography to document and share the beauty of the River. Layne’s goal is working towards a healthy thriving Mississippi River and providing transportation for people to see the magic that occurs on it. The Mississippi River flows through his heart.
St. Louis born Mark “River” Peoples is a river guide and youth leader with the Quapaw Canoe Company. Mark grew up hunting and fishing along the river with his father.
After attending Missouri Central State University, and becoming defensive back with the New York Giants, Mark left a career in professional football for the river.
Mark is a writer for the Lower Mississippi River Dispatch and shares his intimate & nature-filled musings about river life on Big Island (www.bigmuddyisland.org).
He is the 1 Mississippi Southern Region intern (www.1Mississippi.org) and also serves on the board of the Lower Mississippi River Foundation.
When not on the water, Mark mentors Delta youth and educates them on the importance of the protection and preservation of our national treasure for generations to come.
Mark works hard on changing the perception of our great River and its tributaries. Through river trips, cleanups, and workshops, Mark’s goal is overall systemic health of the Mississippi River.
Heather Crosse, the “River Otter,” has been tracking the legendary Rougarou across the Deep South for over 40 years from her Red River homeland in the heart of Louisiana, to the Ouachita River Basin in Arkansas, and finally into the big muddy Queen of Rivers herself, the Mighty Mississippi!
Heather moved to Clarksdale, MS., home of the famous “Blues Crossroads,” in 2008 to pursue her musical passions near the big river. She is a singer, songwriter, bass player, music teacher, and band leader for local soul blues band “Heavy Suga’ & The SweeTones. After many years of fulfilling her musical dreams Crosse became a recording artist for Ruf Records, German Blues label, releasing her debut solo album, Heather Crosse “Groovin’ At The Crosse Roads” and touring Europe with Ruf’s Blues Caravan 2015-Girls With Guitars. Heather has also toured Mexico, Canada, Norway, Australia and Brazil representing Clarksdale sharing her musical legacy with the world.
Record Label: Rufrecords.de
Matthew Burdine, originally a Mississippi Delta native, is the owner and head guide of Mississippi River Expeditions, the Tennessee outpost of Quapaw Canoe Company.
After spending almost ten years as a whitewater river guide in the mountains of Colorado, it was time to move back south to share his love of rivers. Especially his love of the Mississippi River."