The Mississippi Bubble revolves around the story of John Law and the famous "Mississippi Bubble", an economic crisis of speculative investment in the French colony of Louisiana. Upon finishing his education John Law intends to pursue a financial career in London, but gets involved in a duel. He escapes the sentence and travels abroad and explores the upper reaches of the St. Lawrence and to the Mississippi. John gets involved in dubious money printing business and chance has thrown him together with a woman who he takes as mistress. Emerson Hough (1857–1923) was an American author best known for writing western stories, adventure tales and historical novels. His best known works include western novels The Mississippi Bubble and The Covered Wagon, The Young Alaskans series of adventure novels, and historical works The Way to the West and The Story of the Cowboy.