Barges heading down the Mississippi River carry most of the United State’s soy beans, corn and other crop exports to a global market. But, the river’s role as a trade superhighway goes back hundreds if not thousand of years.

In his new book “Life on the Mississippi” best-selling author Rinker Buck writes about floating from Pittsburgh to New Orleans in a wooden flat boat, following the same water routes taken by thousands of flatboats that carried goods downstream in the 19th century.

MPR News guest host Chris Farrell talks with Rinker and a local river historian about the forgotten history of the flatboat era, modern river communities and why so many of us love the Mighty Mississippi.

• Rinker Buck is the author of “Life on the Mississippi: An Epic American Adventure” and is the New York Times bestselling author of “The Oregon Trail.” He lives in Tennessee.




• John Anfinson retired in 2021 as the superintendent of the Mississippi National River and Recreation Area, a national park focused on the 72-mile stretch of the river as it flows through the greater Twin Cities. He’s been researching, writing and speaking about the upper Mississippi River for over 35 years.