"A modern-day Huck Finn, Rinker Buck casts off down the river on the flatboat Patience accompanied by an eccentric crew of daring shipmates. Over the course of his voyage, Buck steers his fragile wooden craft through narrow channels dominated by massive cargo barges, rescues his first mate gone overboard, sails blindly through fog, breaks his ribs not once but twice, and camps every night on sandbars, remote islands, and steep levees. As he charts...

Seventeen-year-old Steven "Stiggy" Gabel tries to cope with his father's suicide, his mother's depression, and his girlfriend's departure by taking off down the Great River Road from Minnesota to Louisiana.

France and England in North America is a two-volume history of the European colonization of North America written by Francis Parkman between 1865 and 1892, which highlights the military struggles between France and Great Britain. It was well regarded at the time of publication, and continues to enjoy a reputation as a literary masterpiece. While it is still useful in a limited capacity as an historical study, Parkman took many liberties in describing...

Describes how Blanche Douglas Leathers studied the Mississippi River and passed the test to become a steamboat captain in 1894.

Describes Champlain's exploration of New France and his relations with the Indians.