Between 1800 and 1840, the western rivers in America became a floating supply chain that fueled national growth. In the present day, America's inland rivers are a superhighway dominated by leviathan barges carrying $80 billion of cargo annually. As a historian, Rinker Buck resurrects the era's adventurous spirit, but he also challenges familiar myths about American expansion, confronting the bloody truth behind settlers' push for land and wealth. With a rare narrative power that blends stirring adventure with absorbing untold history, Life on the Mississippi is a muscular and majestic feat of storytelling.