The Mississippi: River Road

Visitors to New York and California who think they have seen “the real America” are mistaken. It is as if they have seen an apple and concluded that what is red on the outside must also be red on the inside. If one slices an apple down the middle, one will discover the white fruit and a core with seeds. In America, that core is the Mississippi River. It is the real America.

The Mississippi River gave Native Americans fish and birds to eat, water to drink, and grasses to weave. The French sought to connect the north Atlantic coast with the Great Lakes and the river to New Orleans. When migrants from Europe pushed these people off the land, the river gave the farmers of the country a way to bring its great harvests to markets. Ultimately the river connected all the lands between the Appalachian Mountains and the Rocky Mountains with the Gulf of Mexico.

Twenty years ago, I set out to drive from the source of the Mississippi River at Lake Itasca in Minnesota, where one can literally “walk across” the river, to the broad sweeping currents that pass New Orleans. In「ミシシッピ＝アメリカを生んだ大河」講談社メチエ I told the stories of the Native Americans, European migrants, migratory birds, agricultural transports, religious communities, bridge builders, and jazz musicians who travelled on the River Road, the real heart of what is now the United States. The river isn’t hidden. It’s available to anyone who takes a look. And any part of it is highly rewarding.

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