The adventures of a boy and a runaway slave as they travel down the Mississippi River on a raft.

Convinced that he is cursed after the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927, 20-year-old Robert Chatham, who, constantly followed by trouble, has lost his will to live, finally shakes his demons until he is forced to make an impossible choice.

Explores the science and the history of the great Mississippi River, showing why the Ojibwe Indians called it "Mes-sipi," Father of Running Waters.

Examines the causes and effects of such American disasters as the sinking of the steamboat Sultana in 1871, the Johnstown Flood, the Dust Bowl, the influenza epidemic of 1918-1919, and the Exxon Valdez oil spill.

"Pare Lorentz's THE PLOW THAT BROKE THE PLAINS (1936) and THE RIVER (1937) are landmark American documentary films. Aesthetically, they break new ground in seamlessly marrying pictorial imagery, symphonic music, and poetic free verse, all realized with supreme artistry. Idealogically, they indelibly encapsulate the strivings of Franklin Delano Roosevelt's 'New Deal'. Virgil Thomson's scores for both films are among the most famous ever composed for...

Two boys, Ellis and his best friend Neckbone, find a mysterious man named Mud hiding out on a deserted island in the Mississippi. Mud tells the boys fantastic stories about his life, including how he killed a man in Texas and vengeful bounty hunters are coming to get him. He says he is planning to meet and escape with the love of his life, Juniper. The boys agree to help him, but it isn't long until their small town is besieged by bounty hunters out...