"Tote that barge. Lift that bale. Get a little drunk and you land in jail...Ole Man River, he just keeps rollin’ along..."

Those famous lyrics sung by Paul Robeson in "Showboat" illustrate what many have noted in the great legends and histories of America—that the Mississippi River is a constant, a given, that tribes, races and species may come and go, but the mighty Mississippi transcends temporality. It just keeps rollin’ along.

"Rollin' on the River" is one of this country's great th...