The Mississippi River marks a crucial passage in the post-disaster journeys across the continent. Ish first treats it as one of the great obstacles on a possible eastward route; later, Robert reports that the expedition reached the largest river and crossed it over a bridge that remained sound. The crossing gives a concrete answer to one of Ish’s central uncertainties: whether the old infrastructure could still carry people through a changed landscape.

The River in Ish’s Route Planning

Ish sketches an eastward journey that would go south through more open country, since fallen trees and landslides might block roads across the Sierra Nevada and to the north. Beyond the Colorado River, he expects the mountains to be manageable, but identifies the Rio Grande at Albuquerque as the next major river barrier. Farther east, the route would open onto the plains, where he hopes the Missouri or Mississippi could be crossed on high steel bridges. The Bay Bridge, still standing, gives him reason to think such crossings might be possible, but he cannot know whether the bridges elsewhere have survived.

The Mississippi is therefore both a geographic landmark and a practical test in Ish’s plan. He is eager for the travelers to look beyond isolated survivors and find whole communities, learning how other groups have managed the work of starting again. Yet reaching those communities depends on uncertain roads and river crossings; his map can suggest a way forward, not guarantee one.

The Unknown Country Beyond the River

Ish’s plan does not end at the Mississippi. He expects the country beyond it to be harder to assess: natural forest may have blocked the roads, while fires might have kept vegetation down across parts of the former prairie in Illinois. The travelers would have to proceed as far as they could and make decisions from what they found. In this account, the river is a boundary between a route that can be provisionally mapped and terrain whose condition remains unknown.

A Bridge Still Standing

On the expedition, Robert reports that the party reached the largest river and found its bridge intact enough to cross. The account places this passage after the travelers had moved through wetter country, where heavier growth and winter frost were breaking highways into chunks and allowing grass, weeds, bushes, and young trees to obstruct them. Against that steady deterioration on land, the usable bridge is a notable survival of the old transport network.

After the crossing, the travelers reach Chicago, which they find empty, its streets deserted. The expedition thus confirms that a major river crossing can remain physically possible even when the city beyond it has lost its population. The Mississippi’s importance lies not in a new settlement or encounter there, but in the contrast it makes visible: a structure may endure, while the social world it once served has vanished.