Floating the Mississippi River from St. Paul to New Orleans

Three friends pull off a stunt unlike any other.

It was June of 1955 when friends Sam Gray, David Rutford and Fred Hallberg undertook a wild Mississippi River odyssey spawned in the throes of youthful exuberance. Leaving their hometown of St. Paul, Minnesota, the three men, on summer break from college, decided to float a vehicle down the “Mighty Mississippi” on a homemade barge, and then drive it bac…