Missouri River
 | The Missouri River and its tributaries |
|
 | N.P. Dodge Park, Omaha, Nebraska |
|
 | High silt content makes the Missouri (left) noticeably lighter than the Mississippi here at their confluence above St. Louis. |
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| Fort Randall Dam on the Missouri River in South Dakota |
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The
Missouri River is a tributary of the
Mississippi River in the
United States. The Missouri begins at the confluence of the Madison, Jefferson, and Gallatin rivers in
Montana, and flows into the Mississippi north of
St. Louis, Missouri. At about 2,315 mi (3,725 km) in length, it drains approximately one-sixth of the
North American continent. Depending on whether its length is reckoned from the headwaters of its sources (as the Mississippi's length is reckoned from
Lake Itasca,
Minnesota), or from their confluence where the Missouri is first so-named (at
Three Forks, Montana), it is currently either the longest or second-longest river in the United States. Prior to the
Pick-Sloan Program and
channelization, it was unquestionably the longest river in the US. The combined Missouri-Mississippi river system is the
fourth longest river in the world. According to
statements from the Army Corps of Engineers, in an average year, the Missouri River provides about 45 percent of the flow of the Mississippi past St. Louis. Its volume on average is also less than that of the
Ohio River, another tributary of the Mississippi.
The headwaters of the Missouri are in the
Rocky Mountains of southwestern
Montana, near the
continental divide. The river rises in the
Jefferson,
Madison, and
Gallatin rivers, which converge near
Three Forks, Montana to form the Missouri. It flows north, through mountainous canyons, emerging from the mountains near
Great Falls, where a
large cataract historically marked the navigable limit of the river. It flows east across the plains of
Montana into
North Dakota, then turns southeast, flowing into
South Dakota, and along the north and eastern edge of
Nebraska, forming part of its border with South Dakota and all of its border with
Iowa, flowing past
Sioux City and
Omaha. It forms the entire boundary between Nebraska and
Missouri, and part of the boundary between Missouri and
Kansas. At
Kansas City, it turns generally eastward, flowing across Missouri where it joins the Mississippi just north of
St. Louis.
The river is nicknamed "Big Muddy" because of the high silt content in its flow, a feature that is highly visible at its confluence with the Mississippi. The river was of great importance in the United States'
westward expansion. During the
18th century, the river was used by
fur traders under the flags of
Spain and
France. The entire Missouri River
watershed was acquired from the French by the United States in
1803 as part of the
Louisiana Purchase and explored by the
Lewis and Clark Expedition, which successfully used the river in exploring for a route to the
Pacific Ocean. During the middle and late-
19th century, the river was a primary means of transportation for goods and passengers before the spread of the railroads. The extensive use of
paddle steamers on the upper river helped facilitate European settlement of the
Dakotas and
Montana, serving to spark several of the most intense
Indian Wars in the region.
In the
20th century, the upper Missouri was extensively dammed for
flood control,
irrigation, and
hydroelectric power. After President
Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the
Flood Control Act of 1944, the
Pick-Sloan Plan turned the Missouri River into the largest reservoir system in North America. There are six
dams in three states:
Fort Peck in Montana;
Garrison in North Dakota;
Oahe,
Big Bend, and
Fort Randall in South Dakota, and
Gavins Point on the South Dakota-Nebraska border.
These dams were constructed without
locks, so commercial navigation on the Missouri cannot proceed above the Gavins Point Dam. The
Corps of Engineers maintains a 9-foot deep (3 meter) navigation channel for 735 miles (1183 km) between
Sioux City, Iowa and
St. Louis. The dams aid navigation on the lower river by reducing fluctuations in water levels.
The only significant stretch of free-flowing stream on the lower Missouri is the
Missouri National Recreational River section between
Gavins Point Dam and
Ponca State Park,
Nebraska. This federally-designated "
Wild and Scenic River" is among the last unspoiled stretches of the Missouri, and exhibits the islands, bars, chutes and snags that once characterized the "Mighty Mo".
The extensive system of tributaries drain nearly all the semi-arid northern
Great Plains of the United States. A very small portion of southern
Alberta,
Canada is also drained by the river through its tributary, the
Milk.
The river's course roughly follows the edge of the glaciation during the last
ice age. Most of the river's longer tributaries stretch away from this edge, with their origins towards the west, draining portions of the eastern Rockies.
|
George Caleb Bingham "Fur Traders on Missouri River", c. 1845. |
|
Karl Bodmer "Fort Pierre and the Adjacent Prairie", c. 1833 |
The American painter
George Catlin traveled up the Missouri in the 1830s, making portraits of individuals and tribes of Native Americans. He also painted several Missouri River landscapes, notably "
Floyd's Bluff" and "
Brick Kilns", both from
1832.
The
Swiss painter
Karl Bodmer accompanied
German explorer Prince
Maximilian zu Wied-Neuwied from
1832 through
1834 on his Missouri River expedition. Bodmer was hired as an artist by Maximilian for the purpose of recording images of the
Native American tribes that they encountered in the American West.
In
1843, the American painter and
naturalist John James Audubon traveled west to the upper Missouri River and the
Dakota Territory to do fieldwork for his final major opus,
Viviparous Quadrupeds of North America. A typical example from this folio is
"American Bison".
Missouri painter
George Caleb Bingham immortalized the
fur traders and
flatboatmen who plied the Missouri River in the early 1800s; these same
boatmen were known for their
river chanties, including the haunting American
folk song "
Oh Shenandoah". Each verse of "
Oh Shenandoah" ends with the line, "...'cross the wide Missouri."
The river is notable for being the setting of the
Pete Seeger song
Waist Deep in the Big Muddy. The song is set in
1942, during training for
World War II, but its image of a foolish
captain who pushes his men further and further into a hopeless situation was clearly meant to parallel the
Vietnam War. In the song, a captain leading a squad on training
maneuvers insists on crossing the titular river, insisting that it is safe to cross. The captain sinks into the mud, drowns, and his squad turns back.
Montana
*
Jefferson River*
Madison River*
Gallatin River*
Sixteenmile Creek*
Dearborn River*
Smith River*
Sun River*
Belt Creek*
Marias River *
Arrow Creek *
Judith River *
Cow Creek *
Musselshell River *
Milk River *
Redwater River *
Poplar River *
Big Muddy CreekNorth Dakota
*
Yellowstone River *
Little Muddy Creek *
Tobacco Garden Creek *
Little Missouri River*
Knife River*
Heart River *
Cannonball RiverSouth Dakota
*
Grand River *
Moreau River *
Cheyenne River *
Bad River *
White River*
James River *
Vermillion River *
Big Sioux River (Iowa border)
Nebraska, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri
*
Niobrara River (Nebraska)
*
Platte River (Nebraska)
*
Little Nemaha River (Nebraska)
*
Big Nemaha River (Nebraska)
*
Perry Creek (Iowa)
*
Floyd River (Iowa)
*
Little Sioux River (Iowa)
*
Soldier River (Iowa)
*
Boyer River (Iowa)
*
Mosquito Creek (Iowa)
*
Nishnabotna River (Iowa)
*
Kansas River (Kansas)
*
Blue River*
Osage River (Missouri)
*
Platte River, Missouri (Missouri)
For a full list, see List of cities and towns along the Missouri River*
Great Falls, Montana*
Bismarck, North Dakota (capital)
*
Pierre, South Dakota (capital)
*
Sioux City, Iowa*
Council Bluffs, Iowa*
Omaha, Nebraska*
Saint Joseph, Missouri*
Kansas City, Kansas*
Kansas City, Missouri*
Jefferson City, Missouri (capital)
*
Saint Charles, Missouri*
List of crossings of the Missouri River*
Geography of the United States*
Pick-Sloan Plan*
Roe River and
D River, for the
shortest river counterpart
*
Flood of 1993
