Missouri River 19591 225116839 2008-07-11T23:25:41Z SieBot 4005189 robot Modifying: [[es:Río Misuri]] {{Infobox River | river_name = Missouri River | image_name = Wpdms nasa topo missouri river.jpg | image_size = <!--Optional; defaults to 288 px--> | caption = The '''Missouri River''' in green, and its tributaries in blue | origin = {{coord|45|55|39|N|111|30|29|W|region:US-MT_type:river_source:GNIS}}<ref name="GNIS-MR">{{Gnis|}}</ref> [[Confluence]] of<br/>[[Madison River]] and [[Jefferson River]],<br/>near [[Gallatin River]],<ref>{{Gnis|800823|Gallatin River}} and/or {{Gnis|771688|Gallatin River}}</ref> in<br/>[[Gallatin County, Montana|Gallatin County]], [[Montana]]. | mouth = {{coord|38|48|49|N|90|07|11|W|region:US-MO_type:river_source:GNIS|display=inline,title}}<ref name="GNIS-MR"/> [[Mississippi River]], near [[St. Louis, Missouri|St. Louis]],<br/>in [[St. Charles County, Missouri|St. Charles County]], [[Missouri]] | basin_countries = [[United States of America]], [[Canada]] | length = {{convert|2540|mi|km}}<ref name="GNIS-MR"/><br/>{{convert|2341|mi|km}}<ref name="USGS-MRS">{{cite web | title = The Missouri River Story | publisher = [[United States Geological Survey]], Central Region | url = http://infolink.cr.usgs.gov/The_River/ | format = HTML}}</ref> | elevation = {{convert|4042|ft|m}}<ref>{{Gnis|785443|Jefferson River}} and/or {{Gnis|801119|Madison River}}, Mouth elevation: {{convert|4042|ft|m}}</ref> | mouth_elevation = {{convert|404|ft|m}}<ref name="GNIS-MR"/> | discharge = [[Great Falls, Montana|Great Falls]]:<ref>{{cite web | title = Sage Database for Great Falls | publisher = Center for Sustainability and the Global Environment (SAGE), Gaylord Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies, University of Wisconsin-Madison | url = http://www.sage.wisc.edu/riverdata/scripts/station_table.php?qual=32&filenum=1454 | format = HTML}}</ref> 292 ft³/s<br /> [[Pierre, South Dakota|Pierre]]:<ref>{{cite web | title = Oahe Dam discharge rate | publisher = [[U.S. Army Corps of Engineers]], District, Missouri River Region | url = http://www.nwd-mr.usace.army.mil/rcc/reports/showrep.cgi?4BULL0MR1 | format = HTML}}</ref> 16,000 ft³/s<br /> [[Sioux City, Iowa|Sioux City]]: 36,830 ft³/s<br />[[Omaha, Nebraska|Omaha]]: 39,100 ft³/s<br /> [[Kansas City, Missouri|Kansas City]]: 56,950 ft³/s<br /> [[Boonville, Missouri|Boonville]]: 69,220 ft³/s<br /> [[Hermann, Missouri|Hermann]]: 87,950 ft³/s<ref>{{cite web | title = Rising Flood Stages on the Lower Missouri River by Robert E. Criss | publisher = EWGateWay; Washington University, St. Louis | url = http://www.ewgateway.org/pdffiles/library/wrc/rising_flood_stages.pdf | format = PDF}}</ref> | watershed = {{convert|529350|mi2|km2}}<ref name="USGS-MRS"/> }} <!-- Lead Paragraph The first paragraph should be a self-contained description including the most important things to know; name(s) - both historic and current - in bold, location (continent/countries/seaboards), and notable facts about the river, such as longest, second longest, main waterway of a country, etc. --> The '''Missouri River'''<ref>[[United States Geological Survey]] Hydrological Unit Code: 07-14-01-01- Cahokia-Joachim Watershed{{Fact|date=June 2008}}</ref> ('''Éˀometaaˀe''' in [[Cheyenne language|Cheyenne]]) is a [[tributary]] of the [[Mississippi River]], and the longest river in the [[United States of America]]<ref name="USGS-LRUS">{{cite web | title = Largest Rivers in the United States | publisher = [[United States Geological Survey]], Publications | url = http://pubs.usgs.gov/of/1987/ofr87-242/ | format = HTML }}</ref>. The Missouri begins at the confluence of the [[Madison River|Madison]], [[Jefferson River|Jefferson]], and [[Gallatin River|Gallatin]] rivers in [[Montana]], and flows through [[Missouri River Valley|its valley]] south and east into the Mississippi north of [[St. Louis, Missouri]]. At {{convert|2540|mi|km}}<ref name="GNIS-MR"/> in length, it drains about one-sixth of the [[North America]]n continent. The Missouri in its original natural meandering state was the longest river in North America. Nearly 72 miles of the river have been cut off in channeling<ref name="USGS-MRS"/> and so it is now comparable in length to the Mississippi River. The combination of the two longest rivers in North America forms the [[River#River lists|fourth longest river]] in the world. At its confluence, the Missouri nearly doubles the volume of the Mississippi, accounting for 45 percent of the flow at St. Louis in normal times and as much as 70 percent of the flow during some droughts.<ref>{{cite web | title = River users object to Missouri River flow levels - February 16, 2004 | publisher = Illinois Business Journal | url = http://www.ibjonline.com/print_reducing_river_flow_levels.html | format = HTML}}</ref> It is the second-largest tributary by volume of the Mississippi, trailing the [[Ohio River|Ohio]]. ==Course== <!-- The narrative description of the course should proceed from the main headwater of the river downstream to its mouth, noting direction, size, major tributaries, human settlements, waterfalls, dams, and so forth. This should be at least a paragraph, may be several paragraphs for long rivers. This section can include numerical data on length, volume, drainage basin, etc. Info on water basins can be found at World resources Institute (site is down; archive) --> The longest river in the United States of America. Heads in Montana at the junction of the Jefferson River and the Madison River, near the mouth of the Gallatin River, then flows generally South-East to the Mississippi River North of St. Louis, Missouri. Forms parts of the South Dakota-Nebraska, Nebraska-Iowa, Nebraska-Missouri and Kansas-Missouri boundaries. The lowest elevation in Nebraska at 840 feet near Richardson.<ref name="GNIS-MR"/> ===Overview=== [[Image:FtLincoln-MissouriRiver.jpg|thumb|left|250px|'''Missouri River''' near [[Fort Abraham Lincoln]] State Park, South of [[Bismarck, North Dakota]]]] [[Image:Missouririvern.jpg|thumb|250px|right|The '''Missouri River''' as seen from southeast [[Nebraska]]]] The headwaters of the Missouri are in the [[Rocky Mountains]] of southwestern [[Montana]], near the small town of [[Three Forks]], rising in the [[Jefferson River|Jefferson]], [[Madison River|Madison]], and [[Gallatin River|Gallatin]] rivers. The longest headwaters stream, and thus the Missouri's [[hydrology|hydrologic]] source, likely begins at [[Brower's Spring]], which flows to the Jefferson by way of several other named streams.<ref name="MToutdoors">{{cite web | title = The True Utmost Reaches of the Missouri | publisher = [[Montana]] Outdoors - July-August 2005 | url = http://fwp.mt.gov/mtoutdoors/HTML/articles/2005/MissouriSource.htm}}</ref> From the confluence of its main tributaries near the city of [[Three Forks, Montana|Three Forks]], the Missouri flows north through mountainous canyons, emerging from the mountains near [[Great Falls, Montana|Great Falls]], where a [[Great Falls of the Missouri River|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, Iowa|Sioux City]] and [[Omaha, Nebraska|Omaha]]. It forms the entire boundary between Nebraska and [[Missouri]], and part of the boundary between Missouri and [[Kansas]]. At [[Kansas City, Missouri|Kansas City]], it turns generally eastward, flowing across Missouri where it joins the Mississippi just north of [[St. Louis, Missouri|St. Louis]]. 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]] and south-western [[Saskatchewan]] is also drained by the river through its tributary, the [[Milk River (Montana-Alberta)|Milk]]. Another, separate area, in southern Saskatchewan is drained by another Missouri tributary, the [[Poplar River (Saskatchewan-Montana)|Poplar River]]. The river 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. ===Headwaters=== [[Image:BeaverheadRiver.jpg|thumb|right|250px|[[Beaverhead River]], a tributary of the [[Jefferson River]] and a headwater of the '''Missouri River''']] The Missouri in name officially begins at [[Missouri Headwaters State Park]] at 4,045 feet in Montana at the confluence of the Jefferson River and Madison River. The Gallatin River joins the river about 0.6 of a mile downstream as it flows northeast. The Jefferson River originates in southwest Montana near the [[Continental Divide]]. The Madison and Gallatin Rivers flow out of northwest [[Wyoming]] to meet the Jefferson River. [[Meriwether Lewis]] in his journal entry on July 28, 1805 wrote: :Both Capt. C. and myself corresponded in opinon with rispect(sic) to the impropriety of calling either of these [three] streams the Missouri and accordingly agreed to name them after the President of the United States and the Secretaries of the Treasury and state. The Lewis and Clark decision not to call the Jefferson the Missouri has spurred debate over what is the longest river in North America since the Missouri and Mississippi are nearly identical in length. With the Jefferson the Missouri would be the longest river. Lewis (who had followed the Jefferson River to the Beaverhead River) said that on August 12, 1805, he visited Beaverhead tributary of Trail Creek just above [[Lemhi Pass]] on the [[Continental Divide]] in the Beaverhead Mountains on the Montana and [[Idaho]] border at around 8,600 feet which he described: :the most distant fountain of the waters of the mighty Missouri in surch(sic) of which we have spent so many toilsome days and wristless(sic) nights. However in 1888 [[Jacob V. Brower]], who had championed turning the headwaters of the Mississippi River into a Minnesota state park, visited a site in Montana which today is believed to be the furthest point on the Missouri -- now called [[Brower's Spring]]. Brower published his finding in 1896 in "The Missouri: It's Utmost Source." The site of Brower's Spring at around 8,800 feet in the [[Centennial Mountains]]. The site now commemorated by a rock pile at the source of Hellroaring Creek which flows into Red Rock River and then into Clark Canyon Reservoir where it joins the Beaverhead then the Big Hole River before ultimately hooking up with the Jefferson.<ref name="MToutdoors"/> ===Mouth=== The Missouri enters the [[Upper Mississippi River]] near its mile 195. The elevation is approximately 400 feet. The confluence is ringed by [[Camp Dubois]] which is now part of Lewis and Clark State Memorial Park in Illinois; [[Columbia Bottom Conservation Area]] on the south bank of the Missouri in St. Louis and on the north bank of the Missouri by the [[Edward "Ted" and Pat Jones-Confluence Point State Park]] in [[West Alton, Missouri]]. ==Natural History== <!-- Mention distinctive plants and animals associated with any part of the river. --> ===Geology=== <!-- The evolution of some rivers has been well explored (e.g., the Missoula Floods and their effect on the Columbia River). Such information should be placed here, with a suitable discussion of all POVs when possible. See also Glacial geology of the Genesee River. --> [[Image:Missouri-Mississippi confluence.jpg|200px|thumb|right|High silt content makes the '''Missouri River''' (left) noticeably lighter than the [[Mississippi River]] here at their confluence north of [[St. Louis, Missouri|St. Louis]].]] The river is nicknamed "Big Muddy" and also "Dark River" because of the high [[silt]] content. The river meanders from [[bluff]] to bluff in the flat Midwestern states, leading to the nickname the "Wide Missouri". ==History== <!-- Describe what is known about the different inhabitants along the river, along with a description of the scientific exploration expeditions/efforts. --> ===Name=== The popular but erroneous conception that the name means "muddy water" arose from the fact that Marquette gave it the indigenous name "Pekitanoui" meaning "muddy". Early white explorers first called the stream "Missouri" after a tribe of Indians who lived on its banks and whose name meant "people with wooden canoes." (Robert Ramsay placename file). The variant name "Emasulia Sipiwi" means "river of boatmen" in the Peoria language.<ref name="GNIS-MR"/> Also known as: Big River, Emasulia sipiwi, Eomitai, Katapan Mene Shoska, Le Riviere des Missouri, Mini Sose, Missoury River, Ni-sho-dse, Nudarcha, Rio Misuri, Riviere de Pekitanoni, Riviere de Saint Philippe, Big Muddy, Le Missoui, Le Missouri, Le Riviere des Osages, Missures Flu, Miz-zou-rye River, Niutaci, Pekitanoui, River of the West, Yellow River.<ref name="GNIS-MR"/> ===Exploration=== ====Jolliet and Marquette==== ''Main articles: [[Louis Jolliet]] and [[Jacques Marquette]]'' The first Europeans to see the river were the [[France|French]] explorers [[Louis Jolliet]] and [[Jacques Marquette]] who shortly after looking at the [[Piasa]] [[petroglyph]] painting on the bluffs of [[Mississippi River]] above [[Alton, Illinois]] heard the Missouri rushing into the Mississippi. Marquette wrote: :While conversing about these monsters sailing quietly in clear and calm water, we heard the noise of a rapid into which we were about to run. I never saw anything more terrific, a tangle of entire trees from the mouth of the Pekistanoui with such impetuosity that one could not attempt to cross it without great danger. The commotion was such that the water was made muddy by it and could not clear itself. :Pekitanoui is a river of considerable size, coming from the northwest, from a great distance; and it discharges into the Mississippi. There are many villages of savages along this river, and I hope by this means to discover the Vermillion or California Sea.<ref>{{cite web | title = A History of Missouri from the Earliest Explorations and Settlements Until the Admission of the... By Louis Houck - 1908 | publisher = [[Google Books]] | url = http://books.google.com/books?vid=OCLC01199284&id=bGcOAAAAIAAJ&pg=RA6-PA161&lpg=RA6-PA161&dq=Pekistanoui#PRA6-PA160,M1 | format = HTML}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | title = Early Narratives of the Northwest By Louise Phelps Kellogg - 1917 | publisher = [[Google Books]] | url = http://books.google.com/books?vid=OCLC02658692&id=LxQOAAAAIAAJ&pg=RA5-PA249&lpg=RA5-PA249&dq=Pekistanoui#PRA5-PA249,M1 | format = HTML}}</ref> Marquette and Joliet referred to the river as "Pekistanoui" and they made a reference to a tribe who lived upstream on the river as "''Oumessourita''" which was pronounced "''OO-Missouri''."<ref>{{cite web | title = ''Correction: Etymology of Missouri''. American Speech, 79.1:32, McCafferty, Michael. 2004. | publisher = JHU.Edu | url = http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/american_speech/v079/79.1mccafferty.html | format = HTML}}</ref>), (meaning "those who have dugout [[canoe]]s"<ref>{{cite web | title = American Heritage Dictionary: Missouri | publisher = [[Bartleby.com]] | url = http://www.bartleby.com/61/41/M0344100.html | format = HTML}}</ref>) This was the [[Illinois (tribe)]] name for the [[Missouri (tribe)]] whose village was nearly 200 miles upstream near [[Brunswick, Missouri]]. Marquette wrote that natives had told him that it was just a six day canoe trip up the river (about 60 miles) where it would be possible to portage over to another river that would take people to California. Jolliet and Marquette never explored the Missouri beyond its mouth. ====Bourgmont==== ''Main articles: [[Étienne de Veniard, Sieur de Bourgmont]] and [[Fort Orleans]]'' The Missouri remained formally unexplored and uncharted until [[Étienne de Veniard, Sieur de Bourgmont]] wrote "Exact Description of Louisiana, of Its Harbors, Lands and Rivers, and Names of the Indian Tribes That Occupy It, and the Commerce and Advantages to Be Derived Therefrom for the Establishment of a Colony" in 1713 followed in 1714 by "The Route to Be Taken to Ascend the Missouri River." In the two documents Bourgmont was the first to use the name "Missouri" to refer to the river (and he was to name many of the tributaries along the river based on the Native American tribes that lived on them). The names and locations were to be used by cartographer [[Guillaume Delisle]] to create the first reasonably accurate map of the river. Bourgmont himself was living with the Missouri tribe at its Brunswick village with his Missouri wife and son. He had been [[on the lam]] from French authorities since 1706 when he deserted his post as commandant of [[Fort Detroit]] after he was criticized by [[Antoine Laumet de La Mothe, sieur de Cadillac]] for his handling of an attack by the [[Ottawa (tribe)]] in which a priest, a French sergeant and 30 Ottawa were killed. Bourgmont had further infuriated the French by illegally trapping and for immoral behavior when he showed up at French outposts with his Native American wife. However after Bourgmont's two documents, [[Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne, Sieur de Bienville]], founder of Louisiana, said that rather than arresting Bourgmont they should decorate him with [[Order of Saint Louis|Cross of St. Louis]] and name him "commandant of the Missouri" to represent France on the entire river. Bourgmont's reputation was further enhanced when the [[Pawnee]], who had been befriended by Bourgmont, massacred the Spanish [[Villasur expedition]] in 1720 near modern day [[Columbus, Nebraska]] which temporarily ended Spanish designs on the Missouri River and cleared the way for a [[New France]] empire stretching from [[Montreal, Canada]] to [[New Mexico]]. After squabbling with French authorities over financing of a new fort on the Missouri and also suffering a yearlong illness, Bourgmont established [[Fort Orleans]], which was the first fort and first longer term European settlement of any kind on the Missouri, in late 1723 near his home at Brunswick. In 1724 Bourgmont led an expedition to enlist [[Commanche]] support in the fight against the Spanish. In 1725 Bourgmont brought the chiefs of the Missouri River tribes to [[Paris]] to see the glory of France including the palaces of [[Versailles]], and [[Fountainbleau]] and a hunting expedition on a royal preserve with [[Louis XV]]. Bourgmont was raised to the rank of the nobility, remained in France and did not accompany the chiefs back to the New World. Fort Orleans was either abandoned or its small contingent massacred by Native Americans in 1726. It is unclear how far up the Missouri Bourgmont traveled. He is the documented first European discoverer of the Platte River. In his writings he described the blonde-haired Mandans, so it is possible that he made it as far north as their villages in central North Dakota. ====MacKay and Evans==== {{main|MacKay and Evans Expedition}} The Spanish took over the Missouri River in the [[Treaty of Paris (1763)]] that ended the [[French and Indian War]]/[[Seven Years War]]. The Spanish claim to the Missouri was based on [[Hernando de Soto (explorer)|Hernando de Soto's]] "discovery" of the Mississippi River on May 8, 1541. The Spanish initially did not extensively explore the river and let French fur traders continue their activities although under license. After the British began to exert influence on the Upper Missouri River via the [[Hudson's Bay Company]], news of English incursions came following an expedition by Jacques D’Eglise in 1790. The Spanish chartered the "Company of Discoverers and Explorers of the Missouri" (popularly referred to as the "Missouri Company") and offered a reward for the first person to reach the Pacific via the Missouri. In 1794 and 1795 expeditions led by Jean Baptiste Truteau and Antoine Simon Lecuyer de la Jonchšre did not even make it as far north as the [[Mandan]] villages in central [[North Dakota]].<ref>{{cite web | title = Gathering Intelligence | publisher = Great River Road | url = http://www.greatriverroad.com/lewclark/gatherintel.htm | format = HTML}}</ref> The most significant expedition though was the [[MacKay and Evans Expedition]] of 1795-1797. [[James MacKay (explorer)|James MacKay]] and [[John Evans (explorer)|John Evans]] were hired by the Spanish to search a route to the Pacific Ocean and to tell the British to leave the upper Missouri.<ref>{{cite web | title = PROLOGUE TO LEWIS AND CLARK: The Mackay and Evans Expedition - Montana: Spring 2004 | publisher = FindArticles.Com; The Magazine of Western History | url = http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3951/is_200404/ai_n9363417 | format = HTML}}</ref> McKay and Evans established a winter camp about 20 miles south of [[Sioux City, Iowa]] on the Nebraska side where they built Fort Columbus. Evans went on to the Mandan village where he expelled British traders. While talking to Native Americans they pinpointed the location of the [[Yellowstone River]] (which they called "Yellow Rock"). They created a detailed map of the upper Missouri that was used by [[Lewis and Clark Expedition|Lewis and Clark]]. ====Lewis and Clark==== ''Main articles: [[Louisiana Purchase]] and [[Lewis and Clark]] '' On October 27, 1795, the United States and Spain signed [[Pinckney's Treaty]] giving American merchants the "right of deposit" in New Orleans, meaning they could use the port to store goods for export. The treaty also recognized American rights to navigate the entire Mississippi River. In 1798 Spain revoked the treaty. On October 1, 1800, the Spanish secretly returned Louisiana to the French under [[Napoleon]] in the [[Third Treaty of San Ildefonso]]. The transfer was so secret that the Spanish continued to administer the territory. In 1801 they restored the United States rights to use the river and New Orleans. [[Thomas Jefferson]], fearing the cutoffs could occur again, sought to negotiate with France to buy New Orleans for the asking price of $10 million. Napoleon countered with an offer of $15 million for all of the Louisiana Territory including the Missouri River. The deal was signed on May 2, 1803. On June 20, 1803, [[Thomas Jefferson]] instructed [[Meriwether Lewis]]<ref name="meriwetherinstr">{{cite web |title = Jefferson's Instructions for Meriwether Lewis |url = http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/lewisandclark/lewis-landc.html#57 |accessdate = 2006-06-30}}</ref> to explore the Missouri and look for a water route to the Pacific. Although the deal was signed, Spain still balked at an American takeover, citing that France had never formally taken over the Louisiana Territory. Spain was to formally tell Lewis not to take the journey and expressly forbade Lewis from seeing the McKay and Evans map which was the most detailed and accurate of its time. Lewis was to gain access to it surreptitiously. To avoid jurisdictional issues with Spain they wintered in 1803-1804 at [[Camp Dubois]] on the Illinois (United States) side of the Mississippi. Lewis and [[William Clark (explorer)|William Clark]] left on May 14, 1804 and returned to St. Louis on September 23, 1806. ===American Frontier=== [[Image:bodmer5455.jpg|thumb|right|Karl Bodmer "Fort Pierre and the Adjacent Prairie", c. 1833]] The river defined the American frontier in the 19th century, particularly upstream from [[Kansas City, Missouri]], where it takes a sharp eastern turn into the heart of the state of Missouri. All of the major trails for the opening of the American West have their starting points on the river, including the [[California Trail|California]], [[Mormon Trail|Mormon]], [[Oregon Trail|Oregon]], and [[Santa Fe Trail|Santa Fe]] trails. The first westward leg of the [[Pony Express]] was a ferry ride across the Missouri at [[St. Joseph, Missouri]]. The first westward leg of the [[First Transcontinental Railroad]] was a ferry ride across the Missouri between [[Council Bluffs, Iowa]] and [[Omaha, Nebraska]]. The [[Hannibal Bridge]] was the first bridge to cross the river when it opened in Kansas City in 1869, and was a major reason why Kansas City became the largest city on the river upstream from its mouth at St. Louis. Extensive use of [[paddle steamer]]s on the upper river helped facilitate European settlement of the [[Dakota Territory|Dakotas]] and [[Montana]]. The [[Department of the Missouri]], which was headquartered on the banks of the river at [[Fort Leavenworth, Kansas]], was the military command center for the [[Indian Wars]] in the region. The northernmost navigable point on the Missouri before extensive navigation improvements was [[Fort Benton, Montana]], at approximately 2,620 feet.<ref>{{cite web | title = Northernmost Missouri river navigation topographic map | publisher = [[TopoQuest]] | url = http://www.topoquest.com/map.asp?lat=47.82042&lon=-110.66035&s=25&size=m&u=4&datum=nad83&layer=DRG25 | format = HTML}}</ref> ==Economy== <!-- A countless number of rivers have been used as means to transport people, goods, etc., and are still used so today. All such information should be described here. Stylistically, this can be a good segue from history, connecting past uses of the river to present-day uses. --> ===River modifications=== [[Image:Fort Randall Dam, South Dakota.jpg|200px|thumb|left|[[Fort Randall]] Dam on the '''Missouri River''' in [[South Dakota]]]] Since the lower river meanders through a broad floodplain in Midwestern states, it has often changed course and in its wake left numerous [[oxbow lake]]s ([[Big Lake (Missouri)|Big Lake]] is the largest such lake in Missouri). In the early 1800s the United States Supreme Court (which decides state border disputes) ruled that when the river changed course the border also changed (as happened with the [[Fairfax Airport|Fairfax District]] at [[Kansas City, Kansas]] which switched from Missouri to Kansas.) However, in the late 1800s the Court began ruling on absolute boundaries, creating geographic oddities such as [[Carter Lake, Iowa]], which is now a piece of Iowa on the west side of the Missouri between downtown Omaha and [[Eppley Airfield]], and the [[Rosecrans Memorial Airport|French Bottoms]] in [[St. Joseph, Missouri]], a piece of Missouri on the west of the river, requiring Missouri residents to go through Kansas in order to reach Rosecrans Airport. 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 [[dam]]s in four states: [[Fort Peck Dam]] in Montana; [[Garrison Dam]] in North Dakota; [[Oahe Dam]], [[Big Bend Dam]], and [[Fort Randall Dam]] in South Dakota; and [[Gavins Point Dam]] on the South Dakota-Nebraska border. These dams were constructed without [[canal lock|lock]]s, so commercial navigation on the Missouri cannot proceed above the Gavins Point Dam. The [[United States Army Corps of Engineers|Corps of Engineers]] maintains a 9-foot-deep (3 m) navigation channel for 735 miles (1183 km) between [[Sioux City, Iowa]] and [[St. Louis, Missouri|St. Louis]] in non-winter months. The dams aid navigation on the lower river by reducing fluctuations in water levels. Thirty-five percent of the Missouri River is impounded, 32 percent has been channelized, and 33 percent is unchannelized.<ref name="USGS-MRS"/> 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 dikes, revetments, and levees constructed by the Corps of Engineers as part of the Missouri River Navigation and Flood Control Project have transformed the once sprawling and constantly changing river into a narrower, deeper, fixed channel designed to more easily maintain the 735 mile navigation channel. The river carries a large amount of silt and sand, but high water velocity in the navigation channel normally prevents settling out and sand bar accumulations. As a result, unlike the Mississippi River, the Missouri River rarely requires dredging to maintain the navigation channel. The huge amounts of sediment in the Big Muddy have long provided a free source of sand, mined by commercial dredgers to be used in concrete and asphalt for construction, mainly below Rulo, Nebraska. In recent years, the quantity of sand commercially dredged from the Missouri River has dramatically increased as Kansas City, Columbia, and St. Louis have grown. In 2000, 7.4 million tons of sand and gravel were dredged out of the navigation channel.<ref name="AI-PFGT-MR">{{cite web | title = Past and Future Grain Traffic on the Missouri River by C. Philip Baumel and Jerry Van Der Kamp | publisher = Agri-Industries.Com | url = http://www.agri-industries.com/articles/MORiverJrnl.pdf | format = PDF}}</ref> As commercial sand dredging has increased, the Missouri River bed has gradually cut deeper into the flood plain. Between 1990 and 2005 the river around Kansas City, Missouri has degraded as much as 4.5 feet. ===Traffic=== Barge traffic has been steadily declining from 3.3 million tons in 1977 to 1.3 million tons in 2000.<ref name="AI-PFGT-MR"/> The declining barge traffic industry has stirred controversies over the management of the river and whether upstream dams should release more water to maintain commercial navigation standards. ===Casinos=== The states of Iowa and Missouri have sought to revive their waterfronts by permitting [[riverboat casino|riverboat gambling]]. The initial gambling regulations required the casinos to navigate the river. They were subsequently amended so that the casinos could be permanent land-based structures as long as they had a moat with Missouri River water surrounding them. ==Popular depictions== [[Image:George Caleb Bingham 001.jpg|thumb|George Caleb Bingham "Fur Traders on Missouri River", c. 1845.]] 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 "[http://americanart.si.edu/images/1985/1985.66.376_1b.jpg Floyd's Bluff]" and "[http://americanart.si.edu/images/1985/1985.66.366_1b.jpg Brick Kilns]", both from 1832. The [[Switzerland|Swiss]] painter [[Karl Bodmer]] accompanied [[Germany|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 Americans in the United States|Native American]] tribes that they encountered in the American West. In 1843, the American painter and [[natural history|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 [http://www.johnbachman.org/images/AudubonBison01.jpg "American Bison"]. [[Missouri]] painter [[George Caleb Bingham]] immortalized the [[fur traders]] and [[flatboat]]men who plied the Missouri River in the early 1800s; these same [http://crh.choate.edu/english/salot/Jolly%20Flatboatmen.jpg boatmen] were known for their [[sea chanties|river chanties]], including the haunting American [[folk song]] "[[Oh Shenandoah]]". Each verse of "[[Oh Shenandoah]]" ends with the line, "...'cross the wide Missouri." The Missouri may be the setting of the [[Pete Seeger]] song [[Waist Deep in the Big Muddy]]. (There is considerable ambiguity as to location, however. Seeger sings that the action took place in [[Louisiana|"Loo-siana"]] and there is also a [[Big Muddy River]] in [[Illinois]]. One could not "press on" very far into the Missouri and remain only "waist deep.") The song is set in 1942, during training for [[World War II]], but its image of a foolish [[Captain (United States)|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 [[maneuver]]s 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, led by the Sergeant who had questioned the Captain's orders. [[A. B. Guthrie, Jr.]]'s popular [[Western (genre)|Western]] novel ''[[The Big Sky]]'' (1947) tells the story of a group of men who, in the early 19th century, made the long journey up the Missouri from St. Louis to Montana. [[Howard Hawks]] made a film based on the book a few years later. ==Lists== ===Tributaries=== <!-- List the tributaries, starting from the mouth and going upstream. Add important subtributaries in sublists. Major tributaries should be links if there is a reasonable chance of article content, minor tributaries should be just names. --> The following rivers are listed going downstream based on the states where they enter the Missouri. <!-- NOTE: The following is the REVERSE of the WikiProject Rivers recommended practice! --> ====Montana==== *[[Jefferson River]] *[[Madison River]] *[[Gallatin River]] *[[Sixteen Mile Creek (Montana)|Sixteen Mile Creek]] *[[Dearborn River]] *[[Smith River (Montana)|Smith River]] *[[Sun River]] *[[Belt Creek (Montana)|Belt Creek]] *[[Marias River]] *[[Arrow Creek (Montana)|Arrow Creek]] *[[Judith River]] *[[Cow Creek (Montana)|Cow Creek]] *[[Musselshell River]] *[[Milk River (Montana-Alberta)|Milk River]] *[[Redwater River]] *[[Poplar River (Montana)|Poplar River]] *[[Big Muddy Creek (Montana)|Big Muddy Creek]] [[Image:James River ND.jpg|thumb|250px|The [[James River (Dakotas)|James River]], a '''Missouri River''' tributary, in [[Jamestown, North Dakota]]]] ====North Dakota==== *[[Yellowstone River]] *[[Little Muddy Creek (North Dakota)|Little Muddy Creek]] *[[Tobacco Garden Creek]] *[[Little Missouri River (North Dakota)|Little Missouri River]] *[[Knife River]] *[[Heart River]] *[[Cannonball River]] ====South Dakota==== *[[Grand River (South Dakota)|Grand River]] *[[Moreau River]] *[[Cheyenne River]] *[[Bad River (South Dakota)|Bad River]] *[[White River (South Dakota)|White River]] ====South Dakota/Nebraska==== *[[Niobrara River]] (Nebraska) *[[James River (Dakotas)|James River]] (South Dakota) *[[Vermillion River (South Dakota)|Vermillion River]] (South Dakota) [[Image:Sioux falls sd falls park.jpg|thumb|right|250px|Falls of the [[Big Sioux River]], a '''Missouri River''' tributary, at [[Sioux Falls, South Dakota]]]] ====South Dakota/Iowa/Nebraska==== *[[Big Sioux River]] (tri-state border) ====Nebraska/Iowa==== *[[Perry Creek]] (Iowa) *[[Floyd River]] (Iowa) *[[Little Sioux River]] (Iowa) *[[Soldier River]] (Iowa) *[[Boyer River]] (Iowa) *[[Mosquito Creek (Iowa)|Mosquito Creek]] (Iowa) *[[Platte River]] (Nebraska) *[[Nemaha River basin|Little Nemaha River]] (Nebraska) *[[Nemaha River basin|Big Nemaha River]] (Nebraska) ====Iowa/Missouri==== *[[Nishnabotna River]] *[[Nodaway River]] (Missouri) ====Kansas/Missouri==== *[[Platte River (Missouri)|Platte River]] (Missouri) *[[Kansas River]] (Kansas) [[Image:IMG00035.JPG|thumb|250px|right|Bluffs above the [[Grand River (Missouri)|Grand River]], a '''Missouri River''' tributary, in [[Missouri]]]] ====Missouri==== *[[Blue River (Missouri)|Blue River]] *[[Grand River (Missouri)|Grand River]] *[[Chariton River]] *[[Lamine River]] *[[Osage River]] *[[Gasconade River]] ===Populated Places=== <!-- List the cities and towns along with the river, also in (mouth to source) upstream order. --> [[Image:Missouri river in Omaha, Nebraska.jpg|thumb|250px|right|'''Missouri River''' at N.P. Dodge Park, [[Omaha, Nebraska]]]] Although the Missouri drains one-sixth of North America, its basin is relatively lightly populated with only 10 million people.<ref name="USGS-MRS"/> '''For a full list, see [[List of cities and towns along the Missouri River]]'''. From mouth upstream to source: *[[St. Louis, Missouri]] *[[Saint Charles, Missouri]] *[[Jefferson City, Missouri]] (capital) *[[Kansas City, Missouri]] *[[Kansas City, Kansas]] *[[Saint Joseph, Missouri]] *[[Omaha, Nebraska]] *[[Council Bluffs, Iowa]] *[[Sioux City, Iowa]] *[[Pierre, South Dakota]] (capital) *[[Bismarck, North Dakota]] (capital) *[[Great Falls, Montana]] ===Features=== <!-- List dams, locks, waterfalls, rapids, if there are more than a couple and/or they're not mentioned in the lead or course narrative. --> ===Images=== <!-- There should be at least one picture, preferably a typical view. Important rivers should have additional pictures illustrating their notable features. Maps of the river's course and of its watershed are highly desirable. --> {{Commonscat|Missouri River}} ==See also== *[[List of crossings of the Missouri River]] *[[Geography of the United States]] *[[Across the Wide Missouri]] *[[Pick-Sloan Legislation]] *[[Roe River]] and [[D River]], for the ''shortest'' river counterpart *[[Flood of 1993]] *[[Montana Wilderness Association]] ==References== {{reflist}} ==External links== <!-- Preferably refer to history, ecology, public policy, books, websites, etc. --> *[http://www.montanaflyfishers.com/sitepages/pid85.php Missouri River Montana Fishing Report] <!-- {{geolinks-US-river|([[Mississippi River]])|38.8142|-90.1205|([[Three Forks, Montana]])|45.9278|-111.5058}} Mouth & Source coordinates are already in infobox. --> {{United States topics}} <!-- Indexing Every river article should be indexed in list of rivers by name, and indexed in list of rivers by continent, along with its major tributaries. Categories Every article should have a category. If a river is restricted to one country, list in Category:rivers of country. If it runs through several, list in each country category. --> [[Category:Missouri River| ]] [[Category:Tributaries of the Missouri River|*Missouri River]] [[Category:Rivers of Missouri]] [[Category:Rivers of Iowa]] [[Category:Rivers of Kansas]] [[Category:Rivers of Nebraska]] [[Category:Rivers of South Dakota]] [[Category:Rivers of North Dakota]] [[Category:Rivers of Montana]] [[Category:Waterways in Omaha, Nebraska]] [[ar:نهر ميزوري]] [[bg:Мисури]] [[cv:Миссури (юханшыв)]] [[cs:Missouri (řeka)]] [[cy:Afon Missouri]] [[da:Missouri-floden]] [[de:Missouri River]] [[et:Missouri]] [[el:Μιζούρι (ποταμός)]] [[es:Río Misuri]] [[eo:Misuro (rivero)]] [[eu:Missouri ibaia]] [[fr:Missouri (rivière)]] [[ko:미주리 강]] [[id:Sungai Missouri]] [[it:Missouri (fiume)]] [[he:מיזורי (נהר)]] [[ht:Misouri (rivyè)]] [[lt:Misūris (upė)]] [[nl:Missouri (rivier)]] [[ja:ミズーリ川]] [[no:Missourielven]] [[pl:Missouri (rzeka)]] [[pt:Rio Missouri]] [[qu:Missouri mayu]] [[ru:Миссури (река)]] [[simple:Missouri River]] [[sk:Missouri (rieka)]] [[sl:Misuri (reka)]] [[sr:Мисури (река)]] [[fi:Missouri (joki)]] [[sv:Missourifloden]] [[vi:Sông Missouri]] [[tr:Missouri Irmağı]] [[uk:Міссурі (річка)]] [[zh:密苏里河]]