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Missouri River

2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection. Related subjects: North American Geography

                                Missouri River
   Missouri at N.P. Dodge Park, Omaha, Nebraska

                Missouri at N.P. Dodge Park, Omaha, Nebraska

   Origin          Confluence of Madison, Gallatin and Jefferson in Montana.
   Mouth           Mississippi River at St. Charles, Missouri
   Basin countries USA, Canada
   Length          2,341 miles (3,767 km)
   Avg. discharge  ~35,000 cubic feet/sec (1,050 m³/sec)
   Basin area      529,300 square miles (1,376,180 km²)

   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 2,341 mi (3,767 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 third 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. The mean flow of the Missouri at its mouth is approximately
   35,000 cfs, compared to 47,000 cfs of the Mississippi below the
   Illinois River, which joins about 17 miles north of the confluence
   (ref.?). Its volume on average is also less than that of the Ohio
   River, another tributary of the Mississippi.

Course

   The Missouri River and its tributaries
   Enlarge
   The Missouri River and its tributaries

   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.
   High silt content makes the Missouri (left) noticeably lighter than the
   Mississippi here at their confluence north of St. Louis.
   Enlarge
   High silt content makes the Missouri (left) noticeably lighter than the
   Mississippi here at their confluence north of St. Louis.

   The river is nicknamed "Big Muddy" and also "Dark River" 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.
   Fort Randall Dam on the Missouri River in South Dakota
   Enlarge
   Fort Randall Dam on the Missouri River in South Dakota

   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 four 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.

Popular depictions

   George Caleb Bingham "Fur Traders on Missouri River", c. 1845.
   Enlarge
   George Caleb Bingham "Fur Traders on Missouri River", c. 1845.
   Karl Bodmer "Fort Pierre and the Adjacent Prairie", c. 1833
   Enlarge
   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. (There is some ambiguity as to location.
   Seeger also sings that the action took place in "Loo-siana".) 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. As they are heading
   back, they are taken by the beauty of the river and stay.

Tributaries

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 Creek

North Dakota

     * Yellowstone River
     * Little Muddy Creek
     * Tobacco Garden Creek
     * Little Missouri River
     * Knife River
     * Heart River
     * Cannonball River

South 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 (Kansas, Missouri)
     * Osage River (Missouri)
     * Platte River, Missouri (Missouri)

Major cities along the river

   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

   Retrieved from " http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Missouri_River"
   This reference article is mainly selected from the English Wikipedia
   with only minor checks and changes (see www.wikipedia.org for details
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