Online Encyclopedia

North Dakota, the river turns gradually to the S.E., then S., and again S.E., traversing both North and South Dakota. It forms the eastern boundary of See also:

NEBRASKA

Nebraska and in See also:

PART

part of See also:

KANSAS (known as the Sunflower State ")

Kansas, and crosses Missouri in an easterly course td its junction with the Mississippi 20 M. above St See also:

Louis, and 2547 M. below the confluence of the three forks. The stream which is known as the Jefferson See also:

FORK (Lat. furca)

Fork in its See also:

LOWER

lower course, See also:

Beaver See also:

Head River in its See also:

MIDDLE

middle course, and Red See also:

Rock See also:

Creek in its upper course, is really the upper See also:

section of the Missouri; it rises on the border between Montana and See also:

IDAHO

Idaho, 20 M. See also:

west of the western boundary of the Yellowstone See also:

NATIONAL

National See also:

Park, near the See also:

crest of the Rocky Mountains, 8000 ft. above the See also:

sea, and 398 M. beyond Gallatin City; and with this and the Lower Mississippi the Missouri forms a river channel 4221 M. in length, the longest in the See also:

WORLD

world. The Madison and Gallatin forks rise within the Yellowstone Park, where the former is fed by geysers and hot springs and the latter by both hot springs and melting See also:

SNOW (in O. Eng. sndw; a common Indo-European word; cf. in Teutonic languages, Ger. Schnee, Du. sneeuw; in Slavonic snieg', Lith. snegas; Gr. vi4a, Lat. nix, nivis, whence the Romanic forms, Ital. neve, Fr. neige, &c.; Ir. and Gael. sneachd; the original

snow. The Yellowstone river, which is the principal tributary of the Missouri, traverses the park. The Missouri drains a See also:

basin having an See also:

AREA

area of about 58o,000 sq.m.; this includes the eastern slope of the Rocky Mountains from the See also:

NORTHERN

northern border of the See also:

UNITED

United States to the middle of See also:

COLORADO

Colorado, and its larger tributaries take their rise in those mountains. Besides the Yellowstone and the three forks there are the See also:

PLATTE (so named, from the• French, because of its shallowness), or NEBRASKA

Platte, which rises in two large branches in Colorado, and the See also:

MILK (0. Eng. meoluc; from a common Indo-European root, cf. Lat. mulgere, Gr. ?t dXyetv)

Milk, which rises in north-western Montana. The Kansas in Kansas, the See also:

James and Big See also:

SIOUX

Sioux in the Dakotas, and the Niobrara in Nebraska, are the principal tributaries wholly of the plains. In the mountain region the Missouri flows through deep canyons and over several cascades. Below See also:

GREAT

Great Falls the slower current is unable to carry all the silt brought down from the mountainsand plains, and consequently a winding and unstable channel has been formed on deposits of silt 5o to roo ft. or more in See also:

DEPTH

depth.

Bends in the river continue to develop by erosion until the See also:

NECK (O. Eng. hnecca; the word appears in many Teutonic languages; cf. Dutch ride, Ger. Nacken; in O. E. the common word was heals; cf. Ger. Hals)

neck between two of them is cut off, and in the See also:

PROCESS

process numerous islands, See also:

sand-bars, and See also:

CRESCENT (Lat. crescens, growing)

crescent-shaped lakes are formed. Cottonwood, See also:

WILLOW (Salix)

willow, See also:

CEDAR (Lat. cedrus, Gr. iapos)

cedar and See also:

WALNUT (Juglans)

walnut trees grow upon the See also:

banks that are for a See also:

time See also:

LEFT

left undisturbed, but years later the eroding current returns to undermine these banks, the trees fall in and are carried down stream as snags (or " sawyers "), which are especially dangerous to See also:

NAVIGATION (from Lat. navis, ship, and agere, to move)

navigation. The variation of level is great and it varies greatly in different parts of the river's course: it is about 19 ft. at Kansas City, about 25 ft. at St See also:

Charles, Missouri, and about 8 ft. at Fort See also:

BENTON, THOMAS HART (1782-1858)

Benton, Montana. It is estimated that the Missouri's See also:

AVERAGE

average See also:

DISCHARGE (adapted from the O. Fr. discharge, modern decharge, from a med. Lat. discargare, to unload, dis- and earn care, to load, cf. " charge ")

discharge per second amounts to about 94,000 cub. ft., and that each See also:

YEAR

year it carries into the Mississippi 550,000 tons of silt. The See also:

WATERS, TERRITORIAL

waters of the Missouri begin to rise in See also:

March, and a high-See also:

WATER

water See also:

STAGE (Fr. 6/age; from Lat. stare, to stand)

stage is reached in See also:

APRIL

April as a result of the See also:

SPRING (from " to spring," " to leap or jump up," " burst out," O. Eng., springau, a common Teut. word, cf. Ger. springer, possibly allied to Gr. QnrFpxecOac, to move rapidly)

spring rains and the melting snow on the plains; a second high stage is produced in See also:

JUNE

June by the melting of snow on the mountains, and the river is navigable from See also:

early spring to midsummer as far as Fort Benton, within 40 M. of the Great Falls and 2285 M. above the mouth. Above Great Falls the river is navigable to Three Forks. The mouth of the Missouri was discovered in 1673 by See also:

Marquette and See also:

JOLIET

Joliet, while they were coming down the Mississippi. Early in the 18th See also:

CENTURY (from Lat. centuria, a division of a hundred men)

century See also:

French See also:

FUR (connected with O. Fr. forre, a sheath or case; so " an outer covering ")

fur-traders began to ascend the river, and in 1764 St Louis was established as a See also:

DEPOT (from the Fr. depot, Lat. depositum, laid down; the French accent marks are usually dispensed with in English)

depot; but the first exploration of the river from its See also:

month to its head-waters was made in 1804-1805 by Meriwether See also:

Lewis and See also:

William See also:

Clark. Until many years later the See also:

commerce on the river was restricted to the fur See also:

trade And was carried on with such See also:

PRIMITIVE

primitive See also:

CRAFT (a word common to Teutonic languages for strength, or power; cf. Ger. Kraft)

craft as the See also:

CANOE (from Carib. candoa, the West Indian name found in use by Columbus; the Fr. canot, boat, and Ger. Kahn, are derived from the Lat. canna, reed, vessel)

canoe (made from the See also:

LOG (a word of uncertain etymological origin,possibly onomatopoeic; the New English Dictionary rejects the derivation from Norwegian lag, a fallen tree)

log of a cottonwood See also:

tree); the See also:

PIROGUE, or PIRAGUA (the French and Spanish forms respectively of a Caribbean word for this type of vessel; it has at various times taken many corrupt forms, e.g. periagua, pettiaugua, pettyoagar)

pirogue (usually two canoes See also:

side by side and with a See also:

FLOOR (from O. Eng. flor, a word common to many Teutonic languages, cf. Dutch vloer, and Ger. Flur, a field, in the feminine, and a floor, masculine)

floor over them on which to See also:

PLACE (through Fr. from Lat. platea, street; Gr. IrAar6s, wide)

place the See also:

CARGO (Span. for " loading," from Lat. carries, car)

cargo); the bullboat (made by covering a framework of willow poles with the hides of bison bulls); the mackinaw See also:

BOAT (0. Eng. bdt; the true etymological connexion with Dutch and Ger. boot, Fr. bateau, Ital. battello presents great difficulties; Celtic forms are from O. Eng.)

boat (made, of boards and having a See also:

FLAT (a modification of O. Eng. flet, an obsolete word of Teutonic origin, meaning the ground beneath the feet)

flat bottom); and the keelboat (a See also:

VESSEL (O. Fr. vaissel, from a rare Lat. vascellum, dim. of vas, vase, urn)

vessel of some pretensions, with a See also:

KEEL

keel from See also:

BOW (pronounced " bo ")

bow to stern, 6o to 70 ft. in length, with a breadth of See also:

beam from 15 to 18 ft., and See also:

DRAWING

drawing 20 to 30 in. of water). A canoe, pirogue, bullboat, or mackinaw boat was propelled by two or more men with paddles, poles, or oars; but to propel a keelboat up the river required 20 to 40 men who walked along the See also:

SHORE

shore and pulled a corvelle, a See also:

LINE

line about moo ft. See also:

long and fastened to the See also:

mast. An average of about 15 M. a See also:

day was made with a keelboat going up the river. The first See also:

ATTEMPT (Lat. adtemptare, attentare, to try)

attempt to navigate the Missouri with steamboats was made in the spring of 1819, when the " See also:

Independence " made a trip from St Louis to the mouth of the See also:

CHARITON

Chariton river and back.

The See also:

AMERICAN

American Fur See also:

COMPANY

Company began to use steamers in 1830, and from then until the See also:

ADVENT (Lat. Adventus, sc. Redemptoris, " the coming of the Saviour ")

advent of See also:

RAILWAYS

railways the steamboat on the Missouri was one of the most important factors in the development of the Northwest. The See also:

TRAFFIC

traffic was at its height in 1858, when no fewer than 6o See also:

REGULAR

regular packets were engaged in it, but its decline began in the following year with the completion of the See also:

Hannibal & St See also:

Joseph railway to St Joseph, Missouri, and 20 years later it had nearly disappeared. In an. attempt to regulate railway rates, however, four boats were run between Kansas City and St Louis between 1890 and 1894 by the Kansas City & Missouri Transportation Company, and in 1906 the Missouri River Valley Improvement Association was formed at Kansas City. See also:

CONGRESS (Lat. congressus, coming together, from congredi; cum, with, and gradus, step)

Congress began to make See also:

APPROPRIATION (from Lat. appropriare, to set aside)

appropriation for the removal of snags about 1838, and See also:

FORTY

forty years later appropriations were begun for a See also:

general improvement which in 1884 was placed under the See also:

charge of the Missouri River See also:

COMMISSION (from Lat. commissio, committere)

Commission. In 1890 its See also:

WORK

work was restricted to that part of the river below Sioux City and in 1902 the Commission was abolished. Up to the 3oth of June r9o8 the Federal See also:

government had expended $11,398,881 for the improvement of the river. See H. M. Chittenden, See also:

HISTORY

History of Early Navigation on the Missouri River (New See also:

York, 1903) ; P. E. Chappel, A History of the Missouri River (Kansas City, 1905) ; J. V.

Brower, The Missouri River and its Utmost Source (St See also:

Paul, 1896) ; J. M. See also:

HANSON, SIR RICHARD DAVIES (1805–1876)

Hanson, The See also:

CONQUEST

Conquest of the Missouri (New York, 1909) ; L. M. See also:

Jones, " The Improvement of the Missouri River and its Usefulness as a Traffic Route," in See also:

ANNALS (Annales, from annus, a year)

Annals of the American See also:

Academy of See also:

POLITICAL

Political and Social See also:

SCIENCE (Lat. scientia, from scire; to learn, know)

Science (See also:

Jan. 1908), and the See also:

ANNUAL

Annual Reports of the See also:

CHIEF (from Fr. chef, head, Lat. caput)

Chief of See also:

ENGINEERS, MILITARY

Engineers, U.S. See also:

Army.

End of Article: MISSOURI RIVER

Additional information and Comments

There are no comments yet for this article.

» Add information or comments to this article.

Please link directly to this article:
Highlight the code below, right click, and select "copy." Then paste it into your website, email, or other HTML.

Site content, images, and layout Copyright © 2006 - Net Industries, worldwide.
Do not copy, download, transfer, or otherwise replicate the site content in whole or in part.

Links to articles and home page are always encouraged.

[back]
MISSOURI COMPROMISE

[next]
MISTAKE (i.e. take amiss)