text stringlengths 4 7.07k | text_hash stringlengths 32 32 | __index_level_0__ int64 1 1.81M |
|---|---|---|
During the 20th century , the Missouri River basin was extensively developed for irrigation , flood control and the generation of hydroelectric power . Fifteen dams impound the main stem of the river , with hundreds more on tributaries . Meanders have been cut and the river channelized to improve navigation , reducing... | 2259acdb80866258b1eeaa3d9fa60a77 | 31,752 |
= = Course = =
| 6e5a2f99f710e98857bd06244632de5e | 31,754 |
From the Rocky Mountains of Montana and Wyoming , three streams rise to form the headwaters of the Missouri River . The longest begins near Brower 's Spring , 9 @,@ 100 feet ( 2 @,@ 800 m ) above sea level , on the southeastern slopes of Mount Jefferson in the Centennial Mountains . Flowing west then north , it runs f... | 9cdab0f5c143892f15f9491ad4ce0cd1 | 31,756 |
The Missouri River officially starts at the confluence of the Jefferson and Madison in Missouri Headwaters State Park near Three Forks , Montana , and is joined by the Gallatin a mile ( 1 @.@ 6 km ) downstream . The Missouri then passes through Canyon Ferry Lake , a reservoir west of the Big Belt Mountains . Issuing f... | f56e00130214f897b490d1830e42eb8d | 31,757 |
Flowing eastwards through the plains of eastern Montana , the Missouri receives the Poplar River from the north before crossing into North Dakota where the Yellowstone River , its greatest tributary by volume , joins from the southwest . At the confluence , the Yellowstone is actually the larger river . The Missouri t... | 6a66fd1732c8d85078ae367e761d558c | 31,758 |
The Missouri makes a bend to the southeast as it winds through the Great Plains , receiving the Niobrara River and many smaller tributaries from the southwest . It then proceeds to form the boundary of South Dakota and Nebraska , then after being joined by the James River from the north , forms the Iowa – Nebraska bou... | 2683151d42831a3d28155ab558a2ee43 | 31,759 |
= = Watershed = =
| 3c926c14a538dfc5b4d7523664221dce | 31,761 |
With a drainage basin spanning 529 @,@ 350 square miles ( 1 @,@ 371 @,@ 000 km2 ) , the Missouri River 's catchment encompasses nearly one @-@ sixth of the area of the United States or just over five percent of the continent of North America . Comparable to the size of the Canadian province of Quebec , the watershed e... | 1b002b60d851a1bd761adca32f0dcb3e | 31,763 |
In 1990 , the Missouri River watershed was home to about 12 million people . This included the entire population of the U.S. state of Nebraska , parts of the U.S. states of Colorado , Iowa , Kansas , Minnesota , Missouri , Montana , North Dakota , South Dakota , and Wyoming , and small southern portions of the Canadia... | 476fa948159bb54b149cebf4cd91ac9e | 31,764 |
With more than 170 @,@ 000 square miles ( 440 @,@ 000 km2 ) under the plow , the Missouri River watershed includes roughly one @-@ fourth of all the agricultural land in the United States , providing more than a third of the country 's wheat , flax , barley and oats . However , only 11 @,@ 000 square miles ( 28 @,@ 00... | 5c0b101d8a51416a95979d8eb883610f | 31,765 |
Elevations in the watershed vary widely , ranging from just over 400 feet ( 120 m ) at the Missouri 's mouth to the 14 @,@ 293 @-@ foot ( 4 @,@ 357 m ) summit of Mount Lincoln in central Colorado . The river itself drops a total of 8 @,@ 626 feet ( 2 @,@ 629 m ) from Brower 's Spring , the farthest source . Although t... | 63f98a989c1c11d0d312bba178e6a7e9 | 31,766 |
The Missouri 's drainage basin has highly variable weather and rainfall patterns , Overall , the watershed is defined by a Continental climate with warm , wet summers and harsh , cold winters . Most of the watershed receives an average of 8 to 10 inches ( 200 to 250 mm ) of precipitation each year . However , the west... | e91a3d526f8041a3f2372e36d654ae1a | 31,767 |
As one of the continent 's most significant river systems , the Missouri 's drainage basin borders on many other major watersheds of the United States and Canada . The Continental Divide , running along the spine of the Rocky Mountains , forms most of the western border of the Missouri watershed . The Clark Fork and S... | 53c8dab582e372f75744e6e50f3760d1 | 31,768 |
To the north , the much lower Laurentian Divide separates the Missouri River watershed from those of the Oldman River , a tributary of the South Saskatchewan River , as well as the Souris , Sheyenne , and smaller tributaries of the Red River of the North . All of these streams are part of Canada 's Nelson River draina... | b9a84c787584f563c6b0dec353c98b4e | 31,769 |
= = = Major tributaries = = =
| bdef1379075552a4872468152ba11697 | 31,771 |
Over 95 significant tributaries and hundreds of smaller ones feed the Missouri River , with most of the larger ones coming in as the river draws close to the mouth . Most rivers and streams in the Missouri River basin flow from west to east , following the incline of the Great Plains ; however , some eastern tributari... | 3d652f284b857a8cf14f02d0ddc270ed | 31,773 |
The Missouri 's largest tributaries by runoff are the Yellowstone in Montana and Wyoming , the Platte in Wyoming , Colorado , and Nebraska , and the Kansas – Republican / Smoky Hill and Osage in Kansas and Missouri . Each of these tributaries drains an area greater than 50 @,@ 000 square miles ( 130 @,@ 000 km2 ) , an... | 0c03b1b7e57f1a22ada5681c72a1f732 | 31,774 |
The table on the right lists the ten longest tributaries of the Missouri , along with their respective catchment areas and flows . Length is measured to the hydrologic source , regardless of naming convention . The main stem of the Kansas River , for example , is 148 miles ( 238 km ) long . However , including the lon... | 1f7f1f86863fca0e3cabbb6dc2a296c8 | 31,775 |
The Missouri 's headwaters above Three Forks extend much farther upstream than the main stem . Measured to the farthest source at Brower 's Spring , the Jefferson River is 298 miles ( 480 km ) long . Thus measured to its highest headwaters , the Missouri River stretches for 2 @,@ 639 miles ( 4 @,@ 247 km ) . When comb... | 21054d1b8d9c787c1c189edc0af4748a | 31,776 |
= = = Discharge = = =
| 5d803246ddd8682fd82140ea4c433a5e | 31,778 |
By discharge , the Missouri is the ninth largest river of the United States , after the Mississippi , St. Lawrence , Ohio , Columbia , Niagara , Yukon , Detroit , and St. Clair . The latter two , however , are sometimes considered part of a strait between Lake Huron and Lake Erie . Among rivers of North America as a w... | 1081960955f45b44cea2e37e914dabfe | 31,780 |
As the Missouri drains a predominantly semi @-@ arid region , its discharge is much lower and more variable than other North American rivers of comparable length . Before the construction of dams , the river flooded twice each year – once in the " April Rise " or " Spring Fresh " , with the melting of snow on the plai... | 4cc480327499343cb28e00def05fe85b | 31,781 |
The United States Geological Survey operates fifty @-@ one stream gauges along the Missouri River . The river 's average discharge at Bismarck , 1 @,@ 314 @.@ 5 miles ( 2 @,@ 115 @.@ 5 km ) from the mouth , is 21 @,@ 920 cu ft / s ( 621 m3 / s ) . This is from a drainage area of 186 @,@ 400 sq mi ( 483 @,@ 000 km2 ) ,... | dd8bd70212c16c24fd4094f0432489bf | 31,782 |
The lowermost gage with a period of record greater than fifty years is at Hermann , Missouri – 97 @.@ 9 miles ( 157 @.@ 6 km ) upstream of the mouth of the Missouri – where the average annual flow was 87 @,@ 520 cu ft / s ( 2 @,@ 478 m3 / s ) from 1897 to 2010 . About 522 @,@ 500 sq mi ( 1 @,@ 353 @,@ 000 km2 ) , or 9... | 2efa7ba76c1e28b62ac5b659e014d3b9 | 31,783 |
= = Upper and Lower Missouri River = =
| da00c40d21abf27df4462953e0e5fb76 | 31,785 |
The Upper Missouri River is north of Gavins Point Dam the last hydroelectric dam of 15 on the river and it 's just upstream from Sioux City , Iowa . The lower Missouri River is the 840 river miles until it meets the Mississippi just above St. Louis . The Lower Missouri River has no Hydroelectric or Lock and dams but i... | 8e27c32b351333b53cff54459522ca92 | 31,787 |
See also : - List of locks and dams of the Upper Mississippi River , List of locks and dams of the Ohio River
| 40fc139c68ae6db3552ceb359e36dd73 | 31,788 |
= = Geology = =
| dc39e21132ba5b2e4ab8533656d44915 | 31,790 |
The Rocky Mountains of southwestern Montana at the headwaters of the Missouri River first rose in the Laramide Orogeny , a mountain @-@ building episode that occurred from around 70 to 45 million years ago ( the end of the Mesozoic through the early Cenozoic ) . This orogeny uplifted Cretaceous rocks along the western... | adf4d9f30a519feb80a0bfd99a9da6f6 | 31,792 |
The Missouri and many of its tributaries cross the Great Plains , flowing over or cutting into the Ogallala Group and older mid @-@ Cenozoic sedimentary rocks . The lowest major Cenozoic unit , the White River Formation , was deposited between roughly 35 and 29 million years ago and consists of claystone , sandstone ,... | 0ee2514c2a2cb4f5e8254864ac832590 | 31,793 |
Immediately before the Quaternary Ice Age , the Missouri River was likely split into three segments : an upper portion that drained northwards into Hudson Bay , and middle and lower sections that flowed eastward down the regional slope . As the Earth plunged into the Ice Age , a pre @-@ Illinoian ( or possibly the Ill... | 60efe9366bf06611560432e4bbd7b254 | 31,794 |
The Missouri 's nickname , the " Big Muddy " , was inspired by its enormous loads of sediment or silt – some of the largest of any North American river . In its pre @-@ development state , the river transported some 175 to 320 million short tons ( 159 to 290 Mt ) per year . The construction of dams and levees has dras... | 30954bb21e1ae4dbbb56609cc317f03f | 31,795 |
= = First peoples = =
| f7d350b444f1baf6b97ccb1b3b949bab | 31,797 |
Archaeological evidence , especially in Missouri , suggests that man first made his presence in the watershed of the Missouri River between 10 @,@ 000 and 12 @,@ 000 years ago at the end of the Pleistocene . During the end of the last glacial period , a great migration of humans began , traveling via the Bering land b... | ecf778ad5b115792e9cffc49bfc714c0 | 31,799 |
The Native Americans that lived along the Missouri had access to ample food , water , and shelter . Many migratory animals inhabited the plains at the time , providing them meat , clothing , and other everyday items ; there were also great riparian areas in the river 's floodplain that provided them with natural herbs... | d7d9b028fead8d8718de579fe0ee25a7 | 31,800 |
Natives used the Missouri , at least to a limited extent , as a path of trade and transport . In addition , the river and its tributaries formed tribal boundaries . Lifestyles of the indigenous mostly centered on a semi @-@ nomadic culture ; many tribes would have different summer and winter camps . However , the cent... | d9307ce5152bb9bd45d8846324343e7a | 31,801 |
Once , tens of millions of American bison ( commonly called buffalo ) , one of the keystone species of the Great Plains and the Ohio Valley , roamed the plains of the Missouri River basin . Most Native American groups in the basin relied heavily on the bison as a food source , and their hides and bones served to creat... | 8a7e64b4888b45bf0d9a3a56c21ad790 | 31,802 |
= = Early European explorers = =
| 99f889d64364987576a99f2e891b9367 | 31,804 |
In May 1673 , the French explorers Louis Jolliet and Jacques Marquette left the settlement of St. Ignace on Lake Huron and traveled down the Wisconsin and Mississippi Rivers , aiming to reach the Pacific Ocean . In late June , Jolliet and Marquette became the first documented European discoverers of the Missouri River... | dda1367d42885398eb70073aa29213b0 | 31,806 |
In 1682 , France expanded its territorial claims in North America to include land on the western side of the Mississippi River , which included the lower portion of the Missouri . However , the Missouri itself remained formally unexplored until Étienne de Veniard , Sieur de Bourgmont commanded an expedition in 1714 th... | e61099ab459248c65d28458eb95e1d74 | 31,807 |
Bourgmont had in fact been in trouble with the French colonial authorities since 1706 , when he deserted his post as commandant of Fort Detroit after poorly handling an attack by the Ottawa that resulted in thirty @-@ one deaths . However , his reputation was enhanced in 1720 when the Pawnee – who had earlier been bef... | e0a6d1e054e7d85686f717a455e3b1b0 | 31,808 |
Bourgmont established Fort Orleans , the first European settlement of any kind on the Missouri River , near present @-@ day Brunswick , Missouri , in 1723 . The following year Bourgmont led an expedition to enlist Comanche support against the Spanish , who continued to show interest in taking over the Missouri . In 17... | deaeb8850a81b09184e274195bc5366e | 31,809 |
The French and Indian War erupted when territorial disputes between France and Great Britain in North America reached a head in 1754 . By 1763 , France was defeated by the much greater strength of the British army and was forced to cede its Canadian possessions to the English and Louisiana to the Spanish in the Treaty... | 2c7b976b3e50fc5a417609a43272f53d | 31,810 |
Arguably the most successful of the Missouri Company expeditions was that of James MacKay and John Evans . The two set out along the Missouri , and established Fort Charles about 20 miles ( 32 km ) south of present @-@ day Sioux City as a winter camp in 1795 . At the Mandan villages in North Dakota , they expelled sev... | b4515858a1690345b9d4e5ce66cc093a | 31,811 |
In 1795 , the young United States and Spain signed Pinckney 's Treaty , which recognized American rights to navigate the Mississippi River and store goods for export in New Orleans . Three years later , Spain revoked the treaty and in 1800 secretly returned Louisiana to Napoleonic France in the Third Treaty of San Ild... | 780077a6e0f7fc016a1e0c835be0dd6d | 31,812 |
Fearing that the cutoffs could occur again , President Thomas Jefferson proposed to buy the port of New Orleans from France for $ 10 million . Instead , faced with a debt crisis , Napoleon offered to sell the entirety of Louisiana , including the Missouri River , for $ 15 million – amounting to less than 3 ¢ per acre ... | a2664978990fae832cb4ea6dd635ccfc | 31,813 |
Meriwether Lewis and William Clark began their famed expedition in 1804 with a party of thirty @-@ three people in three boats . Although they became the first Europeans to travel the entire length of the Missouri and reach the Pacific Ocean via the Columbia , they found no trace of the Northwest Passage . The maps ma... | dfb005e64a734914f8f7e74df07c7558 | 31,814 |
= = American frontier = =
| ef1ce70b597386acf87f367a17308a40 | 31,816 |
= = = Fur trade = = =
| 47017dc548b056b57a76c69d907edf0e | 31,819 |
As early as the 18th century , fur trappers entered the extreme northern basin of the Missouri River in the hopes of finding populations of beaver and river otter , the sale of whose pelts drove the thriving North American fur trade . They came from many different places – some from the Canadian fur corporations at Hu... | fc96a1d9fa7a88e74f3eaf977861f31b | 31,821 |
The first glowing reports of country rich with thousands of game animals came in 1806 when Meriwether Lewis and William Clark returned from their two @-@ year expedition . Their journals described lands rich with thousands of buffalo , beaver , and river otter ; and also an abundant population of sea otters on the Pac... | 75fca37e3405abfd7e612e7a68945b18 | 31,822 |
Lisa 's men started construction of Fort Raymond , which sat on a bluff overlooking the confluence of the Yellowstone and Bighorn , in the fall of 1807 . The fort would serve primarily as a trading post for bartering with the Native Americans for furs . This method was unlike that of the Pacific Northwest fur trade , ... | 51ca84b49f8878be8cab0f15d78918bf | 31,823 |
Fur trapping activities in the early 19th century encompassed nearly all of the Rocky Mountains on both the eastern and western slopes . Trappers of the Hudson 's Bay Company , St. Louis Missouri Fur Company , American Fur Company , Rocky Mountain Fur Company , North West Company and other outfits worked thousands of ... | 77e613c0ca5322aaf0520fda82c904c8 | 31,824 |
As the 1830s drew to a close , the fur industry slowly began to die as silk replaced beaver fur as a desirable clothing item . By this time , also , the beaver population of streams in the Rocky Mountains had been decimated by intense hunting . Furthermore , frequent Native American attacks on trading posts made it da... | 4d488f08f680c52108b97e8193331dbb | 31,825 |
= = = Settlers and pioneers = = =
| c4800436c9ab76142e960597fb92e283 | 31,827 |
The river roughly defined the American frontier in the 19th century , particularly downstream from Kansas City , where it takes a sharp eastern turn into the heart of the state of Missouri . The major trails for the opening of the American West all have their starting points on the river , including the California , M... | a82f9dab91b40cb36291502f89c1b944 | 31,829 |
True to the then @-@ ideal of Manifest Destiny , over 500 @,@ 000 people set out from the river town of Independence , Missouri to their various destinations in the American West from the 1830s to the 1860s . These people had many reasons to embark on this strenuous year @-@ long journey – economic crisis , and later ... | 4000f771f6d3c6b8eba26e8954c785ee | 31,830 |
During the 1860s , gold strikes in Montana , Colorado , Wyoming and northern Utah attracted another wave of hopefuls to the region . Although some freight was hauled overland , most transport to and from the gold fields was done through the Missouri and Kansas Rivers , as well as the Snake River in western Wyoming and... | 22b4ce6ecff9435fc694ffefe5c8b89c | 31,831 |
As settlers expanded their holdings into the Great Plains , they ran into land conflicts with Native American tribes . This resulted in frequent raids , massacres and armed conflicts , leading to the federal government creating multiple treaties with the Plains tribes , which generally involved establishing borders an... | b4bc1dc439693668567d52a1657f8052 | 31,832 |
Conflicts between natives and settlers over the opening of the Bozeman Trail in the Dakotas , Wyoming and Montana led to Red Cloud 's War , in which the Lakota and Cheyenne fought against the U.S. Army . The fighting resulted in a complete Native American victory . In 1868 , the Treaty of Fort Laramie was signed , whi... | 89a0752156bc3ae81e6f0ce3653ec203 | 31,833 |
However , the peace and freedom of the Native Americans did not last for long . The Great Sioux War of 1876 – 77 was sparked when American miners discovered gold in the Black Hills of western South Dakota and eastern Wyoming . These lands were originally set aside for Native American use by the Treaty of Fort Laramie ... | e3b63a051644f7920d9e7313c37a8cab | 31,834 |
= = Dam @-@ building era = =
| d752e36d26cb698eff7cad8b4fe8627d | 31,836 |
In the late 19th and early 20th centuries , a great number of dams were built along the course of the Missouri , transforming 35 percent of the river into a chain of reservoirs . River development was stimulated by a variety of factors , first by growing demand for electricity in the rural northwestern parts of the ba... | ef0d78dd83363f1c198477c1145bae86 | 31,838 |
Between 1890 and 1940 , five dams were built in the vicinity of Great Falls to generate power from the Great Falls of the Missouri , a chain of giant waterfalls formed by the river in its path through western Montana . Black Eagle Dam , built in 1891 on Black Eagle Falls , was the first dam of the Missouri . Replaced ... | 9c09d413601d2fe5765e76738df1f2d1 | 31,839 |
In the same period , several private establishments – most notably the Montana Power Company – began to develop the Missouri River above Great Falls and below Helena for power generation . A small run @-@ of @-@ the river structure completed in 1898 near the present site of Canyon Ferry Dam became the second dam to be... | 332005f5c830bbd039638cf973d4cfe3 | 31,840 |
Holter Dam , about 45 miles ( 72 km ) downstream of Helena , was the third hydroelectric dam built on this stretch of the Missouri River . When completed in 1918 by the Montana Power Company and the United Missouri River Power Company , its reservoir flooded the Gates of the Mountains , a limestone canyon which Meriwe... | 6f4e0241e2bf294afeecfc98af02f39b | 31,841 |
" [ The Missouri 's temperament was ] uncertain as the actions of a jury or the state of a woman 's mind . " – Sioux City Register , March 28 , 1868
| 260baff18272a72e66def996666f583d | 31,842 |
The Missouri basin suffered a series of catastrophic floods around the turn of the 20th century , most notably in 1844 , 1881 , and 1926 – 1927 . In 1940 , as part of the Great Depression @-@ era New Deal , the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers ( USACE ) completed Fort Peck Dam in Montana . Construction of this massive pub... | 6063bd6571aa350861a9ef92e378eef5 | 31,843 |
Flooding damages on the Mississippi – Missouri river system were one of the primary reasons for which Congress passed the Flood Control Act of 1944 , opening the way for the USACE to develop the Missouri on a massive scale . The 1944 act authorized the Pick – Sloan Missouri Basin Program ( Pick – Sloan Plan ) , which ... | e3cb3abaccdd258a38256296ab11d328 | 31,844 |
In the early stages of Pick – Sloan development , tentative plans were made to build a low dam on the Missouri at Riverdale , North Dakota and 27 smaller dams on the Yellowstone River and its tributaries . This was met with controversy from inhabitants of the Yellowstone basin , and eventually the USBR proposed a solu... | 539f9d9fb5cb9c870e4b16b44e4fc5a4 | 31,845 |
The six dams of the Mainstem System , chiefly Fort Peck , Garrison and Oahe , are among the largest dams in the world by volume ; their sprawling reservoirs also rank within the biggest of the nation . Holding up to 74 @.@ 1 million acre feet ( 91 @.@ 4 km3 ) in total , the six reservoirs can store more than three yea... | ebd40969cd5541ad2bd10de830e09d14 | 31,846 |
The table at left lists statistics of all fifteen dams on the Missouri River , ordered downstream . Many of the run @-@ of @-@ the @-@ river dams on the Missouri ( marked in yellow ) form very small impoundments which may or may not have been given names ; those unnamed are left blank . All dams are on the upper half ... | b475d6c37a5dff839e4ecf8da6bc72fa | 31,847 |
= = Navigation = =
| 2dbdacfda7d8e477303fc13182dff85d | 31,849 |
" [ Missouri River shipping ] never achieved its expectations . Even under the very best of circumstances , it was never a huge industry . " ~ Richard Opper , former Missouri River Basin Association executive director
| e149ae5edda655532234e824f0560fef | 31,851 |
Boat travel on the Missouri started with the wood @-@ framed canoes and bull boats of the Native Americans , which were used for thousands of years before the introduction of larger craft to the river upon colonization of the Great Plains . The first steamboat on the Missouri was the Independence , which started runni... | e51e21126bf13ca03a67e034b4038292 | 31,852 |
During the early 19th century , at the height of the fur trade , steamboats and keelboats began traveling nearly the whole length of the Missouri from Montana 's rugged Missouri Breaks to the mouth , carrying beaver and buffalo furs to and from the areas that the trappers frequented . This resulted in the development ... | ea9670c879d48dae05524c4ba3e46bd0 | 31,853 |
Water transport increased through the 1850s with multiple craft ferrying pioneers , emigrants and miners ; many of these runs were from St. Louis or Independence to near Omaha . There , most of these people would set out overland along the large but shallow and unnavigable Platte River , which was described by pioneer... | 7a2d0690a2fe8569864cfed849f2ce3b | 31,854 |
The industry 's success , however , did not guarantee safety . In the early decades before the river 's flow was controlled by man , its sketchy rises and falls and its massive amounts of sediment , which prevented a clear view of the bottom , wrecked some 300 vessels . Because of the dangers of navigating the Missour... | 25b519c24e2fa407f7700d003fdcfb17 | 31,855 |
= = = Passage to Sioux City = = =
| 1c2156c8157bf6010f2b52fbd43dd549 | 31,857 |
Since the beginning of the 20th century , the Missouri River has been extensively engineered for water transport purposes , and about 32 percent of the river now flows through artificially straightened channels . In 1912 , the USACE was authorized to maintain the Missouri to a depth of six feet ( 1 @.@ 8 m ) from the ... | 7ee7e63e3f796510f2e8b0cfe6ba925f | 31,859 |
Construction of dams on the Missouri under the Pick @-@ Sloan Plan in the mid @-@ twentieth century was the final step in aiding navigation . The large reservoirs of the Mainstem System help provide a dependable flow to maintain the navigation channel year @-@ round , and are capable of halting most of the river 's an... | cd13fff3458c4ece7d892c9ab6f5ffb5 | 31,860 |
In 1945 , the USACE began the Missouri River Bank Stabilization and Navigation Project , which would permanently increase the river 's navigation channel to a width of 300 feet ( 91 m ) and a depth of nine feet ( 2 @.@ 7 m ) . During work that continues to this day , the 735 @-@ mile ( 1 @,@ 183 km ) navigation channe... | a56ca76ad97b45b75a248eceb8a0c21f | 31,861 |
In 1929 , the Missouri River Navigation Commission estimated the total amount of goods shipped on the river annually at 15 million tons ( 13 @.@ 6 million metric tons ) , providing widespread consensus for the creation of a navigation channel . However , shipping traffic has since been far lower than expected – shipme... | ee97b6d28eafc4392b86e282bbbb4f29 | 31,862 |
By tonnage of transported material , Missouri is by far the largest user of the river accounting for 83 percent of river traffic , while Kansas has 12 percent , Nebraska three percent and Iowa two percent . Almost all of the barge traffic on the Missouri River ships sand and gravel dredged from the lower 500 miles ( 8... | fc3b47d15f9eb0a6ab9db56b9345ae54 | 31,863 |
= = = Traffic decline = = =
| 3e914d0c367298943b453372a8ba8ac9 | 31,865 |
Tonnage of goods shipped by barges on the Missouri River has seen a serious decline from the 1960s to the present . In the 1960s , the USACE predicted an increase to 12 million short tons ( 11 Mt ) per year by 2000 , but instead the opposite has happened . The amount of goods plunged from 3 @.@ 3 million short tons ( ... | f1d0dff87ab3cd525ac4094a0b7ac052 | 31,867 |
Drought conditions in the early 21st century and competition from other modes of transport – mainly railroads – are the primary reason for decreasing river traffic on the Missouri . The failure of the USACE to consistently maintain the navigation channel has also hampered the industry . Currently , efforts are being m... | e0f32072ac9d0f671fb9105d16ea1086 | 31,868 |
There are no lock and dams on the lower Missouri River , but there are plenty of wing dams that jettie out into the river and make it harder for barges to navigate . In contrast , the upper Mississippi has 29 locks and dams and averaged 61 @.@ 3 million tons of cargo annually from 2008 to 2011 , and its locks are clos... | e53ae73ad634868cd5bd00346bb2292b | 31,869 |
= = Ecology = =
| 29127b9867a90fc3cc8539652bba90cc | 31,871 |
= = = Natural history = = =
| d4e5bedd6e26dea3f5d3d01de2be36e5 | 31,874 |
Historically , the thousands of square miles that comprised the floodplain of the Missouri River supported a wide range of plant and animal species . Biodiversity generally increased proceeding downstream from the cold , subalpine headwaters in Montana to the temperate , moist climate of Missouri . Today , the river '... | e54205647e24e3baacac5c85a6005104 | 31,876 |
The World Wide Fund For Nature divides the Missouri River watershed into three freshwater ecoregions : the Upper Missouri , Lower Missouri and Central Prairie . The Upper Missouri , roughly encompassing the area within Montana , Wyoming , southern Alberta and Saskatchewan , and North Dakota , comprises mainly semiarid... | 1df05ce851bf25efda2608a8f7cbdb65 | 31,877 |
= = = Human impacts = = =
| c1d817c6822466e26ee578a5ad8cddcd | 31,879 |
Since the beginning of river commerce and industrial development in the 1800s , the Missouri has been severely polluted and its water quality degraded by human activity . Most of the river 's floodplain habitat is long gone , replaced by irrigated agricultural land . Development of the floodplain has led to increasing... | f217943e806f6a6dbf7799fe36ecd94c | 31,881 |
Channelization of the lower Missouri waters has made the river narrower , deeper and less accessible to riparian flora and fauna . Numerous dams and bank stabilization projects have been constructed to facilitate the conversion of 300 @,@ 000 acres ( 1 @,@ 200 km2 ) of Missouri River floodplain to agricultural land . ... | e9ed1df548b9a873e59dc40f5fc89d9f | 31,882 |
The USACE began work on ecosystem restoration projects along the lower Missouri River in the early 21st century . Because of the low use of the shipping channel in the lower Missouri maintained by the USACE , it is now considered feasible to remove some of the levees , dikes , and wing dams that constrict the river 's... | be4499738d3d45f3549764a01f3ef483 | 31,883 |
Restoration projects have re @-@ mobilized some of the sediments that had been trapped behind bank stabilization structures , prompting concerns of exacerbated nutrient and sediment pollution locally and downstream in the northern Gulf of Mexico . A 2010 National Research Council report assessed the roles of sediment ... | 6ffa8b6fd9f801880f7accaa78078a3b | 31,884 |
= = Tourism and recreation = =
| 6e93a7d018c8b53321528bccd22647ef | 31,886 |
With over 1 @,@ 500 sq mi ( 3 @,@ 900 km2 ) of open water , the six reservoirs of the Missouri River Mainstem System provide some of the main recreational areas within the basin . Visitation has increased from 10 million visitor @-@ hours in the mid @-@ 1960s to over 60 million visitor @-@ hours in 1990 . Development ... | f0bca62678c4b1aa2c5f1648e989a0bd | 31,888 |
The Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail , some 3 @,@ 700 miles ( 6 @,@ 000 km ) long , follows nearly the entire Missouri River from its mouth to its source , retracing the route of the Lewis and Clark Expedition . Extending from Wood River , Illinois , in the east , to Astoria , Oregon , in the west , it also fol... | 9645d402c6dace7c1af0f75780e5cb7f | 31,889 |
Subsets and Splits
No community queries yet
The top public SQL queries from the community will appear here once available.