Transportation
Indians used to pile the Missouri River's waters in dugout canoes
and bullboats. Then white people started to use steamboats, flat
boats, and keelboats. Now people use motor boats, jet skies, and
other boats.
How it was Formed
The Missouri River was formed twenty million years ago, during
the late Tertiary Period. About twenty million years ago
the Missouri marked the Southern and Western edge of many huge
sheets of ice that covered the land.
People on the River
The Missouri River Basin was the home to a lot of Indian
tribes. The Wind River, Shoshone, and the Atsina lived close to
the head waters in Montana.Several buffalo hunting tribes occupied
the Missouri River Basin between Eastern Montana and the Mississippi
River.
Who Found It
In 1673 the French explorers Jacques Marquette and Louis Jolliet
were the first white people to see the Missouri River. The upper
part of the river was explored by Pierre Gaultier de Verennes
and Sieur de La Verenbrye.
Importance of the River
The Missouri River was important to the Indians, because it provided
them with food and water. It also was important to white people.
They used it for transportation, food, and water.
Size of the River
The Missouri River is the largest river in the United States.
The Missouri River empties into the Mississippi River at an average
of 76,300 cubic feet per second! The Missouri flows 2,540 miles
from the river's source at the Jefferson River at Red Rock Creek.
The head waters of the Missouri River are located in Southwestern
Montana.
Title: "The World Book Encyclopedia"
Publisher: World Book Inc.
Date Published: 1996
Pages found on: 675-676
Volume: M-13
Title: "The World Book Encyclopedia"
Publisher: World Book Inc.
Date Published: 1995
Pages found on: 674-676
Volume: M-13
Title: "The New Book of Knowledge"
Publisher: Grolier Incorporated
Date Published: 1996
Pages found on: 382
Volume: M-12
Title: "The New Book of Knowledge"
Publisher: Grolier Incorporated
Date Published: 1999
Pages found on: 382
Volume: M-12