Editing Missouri River (section)

{{Short description|Major river in central United States}}
{{Other uses|Missouri (disambiguation)}}
{{Use American English|date=February 2025}}
{{Good article}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=November 2019}}
{{Infobox river
| name = Missouri River
| native_name = {{native name|lkt|Mnišóše}}<ref name="Uniquely South Dakota">{{cite book|last1=Karolevitz|first1=Robert F.|last2=Hunhoff|first2=Bernie|title=Uniquely South Dakota|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=J1blPQAACAAJ|year=1988|publisher=Donning Company|isbn=978-0-89865-730-2|page=9|access-date=October 31, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160101072348/https://books.google.com/books?id=J1blPQAACAAJ|archive-date=January 1, 2016|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="New Lakota Dictionary">{{cite book |title=New Lakota Dictionary |edition=2nd |year=2011 |publisher=Lakota Language Consortium |editor-last=Ullrich |editor-first=Jan |location=Bloomington, IN |isbn=978-0-9761082-9-0 |lccn=2008922508 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1RAqAQAAIAAJ }}</ref>
| name_other = Pekitanoui,<ref name="GNIS"/> Big Muddy,<ref name="Spotlight">{{cite web |url=http://www.mostreamteam.org/Documents/Fact%20Sheets/FactSheet2WWW.pdf |title=Spotlight on the Big Muddy |website=Missouri Stream Team |access-date=January 14, 2012 |url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111017063318/http://www.mostreamteam.org/Documents/Fact%20Sheets/FactSheet2WWW.pdf |archive-date=October 17, 2011}}</ref> Mighty Mo, Wide Missouri, Kícpaarukstiʾ,<ref>{{cite web
| title = AISRI Dictionary Database Search—prototype version. "River", Southband Pawnee
| work = American Indian Studies Research Institute
| access-date = May 26, 2012
| url = http://zia.aisri.indiana.edu/~dictsearch/cgi-bin/testengltoxsrchNP.pl?host=zia&pass=&hasfont=0&srchlang=English&srchstring=river&database=south&srchtype=AND&sortlang=English&sndformat=ra&maxhits=200&find=Run_Search
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20130117053713/http://zia.aisri.indiana.edu/~dictsearch/cgi-bin/testengltoxsrchNP.pl?host=zia&pass=&hasfont=0&srchlang=English&srchstring=river&database=south&srchtype=AND&sortlang=English&sndformat=ra&maxhits=200&find=Run_Search
| archive-date = January 17, 2013
| url-status = dead
}}</ref> Mnišoše<ref name="Uniquely South Dakota"/><ref name="New Lakota Dictionary"/>
| name_etymology = The [[Missouri tribe]], whose name in turn meant "people with wooden canoes"<ref name="GNIS">{{cite gnis|id=756398|name=Missouri River|entrydate=1980-10-24|access-date=May 6, 2010}}</ref>
<!---------------------- IMAGE & MAP -->| image = Missouri River in 2021 01.jpg
| image_size = 300px
| image_caption = The Missouri River in Montana
| map = Missouri River basin map.png
| map_size = 350px
| map_caption = Map of the Missouri River and its tributaries in<br />North America
| pushpin_map = 
| pushpin_map_size = 350px
| pushpin_map_caption = <!---------------------- LOCATION -->
| subdivision_type1 = Country
| subdivision_name1 = [[United States]]
| subdivision_type2 = State
| subdivision_name2 = [[Montana]], [[North Dakota]], [[South Dakota]], [[Nebraska]], [[Iowa]], [[Kansas]], [[Missouri]]
| subdivision_type3 = 
| subdivision_name3 = 
| subdivision_type4 = 
| subdivision_name4 = 
| subdivision_type5 = Cities
| subdivision_name5 = [[Great Falls, MT]], [[Bismarck, ND]], [[Pierre, SD]], [[Sioux City, IA]], [[Omaha, NE]], [[Brownville, NE]], [[Saint Joseph, MO]], [[Kansas City, KS]], [[Kansas City, MO]], [[St. Louis|St. Louis, MO]]
<!---------------------- PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS -->| length = {{cvt|2341|mi|km}}<ref name="modifications">{{cite web
 |url          = http://infolink.cr.usgs.gov/Science/MoREAP/moreap_brief.htm
 |title        = Missouri River Environmental Assessment Program Summary
 |publisher    = U.S. Geological Survey
 |access-date   = October 8, 2010
 |archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20100527125158/http://infolink.cr.usgs.gov/Science/MoREAP/moreap_brief.htm
 |archive-date = May 27, 2010
 |url-status     = dead
 |df           = mdy-all
}}</ref>
| width_min = 
| width_avg = 
| width_max = 
| depth_min = 
| depth_avg = 
| depth_max = 
| discharge1_location = [[Hermann, MO]]; [[river mile|RM]] 97.9 (RKM 157.6)<ref name="missouriflow"/>
| discharge1_min = {{cvt|602|cuft/s|m3/s}}<ref name="missouriflow"/>
| discharge1_avg = {{cvt|87520|cuft/s|m3/s}}<ref name="missouriflow"/>
| discharge1_max = {{cvt|750000|cuft/s|m3/s}}<ref name="peaks">{{cite web |last1=Pinter |first1=Nicholas |last2=Heine |first2=Reuben A. |url=http://www.grha.net/site/programs/river-study/ |title=Hydrologic History of the Lower Missouri River |publisher=Southern Illinois University |place=Carbondale, IL |series=Geology Department |access-date=May 8, 2010|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110723140325/http://www.grha.net/site/programs/river-study/ |archive-date=July 23, 2011}}</ref>
<!---------------------- BASIN FEATURES -->| source1 = Brower's Spring
| source1_location = near [[Brower's Spring]], [[Montana]]
| source1_coordinates = {{coord|44|33|02|N|111|28|21|W|display=inline}}<ref>[http://www.topozone.com/map.asp?lat=44.5417&lon=-111.4677&s=25&size=m&u=4&datum=nad83&layer=DRG25] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141017061204/http://www.topozone.com/map.asp?lat=44.5417&lon=-111.4677&s=25&size=m&u=4&datum=nad83&layer=DRG25 |date=October 17, 2014 }} [[United States Geological Survey|USGS]] topographic map of the source</ref><ref name="headwaters"/>
| source1_elevation = {{cvt|9100|ft}}
| source1_length = {{cvt|295|mi}}
| source2 = [[Firehole River]]–[[Madison River]]
| source2_location = Madison Lake, [[Yellowstone National Park]], [[Wyoming]]
| source2_coordinates = {{coord|44|20|55|N|110|51|53|W|display=inline}}<ref>{{cite gnis|id=1591162|name=Madison Lake|entrydate=1980-04-04|access-date=January 21, 2012}}</ref>
| source2_elevation = {{cvt|8215|ft}}
| source2_length = {{cvt|183|mi}}
| source_confluence = [[Missouri Headwaters State Park]]
| source_confluence_location = [[Three Forks, Montana]]
| source_confluence_coordinates = {{coord|45|55|39|N|111|20|39|W|display=inline}}<ref name="GNIS"/>
| source_confluence_elevation = {{cvt|4042|ft}}
| mouth = [[Mississippi River]]
| mouth_location = [[Spanish Lake, Missouri|Spanish Lake]], near [[St. Louis]], [[Missouri]]
| mouth_coordinates = {{coord|38|48|49|N|90|07|11|W|display=inline,title}}<ref name="GNIS"/>
| mouth_elevation = {{cvt|404|ft}}<ref name="GNIS"/>
| progression = 
| river_system = 
| basin_size = {{cvt|529350|sqmi}}<ref name="Story"/>
| tributaries_left = [[Jefferson River|Jefferson]], [[Dearborn River|Dearborn]], [[Sun River|Sun]], [[Marias River|Marias]], [[Milk River (Alberta–Montana)|Milk]], [[James River (Dakotas)|James]], [[Big Sioux River|Big Sioux]], [[Grand River (Missouri)|Grand]], [[Chariton River|Chariton]]
| tributaries_right = [[Madison River|Madison]], [[Gallatin River|Gallatin]], [[Yellowstone River|Yellowstone]], [[Little Missouri River (North Dakota)|Little Missouri]], [[Cheyenne River|Cheyenne]], [[Bad River (South Dakota)|Bad]], [[White River (Missouri River)|White]], [[Niobrara River|Niobrara]], [[Platte River|Platte]], [[Kansas River|Kansas]], [[Osage River|Osage]], [[Gasconade River|Gasconade]]
| custom_label = 
| custom_data = 
| extra = {{Designation list
| embed                   = yes
| designation1            = nwsr
| designation1_type       = Wild, Scenic, Recreational
| designation1_date       = 
| designation1_number     =
}}
| mapframe = yes
| mapframe-wikidata = yes
| mapframe-zoom = 4
| mapframe-height = 250
| mapframe-stroke-width = 1.5
| mapframe-frame-width = 300
}}

The '''Missouri River''' is a [[river]] in the [[Central United States|Central]] and [[Mountain states|Mountain West]] regions of the [[United States]].  The nation's longest,<ref name="RiversWorld">{{cite web |author=Howard Perlman, USGS |url=https://water.usgs.gov/edu/riversofworld.html |title=Lengths of major rivers |series=USGS Water-Science School |website=Ga.water.usgs.gov |date=October 31, 2012 |access-date=November 21, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140309100631/http://water.usgs.gov/edu/riversofworld.html |archive-date=March 9, 2014 |url-status=dead }}</ref> it rises in the eastern [[Centennial Mountains]] of the [[Bitterroot Range]] of the [[Rocky Mountains]] of southwestern [[Montana]], then flows east and south for {{convert|2341|mi|km}}<ref name="modifications"/> before entering the [[Mississippi River]] north of [[St. Louis]], Missouri. The river drains [[Semi-arid climate|semi-arid]] [[Drainage basin|watershed]] of more than 500,000 square miles (1,300,000 km<sup>2</sup>), which includes parts of ten U.S. states and two Canadian provinces. Although a [[tributary]] of the Mississippi, the Missouri River is slightly longer<ref name="USGS"/> and carries a comparable volume of water,<ref name="missouriflow"/><ref name="MississippiStLouis"/> though a fellow tributary ([[Ohio River]]) carries more water.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://pubs.usgs.gov/of/1987/ofr87-242/|title=Largest Rivers in the United States|publisher=[[United States Geological Survey]]|access-date=December 13, 2019|archive-date=April 28, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120428185541/http://pubs.usgs.gov/of/1987/ofr87-242/|url-status=live}}</ref> When combined with the lower Mississippi River, it forms the [[List of rivers by length|world's fourth-longest river system]].<ref name="RiversWorld" />

For over 12,000 years, people have depended on the Missouri River and its [[Tributary|tributaries]] as a source of sustenance and transportation. More than ten major groups of [[Indigenous peoples of the Americas|Native American]]s populated the watershed, with most leading a nomadic lifestyle and dependent on enormous [[American bison|bison]] herds that roamed through the [[Great Plains]]. The first Europeans encountered the river in the late seventeenth century, and the region passed through Spanish and French hands before becoming part of the United States through the [[Louisiana Purchase]].

The Missouri River was one of the main routes for the westward expansion of the United States during the 19th century. The growth of the [[North American fur trade|fur trade]] in the early 19th century laid much of the groundwork as trappers explored the region and blazed trails. [[American pioneer|Pioneer]]s headed west ''en masse'' beginning in the 1830s, first by [[covered wagon]], then by the growing numbers of [[steamboat]]s that entered service on the river. Conflict between settlers and Native Americans in the watershed led to some of the most longstanding and violent of the [[American Indian Wars#Great Plains|American Indian Wars]].

During the 20th century, the Missouri River basin was extensively developed for irrigation, flood control, and the generation of [[hydroelectricity|hydroelectric power]]. Fifteen dams impound the [[main stem]] of the river, with hundreds more on tributaries. The Missouri River's reservoirs include the largest, second-largest, and fourth-[[List of largest reservoirs in the United States|largest artificial lakes in the United States]] by surface area: [[Lake Sakakawea]], [[Lake Oahe]], and [[Fort Peck Lake]]. [[Meander]]s have been cut off and the river [[Channelization (river)|channelized]] to improve navigation, reducing its length by almost {{convert|200|mi|km}} from pre-development times. Although the lower [[Missouri River Valley|Missouri valley]] is now a populous and highly productive agricultural and industrial region, heavy development has taken its toll on wildlife and fish populations as well as water quality.