Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1903-02-01
FATE OF THE MISSOURI.
Will Depend Largely Upon the Report
That 10 to be Presented by Captain
n, N, Chjttenden.

n. NJ. C~hittenden.
A Sioux City dispatch says Cap
tain H. NJ. ChittendeE, chief of United
States engineers for the entire Mis-
souri, river and the Yellowstone park,
is preparing an extensive report upon
the condition of the Missouri river,
which is to decide the fate of the
stream. Whether or not congress will
continue to appropriate money to
maintain the Missouri as a navigable
stream and to protect the shores from
its inroads, will largely depend upon
the recommendations of Captain
Chittenden. He will either recon
mend the discontinuance of the work
upon the river or advise congress to
set aside 81 900 900 a year for its
maintenance.
my, report will be thorough said
Captain C~hittenden, land will treat
Of the advisability of continuing the
expenditure of money upon the river.
The abolition of the Missouri river
commission by congress and the great
ly reduced appropriations indicate
that many in that body believe it is
futile to continue the necessary allow
dilCcS. II VIII IcuuiIt d IouHu hiiiiioh
dollars annually to keep the river In
proper condition. The benefits from
this expenditure will be set forth in
my report"
Beginning in 1871. congress has in
thirty years spent about 81 900 900 to
make of the Missouri a tractable
stream. If the appropriations are now
discontinued, much of the benefit OF
the money already expended will be
lost. The active Missouri needs not
much encouragement to shake off all
shackles.
The maintenance of the Missouri as
a navigable stream has served to in
crease largely the volume of traffic.
Owing to the distance between rail-
roads. the large part of the river trans
p~ortation in late years i.as been LYON
the upper Missouri. The report of
Captain Chittenden for the last year
shows that the traffic upon the upper
Missouri alone amounted 10 6S,3SS.0 900
pounds of freight. 11,492 heau of cattle
and 756 passengers. In 1878. wheu the
Missouri was the sole mean of trans
portation for Montana shippers. the
traffic was 1886 900 pounds and 1000
passengers.
The eleven steamboats, now plying
upon the upper Missouri are engaged
solely in hauling freight to and from
the railroads. There are stretches of
fifty and seventy-five miles between
the railroads on the upper river. and
to carry the freight to these roads
the boats are maintained.
Of the million dollars which Cap
tain Chittenden estimates will be need
ed as an annual appropriation for the
river. not more than a fifth will be
required to keep the channel open for
navigation. The Missouri, exerting a
pressure of 10000 horsepower on its
banks. has been eating out trees and
carrying them into the channel for
countless years. When the govern
ment began in the early seventies
clearing the channel. it was necessary
to remOve the accumulations of cen
turtles. Now all that is required is to
take out the debris of one year 1t
has cost but $376.144.6O to keep open
the entire upper since 1890. The very
first expedition up the Missouri from
st. Louis in 1919 by the LOngs-Yellow-
government fleet resulted in the
wreck Of the Jefferson. From that
time until 1870, 1873 boats went to the
bottom, ISL because of snags. Since
1890 but eight boats have sunk and
only four because of snags.
There are few towns or cities along
the whole course of the Missouri river
which are not endangered by the pro-
pinquity of the stream. Farm lands
are left to its mercy. At times of high
water. when the corroding current is
most vicious, one may hear the boom
of falling bluffs. Valuable farms thus
disappear in a week.
To save river fronts of towns and
cities from a similar fate, the en-
gineers have built revetments. This
is done by making mattresses of
branches of trees, grading the banks
by hydralic pressure and sinking the
mattresses. These are held in place
by large rock. and the large rock is
protected by several inches of smaller
stone. which prevents the river from
working its way under the stone and