Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1903-04-02
DOWN rHe
St. Louis Globe Democrat Oevotes
Some Space to the Proposed Excur-
sion Down the Missouri to the
Worlds Fair.

sion Down the Missouri to the
Worlds Fair.
ST. Louis Globe Democrat: a prom
nent resident of Bismarck, N. d.. is
arranging to start a steamboat up the
navigation in March. 1904. which is to
carry down the river to ST. Louis the
governors of all the northwestern
states and their representative delega-
tons at the worlds fair. Not only
does this program contemplate carry
ing the representatives OF h states
along the line of the river. but it pro-
poses to render the anne service for
Oregon, Washington and Idaho. Pre-
sumably. the boat will go up as far as
Fort Benton. in Montana, which is as
navigation extended in the days of
steamboating on the river. The plan
is to stop at all the most important
places along the river on the down.
ward trip-Bismarck, Pierre. S. D.,
Omaha. Kansas City and other points
and to reach st. Louis just in adj
vance of the opening day of the fair.
or in the latter part of April.
Obviously. a trip of this sort could
be made exceedingly entertaining to
its participants. Steamboats, on the
Missouri are only a "reminiscences in
these days, but there are many impor-
tant towns on the river. Scenically
and historically. this waterway is of
great interest. The largest of the Mis-
s~issippi's %afiiuents, and by some geo.
graphers considered to be the main
stream. with the upper Mississippi only
a tributary. it drains an area of 52S,-
900 square miles, comprising ten states.
In the old days, before the appearance
of the railroad. the Missouri was a
factor of vast consequence in the
building of the west. From the day
Clark wen up the river on their ex-
ploring tour to the Pacific coast on
ward to a time within the easy recol-
lection of persons under % years of
age, it was the highway into the inte-
rior of Jefferson's province. and carried
a trade which for many years ranged
up in the dizzy heights of mathematics.
Soldiers. explorers. fur traders. miners.
a~dventureres of all sorts and home
K followed its tortuous course,
ran the gauntlet of its snags, sandbars
and sawyers, and, against or with its
current. rode on to fortune. Toward
the settlement and expansion of every
state between the Mississippi and the
Pacific this great waterway made it's
contribution.
1t will be easy for the transmits
issippi visitors to the Worlds Fair to
make a trip downward from the Mis-
sourls upper waters. In April. May
and June the old river is in its
best mood for the entertainment of
those who want to make its acquaint-
ance. Its scores or tributaries from
the Jefferson, Madison and G~allatin,
up in western Montana, which rise
in the great divide of the Rockies
close to the ~headsprings of the Column
bia. which flows into the Pacific. and
the Colorado, which empties into the
1p1f nf Co1ifnrpio ~ W. 10 ~, Min.
the Yellowstone. the Platte. the Kaw.
and the dozens of other streams which
flow into the Missouri are u of their
banks. The torrents from these feed
ers swell the Missouri to heights
which obliterate landmarks and create
vast lakes and seas temporarily which
never get on the map. Its current
sweeping downward to the confluence
with the Mississippi, a short distance
north of st. Louis, carried Manuel
Lisa, Andrew Henry, William H. Ash
Benjamin OFallon, Col. worth.
and others of the old time hunters
trappers, Indian traders and soldiers.
down TO TINS city at a 125-mile-a-day
ait, without any labor on their part
except in guiding their dugouts so
mat they renamed in the channel.
The Missouri will be booming around
the time of the opening of the Worlds
Fair, and those who take a trip on it
from its headwaters at that time will
have an entertainment which will
stand out r~esplendently in their retro.
spect during the remainder of their
lives.