Omaha daily bee., 1903-06-14
MISSOURI RIVER HISTORY
Captain Ohittenden Writes Interesting Book
on steamboating in Early Days
NAME DOES NOT MEAN THE BIG MUDDY
Some Facts I'm Connection with the
Great stream that Was So Long
the Principal Artery of North
western Commerce.

Again has iconoclasm %overtaken tradition,
and this time the downfall of tradition will
be welcomed by a host Of people, for the
change relieves a mighty and majestic
stream of a slanderous appellation and
places its name in the category Of the
beautiful and poetic. In his latest work,
History of Early Steamboat Navigation
on the Missouri River" Captain Hiram
Martin Chittenden says:
The name Of the river comes from the
tribe of Indians just mentioned Cthe Mis-
souris), who once dwelt at its mouth, but
who were driven from this position by the
Illinois Indians. The word means dwelling
near the mouth Of the river" and has no
reference to the muddy quality OF the
water.
That the epithet big Muddy is not al
together undeserved. however, Captain
Chittenden makes plain In paying a fur
thor tribute to the mighty stream with
which he is 80 familiar. His book deals
principally with the life and works Of Cap
tain Joseph LaBarge, the most famous Of
all the Missouri river navigators, the rea-
son being, as set forth in the chapter at
present quoted from. that for more than
100 years the history Of navigation on the
Missouri is the history OF the country It
winds its way through. TIL might and
majesty of the great stream is thus de-
scribed by Captain Chittenden:
OF all the rivers on the globe the longest
IL the Missouri Mississippi. On the summit
of the Rocky mountains, above the upper
Red Rock lake, some forty miles west Of
the Yellowstone National park and directly
on the boundary between the states Of
Idaho and Montana, the Jefferson fork Of
the Missouri finds its source. From this
Gulf Of Mexico the distance is 4.2a miles.
The river is formed by the confluence Of
three fine mountain streams which unite at
q point fifty miles south Of Helena, Mont.
They were named by their discoveries,
Lewis and Clark, the Jefferson. Madison
ministration which set on foot the expedi-
ton of these explorers. Two of these
streams rise in the Yellowstone National
park and the other, as we have seen, a
little distance to the westward.
from blum TO blum performs some curious
freaks. It. develops the most remarkable
bends, varying in length from one to thirty
miles, with distances across the necks but
a small fraction of those around. In time
these narrow necks are cut in two, and the
river abandons its old course, which soon
fills up near the extremity of these bends
and leaves crescent-shaped lakes in the
middle. This process is a never-ending one,
and the channel distances along the river
are in a state of never-ending change.
There is one bend In the upper river known
from the earliest times as the great
bend" which vas not formed in the way
just described. The course of the river
here is comparatively permanent. and is
The distance around it nearly thirty miles,
while that across is only a mile and a half.
1t was a regular custom with travellers,
to leave the boats at the beginning of this
bend and walk across, going on board at
the other side.
Value of the Bends.
The existence of so many bends increased
back was more than offset by the reduc-
ton of the slope which made the current
overcome It with greater ease. The river
is like a spiral stairway leading from the
8 %ort! R 20 5ne ~ m9s Ssa fset.t "A s aed nSslha az
times the height of the Eiffel tower in
P~aris-above the level of the sea; yet so
gentle is the slope nearly all the way that,
In placid weather. the water surface re-
sembles that of a lake. This wonderful
the extreme sinuosity of it's course is a
fact not only interesting as a natural phe-
nomenon, but of the utmost importance IN
the behavior and use of the stream.
Not only does the general course of the
river have these larger windings, but in
periods of low water they are multiplied
manifold. When a large proportion of the
river bed between its banks becomes eX-
pIS 0sed Steam as IT d aows IN ba .ns i aHd T foTtb S sesoss
this bed until its length is largely in
creased over that az high water. Here
methods. In periods of high water, when
II is important to move the floods rapidly
sbortens its length. increases its slope and
accelerates the velocity of its flow.
OF the Immense carrying power and po-
tential energy of this stream 1t is difficult
TO form an adequate conception. 1t yearly
carries into the Mississippi $4,000, 900 tons
of earth, which has been brought an aver
age distance of not less than 500 miles.
The work thus represented is equivalent to
275,0 00, 900, 900 mile-tons, or tons carried one
mile. The railroads of the United States
carried in the year 1901 IA, 900. 100000 mile
tons of freight.
That such an exercise of power should
leave it's impress deep upon the country
through which the river flows is not to be
wondered at. Every year thousands of
acres of rich bottom and are destroyed.
Forests, meadows. cultivated fields, farm
houses and villages fall before it's tre-
mendous onslaught, and the changes that
have been wrought in the topography of
the valley during the last 100 years almost
defy belief.
In support of this latter statement, Cap
tain Chittenden gives the following:
A curious illustration of the great changes
which have taken place along the Missouri
valley occurred a few years ago. In 1896
a farmer was digging a well near the
mouth of Grand river, in Missouri, several
miles from the present channel of the
Missouri. A Bible was found in the ex-
cavation, and on its cover was the name
Naomi" The book was sent to Captain
LaBarge to see II he could suggest any