Sioux County pioneer. (Fort Yates, Sioux County, N.D.) 1914-1929, 1917-02-08
Navigating Missouri
River Again Revived
Railroad Freight Congestion Revives Interest
in Improving Upper Missouri River From
Sioux City to Fort Benton

The railroad freight congestion of
the past year has revived interest
in the improvement Of the country's
waterways for navigation, and in.
cluded in this years rivers and har-
bors bill now before congress is an
item appropriating $4,000 for
clearing the channel of the Missouri
from Sioux City to Fort Benton,
Montana, which has been recom-
mended for passage by the house
committee on appropriations. One of
the members of this committee is
John Nj. Evans of Montana, who
has announced his intention of do.
ing his utmost to have the Sioux
City, Fort Benton item retained in
the bill. With the extension of
of the railway lines in the west,
traffic on the Missouri river was al.
most entirely abandoned, but with
in later years there has been re-.
vival Of Missouri river steamboating
that promises to extend within q
few years to the upper reaches of
the river-in any case to Mondak
on the eastern border Of Montana,
and probably to Fort Benton.
The government has never Who'll.
ly abandoned work on the channel
Of the upper Missouri and recently
considerable snagging has been done
as far as Mondak and some even
above that point. In the sixties
and seventies the Missouri river as
far as Fort Benton was a great high.
way Of commerce and government
engineers then reported that with
comparatively little expense the
river could be kept open for navi-
cation by large boats for the greater
part of the year. Now with home-
steaders settling up the country
along both banks and with pro-
duction Of grain in North Dakota
and Montana greater than the rail-
roads can carry with their present
facilities, the incentive for the res
toration of traffic on the river has
enormously increased and an ex-
penditure for improvement that
would not be justified a few years
ago would-be regarded as fully war
ranted today.
In the earlier days steamboats, op.
Grated on the Yellowstone as far as
the mouth of the Big Horn and
there are many who believe that
this river also will again become a
highway Of commerce. Many boats
were sent up this stream during the
Sioux war and it was down the
Yellowstone to its mouth and. thence
down the Missouri to Bismarck,
North Dakota, that record run
was made-by the Far West in 1875
with the first account of the Custer
massacre, which was to be flashed
over the wires to all parts of the
civilized world. The Far West
completed this trip just 81 hours
from out the mouth of the Big
Horn. She had covered 71O miles
laden with wounded men, at the
average rate of 13 II miles an
hour, establishing q record never
equaled by any other craft on the
Missouri or its tributaries. The
Yellowstone has the advantage over
the upper Missouri Of having many
more towns aud cities along it's
banks and it is possible that, above
Mondak. the course Of the river
traffic Of the future will be up the
Yellowstone.
Today in western Europe virtual
ly-eyery stream that is big enough
to float a bathtub is crowded with
barges and boats and the head
waters Of all the larger rivers Of,
France are connected with canals,
' & .s siss q y, - ,s js