Montana oil and mining journal. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1931-1953, 1939-08-19
Improvement of Missouri River as Waterway
Finished 4 Years After Navigation Had Ceased
Rv IOEL 2. OVERHOLsER

Almost as soon as navigation
began on the upper Missouri, the
people of Montana and Dakota ter
ritories began appealing to the
United States government for i'm
provement of the rivers channel
for from 1860 until the late
1905 the Missouri river was the
main trade route for much Of the
heavy supplies these states needed.
The appeal went unheeded for years,
while AUTHORIZATIONS were being made
on eastern rivers The population OF
the territories was scanty, and besides,
had no vote to be placated. AS these
three states entered the last year OF
their territorial status, however, the
strength of the appeals grew with the
ticians in Washington began making
appropriations for river improvement
work on the upper Missouri.
To Fort Benton, head OF navigation
on the Missouri river, improvement
work was highly important, for the
enough even In highest water, and
when late summer came low water
checked all but the lightest draft boats.
AS early as 1875, men interested in
the navigability of the Missouri river
to Fort Benton had decided pretty
definitely upon what was needed, and
being practical men, knew that any
work done must be low in cost, else
there would be no chance of gaining
appropriations. In 1875 the Benton
Record listed a total of 81, 400 as nee
essary to improve the Missouri from
Carroll. near the mouth of the Mus
selshell, to Fort Benton. 1t was de-
sired for removal of rocks and bars
which reduced the depth of the chan
mel, and an increased depth IN certain
places made possible by construction
of wing dams to narrow and deepen
Get 1t 10 Years Later
The $7,4O0 desired in 1875 seems ex-
tremely moderate in cost, but 1t was
to be nearly 10 years before even this
relatively small sum was secured. the !
improvements listed and the cost Of
each ran as follows: Wing dam TO
cut out the Shonkin bar, $500; re-
moval of the 12-foot Lone Rock near
Judith, $500; removal of rock in-Caal- |
latin rapids, $500; Island rapids, $4OO; /
Dauphin rapids Including blasting, I
$1,000; Maybe rapids, $780,. Bird
rapids, $500; dam across one channel
at Cow island, $40O; wing dam at
island bar, $500; Hammond wing dam,
$500; wing dams at Chippewa island,
$500 The wing dams were simply con-
Structed of loose rock, and were only /
meant to extend out from shore to /
force more water to flow through the /
main channel and cut out bars ana
gravel crossings.
It was not until 1888 that any seri-
Gus effort was made to work on the |
Missouri's channel In June OF that
year the government steamer Emily, I
with two barges, IN charge Of Captain
ton. The Emily intended to work on
the Shonkin bar, once described as
the greatest obstacle to late summer
navigation. The barges were to be used
to carry rock for use on the wing dams
at the mouth of Shonkin creek. 1t had
been claimed that Fort Benton was
not necessarily the head Of navlga-
ton, but Engineer Durage, after fall
ing to take the Emily five miles above
the town to get rock, decided that If
that tiny boat couldn't make the trip, {
no boat could. People Of Fort Benton
were sadly disappointed by the failure
of the crew of the Emily to fulfill ex-
pressed intentions of taking out the
Shonkin bar, but the government men
did do some work. There were worse
disappointmentS in store for the OPP
tinistic, however.
Delay Follows Delay
Delay after delay followed in the
spring of 1884, and although the
steamer Josephine did eventually do
some work, there was little to show
when the season had ended. The worst
disappointment came the next year,
1885, after the building Of a dredge
First the parts for the dredge we're
delayed, then government regulations
and red tape held up use of the vessel,
even after it had been launched July
o. Finally on Aug Is the dredge was
given a tryout and Fort Benton people
believed the government Improvement
work was ready to start at last.
Three weeks went by, and on Sept.
9 Benton residents saw the City of
Fort Benton at work on the bar just
opposite the old fort, in full view Of
the citizenry. The work proceeded, the
dredge bit into the gravel bar and
accomplished all that had been ex-
pected Then on Sept. %, with bad
weather a couple of months away, the
City of Fort Benton went into winter j
quarters behind an ice break. A few /
days later the engineers announced |
that the small government appropri-
alton had run out.
In the spring Of 1885 an accurate
survey of the Missouri river was
planned and to this end the tiny !
steamer Missouri was put in commits ]
sion. The Missouri came to Fort Ben I
ton from st. Louis, the last through !
trip from that place, and anchored
there July 4. The Missouri was under &