413 - The Mighty Missouri

William Lass points out in his book titled, Navigating the Missouri, “Before railroads were built in the United States, rivers and lakes offered the easiest and fastest transportation.” And because many of the pioneers of the area, likely some of our ancestors, were faced with the need [or desire] to travel great distances to reach these remote frontiers, Americans turned to waterways whenever possible.

St. Louis, on the Mississippi river, about eighteen miles below the mouth of the Missouri, was established as the base for western exploration and Indian trading. When the city became famous as the “Gateway to the West,” the mighty Missouri proved to be the key to that gateway, through the celebrated expedition of Meriwether Lewis and William Clark from 1804-1806.

With the starting point being established at present day, Three Forks Montana, and the mouth being just north of St. Louis, just how big is the Mighty Missouri? Well, it depends who ask. Lewis and Clark calculated the distance to be 2,465 miles. But if you were asking a steamboatmen in 1865, they would have said it was right around 3000 miles. And it makes sense why they came up with that nice round number since their standard unit for setting freight rates was 100 pounds per 100 miles. The actual distance is 2,341 miles. Turns out Lewis and Clark weren’t getting paid on their distance traveled.