Missouri National Recreational River ⓘ

On their journey westward in 1804, Lewis and Clark learned about the Ponca, a small tribe living on the west bank of the Missouri River and along what are now the lower Niobrara River and Ponca Creek in northeast Nebraska. The two did not meet as the tribe was on a hunting trip to the west.

Early Life And Movement To Reservation Standing Bear was born around 1829 in the traditional Ponca homeland near the confluence of the Niobrara and Missouri rivers. About thirty years later, the tribe sold its homeland to the United States, retaining a 58,000-acre reservation between Ponca Creek and the Niobrara River. On this reservation the Poncas lived a life of hardscrabble farming and fear-the United States did little to protect them from attacks from the Brule Sioux.

When the federal government created the Great Sioux Reservation in 1868, the Ponca Reservation was included within its boundaries, depriving them of title to their remaining lands. Eviction And Removal In 1877, the federal government decided to remove the Poncas to Indian Territory. Standing Bear, a tribal leader, protested his tribe's eviction. Federal troops enforced the removal orders, with the result that the Poncas arrived in Indian Territory in the summer of 1878. Discouraged, homesick and forlorn, the Poncas found themselves on the lands of strangers, in the middle of a hot summer, with no crops or prospects for any as the time for planting was long past.

Since the tribe had left Nebraska, one-third had died and nearly all of the survivors were sick or disabled. Talk around the campfire revolved around the "old home" in the north. The death of Chief Standing Bear's sixteen-year old son in late December 1878 set in motion the event which was to bring a measure of justice and worldwide fame to the chief and his small band of followers. Honoring A Son's Wish Wanting to honor his son's last wish to be buried in the land of his birth and not in a strange country where his spirit would wander forever, Standing Bear gathered a few members of his tribe-mostly women and children-and started for the Ponca homeland in the north. They left in early January 1879 and trekked through the Great Plains winter, reaching the reservation of their relatives, the Omahas, about two months later. Standing Bear carried with him the bones of his son to be buried in the familiar earth along the Niobrara River.

The Court Case - Standing Bear v. Crook Because Indians were not allowed to leave their reservation without permission, Standing Bear and his followers were labeled a renegade band. The Army, on the order of The Secretary of the Interior, arrested them and took them to Fort Omaha, the intention being to return them to Indian Territory. General George Crook, however, sympathized with Standing Bear and his followers and asked Thomas Henry Tibbles, an Omaha newspaperman, for help. Tibbles took up the cause and secured two prominent Omaha attorneys to represent Standing Bear.

The lawyers filed a federal court application for a writ of habeas corpus to test the legality of the detention, basing their case on the 14 th Amendment to the Constitution. The government disputed the right of Standing Bear to obtain a writ of habeas corpus on the grounds that an Indian was not a "person" under the meaning of the law.

Landmark Decision The case of Standing Bear v. Crook began on May 1, 1879 before Judge Elmer S. Dundy in U.S. District Court in Omaha and continued into the evening of the following day. On May 12, Judge Dundy ruled in favor of Standing Bear, reasoning that he and his band were indeed "persons" under the law, entitled to sever tribal connections and were free to enjoy the rights of any other person in the land. The government appealed Dundy's decision, but the Supreme Court of the United States refused to hear the case, leaving Standing Bear and his followers free in the eyes of the law.

Civil Rights Activist Thomas Tibbles (1840-1928) led a colorful life fighting for the rights of others even before meeting Chief Standing Bear and becoming a full-time advocate for Indian rights. The setting: It is 1883;Tibbles and others have spent two winters on a lecture circuit of the eastern states, raising funds and awareness for the cause of helping Indians adapt to and be accepted by 19th century America. Today's presentation is the type of speech he may have made on these speaking tours. Epilogue: Tibbles, Helen Hunt Jackson, and other activists supported the Dawes Act to put tribal land into individual Indian ownership. However, this well-intended legislation was manipulated to further reduce Indian land holdings and fragment cultural continuity.

Humans have shaped and in turn been shaped by the mighty Missouri River. Changes to the river brought about by human activity over the past two centuries have dramatically changed the lives of countless people. Some of these people have become renowned historical personages:

The landmark Lewis and Clark expedition in search of the Missouri River's headwaters left the first detailed record of the flora, fauna and geology of North America's longest waterway. The Missouri National Recreational River corridor serves as a microcosm of the expedition. Nearly all the activities that the party was to engage in throughout the two and a half year journey were acted out in this region. The landmark events along the MNRR corridor included:

This Ponca Indian chief made history as a civil rights advocate and in the process helped all Native Americans become citizens of the United States. The case of Standing Bear v. Crook began on May 1, 1879 before Judge Elmer S. Dundy in U.S. District Court in Omaha. On May 12, Judge Dundy ruled in favor of Standing Bear, reasoning that he & his band were indeed "persons" under the law, entitled to sever tribal connections & were free to enjoy the rights of any other person in the land.

He was probably the greatest Missouri River pilot during the Steamboat Era. His flawless record of safe voyages along the mighty river made him a legend. His vast amount of experience as a riverboat pilot led to him to be requested as master and pilot of the Far West to accompany Gen. Alfred Terry and Lt. Col. George Custer on their ill-fated campaign against the Sioux and Northern Cheyennes in 1876. Marsh traveled 64 miles up the shallow Bighorn to the mouth of the Little Big Horn in support of the troops. The Far West's 54-hour, 710-mile day-and-night dash to Bismarck with more than 50 wounded troopers brought news of the Seventh Cavalry's fate to the rest of the nation then celebrating its centennial year.

Among the numerous Missouri River steamboat pilots, Grant Prince Marsh (1834-1916) was possibly the greatest ever.

He grew up in the river town of Rochester, Pennsylvania, and began his steamboat career as a cabin boy at the age of 12. Moving to St. Louis in 1852, he worked on boats in the St. Louis-Omaha trade. By 1858 he was a first mate on the A. B. Chambers No. 2 , on which he was assisted by a then-unknown second mate, Samuel Clemens (aka Mark Twain). During the Civil War, Marsh worked as an apprentice or "cub" pilot on boats in the Union Fleet on the lower Mississippi.

After the war Marsh worked as a pilot and captain in the St. Louis-Fort Benton (Montana) trade. In later 1869, he was captain of the North Alabama loaded with vegetables for the army posts up river. Despite the dangers of becoming ice-bound for the winter a thousand miles from home, Marsh went all the way to Fort Buford at the mouth of the Yellowstone River to deliver the fresh provisions. These foods provided a welcome relief from the usual salt meat, canned goods and hardtack.

Marsh moved to Yankton with Sanford Coulson in 1873 as a captain of one of the Coulson Packet Line boats. He worked with Coulson throughout most of that decade, establishing a reputation for reliability, both in moving freight and in commanding men. Three years later, his unique experience on the Yellowstone River caused him to be requested by the U.S. Army as master and pilot of the Far West to accompany Gen. Alfred Terry and Lt. Col. George Custer on their ill-fated campaign against the Sioux and Northern Cheyennes, culminating at the Battle of the Little Bighorn.

On that trip Marsh exhibited his consummate skills on the Missouri. He had learned to "grasshopper" his way over sandbars with the spars on the bow of his various boats, and there were those who said he could navigate a sternwheeler through a sea of dew. Marsh traveled 64 miles up the shallow Bighorn to the mouth of the Little Bighorn in support of the troops.

The Far West's 54-hour, 710-mile day-and-night dash to Bismarck with more than 50 wounded troopers of Major Reno's command was one of the most remarkable exploits in the history of Missouri River steamboating. It was Marsh and those he brought with him who relayed the fate of the Seventh Cavalry to the rest of the nation then celebrating its centennial year.

Marsh then continued his work on the Missouri. In Yankton he bought a handsome brick house in 1877. With his own packet boat, the W. J. Behan , he participated in one more notable event in late April 1883, transporting Sitting Bull and his remaining followers from Fort Yates to Fort Randall where they had been detained after their return from Canada. Then, as river traffic waned on the Missouri, Marsh moved to Memphis, Tennessee, where there were still opportunities for individuals like him on the Mississippi.

He did, though, return to Bismarck, North Dakota, operating snag boats, towing coal barges, transporting grain and cement. He stayed active on the river as long as he could. Marsh died in near poverty in Bismarck in early January 1916, at the age of 83. He was interred in St. Mary's Cemetery located on a hilltop overlooking the Missouri River valley. Learn more: "Life on the Missouri"

Meriwether Lewis and William Clark were the first Americans to investigate the Great Plains. In 1803 President Jefferson appointed Lewis, his private secretary, as leader of the Corps of Discovery, and Lewis offered Clark an invitation to be co-commander. The Corps passed through this portion of the middle Missouri River from August 20 to September 8, 1804, and then on the return trip from August 31 to September 4, 1806.

The Missouri National Recreational River (MNRR) Corridor The MNRR region can serve as a microcosm of the expedition. Nearly all the activities that the party was to engage in throughout the two and a half year journey were acted out in this region. Among these:

Daily Activities - Extraordinary And Rare Add to these the regular round of daily activities and one gets a snapshot picture of the entire exploration during this brief period. But if there is a sameness along the park corridor when compared to the trip as a whole, it is also unique in its time and place. The only death on the expedition, that of Sgt. Charles Floyd, occurred southeast of the park near today's Sioux City, Iowa.

On the cross-country trek to Spirit Mound , Clark took a singular temperature reading during a period when he made no other weather observation. The expedition moved into unfamiliar environmental zones with a changed climate and terrain, primarily west of today's Niobrara, Nebraska. Like so many points on the compass of Lewis and Clark's exploring world, the journey along this stretch of the river was ordinary and routine at the same time that it was extraordinary and rare. It holds both a standard and a special place in the history of the expedition. To read more about Lewis, Clark and the Corps of Discovery visit

For additional information on the Corps of Discovery, visit the Lewis & Clark National Historic Trail website .

The Missouri River is rich in cultural resources, in places that have a national, regional or local significance. Numerous historic sites and two archeological sites that are listed on the National Register of Historic Places are located in counties along the corridor but outside the park boundary. Three historic sites - listed below - are within the park:

Spirit Mound has taken on a variety of cultural meanings that reflect the beliefs of the diverse peoples that make up the American population. It is an important point of contact between the American Indians and Euro-Americans. It exemplifies a sometimes uneasy fusion of these two major cultural traditions. For most people, it is a location associated with the Lewis and Clark Expedition.

For American Indians, Spirit Mound is both physical location and spiritual place, a place of contact between the natural and the supernatural world. The Yankton (Sioux), associate Spirit Mound with the Can O'ti na, Little Tree Dwellers/Little People. Long ago two tribes battled to a stalemate. In Lakota (Sioux) tradition Spirit Mound is the origin point for the Wo'piye Can O'ti la, the Little Tree Dweller's Medicine Bundle.

The historic structure most readily visible from the river is the Meridian Bridge, Yankton's signature landmark. It is notable as the first permanent river crossing in the Yankton vicinity and as one of the final links in the Meridian Highway, an early north-south route from Winnipeg, Canada, to Mexico City, Mexico. The vertical lift design was a typical period engineering solution to a typical problem of spanning a wide navigable river, and thus did not garner much attention in engineering circles in the 1920s. The region's population, however, considered it an outstanding highway bridge building accomplishment that greatly improved economic and social connections across the Nebraska and South Dakota border. Learn more ...

Strategically located on the west or right bank of the Missouri River near the South Dakota-Nebraska border, Fort Randall served as an important outpost on the upper Missouri River for operations against the Sioux in 1863-65 and was one of the chain of forts that surrounded the Sioux country from 1865 to 1876. It served longer as a continuously occupied military post than any other fort on the upper river.

Important visitors to the post included: Buffalo Bill Cody, who stopped on his way to the East with his "Wild West Show." Jim Bridger, the famous mountain man, who appeared as a scout with a visiting survey crew. Renowned Civil War General Phillip Sheridan inspected the post in 1879. Perhaps the most famous inhabitant of Fort Randall was not a soldier but a prisoner: Sitting Bull (Tatanka Iyotake) of the Lakota Sioux is probably best known for his contribution towards the defeat of Col. George Custer at the Battle of Little Big Horn. Learn more ...

This Treaty of 1858 between the Yankton Sioux and the United States Government provided for the removal of the tribe to a 475,000-acre reservation on the north side of the Missouri River in what is now Charles Mix County. (Charles E. Mix was the commissioner who signed for the federal government.) On July 10, 1859, the Yankton Sioux vacated the ceded lands and moved onto the newly-created reservation. For about eleven and a half million acres, a payment of approximately $1.6 million in annuities was to be paid over the next 50 years. Specific provisions of the treaty called for educating the tribe to develop skills in agriculture, industrial arts and homemaking. Learn more ...

Yankton's Signature Landmark The historic structure most readily visible from Yankton's riverfront is the Meridian Bridge. It is notable as the first permanent river crossing in the Yankton vicinity and as one of the final links in the Meridian Highway, an early north-south route from Winnipeg, Canada, to Mexico City, Mexico. The vertical lift design was a typical period engineering solution to a typical problem of spanning a wide navigable river, and thus did not garner much attention in engineering circles in the 1920s. The region's population, however, considered it an outstanding bridge engineering accomplishment that greatly improved economic and social connections across the Nebraska and South Dakota border.

Bridge Boosterism The Meridian Bridge was built under the auspices of the Meridian Bridge Company that was incorporated in 1919 by local civic leaders under the direction of Deloss B. Gurney, a prominent seed merchant. The businessman, motivated by a desire to ensure Yankton's economic future as a center of trade, wanted the bridge to replace a ferry and a seasonally operated pontoon bridge that limited transportation south from Yankton to markets in rural northeastern Nebraska.

The bridge boosters also supported the bridge as an improvement to the Meridian Highway. Indeed, the bridge company used the Meridian Highway in its name in order to elevate the bridge project above a local character even though the company had no official organizational connection with the highway. Established around 1911, the Meridian Highway traversed the Great Plains in a north-south direction and derived its name from the Sixth Principal Meridian, which it roughly paralleled.

The Final Toll The $1.1 million Meridian Bridge was financed primarily by local capital at a time when it was increasingly common for bridges to be built through some form of federal or state aid. The Meridian Bridge, officially dedicated on October 11, 1924, was from the first a symbol of local pride, in large part because it had been conceived and built under local leadership. It appeared on souvenir medals and postcards. For many years, Yankton held the local nickname of "Bridge City." The community even considered December 1, 1952, a day of celebration when the wife of former bridge company executive Deloss Gurney paid the last toll and the bridge became officially debt free.

The bridge was built with a double deck in anticipation that the lower deck would be made available to a railroad, but the line never materialized. The double decking speaks to the optimism of the bridge company founders that they could attract a north-south rail line to Yankton. By the 1920s, however, the great era of railroad construction was over; many railroads were already contemplating abandoning unprofitable lines and consolidating parallel, competing lines.

The Meridian Highway Bridge Company agreed to sell the bridge to the City of Yankton in 1946 for $700,000. In 1953 after recouping the cost of the bridge through toll collection, the bridge was turned into a free facility and shortly thereafter taken over by the State of South Dakota. At the same time, the lower level which never materialized into a train route was converted to carry vehicular traffic, allowing one-way traffic on each of the two levels.

An Engineering Marvel The vertical lift span of the bridge is based on the design originally developed by J.A.L. Waddell and John L. Harrington in 1894. Waddell and Harrington dissolved their partnership with Harrington starting a new company, Harrington, Howard and Ash, established in 1914. In January 1920, the Meridian Highway Bridge Company retained this respected firm to design the Meridian lift bridge. Unique to the Meridian Bridge is the fact that the lift span was designed so that it could be swapped with one of the other spans if the river changed its channel.

The bridge has undergone several rehabilitation projects including the construction of new approach spans, deck modifications and several structural steel repairs within its 76-year life. The most significant alteration to the bridge occurred in 1983 when the lift span ceased to be movable and the operating machinery, operator's house that was cantilevered off the northeast quadrant, and counterweights and cables were removed. The towers remain, defining what was the vertical lift span. The decorative iron railings were replaced with concrete barricades. The bridge retains its original configuration and is today distinguished as the only vertical lift span in Nebraska and South Dakota. The bridge was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in May 1993.

Converted & Opened For Recreational Use On October 11, 2009, the new Discovery Bridge was opened to traffic. The Meridian Bridge was closed and soon underwent conversion to pedestrian/bike use. In November 2011 it opened for recreational use. Hiking, biking, running or walking across the bridge is a popular outdoor activity in the Yankton area.

Spirit Mound, approximately 8 miles north of Vermillion on South Dakota Route 19, is a natural hill that rises from a plain covered by glacial till. From a geological perspective, it is a remnant of bedrock forming a knob from the lower part of the Niobrara Chalk not eroded away by Ice Age glaciers.

Diverse Meanings - Diverse Cultures Spirit Mound has taken on a variety of cultural meanings that reflect the beliefs of the diverse peoples that make up the American population. It is an important point of contact between the American Indians and Euro-Americans. It exemplifies a sometimes uneasy fusion of these two major cultural traditions.

Lewis & Clark Expedition - Investigating A Mystery For most people, it is a location associated with the Lewis and Clark Expedition. On August 25, 1804, the two captains and several other members of the expedition journeyed north from the Missouri River to explore a "mysterious hill," known today as Spirit Mound and Can O'ti la Paha . Lewis and Clark had heard stories of Spirit Mound from the Otoes, Missouria, Omaha, and others. After a hot and thirsty journey, they topped the hill and saw, for the first time, a panoramic view of the Great Plains. They "discovered" the Great Plains, the grasslands and relatively treeless prairie inhabited by large herds of bison and elk. Lewis and Clark chose to journey to Spirit Mound so that they might understand why the Indians revered this location.

Native Meanings - The Mandan For American Indians, Spirit Mound is both physical location and spiritual place, a place of contact between the natural and the supernatural world. The sacred Turtle Drums of the Mandan were created at Spirit Mound. At Spirit Mound, Lone Man saved the Mandans' ancestors from a great flood. The first shrine built to commemorate Lone Man's saving the Mandan was built at Spirit Mound.

Native Meanings - Yankton (Sioux) For the Yankton (Sioux), Spirit Mound is associated with the Can O'ti na , Little Tree Dwellers/Little People. Long ago two tribes battled to a stalemate. They both sought help from the spirits at Spirit Mound. They tried to manipulate the spirits for their own purposes. Their manipulation failed, but it brought two types of spirits into this world. The larger Spirits moved west to become Sasquatch, but the Can O'ti na stayed in the area and can still be seen there today.

Native Meanings - Lakota (Sioux) In Lakota (Sioux) tradition, Spirit Mound is also associated with the Can O'ti la . In the distant past, Iktomi (Trickster) persuaded the Raccoon people to try to change their nature. The Can O'ti la are descendants of two modified Raccoon children. As the Can O'ti la grew, they walked upright and used their paws like hands. They also became mischievous and played tricks on men. Men were led astray and sometimes died. Later in time at Spirit Mound, the Can O'ti la were transformed into spirit helpers of men. Spirit Mound is the origin point for the Wo'piye Can O'ti la , the Little Tree Dweller's Medicine Bundle. This medicine bundle is still in use today by the Lakota of the Dakotas and Nebraska.

This coming together of the American Indians and Euro-American peoples had a downside. At Spirit Mound, the Winged One predicted that the Can O'ti la would be forced away from Spirit Mound when the true children (European-Americans) of the trickster Iktomi arrived. For some, Lewis & Clark's visit to Spirit Mound marks the beginning of the end of Lakota traditional lifeways.

Protection, Preservation & Restoration - Since 2002 The State of South Dakota, with the assistance of the National Park Service and the Spirit Mound Trust , purchased the 160-acre tract in 2002 and removed all traces of an existing cattle feedlot and associated outbuildings. The intention has been to restore the site to the prairie landscape that Lewis and Clark saw over 200 years ago. Today Spirit Mound Historic Prairie is a prairie restoration project work in progress. A walking trail leads to the top of Spirit Mound so that you may orient yourself on the vast landscape of the Great Plains.

First Contact With Lewis & Clark According to local legend, when Meriwether Lewis learned that a male child had been born near the expedition's encampment in what is today southeastern South Dakota, he sent for the child and wrapped the newborn baby boy in an American flag during the council at Calumet Bluff in late August 1804. Lewis declared the baby an American. This boy grew up to become a headman (chief) of the Ihanktonwan Nakota (Yankton Sioux), known as Struck By-the-Ree. However, the journals of the expedition make no mention of this incident. Pressure & Land Cession By the late 1850s pressure to open up what is now southeastern South Dakota to white settlement had become very strong. Struck-by-the-Ree and several other headmen journeyed to Washington, D.C., in late 1857 to negotiate a treaty with the federal government. For more than three and a half months, they worked out the terms of a treaty of land cession. Struck-by-the-Ree's name appears first on the Treaty of Washington, signed April 19, 1858.

Returning from Washington, Padaniapapi (Struck-by-The-Ree) told his people, "The white men are coming in like maggots. It is useless to resist them. They are many more than we are. We could not hope to stop them. Many of our brave warriors would be killed, our women and children left in sorrow, and still we would not stop them. We must accept it, get the best terms we can get and try to adopt their ways."

For about eleven and a half million acres, a payment of approximately $1.6 million in annuities was to be paid over the next 50 years. Specific provisions of the treaty called for educating the tribe to develop skills in agriculture, industrial arts and homemaking. This treaty provided for the removal of the tribe to a 475,000-acre reservation on the north side of the Missouri River in what is now Charles Mix County. (Charles E. Mix was the commissioner who signed for the federal government.) The US Senate ratified the treaty on February 16, 1859 and President Buchanan authorized it ten days later. On July 10, 1859, the Yankton Sioux vacated the ceded lands and moved onto the newly-created reservation. Treaty Monument Text on the monument states: To commemorate the treaty between the United States of America and the Yankton Tribe of Sioux or Dakota Indians. Concluded at Washington, D.C. April 18, 1856; Ratified by the Senate February 16, 1859. In Memory of the Yankton Chiefs who made the Treaty of 1858. Struck By The Ree, Black Bear, Medicine Crow, White Swan, Pretty Boy, Feather In The Ear, Crazy Bull, Frank Deloria The Monument can be found on a hill approximately 1/4 mile north of Greenwood, South Dakota (where the original Yankton Sioux Agency headquarters was located) off Bon Homme County Road 2.

Stories abound along the "Big Muddy", from American Indian traditions to the campfire tales of trappers, traders, and explorers, to the territory's first newspapers. Here is a broad overview of the region's major historic periods.

Humans have lived along or near the Missouri River for some 10,000 years. Archeological remains of their tools and weapons, campsites and homes, foods, and religious and ceremonial objects provide clues to their lifestyles. Most of the sites have been defined by the presence of surface materials, and only limited excavations have been conducted in the area.

The Missouri River shared with the Oregon and Santa Fe trails the distinction of being one of the three main thoroughfares to the Far West. It was the great waterway of American Indians, Lewis and Clark , trappers and traders, steamboat captains, and settlers. Interaction took place between traders and the Omaha, Ponca and Sioux tribes as they traveled up and down the river. As the federal government moved the tribes to reservations, with the process overseen largely by troops at Fort Randall , land in the region became available for settlement. The 1858 Treaty between the Yankton Sioux and the federal government opened up Dakota Territory.

The Homestead Act of 1862 encouraged further immigration to the region. These settlers built a number of communities along the river corridor. Steamboats plied the river until the late 1800s. During this time the Missouri was characterized by a constantly shifting channel, numerous smaller braided channels, chutes, sloughs, islands, sandbars, and backwater areas. The river was infamous for its sudden and dramatic shifts in course. Well over 200 steamboats are known to have sunk in the river from 1819 to 1897. Nearly 50 of those are known to have been lost within the nearly 100 miles of the park. The wrecks now lie beneath the river's silt and sandbars. For audio podcasts of "Life on the Missouri" go to our living history page .

Extensive flooding prompted the passage of many flood control measures in the mid-1900s. The one that has affected the river the most was the Flood Control Act of 1944, a part of which is the Pick-Sloan Plan . Fort Randall and Gavins Point dams, as well as the planned community of Pickstown, have their origins in this plan. Read more by clicking here...

Very few of the cultural resources along the park have been studied and evaluated to determine significance in a national context. Several such properties exist close to the river in both states. The one nationally-significant historic property that can readily be seen from the river is the Meridian Bridge at Yankton

The Background That the "Big Muddy" flooded annually was a given. Major floods occurred in 1844, 1881, 1903, 1915, 1926, and 1934. They were no novelty to the people living along the Missouri and its tributaries. But the three floods in 1943 were unusually severe. Much of Omaha was under water, including its airport, vital to the war effort. That year's flooding focused unprecedented public and congressional attention on the Missouri River basin. Congress responded a year later by passing the Flood Control Act, which included the Pick-Sloan Plan.

This law became the guiding spirit of the Missouri River basin and has resulted in the most important and lasting alteration of the basin and its ecosystem. While devastating floods paved the way for the Pick-Sloan Plan so too did the Great Depression and the progressive conservation movement's belief that multiple-purpose water projects would stimulate growth in the arid West. Proponents fervently believed that growth would follow the "harnessing" of rivers. Pick-Sloan also reflected the arid lands reclamation movement, which was promoted at the turn of the last century by irrigation enthusiasts like George Maxwell and William Smythe.

The fur trade, America’s first fashion-driven industry, stimulated Euro-American exploration of the Missouri River Valley several decades before Lewis & Clark. Beaver was most important, the dense undercoat being used to make felt hats. The entire world used furs, from wolf to muskrat, for warm clothing in this era before synthetic insulating materials. Trade was nothing new to the Plains Tribes; the various cultures that occupied this land at different times had exchanged produce, dried meat, tools, and weapons for thousands of years. By the mid 1700s, the Ihanktonwan Nakota (Yankton Sioux) hosted a trade fair near the confluence of the James and Missouri rivers. This annual event was a forerunner of the flea markets and swap meets of today.

European traders brought manufactured goods that were new to the American Indians. These products included metal cooking pots, knives, guns, coffee, sugar, fabrics, and beads and ornaments. Competition became keen and sometimes violent among British, French, and Spanish companies. There are accounts indicating that French traders visited the Big Sioux Valley before 1700, with British Canadians following early in that century, reaching present-day Nebraska by 1773. Spaniard Juan Munier traded on the Missouri near the Niobrara River a few years later. A French expedition under Jacques D’Eglise reached the Mandan villages in present-day North Dakota in 1790 and brought back stories of British trade in the area. In response to these incursions, the Spanish government financed The Commercial Company for the Discovery of the Nations of the Upper Missouri, known as the Missouri Company, and sent three expeditions intended to reach the Mandan villages. The first, led by Jean Baptiste Truteau only reached a point a few miles upstream of what would later be the site of Fort Randall where they built the first constructed post in the future Dakota Territory.

The second expedition was no more successful, ending at a Ponca village where trader Antoine Lecuyer took “not less than two wives… and wasted a great deal of the goods of the company.” The company’s third expedition under James MacKay and John Evans successfully reached the Mandan villages eight years before Lewis & Clark’s better-known American expedition. One of the earliest trappers and traders in the Yankton area was Pierre Dorion, Sr., who married into the Yankton tribe around 1785 and was a short-term member of the Lewis and Clark Expedition in 1804. He served as liaison and translator for the council near Calumet Bluff. In these early days, independent traders and small parties were at risk of being relieved of their goods by tribes that chose raiding over trading. Later, large companies built impressive posts that not only offered protection, but projected an image of permanence that led to long-term trade partnerships. In some instances, the posts were established at the express request of one or more tribes.

In the early 1800s, the demand for beaver pelts for hatmaking remained strong. Between 1807 and 1812 Spaniard Manuel Lisa established posts from the site of today’s Omaha to the mouth of the Bighorn River in Montana. Ultimately unsuccessful, Lisa abandoned all of them by 1820. In 1822 a group of North West Company managers, shaken out in a merger with Hudson Bay Company, formed the Columbia Fur Company. Within five years their company had Missouri River posts operating near the Niobrara, Vermillion, and Big Sioux rivers. At that time, John Jacob Astor’s American Fur Company bought out Columbia and made it the Upper Missouri Outfit of the Western Department of the giant American Fur Company. First keelboats, then steamboats brought tons of goods from around the world to dozens of remote trading posts and forts; beads from Italy, metal ornaments from Germany, vermillion pigment from China, and iron axe heads, guns, and other tools from America’s foundries. The boats left the posts loaded with bales of pelts and hides harvested by the American Indian men and tanned by the women. As the beaver population dwindled and fashions changed from beaver felt hats to silk hats, the fur companies’ focus changed from beaver pelts to buffalo robes. These were tanned bison hides with the fur on, marketed as lap robes for the carriage or buggy, as rugs, and as bed coverings. The fur companies shipped other tanned pelts, such as otter and fox, as far as Russia and China, placing the American Indians at one end of a global supply network.

In the fur trade, two radically different cultures came together to do business, usually peacefully. Traders took on the American Indian custom of trade as a social event to include the exchange of gifts and the sharing of a pipe, food, and news before the start of negotiations. Fur company employees, from the engagés (laborers) to the bourgeois (managers), often took American Indian or Métis (mixed blood) wives. It was not unusual for a chief to try to match his daughters to fur trade employees, for traders had easy access to goods and could offer the family the protection of a trade fort. The mixedblood sons of these unions often found themselves outcast by both white and Indian cultures and sometimes found acceptance and opportunity only in the fur trade. Through the fur trade, American Indians acquired the conveniences of Euro-American technology. This cultural mix generally led to an easier lifestyle for the natives. They quickly incorporated trade goods into utilitarian, decorative, and ceremonial articles. Metal pots replaced buffalo hide cooking containers, steel knives replaced stone, and rifles and muskets replaced or supplemented the bow and arrow. Clothing became more colorful with the introduction of European fabrics, and glass beads replaced or supplemented porcupine quills. They also incorporated beads into items such as knife sheaths, arrow quivers, and moccasins, and added red ribbons to ceremonial bundles and prayer offerings. They even decorated muskets, rifles and traditional weapons with brass wire, silver ornaments and paints purchased from the traders.

Not all of the traders’ influence was beneficial, however. Dependence on imported goods sometimes led to a more materialistic attitude and wasteful hunting. Traditionally, Plains Indians took only the game they needed for their own food, clothing, and shelter, and in some cultures thanked the spirit of the animal for its sacrifice. The desire for more manufactured goods demanded more pelts and hides. This need for more conflicted with traditional values. In addition, American Indians were introduced to alcohol and inadvertently exposed to deadly diseases to which they had no immunity. Four years before Lewis and Clark’s expedition, three quarters of the Ponca tribe died of smallpox. Another epidemic of this disease, carried by a steamboat passenger in 1837, killed 10,000 to 20,000 Plains Indians, including over 90% of the Mandan Nation. As a result of these epidemics, some tribes were left too weak to defend themselves from other tribes and outside invaders. This sometimes resulted in alliances of former adversaries, as decimated tribes banded together for protection against stronger nations.

The fur trade did not end all at once; the decline of trade moved up the river as the tribes were relegated to reservations and their access to buffalo became limited. The American Fur Company found more profit in shipping reservation and military supplies than in trading for hides and pelts. Locally, American Fur Company’s Fort Vermillion and Ponca Post both closed in the 1850s as trade dwindled. Shortly after the departure of American Fur, a representative of Frost, Todd, & Co. began trading from a tent near the site of Yankton. By 1859 the Yankton Sioux and Ponca tribes had moved to reservations and been provided with annuity goods and farm equipment in accordance with their treaties; most of their hunting ceased, and Frost, Todd, & Company conveniently became a townsite developer. The remaining free-roaming tribes continued to hunt and trade buffalo robes into the 1870s as change and settlers swept inexorably up the river. Although a half century of traderelated American Indian hunting had a serious impact on the bison population, it took non-Indian commercial hunters only a decade to bring the species to the brink of extinction. By 1890, the remaining free Plains Tribes had been confined to reservations, and the era of intercultural private enterprise came to an end. While the fur trade and its goods brought changes for both the better and the worse, it was the force of the U.S. Army and the settlers’ demands for land that left the Plains Tribes restricted to reservations and struggling to maintain their pride, traditions and languages in a world that was no longer their own.

A Long & Eventful History Just below Fort Randall Dam, at the western edge of the Missouri National Recreational River's 39-mile reach, lie the ruins of Fort Randall. Strategically located on the west or right bank of the Missouri River near the South Dakota-Nebraska border, Fort Randall served as an important outpost on the upper Missouri River for operations against the Sioux in 1863-65 and was one of the chain of forts that surrounded the Sioux country from 1865 to 1876. It served longer as a continuously occupied military post than any other fort on the upper river.

Established by General William S. Harney in June 1856, the post provided troops and routed supplies to serve an assortment of government ventures. Harney named it after the late Deputy Paymaster General of the US Army, Colonel Daniel Randall.

Mission To Maintain Peace The fort's primary purpose was to maintain peace between American Indians and white settlers, as well as among the tribes themselves. Its soldiers guarded against incursions by Dakota warriors following the Minnesota Sioux Outbreak of 1862. Later, troops interacted with the Poncas along with the Santee, Yankton, and Teton Sioux.

Most of the soldiers lived a monotonous military life, working the same routine day after day, broken only by occasional trips into Indian Territory. But the boredom led to discontent among the soldiers, resulting in high desertion rates.

Famous Visitors & Prisoners Important visitors to the post always caused a wave of excitement. These included:

Perhaps the most famous inhabitant of Fort Randall was not a soldier but a prisoner. Sitting Bull (Tatanka Iyotake) of the Lakota Sioux is probably best known for his contribution towards the defeat of Col. George Custer at the Battle of Little Big Horn. He and his band of 158 Hunkpapa Sioux camped south of the fort and were kept under loose surveillance from July 1881 until November 1883 when he was moved to Fort Yates, in present day North Dakota.

In 1877, Chief Standing Bear and his brother Big Snake, head of the Ponca warrior society, were briefly imprisoned in retaliation for opposing relocation of the tribe and for evicting federal Indian agents from tribal land. They were released by the fort commander who sent a telegram of protest to President Hayes.

The most conspicuous improvement to the fort made in the 1870s, when it was home to the 1 st United States Infantry, was that of the combination chapel, library and lodge. Conceived by Lt. Colonel Pinkney Lugenbeel and designed by the post carpenter, George Bush, the cross-shaped building was erected in 1875 with the sweat from many a soldier and at a cost of about $20,000.

The Army campaign of 1876 substantially ended the military aspect of the regional "Indian question." But the post continued to provide security by assuring federal presence to settlers who flocked into newly opened lands in the region.

The Final Years By 1880, the Great Plains had calmed considerably and the western frontier had passed over the South Dakota horizon. During its last years as a military post, Fort Randall's soldiers were kept busy with drills, target practice, and repairing roads from the post to eastern Dakota and Nebraska. The end came on October 31, 1892, when Fort Randall was turned over to the Quartermaster Department. In a historic quirk of irony, the last company to leave the post on December 7th was composed entirely of American Indians, commanded by two white officers.

Upon abandonment in 1892, and with exception of the chapel, the fort's buildings and contents were sold at auction and removed by local settlers. Visiting Today Today visitors can walk the half-mile paved parade grounds and view the archeological remains of the post's former buildings. Over time and left to the mercy of the elements, the chapel had deteriorated to the point of collapsing totally. In 2003, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers erected a stabilizing structure over the historic chapel after a National Park Service study and assessment of the building.

The Homestead Act offered an incredible opportunity to the entire world; American citizenship was not a requirement to claim free land, only the intent to become a citizen. European peasants whose families had worked under a landlord for generations, farmers from the East without land of their own, single women and former slaves all came to meet the challenge. A homesteader had only to be the head of a household or at least 21 years of age to claim a 160 acre parcel of land. All the filing fees totaled $18, but the non-monetary cost was usually extremely high.

People wanting to claim land had to file their intentions at the nearest Land Office. A brief check for previous ownership claims was made for the plot of land in question, usually described by its survey coordinates. The prospective homesteader paid a filing fee of $10 to claim the land temporarily, as well as a $2 commission to the land agent. In addition to the homestead application, other documents were required, including sworn statements of identity, statement of marital status, statements that the land was non-mineral-bearing, and many more. The homestead documentation for Charles Ingalls’ claim near DeSmet, Dakota Territory, comprises twenty-four pages in the National Archives.

The claimant did not automatically receive title to the land upon filing. In order to “prove up”, homesteaders had to farm the land, build a house, and live on the land for five years. At the end of that period, an intent to file proof was published, and the claimant filed sworn documents testifying that he or she had fulfilled the requirements. Sworn testimony of witnesses was also required before the land office issued the homestead certificate. The actual title, called a patent and signed by the president, arrived later. This document was sometimes framed and proudly displayed in the home. Earning this document usually proved to be difficult; less than half of those filing homestead applications actually fulfilled the requirements and proved up.

It was the land itself that extracted the highest price from the homesteaders, a price paid in sweat, blood, broken dreams, and sometimes lives. Challenges were numerous. Just building the required house could present a challenge of its own. On a timbered claim, a log cabin was the easiest solution, but on the treeless plains, options were limited. Most often the first dwelling was a dugout excavated into a hillside or a soddy built of huge slabs cut from the tough prairie grass and earth. Crops could be destroyed by drought, flood, hail, wind, or even grasshopper infestations of biblical proportions. Drought, heat, blizzards or cold could kill livestock or even the settlers themselves. Epidemics of disease took their toll, but for some, the sheer isolation and loneliness of life on the frontier was enough to drive them back to the cities and towns. Settlers could be misled by promoters exaggerating the potential of their regions, and many claims were staked on land unsuited for farming, making failure inevitable.

In order to open land to homesteading, the government had to acquire it from the American Indians who inhabited it. Tribes were pressured into signing treaties, turning their territories over to the government and committing themselves to reservations. Cultures clashed, and resistance was crushed with military force. Hunter-gatherer lifestyles collapsed with the demise of the bison, replaced by a dependence on government goods. Traditional cultures were suppressed in response to widespread public fear and racism.

Even after a family had proved up, they were still vulnerable to the whims of nature and the follies of mankind. Weather was a constant concern, but even limited success could make homesteaders vulnerable to other threats. Land could be used as collateral to purchase farm equipment, but one or two years of crop failures would lead to default, foreclosure and loss of all a family had worked for. Those who failed learned a bitter lesson on the powers of nature and an unforgiving land. Those who succeeded proved the strength of the American work ethic and confirmed Thomas Jefferson’s ideal of the free farmer as the foundation of democracy.

Humans have shaped and in turn been shaped by the mighty Missouri River. There are numerous prehistoric and historic village sites within the Missouri National Recreational River boundaries. Early cultures developed along the river, most notably the Woodland Culture, dating back up to 2,500 years. They were followed by the Iowy, Arikara, and Mandan. By the time Euro-Americans arrived, the land was populated by the Omaha, Ponca, Yankton Nakota, and Teton (Brule') Lakota. The Santee Dakota were relocated to this area from Minnesota. Changes to the river brought about by human activity over the past two centuries have dramatically changed the lives of countless people. Among these are:

The Missouri River is rich in cultural resources, in places that have a national, regional or local significance. Numerous historic sites and two archeological sites that are listed on the National Register of Historic Places are located in counties along the corridor but outside the park boundary. Three major historic sites are within the park:

Stories abound along the "Big Muddy", from American Indian traditions to the campfire tales of trappers, traders, and explorers, to the territory's first newspapers. These amazing stories include:

The Missouri and Niobrara rivers are ever flowing and they are in a perpetual shifting, dynamic state. A multiplicity of factors affect the river the surrounding environment. These agents of change include:

The park provides a "living laboratory" that helps us better understand how these environmental factors have shaped park landscapes and ecosystems. Park staff are monitoring changes in environmental factors to alert managers to threats to the resources, it is hoped, in time to prevent long-term damage.

Missouri River Recovery Program Some of the development activities along the Missouri River, such as dams and levees, have come at the expense of the river's native fish and wildlife. Recently, a consortium of agencies and organizations, led by the US Army Corps of Engineers and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, have initiated a program to restore some of the river ecosystem's natural form and function. These activities will continue for decades. Activities to restore some of the Missouri River ecosystem's natural form and function are under way and will continue for decades. Although the river will never be brought back to the wild, untamed form encountered by Lewis and Clark, its ecosystem can be revitalized for the benefit of all the basin's inhabitants.

The Missouri River drains one-sixth of the United States and encompasses 529,350 square miles. It flows nearly 2,341 miles from its headwaters at the confluence of the Gallatin, Madison, and Jefferson Rivers in the Rocky Mountains at Three Forks, Montana, to its confluence with the Mississippi River near St. Louis, Missouri.

The basin's northern landscapes include level to gently rolling plains and hills composed largely of glacial till. The region between the Missouri River (on the north) and the South Dakota-Nebraska border (on the south) is arid and has eroded to form deep valleys. From there to the basin's southern boundary lie the Great Plains, with their characteristic widely-spaced streams and broad, flat valleys. In the basin's eastern third , the plains give way to upland plateaus and gently rolling till plains.

The northern high plains region is based on layered rock of mostly marine origin. Surface rocks are either of this type or were alternately deposited and eroded by streams, wind, and glaciers. The oldest rocks of the area are the buff forming, chalky limestone of the Niobrara Formation and the shales of the Pierre Formation. These accumulated in shallow seas that occupied the western interior of North America between 85 and 65 million years ago as the Mesozoic Era drew to a close.

The park is situated between the glaciated and unglaciated portions of the Missouri Plateau in the Great Plains Province of the Interior Plains. The river's course marks the terminus of the southern advance of the Mankato substage of the Wisconsin glaciation period in the region. The adjacent areas along the 39-mile reach are characterized by gently sloping bluffs to the north and steep dissected bluffs rising sharply from the floodplain on the south. The wide floodplain of the 59-mile reach consists of sandy soil deposited by the river since the Pleistocene.

The Missouri River and its surrounding riparian forests and prairies are home to a wide variety of mammals. From semi-aquatic beavers and muskrats to land predators like coyotes and mountain lions, many different species thrive along the river today.

However, the types of wildlife and their abundance here on the northern Great Plains are very different from what Lewis and Clark experienced during their exploration up the Missouri River. Their journals reported plentiful herds of bison and elk. Other species like the river otter and beaver thrived in the Missouri River before the settling of the West.

Due to unregulated hunting and habitat loss, many mammal species experienced population declines. Some, like the bison and elk, are extirpated species, meaning they are no longer found in the area but still live in the wild elsewhere. Others, like the river otter, can still be found along the Missouri National Recreational River but have such low populations that they’re a rare sight to see.

While exploring and enjoying the Missouri National Recreational River, remember to respect wildlife. Never feed any of the animals and always give them their space. Visit the NPSpecies database for a complete species list. Select the species in question using the 'Category' drop-down box and enter 'Search'.

Skunks are infamous for their ability to spray a foul odor to deter predator. Learn more about their unique behaviors and adaptations!

Though somewhat rare along the Missouri National Recreational River, bobcats are most likely to be seen at dawn and dusk.

Raccoons are technically carnivores but are really opportunistic omnivores who will eat whatever they can get their hands on.

Bison are an extirpated species along the Missouri River. Their herds used to roam widely among the Great Plains.

Recommendations from Park Staff We recommend visiting the Missouri National Recreational River Visitor Contact Station to help plan your visit. Watch the park's 18-minute film River of Change , pick up area information and maps, learn about recommendations on where to go and what to see from park staff, and stamp your passport book. Kids and Adults can pick up our free Junior Ranger activity book to complete during your visit. Activities By Interest

Casual observers and experienced birders alike can experience the joy of birds and birding in the national park.

Whether you are fishing or enjoying the scenery, boating is a great way to experience the river.

Plan an overnight trip or a longer adventure at Missouri National Recreational River.

Paddle the two free-flowing sections of the Missouri, North America's longest river, a vestige of the untamed American West.

Enjoy stunning views of Missouri National Recreational River from the comfort of your car by driving the park.

Join MNRR Rangers and visit the Mobile Ranger Station. Check the calendar of events to find out where it will be located!

Join park rangers on and off the river for programs and learn about the park’s history, wildlife, geology, and more during your visit!

Hunting & trapping is permitted within the MNRR in Bow Creek and Goat Island Recreation Areas in accordance with site-specific regulations.

Walk the Historic Meridian Bridge The bridge allows you to cross from South Dakota to Nebraska while offering splendid views of the Missouri National Recreational River. The bridge also connects to the City of Yankton Forest Tract with hiking trails that lead to the river. Parking is available near the intersection of Walnut and Second Street in Yankton, SD. Average visit time: 30 minutes. Gavins Point National Fish Hatchery Lots of options including a 10,000 gallon aquirium, public tours, fish feeding opportunities, and 2 miles of hiking trail. Average visit time: 30 minutes for the aquirium and up to 2 hours for the hiking trail. Explore Lewis and Clark Visitor Center Stop by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers visitor center to learn about the Gavins Point Dam and early history of the Missouri River. The center is located prominently above Gavins Point Dam in Nebraska. Visit Mulberry Bend Overlook Great view of the river and sandbars from the overlooks. A paved trail takes visitors from the parking lot to several interpretive wayside exhibits that define the natural and cultural history of the river. Continue your journey by exploring a bur oak forest on the Nature Trail. Average visit time: 30 minutes. Nature Trail may take 60 minutes. Hike to the top of Spirit Mound One of only a few places left in the nation where you can stand in the exact same place as the Lewis and Clark expedition on August 25, 1804. Average visit time: 30 minutes. Stroll the Clay County Park Nature Trail Located south of Vermillion, SD, the 3.5 mile wood-chipped trail can be accessed at the Clay County River Access and in the county park. Average visit time: 60 minutes.

Explore Bow Creek Recreation Area This 205-acre property is owned and managed by the National Park Service and has a primitive mowed hiking trail that wander through a mixed-grass prairie and cottonwood forest. Audubon Bend Wildlife Area Located north of Wynot, NE, is a quiet little grassland located near Bow Creek and the Missouri River. This property is owned and managed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. North Alabama Bend Wildlife Area Explore the grasslands and savannas of this wildlife area located south of Vermillion, South Dakota. The property is owned and managed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Discover Ponca State Park Visit the Nebraska state park and check out views of South Dakota, Nebraska, and Iowa from the scenic overlooks while looking down at the exact point where the Wild and Scenic Missouri River beings. Make sure to visit the Missouri National Recreational River Resource and Education Center in the park to learn more about the Missouri National Recreational River through exhibits. Paddle the 59-Mile District Short half day trips via kayak or motorboat include Clay County Park to Mulberry Bend, and Riverside Park in Yankton to St. Helena.

Driving Tours Discover the park via motorbike, bike or vehicle by traveling on the back roads along the Lower Niobrara River Valley or the South Dakota side of the 39-mile district. These roads will take you back in time to view dramatic scenic vistas while also learning about the complex history of Native Americans and homsteaders in a land it seems time forgot including historic Fort Randall . Water Trail Access the 39- and 59-Mile Districts and to Sioux City, Iowa by using the Missouri National Recreational River Water Trail. Fishing Catfish, walleye, sauger, paddlefish, and many more game species await your angling skills within the Missouri River. Lake Andes National Wildlife Refuge Looking for birds and other wildlife? Check out this National Wildlife Refuge located north of Picktown, SD. Niobrara State Park Looking for open space, rolling grasslands, and scenic views of the Missouri River? Located in the 39-Mile District, Niobrara State Park offers peaceful camping and hiking opportunities. Ponca State Park Visit one of Nebraska's premier state parks and make sure to visit the Missouri National Recreational River Resource and Education Center in the park to learn more about the Missouri National Recreational River through exhibits.