Picture courtesy of Jim Kuntz

Picture courtesy of Jim Kuntz

"June 4th, Monday, 1804
Set out the Clear morning 2 miles Byouer Stersman Let the Boat Run under a lim and Broke our mast off 3 miles past a Creek on the South Side Called mast creek {on S Side no name for it but I cal it Rich Land Creek at} a butifull a peas of Land as ever I saw...."
Charles Floyd

When Lewis and Clark arrived in this area, the landscape was vastly different, but so was the Missouri River. The banks of the river were covered with a variety of trees, from ash to walnut.

The trees were tall and so close to the bank that as the keelboat attempted to go under, the mast snapped. Navigating the river was a difficult task and hanging limbs were more obstacles to avoid. Later in the journey, the variety of trees did provide cottonwood for a new mast, as well as ash wood for oars.

Early pioneers found the Missouri River wandering across a floodplain, often a mile wide, and very shallow compared to the channel you see today. Starting in the 1900s, many muddy banks were armored with rocks to help navigation and flood control. Long rock arms called dikes trained or pushed many small channels into a single main stream. Large trees now stand high on the riverbanks, far above where they once grew.

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