Picture Courtesy of Jim Kuntz

Picture Courtesy of Jim Kuntz

The Missouri River before you is not the same river that Lewis and Clark experienced on their journey. For Lewis and Clark, the river was filled with islands, side channels flowing around the islands, quiet backwaters and marshes, as well as, the main channel. This wide shallow river allowed the Corps of Discovery to wade the river and pull their boats upstream during parts of their journey. Today the river has a very swift nine feet deep & 1000 wide navigation channel, which is roughly half the width it used to be before it was channelized.

For Lewis and Clark the floodplain of the Missouri River was a mixture of grasslands, forests and wetlands. The river experienced two general periods of high water both in the spring. These natural spring rises often flooded nearby land. The flood waters deposited sediments rich in organic matter. This made very productive plant communities along the river, particularly marshes that produced huge quantities of important food supplies for fish and other wildlife. Today dams and levees control most of the flooding and the rich soil is very productive agricultural lands for Missouri farmers.

Below is a historic time line of the changes to the Missouri River.
1804-1806 First formal exploration of the Missouri River made by Lewis and Clark.
1838 Removal of snags in the river to promote steamboat traffic.
1867 The first government survey of the Missouri River was made by Charles Howell.
1882-1902 Congress appropriated $8 million for channel improvements. This resulted in the construction of a 5.5 foot deep navigation channel for the first 44 miles of the river upstream from the mouth to Augusta, just upstream from Klondike Park. (Where you are standing now.)
1933 Construction of the first major dam, Fort Peck, on the Missouri River begins in Montana.
1944 Flood Control Act required a basin-wide plan, known as the Pick-Stone Plan. The major result of this plan was the construction of an additional six dams on the Missouri River.
1945 The River and Harbors Act established the dimension of the present navigation channel, which is 9 feet deep and 30 feet wide. The Act also required the navigation channel to be extended to Sioux City, Iowa.

In addition to the flood plain, Lewis and Clark also saw upland areas bordering the Missouri River. Many of these were recognized by rock bluffs on the river's banks. Some historians believe that within a couple of miles downstream, across the river (on the St. Louis County bank), is the location of the famous incident where Captain Lewis almost fell off a river bluff the very first few days of the Corps of Discovery journey. Today, the top of river bluffs are often valued as building sites as they offer protection from floods and provide scenic views of the river valley. Klondike Park has a scenic overlook located atop the river bluffs which provide great views of the Missouri River Valley.

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