In 1819, the U.S. Army’s Western Engineer became the first steamboat to navigate the shallow, shifting Missouri. On its voyage, the vessel encountered a number of problems that delayed its upstream passage, including sunken trees, sandbars, and mud (which found its way into the boiler). Although, steamboat navigation did not have an auspicious beginning on the Mighty Mo, regular steamer traffic emerged along the Lower Missouri between St. Louis and Kansas City in the 1820s.
In 1831, the first steamboat traveled to the Upper Missouri (the river reach north and west of the Platte River confluence). In the 1840s, steamboats replaced the slower, more cumbersome, keelboats along the entire length of the river. By the 1850s, dozens of boats worked the Missouri between St. Louis and the head of navigation at Fort Benton, Montana Territory. The 1850s witnessed the peak of Missouri river steamboat traffic. Continue Reading »
On July 13, 2011, the Missouri River Working Group met for the first time in Washington D.C. The group consists of the senators from the Missouri basin states of Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Iowa, Nebraska, Kansas, and Missouri. The ostensible leaders of the group are the senators from North Dakota and Missouri, John Hoeven (R-ND), Kent Conrad (D-ND), Claire McCaskill (D-MO), and Roy Blunt (R-MO). Although neither the public nor the media were privy to the closed-door discussions of the group, three participants reported after the meeting that the assembled senators exhibited a new spirit of cooperation in Missouri River matters. All the members agreed that flood control needed to be the Army’s top priority in its management of the Missouri River. That flood control should be the Army’s primary responsibility along the Missouri is obvious. No one in his/her right mind would argue that the Dakota dams should be managed for the walleye fishery rather than flood control or that the navigation channel’s annual water requirements should trump the need to create extra flood control storage space in the upstream reservoirs. 
U.S. Geological Survey hydrologists recently reported that the Missouri’s present flood is carrying far less sediment than previous floods. The reason is simple; the high flows are coming out of the Dakota reservoirs rather than from the Lower Missouri’s dirtier, uncontrolled tributaries. The upstream reservoirs are trapping the river’s silt load and discharging clearer water through spillways and outlet tunnels. 
Americans like to think of their Army as apolitical. It just takes orders, fights wars, and provides objective tactical and strategic analysis to our political leaders. This perception of the Army could not be further from reality. The Army is a political animal with finely-honed skills. It has its own agenda in both domestic and foreign affairs. Often, the Army’s self-interest is in direct conflict with the social good; a case in point, the present massive Army budget during an era of record high deficits.
This week, Senator John Thune (R-SD) stated that the temporary levees now protecting Pierre, Fort Pierre, and Dakota Dunes, South Dakota, may need to be made permanent. Thune, a long-time climate change skeptic, admitted that those three communities could face similar flood events in the future. High, permanent levees would protect the residents of those towns from a larger, more voluminous future Missouri. 
Pickstown, South Dakota. The Missouri River is cascading through the spillway at Fort Randall Dam. According to the Army, 110,300 cfs is safely passing through the spillway on its way southeast toward Gavin’s Point Dam, Sioux City, Iowa, and the lower valley. The white and green water moves fast atop the smooth concrete surface of the spillway. Two high concrete walls on either side of the spillway keep the river water from moving sideways. The linear flow of water in the spillway is in such contrast to the movement of water through the lower valley. There the Missouri appears filthy dirty, messy, and undirected. It slops over farmland, burrows under levees, and knocks over trailer houses. Here at Fort Randall Dam, the Army still looks like it’s in control of the situation. In the spillway, the river is moving where the Army wants it. But the Army’s control begins to diminish at the foot of the dam. Just off the end of the spillway, the Missouri is eroding its banks and tumbling trees into its channel. 
Niobrara, Nebraska. The small community of Niobrara sits on a bluff on the south bank of the Niobrara River where it enters the Missouri. Since its founding in the 19th century, the town has had a difficult history with the river. In April 1881, the Missouri smashed into the first town site during its April rise. Cold slushy water and cakes of ice knocked down buildings and swept through streets. The residents rebuilt the town in the Missouri River bottoms, gambling that the river would not take the town’s second incarnation. In 1955, the Army closed the earthen embankment at Gavin’s Point Dam downstream at Yankton, South Dakota. The reservoir behind the dam soon filled and backed up to the foot of Niobrara. By the 1960s, buildings in low-lying neighborhoods began experiencing regular water damage from the ever-rising elevation of the riverbed in front of the town. The delta that formed at the head of Lewis and Clark Lake sent water into the basements of Niobrara’s buildings. In 1972, residents moved the town to higher ground. The old town site became a golf course and city park. The troubles with the Missouri appeared to be over. But the Missouri has come back. 
Placing responsibility for the Great Missouri River Flood of 2011 on God ignores all of the ways humans have contributed to the disaster. It also absolves those partially responsible for the flood. Even worse, it hinders us from learning from the flood so that we can prevent a similar scenario in the future. Off the top of my head, I can think of five ways humans brought on this flood.
