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Missouri River

"The Big Muddy"

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The Missouri River, after forming a part of the Kansas border in northwest Missouri, transects the state in a general easterly direction beginning at Kansas City and Independence. It empties into the Mississippi River just north of St Louis.

The 2,315-mile long river is America's second longest with its headwaters in the Rocky Mountains in southwestern Montana. It reaches a width of over a mile and depths to 125 feet. It pours 69,300 cubic feet of water per second into the Mississippi along with 250,000,000 cubic yards of silt per year.

Major tributaries include the Yellowstone, Big Sioux, Cheyenne, James, Kansas, Milk, Osage, Platte and White rivers.

Major cities along the Missouri include Sioux City, NB:omaha] and St Joseph.

The lower reaches of the river were explored by Louis Joliet and Pere (Father) Jacques Marquette in 1673. Lewis and Clark explored the entire length of the river between 1804 and 1806.