for a great Omaha chief, and situated on the west bank of the river 177 [118] miles above the mouth of the Platte. 17
From the Platte to the mouth of the Missouri the distance is 716 miles. In this distance there are thirty-two tributaries, the chief of which are: the Nishnabotna on the north; the two Nemahas on the south; the Nodowa on the north; the Kansas on the south, 235 yards wide at its mouth and navigable by steamboats several hundred miles; Grand river on the north, 19o yards wide; the Osage on the south, 400 yards wide and navigable for a great distance; and the Moreau and Gasconade flowing from nearly the same country. I shall add a last little stream, the Coldwater, a little above the mouth of the Missouri. It waters the clearing grounds of St. Stanislas near Florissant where stands the Jesuit Noviciate of Missouri.
The tributaries of the Missouri which have been given names number 123. The number of islands between the mouth and Fort Benton is 219.
From the mouth of the Missouri to the source of its three forks is 3,700 [2,945] miles. Add to this 1,253 [1,276] miles, the distance from the mouth of the Gulf of Mexico and you have a length of 4,953 [4,221] miles. From the mouth of the Mississippi to Fort Benton, 4,253 13,561] miles, steam navigation is practicable.
The current of the Missouri is rapid and its water a muddy yellow. Throughout its whole course, in spring and autumn, the principal obstacles to navigation are its sandbars and snags against which the boats strike and are either wrecked or suffer great damage. Other difficulties are the rapids above the mouth of the Yellowstone, which are insurmountable in low water. There are neither falls nor rocks in this entire part of its course.
The magnificent prairies formed by the alluvial lands
17 Sketch of Blackbird omitted because already given in greater detail in other parts of this work.