﻿MUSSEL 
  RESOURCES 
  IN 
  TRIBUTARIES 
  OF 
  THE 
  UPPER 
  

   MISSOURI 
  RIVER. 
  

  

  By 
  Robert 
  E. 
  Coker, 
  Director, 
  and 
  John 
  B. 
  Southall, 
  Shell 
  Expert, 
  United 
  States 
  

   Biological 
  Station, 
  Fairport, 
  Iowa. 
  

  

  FIELD 
  OF 
  INVESTIGATION. 
  

  

  The 
  Missouri 
  River 
  itself 
  has 
  been 
  known 
  to 
  be 
  without 
  shell 
  

   resources, 
  although 
  some 
  of 
  its 
  tributaries 
  may 
  compare 
  favorably 
  

   in 
  mussel 
  fauna 
  with 
  streams 
  of 
  other 
  divisions 
  of 
  the 
  Mississippi- 
  

   Missouri 
  Basin. 
  The 
  fact 
  of 
  the 
  general 
  poverty 
  in 
  mussels 
  of 
  the 
  

   Missouri 
  River 
  has 
  led 
  to 
  an 
  almost 
  entire 
  neglect 
  of 
  its 
  more 
  favored 
  

   tributaries 
  until 
  quite 
  recently, 
  when 
  shelling 
  operations 
  have 
  been 
  

   undertaken 
  in 
  such 
  streams 
  as 
  the 
  Osage 
  River 
  in 
  Missouri 
  and 
  the 
  

   James 
  River 
  in 
  South 
  Dakota. 
  

  

  During 
  the 
  summer 
  of 
  1912 
  the 
  Bureau 
  conducted 
  a 
  reconnaissance 
  

   of 
  lakes 
  and 
  streams 
  constituting 
  the 
  headwaters 
  of 
  the 
  Mississippi 
  

   River 
  in 
  Minnesota, 
  " 
  and 
  it 
  was 
  hoped 
  to 
  extend 
  the 
  survey 
  this 
  

   season 
  westward 
  to 
  the 
  headwaters 
  of 
  the 
  Missouri. 
  Such 
  a 
  desire 
  

   was 
  strengthened 
  by 
  the 
  receipt 
  of 
  information 
  that 
  important 
  

   shells 
  were 
  being 
  found 
  in 
  the 
  James 
  River, 
  and 
  perhaps 
  in 
  the 
  

   Vermilion 
  River 
  of 
  South 
  Dakota 
  also. 
  Accordingly, 
  in 
  Julj, 
  1913, 
  

   Mr. 
  J. 
  B. 
  Southall, 
  shell 
  expert 
  of 
  the 
  Fairport 
  station, 
  made 
  an 
  

   examination 
  of 
  several 
  streams, 
  principally 
  the 
  James 
  and 
  the 
  

   Vermilion 
  Rivers. 
  The 
  director 
  was 
  able 
  to 
  visit 
  only 
  the 
  James 
  

   River 
  at 
  Huron, 
  and 
  the 
  Vermilion 
  River 
  at 
  Parker, 
  S. 
  Dak. 
  For 
  

   observational 
  data, 
  therefore, 
  this 
  report 
  is 
  based 
  principally 
  upon 
  

   the 
  field 
  notes 
  and 
  collections 
  of 
  Mr. 
  Southall. 
  

  

  It 
  may 
  be 
  recalled 
  that 
  the 
  extreme 
  upper 
  portions 
  of 
  the 
  Missouri 
  

   and 
  the 
  Mississippi 
  Basins, 
  respectively, 
  are 
  not 
  adjacent, 
  but 
  are 
  

   separated 
  by 
  that 
  far-reaching 
  arm 
  of 
  the 
  Hudson 
  Bay 
  drainage 
  

   constituting 
  the 
  basin 
  of 
  the 
  Red 
  River 
  of 
  the 
  North. 
  The 
  southern- 
  

   most 
  units 
  ol 
  the 
  Red 
  River 
  system 
  are 
  the 
  Ottertail 
  River 
  in 
  

   Minnesota 
  and 
  Lake 
  Traverse 
  and 
  the 
  Cheyenne 
  River 
  in 
  the 
  eastern 
  

   and 
  southern 
  portions 
  of 
  North 
  Dakota. 
  The 
  party 
  en 
  route 
  for 
  

   the 
  James 
  River 
  found 
  it 
  convenient 
  to 
  make 
  a 
  few 
  observations 
  on 
  

   the 
  Red 
  River 
  at 
  Fargo 
  and 
  the 
  Cheyenne 
  River 
  at 
  Lisbon. 
  

  

  a 
  Wilson, 
  Charles 
  B., 
  and 
  Danglade, 
  Ernest: 
  The 
  mussel 
  fauna 
  of 
  central 
  and 
  northern 
  Minnesota. 
  

   Bureau 
  of 
  Fisheries 
  Document 
  no. 
  503, 
  26 
  p., 
  1 
  map. 
  1914. 
  

   Mussels 
  of 
  central 
  and 
  northern 
  Miimesota. 
  Bureau 
  of 
  FisheriesEcomomic 
  Circular 
  no. 
  3, 
  6 
  p. 
  1912. 
  

  

  5 
  

  

  