NAVIGABILITY OP THE MISSOURI. 85 



and strong northwest winds. In the upper Missouri, rocks are occasionally found in the channel, 

 brought down by the ice. To remove snags and sawyers, snag-boats should ascend the river 

 every two or three years. In the vicinity of Fort Union, and at other points of the river, both 

 above and be]ow Fort Union, the channel is very narrow and tortuous. 



The worst rapids are encountered above the mouth of the Muscle Shell river, and are par 

 ticularly described in Lieut. Grover s report. Only at the Dauphin rapid is the current as great 

 as four and a half miles per hour ; besides which, the channel is crooked and obstructed by boulders. 

 A rapid having but fifteen inches of water occurs five miles below Fort Benton; but from the 

 character of the bottom, it is the opinion of Lieut. Grover that steamers of eighteen inches would 

 make their way over it ; and of Lieut. Saxton, that even a steamer drawing twenty inches 

 would meet with no difficulty. No other rapids have twenty inches or more of water. 



The stones which occur in the channel could easily be removed by providing a boat with 

 suitable grappling-hooks, with which she can hitch on to a rock in her way and drop down with it 

 into deeper water, with very little detention. 



Above the mouth of the Platte, the river is closed by ice from the middle of .November to the 

 1st of April. The temperature, however, is milder in ascending the Missouri, and winters fre 

 quently occur in the vicinity of Fort Benton when the river is not closed by ice more than three 

 months. 



The average time for steamers ascending the river to Fort Union has been forty-two days, and 

 of descending eighteen days. The steamers, however, have not been of a good class, and the 

 round trip has been made in less than fifty days, starting when the river was low, and making the 

 trip in July and August. Above Independence, moreover, steamers never run at night, from the 

 want of knowledge which prevails of the channel ; and frequent stoppages have to be made for 

 fuel, which in all cases has to be cut by the crew after leaving the settlements. 



With first-class boats having powerful engines, and with suitable depots for fuel, three round 

 trips per year could be made to Fort Union, and perhaps four. With the present imperfect 

 arrangements, there is no difficulty in making two trips. It will become a most important line 

 of communication in transporting supplies of all kinds, workmen, tools, provisions, machinery, 

 and railroad iron, to the section which, resting,.on the Missouri from Fort Union to Milk river, is 

 pushed eastward to the Mississippi, and westward to the mountains. 



The upper Missouri can be made use of to transport workmen, provisions, and supplies of all 

 kinds. From Fort Union to Fort Benton, the time occupied ought not to exceed five or six days. 

 With the use of the navigable portions of tha Marias river, it will become a vital element in the 

 construction of the Rocky mountain section. 



The Missouri river will also prove valuable as an emigrant route ; but when the railroad is 

 completed, its importance will chiefly be confined to the towns and cities on its banks. This 

 river will, with the Yellowstone, furnish timber for the section at Fort Union. 



For a more detailed description of the Missouri river, I refer you to the reports of Lieuten 

 ants Donelson, Saxton, and Grover, which will be found in the appendix. (See E No. 14, E No. 

 15, and E No. 16.) Lieutenants Donelson and Grover made the survey of the river, and Lieu 

 tenant Saxton went down in a keel-boat drawing eighteen inches of \vater at the lowest stage, 

 and carefully considered, from the experience thus gained, the practical difficulties in the 

 way of steamboat navigation. He has had much experience in the use of steamers in shallow 

 rivers. 



In this connexion it will not be out of place to refer to the opinions of the members of the Fur 

 Companies who have been, and are now, in charge of posts on the Missouri as Robert Campbell, 

 Alexander Culbertson, Mr. Clarke, and others, who, simply frcm their own practical experience 

 in the use of keel-boats, have long been satisfied as to the navigability of this river for steamers, 

 and would not hesitate to employ them did their business warrant it; and to the experience of the 

 Nicaragua transit route, where iron-hull stern-wheel boats are in use, drawing from thirteen to 



