NAVIGABILITY OF 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 below 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 the 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 water 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 from 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 
