NAVIGABILITY OF THE MISSOURI. 
231 
E. 
NAVIGABILITY OF THE MISSOURI. 
14 . Report of lieutenant a. j. donelson, corps of engineers united states army, of 
HIS SURVEY OF THE MISSOURI TO FORT UNION, AND OF HIS RECONNAISSANCE OF THE COUNTRY 
IN THE VICINITY OF FORT UNION BETWEEN THE WHITE EARTH AND THE BIG MUDDY RIVER. 
Olympia, Washington Territory, 
March 8, 1854. 
Sir : Having already rendered you a general description of the Missouri river from its mouth 
to the Poplar, and of the country in the vicinity of Fort Union, I have the honor to submit the 
following report, which, with the accompanying map and tables, comprises all the information 
obtained by the party under my charge in the months of May, June, and July, 1853. 
The party for the survey of the Missouri consisted of Lieutenant John Mullan, first artillery, 
Mr. W. M. Graham, and one sergeant, two artificers, and three privates of the United States 
company of sappers and miners. Lieutenant Mullan was placed in charge of the meteorological 
observations, in addition to which he assisted in making the topography. Mr. Graham was 
the astronomer; Sergeant Collins assistant topographer; and the remainder of the sappers aided 
in the several duties. 
The steamboat Robert Campbell, in which we had engaged passage, was propelled by a 
double engine, and had been a first-class Missouri river packet. Her tonnage was about three 
hundred, and she had on board near the maximum load, drawing about five feet of water. 
The operations pursued in making the survey were briefly as follows: Meteorological observa¬ 
tions were generally taken at every halt. Astronomical observations were made whenever prac¬ 
ticable at the halts. A topographical sketch was taken to the mouth of the Poplar, from a point 
about twenty miles above St. Joseph. For this purpose, Lieut. Mullan, myself, and Sergeant 
Collins generally performed in turn the work of running courses, estimating distances, and of 
mapping. The sketch is continuous, except what should correspond to the portions of the map 
of the river drawn in dotted lines: as for these, the notes were in one case lost; and for the rest, 
the courses were travelled after dark. The connexion was made by drawing the portions in 
dotted lines from our notes, and from the maps of Lewis and Clark, Nicollet, and others. 
Hourly soundings were taken from near the mouth of the Big Sioux to Fort Union. Notes 
were made of all the features of the river and adjacent country, as observed from the steamboat, 
and all information practicable was obtained from gentlemen of the Fur Company, and traders 
and voyageurs. In constructing the map, the data obtained by Nicollet and others, who formerly 
surveyed the river, have been freely used, as the object was to obtain accuracy by combining all 
the reliable results which have ever been obtained. The map of all that portion of the river 
below the point at which we commenced sketching has been drawn by adding our own observ¬ 
ations to the best maps already published. Having left St. Louis at half-after twelve o’clock on 
the 21st of May, we entered the Missouri a little while before sunset, and found that river high, 
the water muddy, and current rapid. 
The Missouri enters the Mississippi in latitude 38° 50' 50" north, and in longitude 90° 13' 
45" west of Greenwich. Below the mouth of the Kansas it pursues a direction nearly east, lies 
almost entirely within the State of Missouri, and is about three hundred and eighty-two miles 
long. Its banks are here almost continuously settled, while all the more prominent localities 
are occupied by flourishing cities, towns, or villages. The soil is of surpassing fertility, and the 
adjacent country rich in coal, iron, and other minerals. Cotton-wood is the prevailing growth in 
the bottoms, while willow is very abundant at the water’s edge, and sycamore near the river 
and its tributaries; but there are also found, in great abundance, principally on the slopes which 
limit the immediate valley of the Missouri, the oak, walnut, ash, elm, and maple. The islands 
