22 PROGRESS REPORT, HYDROGRAPHY, 1893 AND 1894. [bull. 131. 
SAPPINGTON STATION, ON JEFFRSON RIVER. 
The gage at this point is located under the northeast corner of the 
Northern Pacific Railroad bridge across Jefferson River, at Sappington. 
It was established November 13, 1894, by Mr. Arthur P. Davis. At 
that time the height of water was 1.08 feet. Observations of river 
height were begun on that date, but as the water froze around the 
gage during December, the later observations have relatively little 
value. The gage is partly inclined and partly vertical, the lower 
portion being graduated from 0.40 to 5 feet The vertical portion is 
spiked to the bridge pier, and is graduated from 5 to 11 feet. Bench 
mark No. 1 is the head of a railroad spike driven into the top of the 
pile stump to which the lower end of the gage is spiked. It is 0.G6 
foot above the 1-foot mark of the gage. Bench mark No. 2 is the 
head of an 8-inch wire nail driven horizontally into the north end of 
the lower west cross timber of the east abutment. It is 7.70 feet above 
the 1-foot mark on the gage. Measurements are made by means of a 
cable stretched across the river 100 yards above the bridge. The 
channel is of coarse gravel, well adapted for measurements. A meas- 
urement made on November 14, 1894, showed a total discharge of 1,952 
second-feet, the stream being 2G5 feet wide and having a mean depth 
of 2.7G feet ; maximum depth, 3.40 feet; mean velocity, 2.67 feet per 
second; maximum velocity, 3.74 feet per second. The drainage area 
above this point is estimated to be 8,270 square miles. 
A measurement of Jefferson River was made on August 24, 1893, 
when the water stood exactly 12 feet below the lower edge of the 
horizontal iron bars on the east end of the bridge near Three Forks. 
The discharge at that time was 808 second-feet. The section, however, 
is not favorable for measurement, owing to the dead water in the 
broad, obstructed channel, and no station was established until Novem- 
ber 13, 1894, when, after a search along the river, the above-described 
location at Sappington was chosen, 15 miles west of Three Forks. 
This station was established in 1891 by the Missouri River Commis- 
sion, and readings have been made continuously since that time by an 
observer employed by the Commission. The locality is 2,504 miles 
above the mouth of the river. The following description of the gage, 
its location, and bench marks is from Lieut. J. C. Sanford, secretary of 
the Missouri River Commission : 
A standard wire cable gage was erected by the Missouri River Commission Octo- 
ber 1, 1891, on a county road bridge, located about 300 feet below the Northern 
Pacific Railroad bridge across the Missouri River near Townsend, Mont. Its zero is 
set at an approximate elevation of 3,700 feet above sea level as determined from a 
primary line of levels, run under the direction of the Commission in 1890, from Three 
Forks to Fort Benton, Mont., and starting from a bench mark of the Northern 
Pacific Railroad at Gallatin, Mont. (See Annual Report of Chief of Engineers, 1891.) 
