Quick Facts about the Missouri River and Name Origin

The Missouri River’s history is profoundly rich and immeasurably impactful on the development of the west and our entire country. The name, Missouri, comes from the Indians that lived in the region, the Missouri and Ottee. From the Siouan language the name was, “Ouemessorita”, (pronounced Oh-ma-sur-ray) which literally means “people of the wooden canoe.” Later anglicized to be spelled and pronounced, Missouri. The Missouri was formed about 30 million years ago. The Missouri River is the longest river in North America and the 4th longest in the world (when combined with the Mississippi River system). There are 10 dams located on the Missouri River in Montana and another 5 dams located in North Dakota and South Dakota.

Woodhawks and Steamboats of the Upper Missouri River

Woodhawk Creek is named for the men who set up shop on the banks of the Missouri to supply the steamboats with fuel-wood for their boilers, which consumed as many as twenty-five to thirty cords per day (a cord is basically the equivalent of the amount of wood that, when chopped, can fill the bed of a pick up truck). The ‘wookhawks’ were an independent breed of men, and the work they performed was physically demanding. They led an isolated existence and were extremely vulnerable to attacks by hostile Indians. Their lives were dangerous, and often short (okay, Hobbes).