The Confluence

On April 25, 1805, near the entrance of the Yellowstone River on the Missouri River, Captain Lewis climbed the hills and looked out over wide, fertile valleys formed by the Missouri and Yellowstone rivers, though woods hid their exact junction from view. Knowing it could not be far away, he decided to camp on the bank of the Yellowstone, which appeared about 2 miles south of him, and he saw the whole face of the country covered with herds of buffalo, elk, and antelope. Before white settlement, the confluence area and much of the lower Yellowstone River valley formed a large wooded floodplain, above which a vast prairie stretched for miles, broken only by occasional hills and woody ravines. The confluence was a favored hunting ground for numerous Native American tribes who came from all directions to use its abundant fish and wildlife resources. The Yellowstone, the longest undammed river in the contiguous United States, still retains most of its natural habitat, characteristics, and flows, and serves as a refuge for many native fish species of the Missouri River system. The Yellowstone and Missouri River confluence has remained largely undeveloped because it lay within the military reservation of Fort Buford; otherwise, it would most likely have become the site of a city such as Williston. The confluence is also unusual because the Yellowstone is the larger river at this point, and ice jams in the lower Yellowstone and in the Missouri below the confluence have historically caused flooding.

North Dakota · United States