"There are rivers that exist in time- or eternity. But the Missouri River quite manifestly exists in space. It is on its way. It moves magnificently over vast distances. It is forever going places. Not only that, it is forever doing things.

"There are streams that have no story except of the people on their banks, but the Missouri River is a story in itself - and no idyll or ecologue either, but a heroic poem, an epic. It is a thoroughly masculine river, a burly, husky bulldozer of a stream, which has taken on the biggest job of moving dirt in North America. It has been well named the Big Muddy.

The Missouri, Rivers of America Series
Stanley Vestal

There is only one river that goes traveling sidewise, that interferes in politics, rearranges geography and dabbles in real estate; a river that plays hide and seek with you today, and tomorrow follows you around like a pet dog with a dynamite cracker tied to its tail. That River is the Missouri."

George Finch, Quoted in The Missouri

The preservation of one por

tion of a great American river became a reality during our Bicentennial year. From the era of prehistory to the present time, the Missouri River and man have been closely tied together.

For as long as man has been in North America, the Missouri has been the main artery of the northern Great Plains. Now 149 miles, still flowing free and unencumbered by development, will be preserved to serve as a living link to the area's history and prehistory for future generations.

In October 1976 that portion of the Missouri in Montana known as the Missouri Breaks was added to the Nation's Wild and Scenic Rivers system. The action includes that

BARRY WIRTH Montana State Office

portion of the river from Fort Benton downstream to the Fred Robinson Bridge located in the James Kipp State Park.

The history of this portion of the river is rich and varied. Man has intruded and retreated, but the river has remained, changing its banks and meandering across the plains.

For thousands of years, nomadic tribes of Indians lived and traveled along the river. One archaeologist with the Montana State University calls the Missouri Breaks "a vast treasure house containing the answer to many secrets of the North American Plains Indian."

In May of 1805 the Corps of Discovery, led by Captains Lewis and Clark, ascended the river and mapped what was then an uncharted wilderness. Their search for a route to the Pacific established the Missouri above what is now Mandan, North Dakota as the major inland route for commerce and the subsequent settlement of the West. As they traveled through the

Breaks, Lewis records his impressions in the entry to his diary for Friday, May 31, 1805.

"The obstructions of rocky points and riffles still continue as Yesterday; at those places the men are compelled to be in the water even to their arm pits, added to this the banks and bluffs along which they are obliged to pass are so slippery and the mud so tenacious that they are unable to wear their mockersons, and in that situation draging the heavy burthen of a canoe and walking acassionally for several hundred yards over the sharp fragments of rocks which tumble from the cliffs and garnishe the border so of the river; in short their labour is incredibly painful and great, yet those faithful fellows bear it without a murmur."

Captain Lewis' spelling may appear unusual, but his journal was written long before spelling became standardized as it is today. What is more important, his description could apply today.

Lewis described the river as he traveled upstream. Today, boaters usually float downstream, putting their boats in the water at Fort Benton or possibly at Virgelle, 43 miles further downstream.

Drifting with the current, the boater passes the magnificent white cliffs where Lewis' crew struggled so heroically. Further downstream, the cliffs recede and rolling hills and badlands dominate the landscape. Riding the current, the boater makes a leisurely journey, stopping to exaine relics of the homestead era or to explore Cow Island where Chief Joseph skirmished with the United States Army as his people crossed here on their ill-fated attempt to flee into Canada. Old Army posts, steamboat wrecks, fascinating geological formations and a variety of wildlife make the trip eventful, and he may recognize landmarks - Cathedral Rock, Citadel Bluff, Hole-in-the-Wall and others from having pored over the writings and navigation maps of

In the wake of traders and settlers, the Army came to provide protection from hostile Indians.

As soon as the Civil War was over, Milton Story drove the first herd of Texas cattle into Montana, and men like Granville Stuart and Conrad Kohrs turned cow into empires. Hard on the heels of the cattlemen came the homesteaders.

Later, dams and reservoirs obliterated long stretches of the original river channel. But the Breaks country was not suited to farming, and the homesteaders who had settled there moved away, leaving empty houses and rusting farm machinery. Army posts also fell into disuse and decay. Prairie grasses reclaimed the land. The Breaks became one segment of the river where conditions were pretty much the same as when original settlers moved into the area. It remains so today.

The inclusion of the Missouri River in the Wild and Scenic Rivers System didn't happen overnight. The groundwork was laid as early as 1960 when the National Park Service made a study of the area and suggested that the area be turned over to the Park Service for administration as the Lewis and Clark National Waterway.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers was making a study of the area at the same time. Arriving at different conclusions, they suggested building a reservoir.

In 1965, the Secretary of the Interior spoke in favor of a dam at Fort Benton. However, he recommended that no action be taken to alter the downstream segment of the river until studies had been completed on the wilderness waterway proposal.

The State of Montana got into the picture in 1966 when the State Legislature designated this segment of the river as a component of the Montana Recreational Waterway System. Two years later, Congress passed the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act and directed that the Missouri River be studied for future inclusion in the Federal system.

The study, which began in 1971, was conducted by the Bureau of Outdoor Recreation in cooperation with the State of Montana, the

Bureau of Land Management, the Bureau of Reclamation, the National Park Service and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. That same year, Montana's Senator Lee Metcalf introduced legislation to include the Missouri Breaks in the National Wild and Scenic Rivers System. The bill did not pass, but the Bureau of Outdoor Recreation continued its study. The study was completed in 1975.

The study recommended that the Missouri Breaks be included in the National system. Independently of this study, but at about the time it was released, Senator Metcalf made another attempt to get legislation to protect the river.

The second Metcalf bill contained provisions that would allow existing agricultural use of the area to continue. Management of the river would be placed in the hands of the Bureau of Land Management. This was because the legislation included a stipulation that the lands be managed primarily for the river values, but other uses would be allowed whenever they did not conflict with those values. Because BLM already managed 70 percent of the land adjacent to the river and has a multiple use background, it was selected over other agencies to administer the area.

The Metcalf bill was passed and signed into law on October 12, 1976. Major decisions are now being made that will affect the Missouri Breaks for many years to come. The newly enacted legislation requires BLM to develop a management plan for the area within one year after the bill was signed.

That plan will be the product of many working sessions between BLM, the general public and special interest groups. Among the concerns that will have to be resolved before the final plan can be adopted are the management of people, the regulation of boating, and the interpretation of the area's historic and other resource values.

For example, the planners will have to decide on how many recreationists the river and surrounding areas can handle without damaging its wild and scenic values.

Thousands already use the river. In 1975, people from 30 states floated this segment of the river. They came from as far away as New York, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island. Too much traffic can have an adverse impact on the environment and degrade the quality of the recreation experience. Plans must be developed that will distribute use over more of the area and thus avoid heavy concentrations in a few locations.

Planners are concerned over the use of powerboats. Should they be allowed, and if so, what limits should be imposed on size and horsepower? The decision will affect everyone, including BLM personnel who have to manage the area. The matter of search and rescue operations must be considered, and with it, the question of river patrol. Should BLM provide regular patrol, or should the river

be treated as a primative area with minimal patrol operations?

What is the best way to manage the historic resources of the river? Should BLM provide limited controlled access points with highly developed interpretative facilities, or emphasize "self-discovery" by the user while on the river?

The Missouri Breaks is the last free-flowing segment of one of the Nation's great waterways. Its banks have centuries of human activity to reveal; it is now a portion of a river that can still be free to pick and choose its own course. It is a segment that can still be considered wild. Whatever the plan, it is essential that this stretch of the Missouri remain as it is and continue to delight the thousands who visit it each year to seek quiet tranquillity as they drift with its currents. At BLM, we are proud to be its guardians.