- 1. The Missouri River is approximately how many miles long?
A) 3,500 miles
B) 4,800 miles
C) 2,341 miles
D) 1,000 miles
- 2. Which river is the Missouri River a tributary of?
A) Columbia River
B) Ohio River
C) Colorado River
D) Mississippi River
- 3. The Missouri River was important for which historical event in the early 19th century?
A) Underground Railroad
B) Lewis and Clark Expedition
C) American Civil War
D) California Gold Rush
- 4. What is the name of the plains region through which the Missouri River flows in the United States?
A) Appalachian Mountains
B) Cascade Range
C) Sierra Nevada
D) Great Plains
- 5. The Missouri River played a crucial role in the development of which industry in the United States?
A) Automobile manufacturing
B) Film production
C) Pharmaceuticals
D) Fur trade
- 6. Which dam on the Missouri River is one of the largest earth-filled dams in the world?
A) Garrison Dam
B) Table Rock Dam
C) Fort Peck Dam
D) Oahe Dam
- 7. Which U.S. President signed the Missouri River Basin Project into law in 1944?
A) Dwight D. Eisenhower
B) Richard Nixon
C) John F. Kennedy
D) Franklin D. Roosevelt
- 8. Which Native American tribe has a historical association with the Missouri River?
A) Cherokee
B) Navajo
C) Sioux
D) Iroquois
- 9. What is the largest artificial lake in the United States by surface area formed by the Missouri River?
A) Garrison Lake.
B) Lake Sakakawea.
C) Lake Oahe.
D) Fort Peck Lake.
- 10. Which major city is located at the confluence of the Missouri and Platte Rivers?
A) Kansas City, Missouri – Kansas City, Kansas.
B) St. Louis, Missouri.
C) Omaha, Nebraska.
D) Denver, Colorado.
- 11. What percentage of the annual flow of the Mississippi past St. Louis is accounted for by the Missouri River?
A) 60 percent.
B) 70 percent.
C) 25 percent.
D) 45 percent.
- 12. What is the highest point in the Missouri River's watershed?
A) Brower's Spring.
B) Mount Lincoln at 14,293 feet (4,357 m).
C) Mount Jefferson.
D) The Continental Divide.
- 13. Which major city in the Missouri River watershed is located north of the confluence with the Yellowstone River?
A) Great Falls, Montana.
B) Bismarck, North Dakota.
C) Williston, North Dakota.
D) Omaha, Nebraska.
- 14. How many significant tributaries feed the Missouri River?
A) Over 95
B) 50
C) 120
D) 30
- 15. How many reservoirs affect the Missouri River's discharge?
A) 20,000
B) 10,000
C) 5,000
D) Over 17,000
- 16. What is the average discharge of the Missouri River at Bismarck?
A) 87,520 cu ft/s (2,478 m3/s)
B) 181,800 cu ft/s (5,150 m3/s)
C) 21,920 cu ft/s (621 m3/s)
D) 55,400 cu ft/s (1,570 m3/s)
- 17. What is the largest discharge ever recorded on the Missouri River?
A) Over 750,000 cu ft/s (21,000 m3/s) on July 31, 1993
B) 602 cu ft/s (17.0 m3/s)
C) 87,520 cu ft/s (2,478 m3/s)
D) 181,800 cu ft/s (5,150 m3/s) in 1993
- 18. How much of the Missouri River basin does the area drained at Kansas City represent?
A) 98.7%
B) 35%
C) 50%
D) About 91%
- 19. What is the aggregate capacity of reservoirs affecting the Missouri River?
A) 141 million acre-feet (174 km3)
B) 100 million acre-feet
C) 200 million acre-feet
D) 50 million acre-feet
- 20. What percentage of the Missouri River basin does the drainage area at Bismarck represent?
A) 91%
B) 50%
C) 35%
D) 98.7%
- 21. During which geological period did the Rocky Mountains first rise?
A) Jurassic Period
B) Quaternary Period
C) Laramide Orogeny
D) Cretaceous Period
- 22. What was the name of the vast shallow sea that stretched from the Arctic Ocean to the Gulf of Mexico?
A) Western Interior Seaway
B) Mississippi Seaway
C) Great Plains Sea
D) Atlantic Inland Sea
- 23. Before the Quaternary Ice Age, into which body of water did the upper portion of the Missouri River likely drain?
A) Hudson Bay
B) Pacific Ocean
C) Atlantic Ocean
D) Gulf of Mexico
- 24. How many species of crayfish are endemic to the lower Missouri?
A) No species are endemic
B) Twenty species
C) Five species
D) Thirteen species
- 25. Which of the following is a proposed solution to revive shipping on the Missouri River?
A) Closing alternative transportation routes
B) Reducing agricultural production
C) Building more locks and dams
D) Expanding the navigation channel
- 26. Since when has human activity severely polluted the Missouri River?
A) The late 21st century
B) The mid-20th century
C) The early 1900s
D) The 1800s
- 27. What has hampered the Missouri River shipping industry due to inconsistent maintenance?
A) Barge designs
B) Navigation channel
C) River banks
D) Locks and dams
- 28. In what year did France expand its territorial claims to include land on the western side of the Mississippi River?
A) 1701
B) 1682
C) 1754
D) 1607
- 29. By what decade had steamboat commerce on the Missouri nearly vanished?
A) 1890s
B) 1858
C) 1900s
D) 1819
- 30. What is a limiting factor for tree growth near the riverbanks?
A) Excessive rainfall
B) High salinity levels
C) Lack of sunlight
D) Soil erosion during floods
- 31. Which formation lies atop the Arikaree Group and is slightly younger?
A) Arikaree Group
B) White River Formation
C) Ogallala Group
D) Broadwater Formation
- 32. Which land bridge is mentioned as a migration route during the end of the last glacial period?
A) Kra Isthmus
B) Isthmus of Panama
C) Bering land bridge
D) Land Bridge of Gibraltar
- 33. In what year did the United States acquire the Louisiana Territory from France?
A) 1812
B) 1803
C) 1783
D) 1795
- 34. What natural condition in the early 21st century contributed to the decline of river traffic on the Missouri?
A) Tornadoes
B) Drought conditions
C) Floods
D) Earthquakes
- 35. How does biodiversity change from the headwaters to downstream on the Missouri River?
A) Biodiversity generally increases proceeding downstream.
B) Biodiversity remains constant throughout the river.
C) Biodiversity decreases proceeding downstream.
D) Biodiversity is highest at the cold, subalpine headwaters.
- 36. Which explorer published 'The Route To Be Taken To Ascend The Missouri River' in 1714?
A) Louis Jolliet
B) Jacques Marquette
C) Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne
D) Étienne de Veniard, Sieur de Bourgmont
- 37. When did the USACE begin widening the Missouri River's navigation channel to 200 feet?
A) 2006
B) 1925
C) 1945
D) 1912
- 38. In what year was the USACE authorized to maintain a six-foot depth for navigation on the Missouri River from Kansas City to its mouth?
A) 2006
B) 1945
C) 1925
D) 1912
- 39. Which type of steamboats were preferred on the Missouri due to their maneuverability?
A) Mackinaws
B) Side-wheeler steamboats
C) Sternwheelers
D) Keelboats
- 40. Which was the first steamboat on the Missouri River?
A) The Missouri Breaks
B) The Western Engineer
C) The Independence
D) The Yellowstone
- 41. What is the age of the Ogallala Formation?
A) Miocene-age
B) Jurassic-age
C) Pliocene-age
D) Cretaceous-age
- 42. Where are sapphires found along the Missouri River?
A) Western Montana
B) Eastern Montana
C) Nebraska
D) South Dakota
- 43. What was the purpose of Fort Raymond constructed in 1807?
A) To serve as a permanent settlement for European settlers.
B) To house fur trappers from various companies.
C) To serve as a trading post for bartering with Native Americans for furs.
D) To act as a military stronghold against Native American tribes.
- 44. What percentage of total silt that empties into the Gulf of Mexico is still transported by the Missouri River?
A) About one third
B) Less than a quarter
C) Nearly all
D) More than half
- 45. What was one of the first large motives for river transport on the Missouri?
A) The transport of thousands of beaver pelts.
B) Moving military supplies.
C) Transporting settlers to new lands.
D) Carrying agricultural products from farms.
- 46. How many lock and dams are there on the upper Mississippi River?
A) 50
B) 29
C) 12
D) 5
- 47. Which treaty recognized American rights to navigate the Mississippi River and store goods for export in New Orleans?
A) Treaty of Paris
B) Pinckney's Treaty
C) Jay Treaty
D) Treaty of Ghent
- 48. Which ecoregion has the greatest diversity of plants and animals?
A) All have equal diversity
B) Middle Missouri
C) Central Prairie
D) Upper Missouri
- 49. What is one of the primary reasons for decreasing river traffic on the Missouri River besides drought?
A) Overfishing in the river
B) Lack of demand for agricultural products
C) Increased shipping costs
D) Competition from railroads
- 50. What year did the Independence start running between St. Louis and Keytesville, Missouri?
A) 1830
B) Around 1819
C) 1890s
D) 1858
- 51. Which species is mentioned as endangered in the Missouri River basin?
A) Pallid sturgeon
B) River otter
C) Mink
D) Beaver
- 52. What type of climate is found at the headwaters of the Missouri River in Montana?
A) Temperate and moist
B) Characterized by large seasonal temperature fluctuations
C) Cold, subalpine
D) Semiarid shrub-steppe
- 53. What glaciation diverted the Missouri River southeastward toward its present confluence with the Mississippi?
A) Pleistocene Glaciation
B) Wisconsin Glaciation
C) Pre-Illinoian or Illinoian Glaciation
D) Holocene Glaciation
- 54. What nickname is inspired by the Missouri River's enormous loads of sediment or silt?
A) Sandy Waters
B) Muddy Stream
C) Big Muddy
D) Silty Flow
- 55. Which of these tribes was not mentioned as living along the Missouri River in pre-European contact writings?
A) Dakota
B) Otoe
C) Mandan
D) Navajo
- 56. Which war resulted in a complete Native American victory?
A) The Battle of Boonville.
B) Red Cloud's War.
C) The Great Sioux War of 1876–77.
D) Bleeding Kansas.
- 57. What structures enable barge traffic on the Lower Missouri River by directing its flow?
A) Locks
B) Wing dams
C) Levees
D) Hydroelectric dams
- 58. In which year did the tonnage of goods shipped by barges on the Missouri River see a significant increase to 334,000 short tons?
A) 2010
B) 2006
C) 1977
D) 2000
- 59. In what year did steamboat navigation on the Missouri River peak?
A) 1819
B) 1890s
C) 1858
D) 1830
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