The Missouri River is a tributary of the Mississippi River, and is the longest river in the United States of America. The Missouri likely originates at Brower's Spring at the upper reaches of the Jefferson, before joining the confluence of the Madison, Jefferson, and Gallatin rivers in Montana. From this point, it flows through its valley south and east into the Mississippi north of St. Louis, Missouri. At 2,540 miles (4,090 km) in length, it dra...
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The Missouri River is a tributary of the Mississippi River, and is the longest river in the United States of America. The Missouri likely originates at Brower's Spring at the upper reaches of the Jefferson, before joining the confluence of the Madison, Jefferson, and Gallatin rivers in Montana. From this point, it flows through its valley south and east into the Mississippi north of St. Louis, Missouri. At 2,540 miles (4,090 km) in length, it drains about one-sixth of the continental United States. The Missouri in its original natural meandering state was the longest river in North America. Nearly 72 miles (116 km) of the river have been cut off in channeling and so it is now comparable in length to the Mississippi River. The combination of the two longest rivers in North America forms the fourth longest river in the world.
At its confluence, the Missouri nearly doubles the volume of the Mississippi, accounting for 45 percent of the flow at St. Louis in normal times and as much as 70...
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