Missouri

Of course, rivers are the blood of Missouri—when you share the name of the longest river in the United States, as well as the river itself, you can’t help but be synonymous with rivers. In the early days of this country, the Missouri River marked the line between the developed East and the untamed wilderness of the West. The state and its rivers signified the jumping off point for thousands heading west to settle the frontier along the Santa Fe Trail, the Oregon Trail, and branches of the Great Platte River Road.

Missouri and its rivers have also molded our culture and literature. Millions have read Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and drifted along on the raft with Huckleberry Finn.

Missouri has approximately 51,978 miles of river, of which 44.4 miles of one river, the Eleven Point River, are designated as wild and scenic—less than 1/10th of 1% of the state’s river miles.