History of navigation on the Yellowstone river

Abstract

In the mass of literature connected with the fur trade and exploration and settlement of the region now comprising Montana, the Missouri River as a route and a means of travel has received ample recognition, but its great tributary, the Yellowstone, has fared less well. It is little realized that travel on the Yellowstone River, from the days of the fur-trader to the coming of the railroad, played a very significant part in the history of the region. The Yellowstone was important first in exploration, and then in the fur trade, and finally was the decisive factor in the ability of the United States Army to open up one of the last remaining areas in the Northwest for settlement and peaceful pursuits.