Plan your trip to the Confluence Center — a peaceful glimpse of history

One of the steamboats that traveled the Missouri River from near St. Louise to the northern plains. (photo courtesy of National Archives Archeological Site [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons)

The Confluence Center marks two major historic routes

Imagine the merging of two major highways into one. (Think of the merger of I-90 and I-94 in Chicago, or the merger of Interstate 35w and 35e south of Minneapolis.) It means traffic, business, and civilization will sprout up at that junction. Thanks to the Missouri-Yellowstone Confluence cities such as Williston, Sidney and even Glendive and Fort Benton got access to the rest of the world.

Think what it must have been like, coming to the junction of two major routes with no rest stops, no signage, no towns, no predictions of what to expect.

Geese use the rivers as their flyway to migrate south in the fall.

That’s what happened at the junction of the Yellowstone River and the Missouri River. Both rivers were major transportation routes.

Yellowstone River and its tributaries that drain from Wyoming and Montana. (Map: GNU Free Documentation License Wikimedia.)

From the Rockies through the Northern Plains, the Missouri River was a major transportation route. The Yellowstone River joins the Missouri River at the Montana/North Dakota border upstream from where the Little Missouri River joins the network. (GNU Free Documentation License CC Wikimedia)

Steamboat Travel

Hundreds of steamboats traveled the Yellowstone from Northeast Montana across the state to the southeast. More steamboats traveled the Missouri River across Montana to the Rockies and then south.

A snag boat goes through the bluffs and cliffs of the Badlands that are now underwater, flooded by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to form Lake Sakakawea. (Photo: U.S. National Archives and Records Administration public domain.)

They carried millions of tons of hides and furs to the east and supplies to the west. Steamboats were essential because they brought building materials through Bismarck and Williston to towns such as Fort Benton, and Sidney, Montana.

One of the steamboats that traveled the Missouri River from near St. Louis to the northern plains.
(photo courtesy of National Archives Archeological Site [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons)

Steamboats were specially built to navigate the fickle and often shallow rivers. The Yellowstone carried a set of riverboats that could carry 250 tons and needed only a 20-inch draft. The tall poles on the front of the steamboat Rosebud were called “grasshoppers.” When the steamboat got on to a sandbar, the “grasshoppers” would help lift the boat up over the sand, one jump at a time until it got back into the channel.

Steamboats that carried supplies to Fort Buford and turned around with hides and furs were very large. (Photo: public domain National Archives Archaeological Site [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons)

The Missouri-Yellowstone Confluence Interpretive Center

Visit the Confluence Center and the historic Fort Buford that mark the site of the confluence of the two rivers. As a historic site, it is often overlooked. However, it played a major role in establishing and maintaining peace in the Montana and Dakota territories in the mid 1800’s. The area is a welcome historic site to visit because of the trails, the ramps, the museum, and the peaceful environment. It is one of the only places in the world marking the role of what Indian tribes called “Buffalo Soldiers.” The unique horse statue, dedicated in 2016 is a popular draw for tourists.

Stop in at the Missouri – Yellowstone Confluence Center for more information about Ft. Buford and its cemetery. You can get to the site easily because it is located just 22 miles southwest of Williston, off highways 1804 and 58.

Visitors expand their knowledge of U.S. History when they stop at the Missouri-Yellowstone Confluence Interpretive Center. It marks a major point of peaceful settlement, trade, and transportation for the Western United States.

The Confluence Center includes a museum and records of the Lewis and Clark Corps of Discovery. They, along with President Jefferson considered the confluence to be a significant landmark.

The rotunda of the Confluence Center introduces visitors to updated and changing exhibits of the region. Through the doors in the museum.

Along the rivers at the Confluence Center is a lengthy walking trail with signboards to help tell the story.

Or you can go fishing. A boat launch gives you access to either river where you can pull your boat up to a river bank.

It’s popular in the summer and winter and in May it’s one of the best spots to snag a paddlefish.

More History down the road

Note: If you want to expand your visit, check out the nearby Fort Union. It’s about 195 years old, another historic site of great importance to the westward expansion of the United States in the early 19th century.

From the south, the Fort Union Trading Post appears much like it would have looked to the trappers and traders. They came downstream (from the south) to the confluence of the rivers.

Fort Union was the most important trading post on the Upper Missouri River between 1828 and 1867. The partial reconstruction of the fort attracts re-enactors from across the nation.

It was the custom, at the time, to use material from abandoned buildings. That’s why soldiers built Fort Union from the dismantled parts of the original Fort Union. Fort Union was a multi-national shopping center established by the American Fur Company. Fort Union is a free site where you can experience and explore history, take a walk, have a picnic, enjoy the annual rendezvous.

Mike Kopp

Love to tell stories -- romantic, nostalgic stories of our explorations in the Northern Plains. 15 years a television reporter/anchor, 12 years radio news director, 3 years newspaper editor, 6 years documentary producer -- a lifetime of communication.