MARCH 2016 • NEBRASKAland 35
M
aking connections is a specialty of the mighty Missouri. Steamboat
captains once referred to it as a long spiral staircase to the Rockies,
connecting the high country of the west to the growing civilization of
the east. Beyond that readily-apparent linkage the Missouri does much more to
thread things together in the upper Midwest.
It melds together the aquatic and upland ecosystems, often blurring the line
that separates them. Worlds collide when a giant cottonwood falls halfway into
the current and nesting habitat for birds becomes basking habitat for turtles.
The story of a tree's role as provider does not end when it comes down with a
muddy splash; instead it merely begins a new chapter of providing food, shelter
and a place for lives to begin.
Pulses of spring water reach up onto an overgrown sandbar letting fish
explore a new world for a few days. The same flood allows the river to gather
up organic matter debris from the formerly-dry ground, and bring it back into
the flow. There it becomes fuel used by many organisms making their way
through the cycle of life.
The Missouri also provides a connection from the present to the area's rich
history. Giant cottonwood stumps still protrude from the water, weathered and
Left: Winter has a firm grip on this cedar driftwood on Lewis and Clark Lake in early December. It was too windy for the reservoir to
freeze but anything splashed by the waves became locked in ice.
Above: From saplings to mature trees to jagged snags, these two cottonwoods in the Green Island chute near Yankton may have
stood together for a century or more.
