The Marias River is a tributary of the
Missouri River, approximately 210 mi (338 km) long, in the
U.S. state
In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sove ...
of
Montana
Montana () is a state in the Mountain West division of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota and South Dakota to the east, Wyoming to the south, and the Canadian provinces of Alberta, British Columb ...
. It is formed in
Glacier County, in northwestern Montana, by the confluence of the
Cut Bank Creek
The Cut Bank Creek is a tributary of the Marias River in the Missouri river basin watershed, approximately 75 mi (123 km) long, in northwestern Montana in the United States, which having deeply eroded steep cliff banks eponymously gives ...
and the
Two Medicine River. It flows east, through
Lake Elwell, formed by the
Tiber Dam, then southeast, receiving the
Teton River at
Loma, 2 mi. (3.2 km) above its confluence with the Missouri.
The river was explored in 1805 by the
Lewis and Clark Expedition. Some of the men on the expedition mistook it for the main branch of the Missouri until their subsequent discovery of the
Great Falls of the Missouri near
Great Falls, Montana. The river was named by
Meriwether Lewis after his cousin, Maria Wood. Lewis led a small detachment of men to further explore the Marias River on the Expedition's return trip in 1806 to determine if the river ventured north above the
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
border, and he killed a young
Blackfeet
The Blackfeet Nation ( bla, Aamsskáápipikani, script=Latn, ), officially named the Blackfeet Tribe of the Blackfeet Indian Reservation of Montana, is a federally recognized tribe of Siksikaitsitapi people with an Indian reservation in Mon ...
warrior trying to steal horses and a gun from the small detachment.
The river was the scene of the 1870
Marias Massacre
The Marias Massacre (also known as the Baker Massacre or the Piegan Massacre) was a massacre of Piegan Blackfeet Native peoples which was committed by the United States Army as part of the Indian Wars. The massacre took place on January 23, 1870 ...
.
The Marias is a Class I river from Tiber Dam to its confluence with the Missouri River for public access for recreational purposes.
[Stream Access in Montana]
The Montana Watershed Coordination Council is an advocate for the river.
The
Marias River Bridge was listed on the
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...
in 2012.
See also
*
Montana Stream Access Law
*
List of rivers of Montana
External links
Lewis and Clark at Loma on the Marias
Notes
{{authority control
Rivers of Montana
Tributaries of the Missouri River
Rivers of Chouteau County, Montana
Bodies of water of Hill County, Montana
Bodies of water of Liberty County, Montana
Bodies of water of Toole County, Montana
Bodies of water of Pondera County, Montana
Rivers of Glacier County, Montana