About This BlogA Blog about all the Missouri National Recreational River concerning all things about one of the only free flowing stretch of the Middle Missouri left in the united States. Heart of the Matter– The MNRR & The Beginning Of The National Park Idea
September 02, 2013
It is both a proud and humbling thought to identify the MNRR with the very genesis of the National Park idea. In essence, to know that the two stretches of the Missouri which make up the MNRR played a vital role in the development of what has been called America’s Best idea. It is also something of a stroke of historic luck that this was done before the Missouri would become completely altered by human engineering. Approximately, a century and a half after Catlin made his trip citizens had the vision to protect what is today the MNRR. This was precisely due to the fact that these sections of North America's longest waterway contained vital remnants of the pre-development Missouri River. August & Everything After- The Afterlife of the Men Who Were On Spirit Mound - August 25th, 1804
August 30, 2013
The side trip to Spirit Mound was just that, a side trip, a long day hike into history. The following day the Corps of Discovery was back along the Missouri heading upriver towards not only unknown destinations, but also unknown fates. From the modern vantage point of hindsight, a kind of all-knowing after the fact clarity, it is easy to look at the rest of the expedition as one long successful adventure. Of course, the expedition would end two years later, but life and history did not end for member of the Corps of Discovery. For these men who had spent hundreds of days together the end of their journey was also a beginning. Something new, something good, something bad and by all turns just like the expedition they had just completed, unpredictable. Spirit Mound and the Visitor Experience - Living History
August 25, 2013
For those of us who work at the park or live near Spirit Mound it makes a nice short hike, especially this time of year. Yet perhaps it is the shortness of the hike or the relatively benign scenery of acre upon acre of corn and soybean fields stretching across the horizon, which seem to tamp down the WOW factor when visiting the site. This is not the way it should be. Spirit Mound is one of THE most important sites on the entire trail. This is due to the simple fact that it still exists. Challenge & Response: The Missouri National Recreational River
August 15, 2013
Two of the greatest challenges for the staff of the Missouri National Recreational River (MNRR) are building awareness at the local, regional and national levels that the MNRR is a National Park and secondly, where the park is actually located. In this first blog post we would like to put the park's designation and location in a national context. |
Last updated: April 10, 2015