The Yellowstone River in Montana begins its journey through the state in the Absaroka Mountain Range where it enters Yellowstone National Park and starts to wind its way through the Yellowstone Lake region.
As the only undammed river in the lower 48 states, the Yellowstone River flows a total of 692 miles which takes it through Wyoming, Montana, and North Dakota.
The river rushes over the Upper and Lower Falls of the Grand Canyon before coming into contact with its largest tributary, the Lamar River at Tower Junction before exiting the national park near Gardiner.
The Yellowstone River continues through the state in a north-westerly direction before finally joining the Missouri River near the eastern state border.
The Missouri River eventually joins the Mississippi River which in turn merges with the Atlantic Ocean at the Gulf of Mexico.
The History of the Yellowstone River in Montana
Native Americans had long made use of the river before any western explorers or traders appeared in the region in the 1800s.
Elk River was actually one of the names the natives used when they referred to the river, and it wasn’t until 1806 when the Lewis and Clark Expedition made its way back from the Pacific Northwest that any expedition of European descent had encountered what is now known as the Yellowstone River.
Plenty of others followed suit over the years after deciding to further probe the regions and characteristics of the river, including famous names in exploration like John Colter, Jim Bridger and Jed Smith.
These later visitors to the area explored Yellowstone’s waters with the aid of all manner of boats or vessels available to them.
John Colter was actually responsible for helping to set up the first trading post along the banks of the Yellowstone River after partnering up with a fur trader, which was first established just a year after the Lewis and Clark expedition had ventured through the area, at the mouth of the Bighorn River.
Settlement in the area was boosted by the arrival of the Northern Pacific Railway in the early 1880s when the river began to be developed extensively for the purpose of irrigation.
The Yellowstone River’s Role in Local Agriculture
A huge amount of agricultural land comes under the Yellowstone River Watershed, with much of the water being stored in the snowpack that falls throughout the winter.
When it melts in late spring and early summer it feeds the river, just in time for some much-needed watering.
It’s not uncommon to see farms and ranches anywhere along the regions of the Yellowstone River and its tributaries. These operations rely on the river for the irrigation of crops such as wheat, barley, corn, and sugar beets, while ranchers focus on raising cows, pigs, sheep, horses, and chickens.
Still, many other farms are too far from the river to allow for any irrigation, which means they are more likely to practice dryland farming, using some stores of water from the river while also relying on rain.
The Upper Yellowstone River
Outside of Yellowstone National Park, the river covers more than 500 miles that are generally compartmentalized into the upper, middle, and lower regions, although with no formal definitions.
Starting out as white water as it leaves the national park, the upper section of the river is super-clear and cold. The water slows down and mellows out somewhat as it flows downstream towards the Missouri River confluence.
The upper section of the Yellowstone River in Montana is the most renowned stretch in terms of trout fishing.
The fast-flowing clear water has the ideal conditions for various trout fishing scenarios, and the stretch of river running from the national park to Billings or somewhere near is considered the main part of the upper river, at least from a fishing perspective.
The Middle Yellowstone River
What is loosely defined as the mid-section of the flowing river presents a different scenario as things begin to slow down and get bigger.
The middle stretch of the river has more of a prairie river feel to it than a mountain stream and it loses much of its crystal clearness as it begins to get murkier and also warmer in this section.
The gradient is low along this region of the Yellowstone River and the rocky bottoms that were common upstream have gradually been replaced by sand and mud.
The water holds a diverse range of species here but the trout fishing is not generally deemed to be of the same caliber as it was further upstream. Here the fish with a preference for a warmer flow are more prevalent, particularly bass, sauger, and paddlefish.
This stretch of the river remains mostly wild and undeveloped, which means more likelihood of catching sight of more wildlife and birds.
The Lower Yellowstone River
When the middle section of the river begins to meld with the lower section it becomes yet more slow-moving and murky with mud from the bottom.
The fish species in t