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Lewis and Clark encountered torrential currents, as the Missouri River was at near-flood stage. Immense, uprooted trees threatened to ram their boats. The river swirled and pushed against them. Traveling upstream was back-breaking work for the crew of more than 30 men.
The Corps of Discovery wouldn’t recognize today’s Missouri River, which is much tamed by human activities. Dredging, channeling and ditching of this waterway and its tributaries has altered critical habitat for many animals, including birds that thrived amid its shifting sandbars — like the interior least tern — and fish that enjoyed its pristine waters.
The federally-endangered Topeka shiner is one of those fish. It’s a small greenish silver minnow with a dark stripe along each side. These fish inhabit prairie headwater streams and depend on high-quality aquatic habitats, making it an excellent indicator of watershed health. It’s no surprise then that other fish — like the pallid sturgeon, an ancient fish from the dinosaur-era — also suffer because of altered water flows. The abundance of fish the Corps discovered is greatly diminished.
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In Their Own Words... |
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“Captain Lewis … caught upwards of 800 fine fish: 79 pike, 8 salmon resembling trout, 1 rock, 1 flat back, 127 buffalo and red horse, 4 bass, and 490 cats, with many small silver fish and shrimp."
~ Clark, describing one fishing expedition along the Missouri | | The Topeka shiner has lost 80 percent of its historic range, which once spanned the length of the Missouri River. Stable populations remain in some unfragmented prairie streams, such as those found in the northern-half of the Flint Hills, Kan., a place the Conservancy is dedicated to protecting for future generations. In other places, like the 3,000-acre Dunn Ranch and Pawnee Prairie the Conservancy plans to reintroduce it to streams that run through this preserve. | 
