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29-646: Spanning a distance of 40 miles (64 km), the Crazy Mountains are located between the Musselshell and Yellowstone rivers. The highest peak is Crazy Peak at 11,214 feet (3,418 m). Rising over 7,000 feet (2,130 m) above the Great Plains to the east, the Crazies dominate their surroundings and are plainly visible just north of Interstate 90 . The Crazy Mountains form an isolated island range east of

58-517: A tributary joins a larger river ( main stem ); or where two streams meet to become the source of a river of a new name (such as the confluence of the Monongahela and Allegheny rivers, forming the Ohio River ); or where two separated channels of a river (forming a river island ) rejoin at the downstream end. The point of confluence where the channel flows into a larger body of water may be called

87-597: A tripoint . Various examples are found in the list below. A number of major cities, such as Chongqing , St. Louis , and Khartoum , arose at confluences; further examples appear in the list. Within a city, a confluence often forms a visually prominent point, so that confluences are sometimes chosen as the site of prominent public buildings or monuments, as in Koblenz , Lyon , and Winnipeg . Cities also often build parks at confluences, sometimes as projects of municipal improvement, as at Portland and Pittsburgh . In other cases,

116-414: A confluence can be divided into six distinct features which are commonly called confluence flow zones (CFZ). These include The broader field of engineering encompasses a vast assortment of subjects which concern confluences. In hydraulic civil engineering , where two or more underground culverted / artificially buried watercourses intersect, great attention should be paid to the hydrodynamic aspects of

145-619: A confluence is an industrial site, as in Philadelphia or Mannheim . Often a confluence lies in the shared floodplain of the two rivers and nothing is built on it, for example at Manaus , described below. One other way that confluences may be exploited by humans is as sacred places in religions . Rogers suggests that for the ancient peoples of the Iron Age in northwest Europe, watery locations were often sacred, especially sources and confluences. Pre-Christian Slavic peoples chose confluences as

174-482: A corresponding shift in habitat characteristics." Another science relevant to the study of confluences is chemistry , because sometimes the mixing of the waters of two streams triggers a chemical reaction, particularly in a polluted stream. The United States Geological Survey gives an example: "chemical changes occur when a stream contaminated with acid mine drainage combines with a stream with near-neutral pH water; these reactions happen very rapidly and influence

203-496: A large igneous intrusion, forms the bedrock in the Crazy Mountains. The stock is of Tertiary age, and consists of diorite and gabbro with zones of Quartz Monzodiorite, and which has been intruded by many dikes and sills . Geological features of the Crazy Mountains include: Due to the eastern location, these mountains are drier and less densely forested than other mountain ranges in Montana. There are at least 40 alpine lakes in

232-541: Is also mentioned in Larry McMurtry 's classic 1985 novel Lonesome Dove . Roundup is home to the Musselshell Valley Historical Museum, which documents the region's history. Confluence (geography) In geography , a confluence (also: conflux ) occurs where two or more watercourses join to form a single channel . A confluence can occur in several configurations: at the point where

261-408: Is fed largely by snowmelt and has its highest flow rates in the spring and early summer. The Musselshell River Basin, including tributaries, drains 108,268 acres (438.1 km ). The South Fork has much brush, gravel bars, and clear water. The North Fork has willow trees and undercut banks. The Musselshell is about 60 feet (20 m) wide at its confluence of the two forks. Three reservoirs built in

290-400: Is said to be a shortened form of the name "Crazy Woman Mountains" given them, in complement to their original Crow name, after a woman who went insane and lived in them after her family was killed in the westward settlement movement. The Crow people called the mountains Awaxaawapìa Pìa , roughly translated as "Ominous Mountains", or even more roughly, "Crazy Mountains". They were famous to

319-643: Is used extensively for irrigation for farming and ranching and due to that may run dry or nearly dry in many sections during much of the summer and fall. Water supply is less in the lower basin due to the more arid climate and the fact that users in the upper basin have senior rights to the water. Fishing is popular along most parts of the Musselshell. Species of fish found on the North and/or South Forks down to Harlowton include: mountain whitefish , and brown , cutthroat , rainbow , and brook trout . The eastern part of

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348-735: Is used to describe the meeting of tidal or other non-riverine bodies of water, such as two canals or a canal and a lake. A one-mile (1.6 km) portion of the Industrial Canal in New Orleans accommodates the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway and the Mississippi River-Gulf Outlet Canal ; therefore those three waterways are confluent there. The term confluence can also apply to the process of merging or flowing together of other substance. For example, it may refer to

377-660: The Continental Divide . Other isolated ranges in Montana include the Castle Mountains , Little Belt Mountains , Big Snowy Mountains , Little Snowy Mountains , Bears Paw Mountains , Judith Mountains , North and South Moccasin Mountains , Highwood Mountains , Little Rocky Mountains , Sweet Grass Hills , Bull Mountains and, in the southeastern corner of the state near Ekalaka , the Long Pines . The Big Timber Stock ,

406-765: The United States . Counting its pre-confluence tributaries, it measures 425–500 miles (684–805 km) in length. It rises in several forks in the Crazy , Little Belt , and Castle mountains in central Montana. The main branch is formed by the confluence of the North Fork and South Fork in Meagher County , about 25 miles (40 km) east of White Sulphur Springs, Montana , just east of Martinsdale , north of Martinsdale Reservoir, and just west of Meagher County's border with Wheatland County . The North Fork flows south from

435-491: The river mouth . Confluences are studied in a variety of sciences. Hydrology studies the characteristic flow patterns of confluences and how they give rise to patterns of erosion, bars, and scour pools. The water flows and their consequences are often studied with mathematical models . Confluences are relevant to the distribution of living organisms (i.e., ecology ) as well; "the general pattern [downstream of confluences] of increasing stream flow and decreasing slopes drives

464-662: The 1930s help control the river's flow: Bair Reservoir on the North Fork, Martinsdale Reservoir near the confluence, and Deadman's Basin on the main river between Shawmut and Ryegate . The river becomes wider in the 50 miles (80 km) before Roundup. Honeysuckle , wild rose , willow, and cottonwood are common in this section. The river is about 100 feet (30 m) wide in its last 90 miles (140 km), with increased choppiness and flow rate. The relatively more arid climate in this section results in less vegetation, more livestock grazing, and poorer soil. Additional tributaries of

493-571: The Cottonwood Creek, a Musselshell tributary. There was major flooding on the Musselshell River in May 2011. On May 26 the flooding inundated portions of Roundup . Cresting and flow rate records were set along several sections of the river, such as Mosby and Shawmut, near Harlowton . The crest of the flood at 14.16 feet (4.32 m), more than 4 feet (1.2 m) over flood state, exceeded

522-645: The Crow people for having metaphysical powers and being unpredictable—a place used for vision quests . Musselshell River The Musselshell River is a tributary of the Missouri River , 341.9 miles (550.2 km) long from its origins at the confluence of its North and South Forks near Martinsdale, Montana to its mouth on the Missouri River . It is located east of the Continental divide entirely within Montana in

551-710: The Little Belt Mountains through Bair Reservoir, then southeast. The South Fork flows northeast from the Crazy Mountains. From the confluence of these two waterways, the main branch flows roughly due east past Two Dot , Harlowton , and Roundup , then turns north just past Melstone , and continues to the UL Bend on the Missouri River at the beginning of Fort Peck Reservoir . The Musselshell River has also been known as: Cockkleshell River, Mahtush-ahzhah, Muscleshell River, Mustleshell River, Shell River. The Musselshell

580-510: The Musselshell include: Middle Fork, Bozeman Fork, Dry Fork, American Creek Fork, Big Elk Creek, Careless Creek, Cottonwood Creek, Flat Willow Creek, Hopley Creek, Spring Creek, Swimming Woman Creek, and Willow Creek. Recreational use of the Musselshell averages 63,000 visitor-days per year. Much of the water on the Musselshell is decreed water and managed by the Musselshell River Distribution Project. The Musselshell

609-483: The area again in 1935, but reported that a national park would not be feasible because "half of the land, every alternate section, is owned by the Northern Pacific Railroad or is in private hands." The Crazies are almost completely surrounded by private lands making access into the mountains somewhat difficult, especially in the southern section where the highest peaks are located. The name Crazy Mountains

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638-587: The form of structural bracing. The velocities and hydraulic efficiencies should be meticulously calculated and can be altered by integrating different combinations of geometries, components such a gradients, cascades and an adequate junction angle which is sympathetic to the direction of the watercourse’s flow to minimise turbulent flow, maximise evacuation velocity and to ultimately maximise hydraulic efficiency. Since rivers often serve as political boundaries, confluences sometimes demarcate three abutting political entities, such as nations, states, or provinces, forming

667-457: The range, 15 of which are named. The Crazy Mountains sit in both Gallatin National Forest and Lewis and Clark National Forest . The Crazies support a healthy herd of mountain goats and the occasional elusive wolverine . In 1916, the Crazy Mountains were proposed as a location for a national park, but Congress failed to pass the legislation. National Park Service officials considered

696-497: The record previously set in 1975. The Musselshell region is where the last surviving herds of wild American buffalo lived. Zoologist William Temple Hornaday of the Smithsonian Institution harvested specimens from the region in 1886 so that future generations would know what the buffalo looked like. The Musselshell was mentioned by both Del Gue and Jeremiah Johnson in the film Jeremiah Johnson . The Musselshell

725-446: The river has channel catfish , sauger , smallmouth bass , and walleye due to the warmer water caused by dewatering from irrigation and the arid climate shift from mountain to prairie ecosystems in the Musselshell's last 90 miles (140 km). There are three different species of freshwater mussels as well as crawdads . The Gordon Butte Pumped Storage Project is a planned pumped hydroelectric power plant that will use water from

754-448: The sites for fortified triangular temples, where they practiced human sacrifice and other sacred rites. In Hinduism , the confluence of two sacred rivers often is a pilgrimage site for ritual bathing. In Pittsburgh, a number of adherents to Mayanism consider their city's confluence to be sacred. Mississippi basin Atlantic watersheds Pacific watersheds Occasionally, "confluence"

783-613: The subsequent transport of metals downstream of the mixing zone." A natural phenomenon at confluences that is obvious even to casual observers is a difference in color between the two streams; see images in this article for several examples. According to Lynch, "the color of each river is determined by many things: type and amount of vegetation in the watershed, geological properties, dissolved chemicals, sediments and biologic content – usually algae ." Lynch also notes that color differences can persist for miles downstream before they finally blend completely. Hydrodynamic behaviour of flow in

812-401: The system to ensure the longevity and efficiency of the structure. Engineers have to design these systems whilst considering a list of factors that ensure the discharge point is structurally stable as the entrance of the lateral culvert into the main structure may compromise the stability of the structure due to the lack of support at the discharge, this often constitutes additional supports in

841-600: Was entered by the Lewis and Clark Expedition on May 20, 1805 and named by them for the freshwater mussels lining the bank, noting in their journals that the Minnetare people had given the waterway a similar name. The Blackfeet , who hunted buffalo and prepared the meat for winter in the Musselshell area, called it the Dried Meat River. The terrain varies from the mountainous island ranges where it originates to prairie. It

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