Milk River | |
The Milk River in Writing-on-Stone Provincial Park
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Name origin: Named by the Lewis and Clark Expedition for its milky color | |
Countries | United States, Canada |
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Regions | Montana, Alberta |
Source | Confluence of South and Middle Forks |
- location | Glacier County, Montana |
- elevation | 4,403 ft (1,342 m) |
- coordinates | 48°51′20″N 113°01′10″W / 48.85556°N 113.01944°W |
Mouth | Missouri River |
- location | Valley County, Montana |
- elevation | 2,024 ft (617 m) |
- coordinates | 48°03′26″N 106°19′07″W / 48.05722°N 106.31861°WCoordinates: 48°03′26″N 106°19′07″W / 48.05722°N 106.31861°W |
Length | 729 mi (1,173 km) |
Basin | 23,800 sq mi (61,642 km2) |
Discharge | for Nashua, Montana, 22.7 mi (36.5 km) from the mouth |
- average | 618 cu ft/s (17 m3/s) |
- max | 45,300 cu ft/s (1,283 m3/s) |
- min | 0 cu ft/s (0 m3/s) |
The Milk River shown highlighted
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The Milk River is a tributary of the Missouri River, 729 mi (1,173 km) long, in the United States state of Montana and the Canadian province of Alberta. Rising in the Rocky Mountains, the river drains a sparsely populated, semi-arid watershed of 23,800 sq mi (62,000 km2), ending just east of Fort Peck, Montana.
It is formed in Glacier County in northwestern Montana, 21 miles (34 km) north of Browning, Montana, by the confluence of its South and Middle forks. The 30-mile (48 km) long South Fork and 20-mile (32 km) long Middle Fork both rise in the Rocky Mountains just east of Glacier National Park, in the Blackfeet Indian Reservation. Much of the water in the North Fork is diverted from the St. Mary River through a canal and inverted siphon.
The main stream flows east-northeast into southern Alberta, where it is joined by the North Fork of the Milk River, from there It flows past the town of Milk River and Writing-on-Stone Provincial Park, then turns southeast into Montana, running east along the north side of the Sweetgrass Hills, turning south, passing through the Fresno Dam, then east past Havre and along the north side of the Fort Belknap Indian Reservation. Near Malta, it turns north, then southeast, flowing past Glasgow and joining the Missouri in Valley County, Montana, 5 miles (8 km) downstream from Fort Peck Dam.