Missouri Breaks

Upper Missouri River Breaks National Monument
IUCN category V (protected landscape/seascape)
The breaks of the Upper Missouri River National Monument
Location	Chouteau, Fergus, Blaine, and Phillips counties, Montana, USA
Nearest city	Great Falls, MT
Coordinates	47°47′0″N 109°1′17″W / 47.78333°N 109.02139°W / 47.78333; -109.02139Coordinates: 47°47′0″N 109°1′17″W / 47.78333°N 109.02139°W / 47.78333; -109.02139
Area	495,502 acres (2,005.23 km2)
Established	January 17, 2001
Visitors	63,512 (in 2002)
Governing body	U.S. Bureau of Land Management
Website	Upper Missouri River Breaks National Monument

The Upper Missouri River Breaks National Monument is a national monument protecting the Missouri Breaks of central Montana, United States. It is managed by the Bureau of Land Management. Called "The Breaks" by locals, it is a series of badland areas characterized by rock outcroppings, steep bluffs and grassy plains. Created by Proclamation by President William J. Clinton on January 17, 2001, it encompasses 495,502 acres (200,523 ha), most of which were already managed by the U.S. government. The adjacent Missouri River was designated a Wild and Scenic River in 1976 and forms a western boundary while the Charles M. Russell National Wildlife Refuge is to the east. The Breaks country was a model for many of the paintings done by painter Charles M. Russell.

French trappers found the area in the late 18th century peopled by Native American tribes such as the Blackfoot, Northern Cheyenne, Sioux, Assiniboine, Gros Ventre (Atsina), Crow, Plains Cree and Plains Ojibwa. (The Crow name is Xuáhcheesh Annáppiio, "Where the Crow warrior Skunk was killed.")