Image: Upper Cow Island Landing, above the mouth of Cow Creek, in the Missouri Breaks, Montana

Description: In the middle of the photo is the upper Cow Island Landing of the Missouri River in Montana, above the mouth of Cow Creek. Here the river is deep as it flows along the north shore. Steamboats could get in close to shore to offload their cargos. Cargos were dropped at the Cow Island Landing during the steamboat era on the Missouri (1860 to mid 1880's), during the summer and fall when the river got too low for steamboats to get all the way up to Ft. Benton, 120 mile upstream. There was another lower landing site below the mouth of Cow Creek, downriver at the location of Cow island. The site of the pictured upper landing is on the river bank just in front of the Kipp Homestead buildings. Reportedly a snubbing post (to tie up steamboats) was embedded in the bank at this site for many years.
Title: Upper Cow Island Landing, above the mouth of Cow Creek, in the Missouri Breaks, Montana
Credit: Own work
Author: Montana Geographical Society
Usage Terms: Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0
License: CC BY-SA 3.0
License Link: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0
Attribution Required?: Yes