Missouri River Valley

Loess, a wind-deposited soil, is compounded in slowly rising hills at various points in extreme eastern portions of Nebraska and Kansas along the Missouri River Valley, particularly near the Nebraska cities of Brownville, Rulo, Plattsmouth, Fort Calhoun, and Ponca, rising no more than 200 feet (61 m) above the Missouri River bottoms.

The majority of these hills stretch along the east side of the river, from Westfield, Iowa in the north to Mound City, Missouri in the south.

Gambling, prostitution and illegal alcohol sales to American Indians fueled the growth of the culture, which eventually included outfitters, livestock ranchers and tribal agents.

In response to this economic activity, a line of urbanized centers grew along the river, which prospered further when reservations were allotted throughout the region.

According to the University of South Dakota, the associated present-day culture of the Missouri River Valley contains a broad swath of political, social, historic, and artistic perspectives.

[9] Following at a distance of years the first recorded exploration of the majority of the valley by the Lewis and Clark Expedition (1804–1806), there have been numerous attempts at preserving the natural habitats of the Missouri River Valley, spurred in its early days by concerns of duck hunters, for the Missouri basin lies across a major migration route, the Central Flyway, and in the river's lower reaches, the Mississippi Flyway.