Following the success of the Center for Western Studies' first foray into river histories, Heartland River: A Cultural and Environmental History of the Big Sioux River (second printing, 2025), the CWS will publish The Missouri, America’s Longest River in 2026 as part of its America’s 250th Anniversary Commemoration. Also an anthology, the book will feature chapters by 35 historians, scientists and writers exploring the natural and human history of the waterway that defines the region that is the focus of the Center for Western Studies — South Dakota and the surrounding six state areas. The 3-year project is funded by a major gift from Jan Hovey Johnson ’75, with additional funding from the Anne King Publications Endowment and the Ronald R. Nelson Publications Endowment, with matching support from the National Endowment for the Humanities.
Chapter contributors represent the following educational and historical institutions:
- Augustana University
- College of New Jersey
- Helena College
- Loras College
- Loyola University
- Midland University
- Minnesota State University-Mankato
- Nebraska Game & Parks
- Northern Illinois University
- Ohio State University
- Oklahoma City University
- Providence College
- South Dakota School of Mines
- South Dakota State Historical Society
- South Dakota State University
- State Historical Society of North Dakota
- University of California-Riverside
- University of Colorado-Boulder
- University of Kansas
- University of Kansas-Monticello
- University of Nebraska-Lincoln
- University of South Dakota
- United States Geological Survey