ISBN: 978-0-931170-92-8
470 pages, illustrated
Price: $35.00
Following the success of its first foray into river histories, "Heartland River: A Cultural and Environmental History of the Big Sioux River" (second printing, 2025), the Center for Western Studies announces "The Missouri, America’s Longest River: A Cultural and Environmental History" as its official publication for America’s 250th anniversary commemoration in 2026.
Also an anthology, the book features 32 chapters by 35 historians, scientists and writers who explore the natural and human history of the waterway that defines much of the region served by the Center: Montana, the Dakotas, Nebraska, and parts of Minnesota and Iowa, extending into Kansas and Missouri.
The book is arranged into seven sections: 
- Peoples and Regions
- Explorers
- Literature and Art
- River Places
- Infrastructure
- Nature
- Politics
The volume is edited by Jon K. Lauck and Harry F. Thompson. Jon K. Lauck is editor-in-chief of Middle West Review, author of "The Good Country: A History of the American Midwest, 1800-1900" (2022), and editor of "The Oxford Handbook of Midwestern History" (2025). Harry F. Thompson is the executive director of the Center for Western Studies and author of "Bright, Clear Sky Over a Plain So Wide" (2021).
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, and matching support from the National Endowment for the Humanities.