What) The Milk River is a 729 mi
(1,173 km) long tributary of the Missouri River in the U.S.
state of
Montana and the Canadian province
of Alberta. It is formed 21 mi (34 km) North of Browning,
Montana, by
the confluence of the South and Middle forks. The Milk is the
northernmost major tributary of the Missouri, and thus
represents the
rough northern extent of the Mississippi watershed. The small
area
drained by the Milk River in southern Alberta and southwestern
Saskatchewan is one of two areas in Canada that drain into the
Gulf of
Mexico. (The others being Big Muddy Creek and Poplar River
watershed
which extends into Canada in Saskatchewan.)
The Milk River was given
its name by Captain Meriwether Lewis, of the Lewis
and Clark
Expedition, who described the river in his journal: "The water
of this
river possesses a peculiar whiteness, being about the colour
of a cup
of tea with the admixture of a tablespoonfull of milk. From
the colour
of its water we called it Milk River." This appearance results
from
rock flour suspended in its waters. These extremely
fine-grained
sediments are the result of glacial erosion at the Milk
River's
headwaters. (1)
Why) At the time we arrived in Milk River, Pam and I were four
months
away from a planned drive down the entire
2,320
mile (3,730 km) length of the Mississippi River from Lake Itasca,
Minnesota to Venice,
Louisiana
on our way to a bridge tournament in
Biloxi,
Mississippi.
Given this, how could we not make a quick
stop to see the Milk River? 
