This digital story recording was created in conjunction with the Smithsonian's Museum on Main Street program and its Stories from Main Street student documentary initiative, called "Stories: Yes." The project encourages students and their mentors to research and record stories about small-towns and rural neighborhoods, waterways, personal memories, cultural traditions, work histories, as well as thoughts about American democracy. These documentaries are then shared on Smithsonian websites and social media.
Twenty students from St. Joseph, Missouri, took part in educational programming surrounding the Museum on Main Street exhibition Water/Ways.
Narrator (00:02): We Are River People. Landscape is incredibly important to communities. For Saint Joseph and its surrounding areas, our rivers are a major part of our way of life. Native peoples like the Iowa and Sac and Fox living in the region when fur trader, Joseph Robidoux, settled here, shared stories of the giant catfish who swam in the Missouri River. Catfish can live over 30 years and can grow over 100 pounds. We still tell catfish stories in Saint Joseph.
Narrator (00:36): Every year, the river and its elusive giant catfish attract anglers, hoping to catch a big one. In 2020, in partnership with the Smithsonian's YES Stories video program, a group of middle school students in St. Joseph, Missouri, set out to craft a video about the waterways in and around St. Joe, The students met several times in the fall of 2019 to learn all about Saint Joseph's water stories. They went on a river cruise, fishing, toured water gardens, learned about our drinking water and more. They captured photos of their outdoor water-related adventures and production on the YES Stories video was set to begin spring of 2020.
Narrator (01:20): Then the pandemic struck. The lockdown prevented any further work from being completed on the video and it was shelved until 2021. Here's the culmination of their collaboration. Water is an important resource for our communities and we must continue to take care of this essential part of our environment. Healthy water ecology is necessary to wildlife and humanity alike. Our rivers have shaped borders, built economies, fueled ecosystems, and informed our technology throughout the years. America's longest river, the Missouri River, will travel over 2,300 miles from Montana before joining Mississippi River in Missouri creating the world's fourth longest river system on its way to the Gulf of Mexico.
Narrator (02:11): For thousands of years, the Missouri River has acted as the main artery for discovery, food, commerce, and transportation for millions of people on the Great Plains. In Saint Joseph, Missouri, the river served as the western edge of the United States and was a launching point for those determined to head west. Founded in 1843 by Joseph Robidoux as a fur trading post, Saint Joseph, Missouri was inhabited by merchants, fur traders, Native Americans, explorers, outlaws, and was the birthplace of the pony express.
Narrator (02:48): In 1806, Lewis and Clark explored the wild and scenic region, which is now regarded as the most important part of the Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail. To this day, you can still camp in the same places the pioneers did. About one fourth of all agricultural land in the United States gets its water from the Missouri. And the Missouri River watershed produces more than one third of the country's wheat, flax, barley, and oats. Along the Missouri River, major floods have always been a part of life.
Narrator (03:21): Along the way, they've taught us about working together as a community during times of crisis. The Missouri River gained the moniker, the Big Muddy because of the large amounts of sediment that used to run through it. Because of human interventions on our rivers, the sediment coursing through the Missouri has declined over the years.
Asset ID: 2022.13.01
Find a complete transcript: www.museumonmainstreet.org
