Busch Greenway - Trail to Missouri Research Park

Busch Greenway - Trail to Missouri Research Park. . , Rolling Along the Katy Trail , . Where you now stand, shiny black steam locomotives and brightly painted diesel trains once rolled. From 1870 to 1988, the Missouri-Kansas-Texas (MKT) Railroad carried passengers and freight along this route, which traces the path of the Missouri River., . St. Louis emerged as a major railroad gateway in the 1890s when the rail line from New Franklin to Machens was built, completing an important link in the MKT, the first rail line to enter Texas from the north. Listed on the stock exchange as KT, the rail line was affectionately dubbed "the Katy." Completed in 1893, the Katy transported passengers all the way from St. Louis to Galveston, Texas., . Later, in the early twentieth century, a luxury rail liner named the Texas Special took passengers from St. Louis to Dallas Fort Worth and San Antonio via the Katy. Passengers rode in stylish rail cars named after such luminaries as Sam Houston, Stephen F. Austin, David Crockett and James Bowie., . Located in the Missouri River flood plain for much of its length, the Katy was plagued by floods every time the river spilled its banks. The Katy rail line finally surrendered to Mother Nature in 1986, when severe flooding washed out several miles of track. , . The MKT Railroad "railbanked" the route from Sedalia to Machens in 1988 and donated the entire right-of-way to the State of Missouri. The Missouri Department of Natural Resources turned the rail corridor into the Katy Trail State Park, one of the nation's first and longest "rail to trail" conversions. , . Today, the Katy Trail State Park, operated by the Department of Natural Resources as part of the state park system, is a 225-mile hiking and bicycling trail that runs from St. Charles to Clinton. , Geology and Wildlife , . The prominent bluffs along the Missouri River, some reaching heights of 500 feet, are comprised of Jefferson City dolomite topped by thick layers of St. Peter sandstone. Silica mined from this sandstone was one of the many products once transported by the Katy railroad. , . The sandstone formation began as a layer of sand in the clear, shallow waters of the ancient Paleozoic Era that once covered this area. The sandstone consists of fine to medium-sized grams of quartz, relatively uniform in size and shape. Also called Ottawa sand, St. Peter sandstone has been mined in the Missouri towns of Pacific, Festus, Crystal City, Augusta and Pevely for use in glassmaking, oil drilling and as abrasives. , . This land along the Missouri River provides diverse wildlife habitats: dense forests, wetlands, deep valleys, remnant prairies, open pastureland and gently rolling farm fields. Wildlife is abundant here, especially birds. Chickadees, nuthatches, robins, orioles and many types of woodpeckers are common. Canada Geese nest in the ledges along the bluffs. Red-tailed Hawks and Turkey Vultures are often seen soaring above the trail, and American Bald Eagles are a common sight in the winter., Missouri River Wetlands , . Today, millions of people depend on the fast-moving Missouri River for electricity, recreation, navigation, drinking water, irrigation and industrial needs. Since the 1930s, the river channel has been modified to keep the water flowing for those purposes., . A wetland is typically a low-lying area covered with shallow water. Sometimes called swamps, marshes, bogs or sloughs, wetlands are important ecosystems because they act as biological filters to cleanse polluted water. They help reduce the impact of flooding, protecting shorelines from erosion and recharging groundwater aquifers. , Wetlands provide habitat to a rich diversity of wildlife, and consequently provide recreation through wildlife viewing, boating, hunting and fishing., . The wetland you see here is a remnant of a landscape that was typical before the river channel was modified. When Lewis and Clark explored the Missouri River 200 years ago the "Big Muddy" floodplain consisted of hundreds of thousands of acres of wetlands, backwater sloughs and oxbow lakes, all home to plentiful fish and wildlife., . This wetland receives clean, treated water year-round from the Duckett Creek Sanitary District plant above the bluffs, and seasonally from the Missouri River below., . Wetlands are critical resting locations for migrating birds. Wetlands also provide breeding habitats for numerous species of native birds, fish, reptiles and amphibians. One such amphibian is the Northern Leopard Frog. Once the most widespread frog species in North America, their numbers have declined in the past few decades. Leopard frog tadpoles eat plants and algae found in the wetlands, while the adult frogs catch insects, other invertebrates and small fish., Steamboat History , . Traveling by steamboat on the Missouri River was common in the 1800s, before the advent of railroads. Mississippi River steamboats were about 250 feet long and could carry 300 to 400 passengers and up to 700 tons of freights. , . Navigating the Missouri River in a steamboat was dangerous, particularly during storms in the current was fast, and the channel - the deepest part of the river would shift over time. Submerged tree snags could rip open the bottom of a steamboat. Historians have located as many as 400 steamboat wrecks along the Missouri River alone. , . On June 22, 1884, the mega-steamboat known as the Montana collided with a railroad bridge near Bridgeton, and sank. The remains of the Montana can still be seen today from the Missouri River Greenway when river water levels are low. This 282-foot-long luxury paddle wheel could carry 939 tons of cargo and had a 60-man crew. It was the first riverboat of its size to navigate the Missouri River and its disastrous end signaled the decline of the great "Riverboat Era."