The largest tributary of the Mississippi River, the Missouri, originates at the junction of the Jefferson, Madison, and Gallatin rivers in southwestern Montana. It flows 2,714 miles (4,368 km) to join the Mississippi. It is the longest river in the U.S., and its drainage basin covers about 529,400 square miles (1,371,100 sq km). The Ohio River is one of the chief rivers in North America, also. It is shorter than the Missouri, however, as it flows a total of 981 miles(1,579 km). The Ohio originates at the junction of the Alleghery and Monongahelo rivers in Pittsburgh, PA. Its drainage basin covers 204,000 square miles (528,000 sq km), which is considerably smaller than that of the Missouri.

The upper Missouri River flows eastward across the high plains of Montana and joins the Yellowstone River near the North Dakota border. It then flows southward across the high plains of North and South Dakota. Tributaries that flow into the Missouri are the Little Missouri, Cheyenne, White, Niob

rara, James and Big Sioux rivers. The Missouri continues southeastward and meets the Platte River near Omaha, Nebraska. The river flows on to Kansas City, where the Kansas River enters from the west. The river's course turns eastward across Missouri to Saint Louis, where it joins the Mississippi. The Ohio River has a much different flow than the Missouri. The Ohio River flows through southwestern Pennsylvania, then further southwest to form the southern border of Ohio and the northern border of West Virginia. Here, it flows through Cincinnati, Ohio. Next, it forms the southern border of Indiana and part of the northern border of Kentucky. Louisville, Kentucky, and Evansville, Indiana are major cities this river flows through. The Ohio ends up forming part of Illinois' southern border, where it enters the Mississippi at Cairo, Illinois. The Ohio's many tributaries include the Beaver, Kanawha, Scioto, Kentucky, Green, Wabah, and Tennessee rivers.

Rainfall along the Missouri ranges from 20 to 40 inches (510 to 1,016 mm) annually. The rainfall of the Ohio is much more extreme, and exceeds 40 inches (1,016 mm) per year. The average annual temperature on the Missouri ranges from 40 degrees to 50 degrees Fahrenheit in the north to 50 to 60 degrees Fahrenheit at Saint Louis. The Ohio's mean annual temperature ranges from 50 to 60 degrees Fahrenheit, which is very similar to that of the Missouri. The average discharge of the Missouri is about 64,000 cubic feet (1,810 cu m) per second at its mouth. The Missouri gets its nickname,

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