text by Steve Schnarr
video compiled and produced by Mark Frazier
I thought to kick off this Missouri River news feed, it would be cool to show a piece of film from 1949. Mark Frazier found this footage, then edited it and posted it on YouTube (including soundtrack).
This film shows the public spectacle of cutting off Liberty Bend on the Missouri River, just downstream of Kansas City. Today you can visit the site of the "new" channel by crossing the river on Highway 291 or by exiting just south of the river and checking out La Benite Park.
A few charges of dynamite and the river started cutting its new path. The pilot chute was 10 feet wide, designed to erode to a 1,000 foot channel. It worked. A bridge had already been constructed on dry land to cross the new river channel.
(Mark purchased this footage on ebay, then did the research to figure out who was there. Here's the direct link to YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/user/Poaceaewave#p/u/9/uug4ae6TJV4)
Steve,
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing. My "home" ramp is at La Benite Park and I was always curious about Liberty Bend and how the river changed course there. Now I know the story. Living just minutes from this site, it's cool to understand the background.
Dan "Osprey" Grubbs