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© Copyright 1997, Jim Loy
What is the longest river in North America (the fourth longest in the world)? I'll give you partial credit if you said "Mississippi." That answer is wrong, but not totally wrong.
The upper Mississippi is a
tributary of a much bigger river. This bigger river consists of the Missouri
and the lower Mississippi. Where the Missouri and the upper Mississippi meet,
the Missouri has a greater flow of water (although the upper Mississippi seems
to be slightly wider at this point). The Missouri is the main river. The upper
Mississippi is the tributary. The naming of the rivers was sloppily done.
The Missouri is a fairly large river where it begins, at Three Forks, Montana. Of the three forks (Jefferson, Madison, and Gallatin, named by Lewis and Clark), the longest one is the Jefferson. And so, the Jefferson is the main river, here. Well, it turns out that the Red Rock (which flows into the Jefferson) is longer than the upper Jefferson. So, the Red Rock - Jefferson - Missouri - Mississippi is the longest river in North America, and fourth longest river in the world.
Quite a few rivers of the world have this naming problem.