The Roe River runs between Giant Springs and the Missouri River in Great Falls, Montana, United States. The Roe River is only 201 feet (61 m) at its longest constant point. Towards its end, the Roe becomes surprisingly deep, at least 6-8 feet.
A successful campaign to get the Roe River recognized by the Guinness World Records as the shortest river in the world originated from students at Lincoln Elementary School in Great Falls, Montana. Students Molly A. Petersen and former NFL football player Dallas Neil put in an appearance on The Tonight Show as part of this effort.
Previously, Oregon's D River was listed in Guinness World Records as the world's shortest river at 440 feet (134 m). This title was lost in 1989 when Guinness, in what was then called The Guinness Book of Records, named the Roe River as the world's shortest. Not to be deterred, the people of Lincoln City submitted a new measurement of the D River to Guinness of about 120 feet (36 m) long, when marked at "extreme high tide".
Starting in 2006 Guinness World Records did not list a shortest river category.
Famous quotes containing the words roe and/or river:
“All day long in unrest,
To and fro do I move,
The very soul within my breast
Is wasted for you, love!”
—Owen Roe MacWard (d. 1849)
“The name of the town isn’t important. It’s the one that’s just twenty-eight minutes from the big city. Twenty-three if you catch the morning express. It’s on a river and it’s got houses and stores and churches. And a main street. Nothing fancy like Broadway or Market, just plain Broadway. Drug, dry good, shoes. Those horrible little chain stores that breed like rabbits.”
—Joseph L. Mankiewicz (1909–1993)