Big Sioux River

The falls of the Big Sioux River at Sioux Falls, South Dakota

The course and watershed of the Big Sioux River.

This excerpt from the Lewis and Clark map of 1814 shows the rivers of western Iowa and eastern South Dakota. The Big Sioux River ("Sioux") is seen near the center of the map.

The Big Sioux River is a tributary of the Missouri River, 295 mi (470 km) long, in eastern South Dakota and northwestern Iowa in the United States.^[1] The United States Board on Geographic Names settled on "Big Sioux River" as the stream's name in 1961.^[2]

The Big Sioux River rises in Roberts County, South Dakota^[2] on the Coteau des Prairies and flows generally southwardly through Grant, Codington, Hamlin, Brookings, Moody, and Minnehaha Counties, past the communities of Watertown, Castlewood, Bruce, Flandreau, Egan, Trent, Dell Rapids, and Baltic to Sioux Falls, where it passes over a waterfall which gives that city its name. Downstream of Sioux Falls and the community of Brandon, the Big Sioux is used to define the boundary between South Dakota and Iowa, flowing along the eastern borders of Lincoln and Union Counties in South Dakota, and the western borders of Lyon, Sioux and Plymouth Counties in Iowa, past the communities of Canton, Fairview, Hudson, North Sioux City, and Dakota Dunes in South Dakota and Hawarden, Beloit, and Akron in Iowa. It joins the Missouri River from the north at Sioux City, Iowa.^[3][4]

Tributaries

The Big Sioux River collects the Rock River from the northeast in Sioux County, Iowa.^[3] A minor headwaters tributary of the Big Sioux in Grant County, South Dakota, is known as the Indian River.^[4][5] Broken Kettle Creek has its confluence with the Big Sioux in Plymouth County, Iowa.

See also

• List of Iowa rivers
• List of South Dakota rivers
• Little Sioux River
• River borders of U.S. states
• Blood Run Site - Native American Settlement

References

1. ^ Columbia Gazetteer of North America entry
2. ^ ^{a b} USGS GNIS: Big Sioux River
3. ^ ^{a b} DeLorme (1998). Iowa Atlas & Gazetteer. Yarmouth, Maine: DeLorme. ISBN 0-89933-214-5
4. ^ ^{a b} DeLorme (2001). South Dakota Atlas & Gazetteer. Yarmouth, Maine: DeLorme. ISBN 0-89933-330-3
5. ^ USGS GNIS: Indian River

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