Boyer River

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The Boyer River at Denison

The Boyer River is a tributary of the Missouri River, 139 mi (224 km) long, in western Iowa in the United States. Most sections of the river's course have been straightened and channelized.

The Boyer River is named for a settler who hunted and trapped in the watershed before the time of Lewis and Clark. Explorers, including Lewis and Clark, John James Audubon, and Prince Maximilian zu Wied-Neuwied, navigated through the region near the mouth of the Boyer as they traveled up the Missouri River. This area is now part of the Boyer Chute National Wildlife Refuge (NWR). This was originally an island of sand and sediments deposited in the Missouri River by the Boyer River. Gradually, the Missouri River eroded a major channel (chute) through the sediment; this came to be known as Boyer Chute, and was the preferred channel used by explorers and traders until the Missouri eventually changed its course.

[edit] Course

The Boyer River at Denison

The Boyer River rises near Storm Lake in southwestern Buena Vista County and initially flows southwardly into Sac County. In southern Sac County it turns southwestward and flows through Crawford, Harrison and Pottawattamie Counties, past the towns of Deloit, Denison, Arion, Dow City, Dunlap, Woodbine and Logan. It enters the Missouri River in northwestern Pottawattamie County, 13 mi (21 km) north of Council Bluffs.

At Denison, the Boyer collects the East Boyer River, which rises in northwestern Carroll County and flows southwestwardly past Vail. In southwestern Harrison County, it collects the Willow River.