Bois de Sioux River

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The Bois de Sioux River below the dam of Lake Traverse.  Roberts County, South Dakota is at left, and Traverse County, Minnesota is at right.
The Bois de Sioux River below the dam of Lake Traverse. Roberts County, South Dakota is at left, and Traverse County, Minnesota is at right.
The Red River drainage basin, with the Bois de Sioux River highlighted
The Red River drainage basin, with the Bois de Sioux River highlighted
The Bois de Sioux River below the dam of Mud Lake, in Traverse County, Minnesota.  This section of the river has been re-routed to flow in a straight line slightly east of the Minnesota-South Dakota border.
The Bois de Sioux River below the dam of Mud Lake, in Traverse County, Minnesota. This section of the river has been re-routed to flow in a straight line slightly east of the Minnesota-South Dakota border.

The Bois de Sioux River drains Lake Traverse, the southernmost body of water in the Hudson Bay watershed of North America. It is a tributary of the Red River of the North and defines part of the western border of the U.S. state of Minnesota, and part of the eastern borders of the U.S. states of North Dakota and South Dakota. It is about thirty miles (48 km) long.

Contents

[edit] Course

The river flows northward from a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers dam at the north end of Lake Traverse and shortly enters Mud Lake. Downstream of Mud Lake it is a small stream, and its flow has been channelized and straightened in some places so that the watercourse diverges slightly from the historic state boundary. It passes the town of White Rock, South Dakota before joining the Otter Tail River to form the Red River at Wahpeton, North Dakota and Breckenridge, Minnesota.

[edit] Tributaries

The two largest tributaries of the Bois de Sioux are the Mustinka River, which flows into Lake Traverse, and the Rabbit River south of Breckenridge; both of these enter from Minnesota.

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  • Waters, Thomas F. (1977). The Streams and Rivers of Minnesota. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press. ISBN 0-8166-0960-8.