Long Prairie River

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The Long Prairie River is a tributary of the Crow Wing River, 92 miles (148 km) long, in central Minnesota in the United States. Via the Crow Wing River, it is part of the watershed of the Mississippi River, draining an area of 892 square miles (2,310 km²) in a generally rural region.

Contents 1 History 2 Geography 3 Flow rate 4 See also 5 References

[edit] History

Prior to settlement by Europeans, the vicinity of the Long Prairie River was inhabited by the Dakota and Ojibwa. However, according to Schoolcraft in 1832 the land about this river was uninhabited, being a boundary or war road between the Ojibwa and the Dakota. In the Chippewa treaties in 1847, the land on the west bank was ceded by the Pillager Chippewa as a homeland for the Menomini and the land on the east bank was ceded by the Lake Superior Chippewa and the Mississippi Chippewa as a homeland for the Winnebagos, in anticipation of Indian removal out of Wisconsin upon statehood. The Menomini refuted removal and never came to Minnesota, so the land was subsequently ceded to the United States. Many of the Winnebagoes were removed, but due to ongoing skirmishes between the Pillager Chippewa and the Dakota Sioux, the Winnebagoes were in constant danger, so they requested for relocation to southern Minnesota, near Mankato, and in 1855 ceded the land to the United States. Settlers had begun farming the region's prairies and clearing its timber by the 1860s.^[6] The English name of the river, according to Gilfillan, is derived from the Ojibwa Gaa-zhaagawashkodeyaa-ziibi, transliterated "Long-narrow-Prairie River." ^[7]

[edit] Geography

The headwaters of the Long Prairie River are in a region of numerous lakes north of Alexandria.^[8] It issues from Lake Carlos in Carlos Township in Douglas County, just south of Lake Carlos State Park and approximately seven miles north-northeast of Alexandria. Tributaries to Lake Carlos, which drain several lakes including Lake Darling, Lake Ida, Lake Miltona, and Geneva Lake, account for approximately a quarter of the Long Prairie River's watershed.^[1][9] The river initially flows eastwardly into Todd County; ditches in its upper course connect the river to Lake Osakis, which is the source of the Sauk River, thereby joining the two rivers' watersheds during periods of high water.^[8][9] At the city of Long Prairie the river turns north-northeastwardly, flowing past Browerville and through a state widlife management area, into northwestern Morrison County, where it enters the Crow Wing River from the south in Motley Township, about a mile (2 km) southeast of Motley.^[9] Most of the river's watershed is within the North Central Hardwood Forest ecoregion, which is characterized by hardwood forests of maple and basswood mixed with conifers, on outwash plains and moraines amid flat glacial lakes.^[2]

According to the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, 41% of the Long Prairie River's watershed below Lake Carlos is used for agriculture; the main crops are potatoes, corn, soybeans and alfalfa. Twenty-four percent of the watershed is grassland including pasture; 21% is forested; 10% is water or wetland; and 3% is urban or developed. Because the river's floodplain is wide and flat, land immediately adjacent to the river is predominately agricultural or wetland.^[1] Agricultural use is not dominant along the upper (eastward) course of the river, which was historically covered by aspen and oak forest, wetlands, and tallgrass prairie; downstream of Browerville, farmland and second-growth forest are interspersed.^[6]

The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources has identified the Long Prairie River as a route for canoeing. Fish species in the river include northern pike, walleye, smallmouth bass, and largemouth bass.^[6]

[edit] Flow rate

At the United States Geological Survey's stream gauge in the city of Long Prairie, the annual mean flow of the river between 1972 and 2005 was 166 cubic feet per second (5 m³/s). The highest recorded flow during the period was 3,270 ft³/s (93 m³/s) on July 22, 1972. The lowest recorded flow was 0.84 ft³/s (0 m³/s) on January 12, 1977.^[3]

[edit] See also

• List of rivers in Minnesota

[edit] References