The Dead River ( French: ''Rivière des Morts'') is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline data
The National Map
, accessed January 3, 2012 river in

Marquette County, Michigan Marquette County ( ) is a county located in the Upper Peninsula of the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2020 Census, the population was 66,017. The county seat is Marquette. The county is named for Father Marquette, a Jesuit missionary. It wa ...

. Its watershed is approximately in size. The river flows southeasterly from western Marquette County to its mouth on

Lake Superior Lake Superior in central North America is the largest freshwater lake in the world by surface areaThe Caspian Sea is the largest lake, but is saline, not freshwater. and the third-largest by volume, holding 10% of the world's surface fresh wa ...

. , five dams existed on the river:

Silver Lake Dam Silver Lake Dam is located off Silver Lake Road, just outside the village of Woodridge, New York, United States. It was built in the 1840s to regulate Sandburg Creek, which provided water to the summit of the Delaware and Hudson Canal 10 miles (1 ...

, Hoist Dam, McClure Dam, Forestville Dam, and Tourist Park Dam. Hoist and McClure are

hydroelectric dam Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies one sixth of the world's electricity, almost 4500 TWh in 2020, which is more than all other renewable sources combined and ...

s. On May 14, 2003, the fuse plug spillway in the Silver Lake Dam failed, unexpectedly releasing nine billion gallons of water to flow down the Dead River. The dam at the Tourist Park failed, but the other upstream dams held. Remarkably, there were no deaths and no major injuries occurred. Property damage was estimated at about $100 million. The Silver Lake and Tourist Park dams were rebuilt and are now back in operation. Historically, its name is derived from the

Ojibwe The Ojibwe, Ojibwa, Chippewa, or Saulteaux are an Anishinaabe people in what is currently southern Canada, the northern Midwestern United States, and Northern Plains. According to the U.S. census, in the United States Ojibwe people are one of ...

''Gaa-waakwimiigong-neyaashi-ziibi'' (recorded as "Kah way komi gong nay aw shay Sibi", meaning "Peninsula by the Roads to the Land of the Dead River") or ''Ne-waakwimiinaang'' (recorded as "Ne ko me non" meaning "by the Peninsula for Road to the Land of the Dead"), both referencing its mouth being near Presque Isle Point, a cape on Lake Superior. Additionally, earlier maps record this river either in French as "''Rivière des Morts''", "''Rivière du Mort''", or "''Rivière au Paresseux''", or in English as "Deadman's River". The current name for this river in Ojibwe is either ''Giiwe-gamigong-neyaashi-ziibi'' (Return-by-shore Peninsula River) or ''Niboowaagaming'' ("At the Death's Shores").

References

Michigan Streamflow Data from the USGS
Rivers of Michigan Rivers of Marquette County, Michigan Tributaries of Lake Superior {{Michigan-river-stub

See also

References