The Eau Galle River is a

tributary A tributary, or affluent, is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream or main stem (or parent) river or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean. Tributaries and the main stem river drain the surrounding drainage ...

of the Chippewa River in western

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. It is about 35 mi (56 km) long. Via the Chippewa River, it is part of the

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson Bay drainage system. From its traditional source of Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota, it f ...

watershed. The Eau Galle River was named ', "river of the gravely/pebbly banks", by French explorers in the late 17th or early 18th century. Over time the spelling of ''galet'' changed to ''galle'', thus causing a 1905 mistake in attribution by

Henry Gannett Henry Gannett (August 24, 1846 – November 5, 1914) was an American geographer who is described as the "father of mapmaking in America."Evans, Richard Tranter; Frye, Helen M. (2009).History of the Topographic Branch (Division) (PDF). ''U.S. Geo ...

, author of a book on place names in the US, who assumed that the river's name meant "bitter water" in French. There is a persistence of the ''galet'' pronunciation in spite of the spelling change to ''galle''.

Course

The Eau Galle River rises in southeastern St. Croix County and flows generally southeastwardly through northeastern

Pierce Pierce may refer to: Places Canada * Pierce Range, a mountain range on Vancouver Island, British Columbia United States * Pierce, Colorado * Pierce, Idaho * Pierce, Illinois * Pierce, Kentucky * Pierce, Nebraska * Pierce, Texas * Pierce, We ...

, southwestern Dunn and northern Pepin Counties, past the communities of Spring Valley and Elmwood. It joins the Chippewa River in Pepin County, about 3 mi (5 km) southwest of Durand. At Spring Valley, a

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers , colors = , anniversaries = 16 June (Organization Day) , battles = , battles_label = Wars , website = , commander1 = ...

dam A dam is a barrier that stops or restricts the flow of surface water or underground streams. Reservoirs created by dams not only suppress floods but also provide water for activities such as irrigation, human consumption, industrial use ...

causes the Eau Galle to form

Eau Galle Lake Eau or EAU may refer to: * The French word for water * Eau (trigraph), a trigraph of the Latin script * EAU, the IATA code for the Chippewa Valley Regional Airport in Wisconsin, United States * East Africa University, a private university in Puntl ...

, also known as Lake George.

References

External links

Eau Galle Dam website, USACEEau Galle River habitat restoration project website, USACE
Rivers of Wisconsin Rivers of Dunn County, Wisconsin Rivers of Pepin County, Wisconsin Rivers of Pierce County, Wisconsin Rivers of St. Croix County, Wisconsin {{Wisconsin-river-stub

Course

See also

References

External links