The Grand River ( lkt, Čhaŋšúška Wakpá) is a tributary of the Missouri River in

South Dakota South Dakota (; Sioux language, Sioux: , ) is a U.S. state in the West North Central states, North Central region of the United States. It is also part of the Great Plains. South Dakota is named after the Lakota people, Lakota and Dakota peo ...

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 ...

. The length of the combined branch is 110 mi (177 km). With its longest fork, its length is approximately 200 mi (320 km). Grand River Little Eagle

Course

It is formed by the confluence of the North Fork (which rises in North Dakota) and the longer South Fork (which rises in South Dakota and passes through the town of Buffalo) in northwestern South Dakota near Shadehill in Perkins County, near several parcels of the

Grand River National Grassland Grand River National Grassland is a National Grassland in northwestern South Dakota, United States. It is named for the Grand River. The North and South forks of the rivers meet in the grassland. It has a land area of . In descending order of a ...

Shadehill Reservoir Shadehill Reservoir is a reservoir on the Grand River in Perkins County, South Dakota, USA. The lake was created by the construction of Shadehill Dam by the United States Bureau of Reclamation in 1951. The reservoir has two primary inflows: No ...

is located at this confluence. It flows east, through the

Standing Rock Indian Reservation The Standing Rock Reservation ( lkt, Íŋyaŋ Woslál Háŋ) lies across the border between North and South Dakota in the United States, and is inhabited by ethnic "Hunkpapa and Sihasapa bands of Lakota Oyate and the Ihunktuwona and Pabaksa ...

and joins the Missouri in Lake Oahe, approximately northwest of Mobridge. The lower of the river form an arm of the Lake Oahe reservoir. It is the northernmost of South Dakota's major West River streams: the Grand,

Moreau Moreau may refer to: People *Moreau (surname) Places *Moreau, New York *Moreau River (disambiguation) Music *An alternate name for the band Cousteau, used for the album ''Nova Scotia'' in the United States for legal reasons In fiction *Dr. Mo ...

Cheyenne The Cheyenne ( ) are an Indigenous people of the Great Plains. Their Cheyenne language belongs to the Algonquian language family. Today, the Cheyenne people are split into two federally recognized nations: the Southern Cheyenne, who are enroll ...

Bad Bad or BAD may refer to: Common meanings *Evil, the opposite of moral good * Erroneous, inaccurate or incorrect * Unhealthy, or counter to well-being * Antagonist, the threat or obstacle of moral good Acronyms * BAD-2, a Soviet armored troll ...

, and

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White on ...

. Draining about of the northern plateaus of the state, the Grand receives most of its water from snowmelt. Water quality is high in sodium, and is therefore less appropriate for irrigation. At Wakpala, the river has a mean annual discharge of

History

In 1823,

Henry Leavenworth Henry Leavenworth (December 10, 1783 – July 21, 1834) was an American soldier active in the War of 1812 and early military expeditions against the Plains Indians. He established Fort Leavenworth in Kansas, and named after him is the city of L ...

fought the Arikara a few miles north of the mouth of the Grand River during the

Arikara War The Arikara War was an armed conflict between the United States, their allies from the Sioux (or Dakota) tribe and Arikara Native Americans that took place in the summer of 1823, along the Missouri River in present-day South Dakota. It was the ...

Sitting Bull Sitting Bull ( lkt, Tȟatȟáŋka Íyotake ; December 15, 1890) was a Hunkpapa Lakota leader who led his people during years of resistance against United States government policies. He was killed by Indian agency police on the Standing Rock I ...

(1831–1890), a

Hunkpapa The Hunkpapa (Lakota: ) are a Native American group, one of the seven council fires of the Lakota tribe. The name ' is a Lakota word, meaning "Head of the Circle" (at one time, the tribe's name was represented in European-American records as ...

Lakota holy man who led his people as a

tribal chief A tribal chief or chieftain is the leader of a tribal society or chiefdom. Tribe The concept of tribe is a broadly applied concept, based on tribal concepts of societies of western Afroeurasia. Tribal societies are sometimes categorized as ...

, was born on the Grand River in or nearby

Dakota Territory The Territory of Dakota was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from March 2, 1861, until November 2, 1889, when the final extent of the reduced territory was split and admitted to the Union as the states of No ...

. Decades later, he was killed by Indian agency police on the Standing Rock Indian Agency at his camp near the Grand River, as the police tried to arrest him. The forks of the Grand was the site of a noted 1823 attack by a

grizzly bear The grizzly bear (''Ursus arctos horribilis''), also known as the North American brown bear or simply grizzly, is a population or subspecies of the brown bear inhabiting North America. In addition to the mainland grizzly (''Ursus arctos horri ...

on frontiersman

Hugh Glass Hugh Glass ( 1783 – 1833) was an American frontiersman, fur trapper, trader, hunter and explorer. He is best known for his story of survival and forgiveness after being left for dead by companions when he was mauled by a grizzly bear. No rec ...

, the inspiration for the 2015 film The Revenant.

References

Grand River and certain tributaries' uses
at SD Legislative Research Council {{authority control Rivers of South Dakota Tributaries of the Missouri River Rivers of Perkins County, South Dakota

Course

History

See also

References