The Little Minnesota River is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline data
The National Map
, accessed October 5, 2012

headwaters The headwaters of a river or stream is the farthest place in that river or stream from its estuary or downstream confluence with another river, as measured along the course of the river. It is also known as a river's source. Definition The ...

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

Minnesota River The Minnesota River ( dak, Mnísota Wakpá) is a tributary of the Mississippi River, approximately 332 miles (534 km) long, in the U.S. state of Minnesota. It drains a watershed of in Minnesota and about in South Dakota and Iowa. It ris ...

in northeastern

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 ...

and west-central

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...

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 ...

. Via the Minnesota 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.

Course

The Little Minnesota rises in

Marshall County, South Dakota Marshall County is a county in the U.S. state of South Dakota. As of the 2020 census, the population was 4,306. Its county seat is Britton. The county was created on May 2, 1885, and was named for Marshall Vincent, who homesteaded near Andove ...

from the

Coteau des Prairies The Coteau des Prairies is a plateau approximately 200 miles in length and 100 miles in width (320 by 160 km), rising from the prairie flatlands in eastern South Dakota, southwestern Minnesota, and northwestern Iowa in the United States. ...

near the town of Veblen and flows generally southeastward through Roberts County, where it collects two small tributaries, Standfast Creek and the Jorgenson River. Near the Minnesota state line, it passes within a mile of

Lake Traverse Lake Traverse is the southernmost body of water in the Hudson Bay drainage basin, watershed of North America. It lies along the border between the U.S. states of Minnesota and South Dakota. A low continental divide, part of the Laurentian Divide ...

, part of the

Hudson Bay Hudson Bay ( crj, text=ᐐᓂᐯᒄ, translit=Wînipekw; crl, text=ᐐᓂᐹᒄ, translit=Wînipâkw; iu, text=ᑲᖏᖅᓱᐊᓗᒃ ᐃᓗᐊ, translit=Kangiqsualuk ilua or iu, text=ᑕᓯᐅᔭᕐᔪᐊᖅ, translit=Tasiujarjuaq; french: b ...

watershed, from which it is separated by a low

continental divide A continental divide is a drainage divide on a continent such that the drainage basin on one side of the divide feeds into one ocean or sea, and the basin on the other side either feeds into a different ocean or sea, or else is endorheic, not ...

. The river enters Minnesota at the town of Browns Valley and shortly enters

Big Stone Lake Big Stone Lake ( dak, Íŋyaŋ Tháŋka Bdé) is a long, narrow freshwater lake and reservoir on the border between western Minnesota and northeastern South Dakota in the United States. Description The lake covers , stretching from end to end ...

, which is drained by the Minnesota River. The region between Lake Traverse and Big Stone Lake is known as the

Traverse Gap The Traverse Gap is an ancient river channel occupied by Lake Traverse, Big Stone Lake and the valley connecting them at Browns Valley, Minnesota. It is located on the border of the U.S. states of Minnesota and South Dakota. Traverse Gap has an ...

; it was formed by

Glacial River Warren Glacial River Warren, also known as River Warren, was a prehistoric river that drained Lake Agassiz in central North America between about 13,500 and 10,650 BP calibrated (11,700 and 9,400 14C uncalibrated) years ago. A part of the uppermost porti ...

which drained

Lake Agassiz Lake Agassiz was a large glacial lake in central North America. Fed by glacial meltwater at the end of the last glacial period, its area was larger than all of the modern Great Lakes combined. First postulated in 1823 by William H. Keating, it ...

(the lakebed of which is now the

Red River Valley The Red River Valley is a region in central North America that is drained by the Red River of the North; it is part of both Canada and the United States. Forming the border between Minnesota and North Dakota when these territories were admitted ...

) toward the end of the last of the

ice age An ice age is a long period of reduction in the temperature of Earth's surface and atmosphere, resulting in the presence or expansion of continental and polar ice sheets and alpine glaciers. Earth's climate alternates between ice ages and gree ...

s. At

Peever, SD Peever is a town in Roberts County, South Dakota, United States. The population was 180 at the 2020 census. Peever was laid out in 1898, and named in honor of Thomas Henry Peever, a settler. Geography According to the United States Census Bure ...

, the river measures approximately 63 cubic feet per second.

References

* Waters, Thomas F. (1977). ''The Streams and Rivers of Minnesota''. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press. . Rivers of Minnesota Rivers of South Dakota Tributaries of the Minnesota River Rivers of Big Stone County, Minnesota Rivers of Marshall County, South Dakota Rivers of Roberts County, South Dakota Rivers of Traverse County, Minnesota {{SouthDakota-river-stub

Course

See also

References