The Moreau River is a tributary of the
Missouri River, approximately 200 miles (320 km) long, in
South Dakota
South Dakota (; Sioux: , ) is a U.S. state in the North Central region of the United States. It is also part of the Great Plains. South Dakota is named after the Lakota and Dakota Sioux Native American tribes, who comprise a large porti ...
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 territori ...
. Moreau River has the name of a pioneer trader.
It rises in two forks in northwestern South Dakota, in the
Badlands
Badlands are a type of dry terrain where softer sedimentary rocks and clay-rich soils have been extensively eroded."Badlands" in ''Chambers's Encyclopædia''. London: George Newnes, 1961, Vol. 2, p. 47. They are characterized by steep slopes, m ...
of
Butte
__NOTOC__
In geomorphology, a butte () is an isolated hill with steep, often vertical sides and a small, relatively flat top; buttes are smaller landforms than mesas, plateaus, and tablelands. The word ''butte'' comes from a French word me ...
and
Harding Counties. The North Fork rises approximately 10 miles (16 km) northeast of
Crow Buttes. The South Fork rises approximately 20 miles (32 km) west of the headwaters of the North Fork. The two forks flow ESE and unite near
Zeona in southern
Perkins County. The combined stream flows east, past
Usta
The United States Tennis Association (USTA) is the national governing body for tennis in the United States. A not-for-profit organization with more than 700,000 members, it invests 100% of its proceeds to promote and develop the growth of tennis, ...
, and across the
Cheyenne River Indian Reservation
The Cheyenne River Indian Reservation was created by the United States in 1889 by breaking up the Great Sioux Reservation, following the attrition of the Lakota in a series of wars in the 1870s. The reservation covers almost all of Dewe ...
, past
Iron Lightning,
Thunder Butte,
Green Grass and
Whitehorse
Whitehorse () is the capital of Yukon, and the largest city in Northern Canada. It was incorporated in 1950 and is located at kilometre 1426 (Historic Mile 918) on the Alaska Highway in southern Yukon. Whitehorse's downtown and Riverdale areas ...
. It joins the Missouri in
Lake Oahe
Lake Oahe () is a large reservoir behind Oahe Dam on the Missouri River; it begins in central South Dakota and continues north into North Dakota in the United States. The lake has an area of and a maximum depth of . By volume, it is the fourth ...
, with the lower 25 miles (40 km) of the river forming an arm of the reservoir.
The river generally parallels its neighbor to the north, the
Grand River, running from west to east to join the Missouri. Draining the Pierre Hills and Northern Plateaus, the Moreau (formerly Owl River) has a drainage basin of approximately . The Moreau River also has Sand Creek as a source, along with the North and South Forks, and claims several tributaries, such as the Little Moreau, Deep, Red Earth, Antelope, and Thunder Butte Rivers.
At
Promise, the river averages a flow of .
See also
*
List of rivers of South Dakota
This is a list of rivers in the state of South Dakota in the United States.
By tributary
Minnesota River watershed
* Little Minnesota River
** Jorgenson River
*Whetstone River
*North Fork Yellow Bank River
*South Fork Yellow Bank River
*West Bran ...
References
External links
*
*
{{Authority control
Rivers of South Dakota
Tributaries of the Missouri River
Rivers of Harding County, South Dakota
Rivers of Custer County, South Dakota
Rivers of Perkins County, South Dakota
Rivers of Ziebach County, South Dakota
Rivers of Dewey County, South Dakota