The Nodaway River is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline data
The National Map
, accessed March 30, 2011 river in southwest Iowa and northwest Missouri.

Etymology

The river's name (as "Nodawa") first appears in the journal of

Lewis and Clark Lewis may refer to: Names * Lewis (given name), including a list of people with the given name * Lewis (surname), including a list of people with the surname Music * Lewis (musician), Canadian singer * "Lewis (Mistreated)", a song by Radiohead ...

, who camped at the mouth of the river on July 8, 1804, but who provide no derivation of the name. The name is an Otoe-Missouria term meaning "jump over water". The term would be spelled today in full as Nyi At'ąwe (nyi (water) + a- (on) + t'ąwe (jump)) and would be contracted in regular speech as Nyat'ąwe or Nat'ąwe.

History

camped at the river's mouth on Nodaway Island on July 8, 1804, by Nodaway, Missouri, on the border of

Holt County, Missouri Holt County is a county located in the northwestern portion of the U.S. state of Missouri. As of the 2020 census, the population was 4,223. It's county seat is Oregon. The county was organized February 15, 1841. Originally named Nodaway County ...

and

Andrew County, Missouri Andrew County is a county located in the northwestern part of the U.S. state of Missouri. As of the 2020 census, the county had a population of 18,135. Its county seat is Savannah. The county was organized January 29, 1841, and named for Andre ...

and took note of the river. Lewis and Clark liked the spot enough that they recommended it for the winter headquarters of

Astor Expedition The Pacific Fur Company (PFC) was an American fur trade venture wholly owned and funded by John Jacob Astor that functioned from 1810 to 1813. It was based in the Pacific Northwest, an area contested over the decades between the United Kingdom o ...

of 1810–12 that discovered the South Pass in Wyoming through which hundreds of settlers on the

Oregon Trail The Oregon Trail was a east–west, large-wheeled wagon route and Westward Expansion Trails, emigrant trail in the United States that connected the Missouri River to valleys in Oregon. The eastern part of the Oregon Trail spanned part of what ...

California Trail The California Trail was an emigrant trail of about across the western half of the North American continent from Missouri River towns to what is now the state of California. After it was established, the first half of the California Trail f ...

Mormon Trail The Mormon Trail is the long route from Illinois to Utah that members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints traveled for 3 months. Today, the Mormon Trail is a part of the United States National Trails System, known as the Mormon ...

were to pass. The river is navigable only by shallow fishing and row boats although steam ships navigated just inside its mouth. The river was the primary route for white settlers including Amos Graham and Isaac Hogan following the

Platte Purchase The Platte Purchase was a land acquisition in 1836 by the United States government from American Indian tribes of the region. It comprised lands along the east bank of the Missouri River and added to the northwest corner of the state of Miss ...

of 1836 which opened northwest Missouri for settlement. Nodaway County, which derives its name from the river, was by far the biggest county in the purchase and the fourth largest in the state of Missouri.

Description

Major tributaries in the Nodaway River basin are Seven Mile Creek, West Nodaway River, East Nodaway River, Middle Nodaway River, Clear Creek, Mill Creek, Elkhorn Creek, and Arapahoe Creek. The biggest town on the river is

Clarinda, Iowa Clarinda is a city in and the county seat of Page County, Iowa, Page County, Iowa. It is located in Nodaway Township, Page County, Iowa, Nodaway Township. The population was 5,369 at the time of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census. Histor ...

. The Nodaway begins near

Shambaugh, Iowa Shambaugh is a city in Page County, Iowa, United States. The population was 159 at the time of the 2020 census. History Shambaugh was laid out in 1881 as a depot on the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad. It was named for its founder, Jame ...

at the confluence of the East and West Nodaway rivers. The West Nodaway River rises northeast of Massena in eastern

Cass County, Iowa Cass County is a county located in the U.S. state of Iowa. As of the 2020 census, the population was 13,127. Its county seat is Atlantic. It was named to honor Lewis Cass, who was the 1848 Democratic nominee for president. History Cass County ...

, and flows south-southwest past Villisca and Clarinda to its junction with the East Nodaway. The East Nodaway River rises just west of

Orient The Orient is a term for the East in relation to Europe, traditionally comprising anything belonging to the Eastern world. It is the antonym of ''Occident'', the Western World. In English, it is largely a metonym for, and coterminous with, the c ...

in Adair County and flows southwest past Prescott, Corning,

Brooks Brooks may refer to: Places ;Antarctica *Cape Brooks ;Canada *Brooks, Alberta ;United States * Brooks, Alabama * Brooks, Arkansas *Brooks, California *Brooks, Georgia * Brooks, Iowa * Brooks, Kentucky * Brooks, Maine * Brooks Township, Michigan ...

, and Nodaway to its confluence with the West Nodaway. The Middle Nodaway River rises in Adair County south of Casey and flows southwest past Greenfield,

Fontanelle A fontanelle (or fontanel) (colloquially, soft spot) is an anatomical feature of the infant human skull comprising soft membranous gaps ( sutures) between the cranial bones that make up the calvaria of a fetus or an infant. Fontanelles allow f ...

, and

Carbon Carbon () is a chemical element with the symbol C and atomic number 6. It is nonmetallic and tetravalent In chemistry, the valence (US spelling) or valency (British spelling) of an element is the measure of its combining capacity with o ...

to join the West Nodaway just below

Villisca, Iowa Villisca is a city in Montgomery County, Iowa, United States. The population was 1,132 at the time of the 2020 census. It is most notable for the unsolved axe mass murder that took place in the town during the summer of 1912. Geography Villis ...

, above the West Nodaway's juncture with the East Nodaway. The East and West Nodaway join to form the Nodaway River four miles (6 km) north of the Iowa-Missouri border, and the river enters Missouri near

Clearmont, Missouri Clearmont is a city in northwest Nodaway County, Missouri, United States. The population was 170 at the 2010 census. History Clearmont was laid out in 1857. Some say the community was named after nearby Clear Creek, while others believe the na ...

. Elevations in the Nodaway system range from just under above sea level at the source of the Middle Nodaway, to at the beginning of the main stem, to at its mouth on the Missouri River in Nodaway, Missouri in

. The Nodaway River is a sixth order river with a basin area of . The

Platte River The Platte River () is a major river in the State of Nebraska. It is about long; measured to its farthest source via its tributary, the North Platte River, it flows for over . The Platte River is a tributary of the Missouri River, which itself ...

basin is to the east and the Grand River and

Des Moines River The Des Moines River () is a tributary of the Mississippi River in the upper Midwestern United States that is approximately long from its farther headwaters.U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe Na ...

basins to the northeast, with the latter defining the boundary between the Missouri River and Mississippi River basins. The west side is bound by the

Tarkio River The Tarkio River (also known as the Big Tarkio River) is a non-navigability, navigable river that stretches for approximately from Cass County, Iowa to its mouth on the Missouri River in Holt County, Missouri. The river basin which drains approxi ...

basin and in the northwest by the

Nishnabotna River The Nishnabotna River () is a tributary of the Missouri River in southwestern Iowa, northwestern Missouri and southeastern Nebraska in the United States. It flows for most of its length as two parallel streams in Iowa, the East Nishnabotna Riv ...

basin. The Nodaway River basin is prone to extensive flooding and can contribute as much as 20% of the flood crest of the Missouri River near its mouth. At

Graham, Missouri Graham is a city in Nodaway County, Missouri, United States. The population was 171 at the 2010 census. History Graham was originally called Jacksonville, and under the latter name was platted in 1856. The present name is after Col. Amos Graha ...

its normal flow is 1,011 cubic feet per second (28.6 m³/s). But during the

Great Flood of 1993 The Great Flood of 1993 (or Great Mississippi and Missouri Rivers Flood of 1993) was a flood that occurred in the Midwestern United States, along the Mississippi and Missouri rivers and their tributaries, from April to October 1993. The flood wa ...

the river was flowing 78,300 ft³/s (2220 m³/s) at Graham.

Notes

References

*Bright, William (2004). ''Native American Placenames of the United States''. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press. *Thwaites, Reuben Gold (1905), ''Early Western Travels - 1748-1846''. Vol. 17. The Lakeside Press. *Trigger, Bruce, ed. (1978) ''Northeast''. Vol. 15 of ''Handbook of North American Indians'', ed. William C. Sturtevant. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution.

External links