The Pigeon River is part of the Lake Huron watershed in

Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...

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 one of many rivers that have their headwaters in Otsego County. The Pigeon River's headwaters start just north and east of

Gaylord, Michigan Gaylord is a city in and the county seat of Otsego County in the U.S. state of Michigan. Gaylord had a population of 4,286 at the 2020 census, an increase from 3,645 at the 2010 census. Gaylord styles itself as an "alpine village" and contain ...

, at the Otsego Club and Resort. From there the river flows north U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline data
The National Map
accessed November 21, 2011 through private land and the Pigeon River Country State Forest to Mullett Lake. Much of the Pigeon River is classified by the Michigan Department Natural Resources (DNR) as a blue ribbon trout stream with special fishing regulations to conserve and enhance the trout fishery. The Pigeon is also a designated Natural River with special regulations regarding development along its banks.

Name

The Pigeon River was named for the huge flocks of

passenger pigeon The passenger pigeon or wild pigeon (''Ectopistes migratorius'') is an extinct species of pigeon that was endemic to North America. Its common name is derived from the French word ''passager'', meaning "passing by", due to the migratory habits ...

s that nested in and migrated through the area, before the species became extinct, primarily due to

over-hunting Hunting is the human practice of seeking, pursuing, capturing, or killing wildlife or feral animals. The most common reasons for humans to hunt are to harvest food (i.e. meat) and useful animal products (fur/ hide, bone/tusks, horn/ antler ...

Dam failures

There is one dam on the Pigeon located approximately one mile upstream from Sturgeon Valley Road. The original dam was an earth and log structure constructed by a private hunting and fishing club in the early to mid 20th century to create a pond called the Lansing Club pond. This dam failed in the late 1950s, washing accumulated sediment downstream, harming fish and insect populations and habitat. Another concrete dam was built, this one able to use the hydropower to generate electricity. Golden Lotus Inc. bought the property from the club and set up a retreat called Song Of The Morning Ranch (SOM). They used the dam to provide electricity. In 1984 SOM conducted planned drawdown of the pond in order to perform maintenance work on the dam. During this drawdown, there was another dam failure, resulting in a massive sediment discharge for several days. The discharge caused a massive fish kill immediately, and destroyed critical fish and insect habitat for many years. In an ensuing court case, Golden Lotus maintained that they'd been following standard procedures under DNR supervision. Stricter regulations were placed on the dam operation at that point. Another dam failure, the third in 75 years, occurred in 2008. A heavy rainstorm resulted in another large sediment release from the pond, with another massive fish and habitat kill.

References

{{authority control Rivers of Michigan Rivers of Otsego County, Michigan Tributaries of Lake Huron Rivers of Cheboygan County, Michigan