The Wapsipinicon River (, locally known as the Wapsi) is a tributary 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 fl ...

, approximately long,U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline data
The National Map
accessed May 13, 2011 starting near the southeastern border of

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 ...

and running through northeastern

Iowa Iowa () is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wiscon ...

in the

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. It drains a rural farming region of rolling hills and bluffs north of Waterloo and

Cedar Rapids Cedar Rapids () is the second-largest city in Iowa, United States and is the county seat of Linn County. The city lies on both banks of the Cedar River, north of Iowa City and northeast of Des Moines, the state's capital and largest city. It ...

Course

It rises in

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and enters Iowa in northern Mitchell County. It flows generally southeast across rural Chickasaw, Bremer, and Buchanan counties, past

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and Anamosa. Along its lower it turns east, forming the boundary between Clinton and Scott counties. It joins the Mississippi from the west approximately southwest of Clinton. It defines the western boundary of the

Driftless Area The Driftless Area, a topographical and cultural region in the American Midwest, comprises southwestern Wisconsin, southeastern Minnesota, northeastern Iowa, and the extreme northwestern corner of Illinois. Never covered by ice during the ...

. While the Wapsi has a soft, recent catchment, the Driftless, to the east and north, tumbles down to the Mississippi in rugged canyons.

Name

The name of the river in the

Ojibwe language Ojibwe , also known as Ojibwa , Ojibway, Otchipwe,R. R. Bishop Baraga, 1878''A Theoretical and Practical Grammar of the Otchipwe Language''/ref> Ojibwemowin, or Anishinaabemowin, is an indigenous language of North America of the Algonquian la ...

is ''Waabizipinikaan-ziibi'' ("river abundant in swan-potatoes"), on account of the large quantity of

arrowheads An arrowhead or point is the usually sharpened and hardened tip of an arrow, which contributes a majority of the projectile mass and is responsible for impacting and penetrating a target, as well as to fulfill some special purposes such as sign ...

or wild artichokes, known as "swan-potatoes" (''waabizipiniin'', singular ''waabizipin''), once found near its banks. Severe flooding on the river in 1993, as part of the larger floods in region, caused widespread damage to the surrounding cropland.

Cities

The Wapsipinicon River runs alongside the Iowa cities and communities of McIntire, Riceville, Deerfield, Frederika,

Tripoli Tripoli or Tripolis may refer to: Cities and other geographic units Greece *Tripoli, Greece, the capital of Arcadia, Greece *Tripolis (region of Arcadia), a district in ancient Arcadia, Greece * Tripolis (Larisaia), an ancient Greek city in t ...

, Littleton, Otterville,

, Quasqueton, Troy Mills,

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, Waubeek,

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, Anamosa,

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, Oxford Junction, Oxford Mills, Massillon,

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, Wheatland, McCausland, Folletts, and Shaffton before emptying into the Mississippi River. Cedar Rock State Park is located on the Wapsipinicon near Quasqueton. Wapsipinicon State Park is located along its southern bank at Anamosa. Many regional parks also border the river.

Fishing

The Wapsipinicon is known for excellent fishing for catfish, although it also contains abundant northern pike, carp, sunfish, and walleye (in some areas).

References