The Yellow Dog River flows through Marquette County in the Upper Peninsula of the U.S. state of

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 ...

. It is in length,U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline data
The National Map
accessed January 3, 2012 with about of

tributaries 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 b ...

. The main branch begins at the outflow from Bulldog Lake in the Ottawa National Forest on the boundary between Baraga and Marquette counties. The river's mouth is on Lake Independence, near

Big Bay, Michigan Big Bay is an Unincorporated area, unincorporated community in Marquette County, Michigan, Marquette County of the U.S. state of Michigan. It is a census-designated place (CDP) for statistical purposes and does not have any legal status as an inc ...

, and is part of the

Lake Superior Lake Superior in central North America is the largest freshwater lake in the world by surface areaThe Caspian Sea is the largest lake, but is saline, not freshwater. and the third-largest by volume, holding 10% of the world's surface fresh wa ...

watershed Watershed is a hydrological term, which has been adopted in other fields in a more or less figurative sense. It may refer to: Hydrology * Drainage divide, the line that separates neighbouring drainage basins * Drainage basin, called a "watershe ...

. Early maps record the name of this river in

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

either as "Rivière Saint Jean" (St. John River) or as "Rivière Chien Jaune" (Yellow Dog River), both a near

homophone A homophone () is a word that is pronounced the same (to varying extent) as another word but differs in meaning. A ''homophone'' may also differ in spelling. The two words may be spelled the same, for example ''rose'' (flower) and ''rose'' (p ...

to each other. However, the river's historical name in

Ojibwe The Ojibwe, Ojibwa, Chippewa, or Saulteaux are an Anishinaabe people in what is currently southern Canada, the northern Midwestern United States, and Northern Plains. According to the U.S. census, in the United States Ojibwe people are one of ...

is ''Zhaagawaagaminaang-ziibi'' (recorded as "Shaw gha wah gume nong Sibie", meaning "River to the oblong water",or ''Zhooshowaagamiing-ziibi'' (recorded as "Soo soo wa ga me", "Soo soo wa ga ming", etc., meaning "Agitated-waters River"). The current name for this river in Ojibwe is either ''Ozaawasimong-ziibi'' (River by the Yellow Dog) or ''Wezaawaagamig-ziibi'' (Yellowed-waters River). A section of the Yellow Dog River is a National Wild and Scenic River. The first of the river, from its origin to the national forest boundary, was designated on March 3, 1992. The Yellow Dog River drops sharply through numerous outcrops and cascades within the

McCormick Wilderness The McCormick Wilderness is a United States Wilderness Area located in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. It covers an area of about and is located east of the Baraga- Marquette county line.Mohlenbrock, Robert H. (2006). ''This Land: A Guide to ...

. Vegetation consists of large

eastern white pine ''Pinus strobus'', commonly called the eastern white pine, northern white pine, white pine, Weymouth pine (British), and soft pine is a large pine native to eastern North America. It occurs from Newfoundland, Canada west through the Great Lakes ...

, eastern hemlock, sugar maple, northern red oak, and other old-growth

northern hardwood The northern hardwood forest is a general type of North American forest ecosystem found over much of southeastern and south-central Canada, Ontario, and Quebec, extending south into the United States in northern New England, New York, and Pennsy ...

species. The river runs through the

Yellow Dog Plains The Yellow Dog Plains is an area north and west of Marquette, Michigan, in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, United States. The Yellow Dog River flows through it, as does the Salmon Trout River. The Salmon Trout River is unique in that it has a bre ...

, a remote and virtually untouched wilderness, aside from large scale logging operations. There are many beautiful

waterfall A waterfall is a point in a river or stream where water flows over a vertical drop or a series of steep drops. Waterfalls also occur where meltwater drops over the edge of a tabular iceberg or ice shelf. Waterfalls can be formed in several wa ...

s along its length. The river is the subject of a book titled ''The Yellow Dog River-Magical Dialog of a Woodland Stream'', by David Richarde.

Wildlife

*Native:

brook trout The brook trout (''Salvelinus fontinalis'') is a species of freshwater fish in the char genus ''Salvelinus'' of the salmon family Salmonidae. It is native to Eastern North America in the United States and Canada, but has been introduced elsewhere ...

*Introduced:

brown Brown is a color. It can be considered a composite color, but it is mainly a darker shade of orange. In the CMYK color model used in printing or painting, brown is usually made by combining the colors orange and black. In the RGB color model used ...

and rainbow trout **Fish are stocked every May by the Michigan Department of Natural Resources

References

External links

Yellow Dog Watershed Preserve
* {{authority control Rivers of Michigan Rivers of Marquette County, Michigan Tributaries of Lake Superior Wild and Scenic Rivers of the United States