Big Sioux River 458264 220602851 2008-06-20T17:33:35Z SpBot 7016748 robot Modifying: [[fr:Big Sioux]] [[Image:Sioux falls sd falls park.jpg|thumb|300px|The falls of Big Sioux River at [[Sioux Falls, South Dakota]]]] [[Image:Wpdms nasa topo big sioux river.jpg|thumb|250px|The Big Sioux River, highlighted on a map of the [[drainage basin|watershed]] of the [[Missouri River]]]] [[Image:Lewis and Clark Middle Missouri BigSioux James.jpg|thumb|250px|This excerpt from the Lewis and Clark map of 1814 shows the rivers of western Iowa and eastern South Dakota. The Big Sioux River ("Sioux") is seen near the center of the map.]] The '''Big Sioux River''' is a tributary of the [[Missouri River]], 295 mi (470 km) long, in eastern [[South Dakota]] and northwestern [[Iowa]] in the [[United States]].<ref>[http://www.bartleby.com/69/20/B06220.html Columbia Gazetteer of North America entry]</ref> The [[United States Board on Geographic Names]] settled on "Big Sioux River" as the stream's name in 1961.<ref name=GNIS>{{Gnis|1253923|Big Sioux River}}</ref> The Big Sioux River rises in [[Roberts County, South Dakota]]<ref name=GNIS/> on the [[Coteau des Prairies]] and flows generally southwardly through [[Grant County, South Dakota|Grant]], [[Codington County, South Dakota|Codington]], [[Hamlin County, South Dakota|Hamlin]], [[Brookings County, South Dakota|Brookings]], [[Moody County, South Dakota|Moody]], and [[Minnehaha County, South Dakota|Minnehaha]] Counties, past the communities of [[Watertown, South Dakota|Watertown]], [[Castlewood, South Dakota|Castlewood]], [[Bruce, South Dakota|Bruce]], [[Flandreau, South Dakota|Flandreau]], [[Egan, South Dakota|Egan]], [[Trent, South Dakota|Trent]], [[Dell Rapids, South Dakota|Dell Rapids]], and [[Baltic, South Dakota|Baltic]] to [[Sioux Falls, South Dakota|Sioux Falls]], where it passes over a [[waterfall]] which gives that city its name. Downstream of Sioux Falls and the community of [[Brandon, South Dakota|Brandon]], the Big Sioux is used to define the boundary between South Dakota and Iowa, flowing along the eastern borders of [[Lincoln County, South Dakota|Lincoln]] and [[Union County, South Dakota|Union]] Counties in South Dakota, and the western borders of [[Lyon County, Iowa|Lyon]], [[Sioux County, Iowa|Sioux]] and [[Plymouth County, Iowa|Plymouth]] Counties in Iowa, past the communities of [[Canton, South Dakota|Canton]], [[Fairview, South Dakota|Fairview]], [[Hudson, South Dakota|Hudson]], [[North Sioux City, South Dakota|North Sioux City]], and [[Dakota Dunes, South Dakota|Dakota Dunes]] in South Dakota and [[Hawarden, Iowa|Hawarden]], [[Beloit, Iowa|Beloit]], and [[Akron, Iowa|Akron]] in Iowa. It joins the Missouri River from the north at [[Sioux City, Iowa]].<ref name=DeLormeIA>[[DeLorme]] (1998). ''Iowa Atlas & Gazetteer''. Yarmouth, Maine: DeLorme. ISBN 0-89933-214-5</ref><ref name=DeLormeSD>[[DeLorme]] (2001). ''South Dakota Atlas & Gazetteer''. Yarmouth, Maine: DeLorme. ISBN 0-89933-330-3</ref> ==Tributaries== The Big Sioux River collects the [[Rock River (Iowa)|Rock River]] from the northeast in Sioux County, Iowa.<ref name=DeLormeIA/> A minor [[headwaters]] tributary of the Big Sioux in Grant County, South Dakota, is known as the '''Indian River'''.<ref name=DeLormeSD/><ref>{{Gnis|1255756|Indian River}}</ref> [[Broken Kettle Creek]] has its confluence with the Big Sioux in Plymouth County, Iowa. ==See also== *[[List of Iowa rivers]] *[[List of South Dakota rivers]] *[[Little Sioux River]] *[[River borders of U.S. states]] ==References== <!--See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Footnotes for an explanation of how to generate footnotes using the <ref(erences/)> tags--> <references/> [[Category:Rivers of Iowa]] [[Category:Rivers of South Dakota]] [[Category:Tributaries of the Missouri River]] [[Category:Brookings County, South Dakota]] [[Category:Codington County, South Dakota]] [[Category:Grant County, South Dakota]] [[Category:Hamlin County, South Dakota]] [[Category:Lincoln County, South Dakota]] [[Category:Lyon County, Iowa]] [[Category:Minnehaha County, South Dakota]] [[Category:Moody County, South Dakota]] [[Category:Plymouth County, Iowa]] [[Category:Roberts County, South Dakota]] [[Category:Sioux City, Iowa]] [[Category:Sioux County, Iowa]] [[Category:Sioux Falls, South Dakota]] [[Category:Union County, South Dakota]] [[de:Big Sioux River]] [[fr:Big Sioux]] [[ja:ビッグスー川]]