Cannonball River

Cannonball River
The Cannonball River
Map
Physical characteristics
Source 
 • locationSlope County in White Lake National Wildlife Refuge
 • coordinates46°28′12″N 103°12′24″W / 46.47°N 103.2066667°W / 46.47; -103.2066667 (Cannonball River origin)
 • elevation2,780 ft (850 m)
Mouth 
 • location
Confluence with Missouri River in Lake Oahe
 • coordinates
46°25′45″N 100°35′21″W / 46.4291667°N 100.5891667°W / 46.4291667; -100.5891667 (Cannonball River mouth)
 • elevation
1,611 ft (491 m)
Length135 mi (217 km)
Discharge 
 • locationBreien
 • average250 cu ft/s (7.1 m3/s)[1]
Basin features
ProgressionCannonball River → Missouri → Mississippi → Gulf of Mexico
GNIS ID1035898

The Cannonball River (Lakota: Íŋyaŋwakağapi Wakpá[2]) is a tributary of the Missouri River, approximately 135 miles (217 km) long, in southwestern North Dakota in the United States.[3]

It rises in the Little Missouri National Grassland, in the badlands north of Amidon in northern Slope County. It flows ESE past New England, Mott, and Burt. It is joined by Cedar Creek approximately 15 miles (24 km) southwest of Shields and flows northeast, past Shields, forming the northern border of Sioux County and the Standing Rock Indian Reservation. It joins the Missouri in Lake Oahe near Cannon Ball. The cannonball concretions found in the vicinity of this river are the source of its name.[4]

  1. ^ "USGS Surface Water data for North Dakota: USGS Surface-Water Annual Statistics".
  2. ^ Ullrich, Jan, ed. (2011). New Lakota Dictionary (2nd ed.). Bloomington, IN: Lakota Language Consortium. p. 877. ISBN 978-0-9761082-9-0. LCCN 2008922508.
  3. ^ U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Cannonball River
  4. ^ Federal Writers' Project (1938). North Dakota, a Guide to the Northern Prairie State. WPA. p. 313. ISBN 978-1-62376-033-5.