Snake River (Red River of the North tributary)

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Snake River
USA Minnesota relief location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Location of mouth
Location
Country United States
State Minnesota
County Marshall County, Polk County
Physical characteristics
Length91 mi (146 km)

The Snake River is a tributary of the Red River of the North in northwestern Minnesota in the United States. It is one of three streams in Minnesota with this name (see Snake River (Minnesota)). [1]

Contents

Snake River is the English translation of the native Ojibwe-language name. [2]

Course

The Snake River is 91.0 miles (146.5 km) long [3] and with its tributaries drains a 1,324-square-mile (3,430 km2) area. It flows for its entire length on the old lake bed of glacial Lake Agassiz, mostly in western Marshall County but also through a small portion of northwestern Polk County. After initially flowing southwestwardly from its headwaters, the Snake turns westward and collects a short tributary, the South Branch Snake River, and passes the towns of Warren and Alvarado. Downstream of Alvarado, the Snake turns north-northwestward, paralleling the Red River in the Red River Valley. Much of the river's course through the valley has been straightened and channelized. It collects the Middle River upstream of its confluence with the Red in Fork Township.

See also

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References

  1. U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Snake River
  2. Upham, Warren (1920). Minnesota Geographic Names: Their Origin and Historic Significance. Minnesota Historical Society. p.  331.
  3. U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline data. The National Map, accessed June 8, 2011

48°25′58″N97°07′26″W / 48.43278°N 97.12389°W / 48.43278; -97.12389