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The Nishnabotna River is a tributary of the Missouri River in southwestern Iowa, northwestern Missouri and southeastern Nebraska in the United States. It flows for most of its length as two parallel streams in Iowa, the East Nishnabotna River and the West Nishnabotna River. The east and west branches are each about 100 mi (160 km) long; from their confluence the Nishnabotna flows approximately another 12 mi (19 km).
Several sections of the rivers' courses have been straightened and heavily channelized.
Course
East Nishnabotna River
The East Nishnabotna rises in southwestern Carroll County and flows generally south-southwestwardly through Audubon, Cass, Pottawattamie, Montgomery, Page and Fremont Counties, past the towns of Exira, Brayton, Atlantic, Lewis, Elliott, Red Oak and Riverton.West Nishnabotna River
The West Nishnabotna River rises in southwestern Carroll County and also flows generally south-southwestwardly through Crawford, Shelby, Pottawattamie, Mills and Fremont Counties, past the towns of Manning, Irwin, Kirkman, Harlan, Avoca, Hancock, Oakland and Carson. At Harlan it collects the West Fork West Nishnabotna River, which rises in southwestern Carroll County and flows southwestwardly through Crawford and Shelby Counties, past Manilla and Defiance. Near Avoca it collects the East Branch West Nishnabotna River, which rises in southwestern Carroll County and flows southwestwardly through Audubon, Shelby and Pottawattamie Counties, past Gray.Lower river
The East and West rivers merge in southwestern Fremont County and continue as the Nishnabotna River for its short course past Hamburg and into northwestern Atchison County, Missouri, where it flows into the Missouri River 2 mi (3 km) west of Watson.The Nishnabotna River enters Nemaha County, Nebraska for about 0.5 mi (0.8 km) just above the confluence with the Missouri River; the Nebraska-Missouri state line runs to the east of the Missouri River in this area. [http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=40.514517,-95.677271&spn=0.049468,0.070858&t=h&hl=en
Recreation
Parks along the river include Botna Bend in Hancock, Willow Slough Wildlife Management Area 3 miles southwest of Henderson, and Riverton Wildlife Management Area, just north of Riverton. Canoe rentals are available at Botna Bend. The best paddling is between Hancock and Carson on the east fork and between Lewis and Griswold on the west fork (see "Paddling Iowa" by Nate Hoogeveen). The Wabash Trace hiking trail crosses both forks. At its crossing of the west fork one can see the wreckage of a freight train that derailed and went into the drink in the 1960s.
Variant names
According to the Geographic Names Information System, the river has also been known as:
See also
Sources
- Columbia Gazetteer of North America entry
- DeLorme (1998). Iowa Atlas & Gazetteer. Yarmouth, Maine: DeLorme. ISBN 0-89933-214-5.
- DeLorme (2002). Missouri Atlas & Gazetteer. Yarmouth, Maine: DeLorme. ISBN 0-89933-353-2.
- GNIS entries for Nishnabotna River, East Nishnabotna River, West Nishnabotna River, East Branch West Nishnabotna River, West Fork West Nishnabotna River
Rivers of Iowa | Rivers of Missouri | Rivers of Nebraska | Tributaries of the Missouri River
"Nishnabotna River"