Thief River
Thief River is located in Minnesota
Thief River
Mouth of the Thief River
Native nameGimood-akiwi ziibi (Ojibwe)
Location
CountryUnited States
StateMinnesota
CountiesPennington and Marshall counties
Physical characteristics
Source 
  locationThief Lake, Marshall County, Minnesota
  coordinates48°29′18″N 95°57′00″W / 48.488305°N 95.9500073°W / 48.488305; -95.9500073
Mouth 
  location
Thief River Falls, Pennington County, Minnesota
  coordinates
48°07′27″N 96°10′10″W / 48.1243°N 96.1695°W / 48.1243; -96.1695
Length40.3 mi-long (64.9 km)
Basin features
River systemHudson Bay

The Thief River is a 40.3-mile-long (64.9 km)[1] tributary of the Red Lake River in northwestern Minnesota in the United States. Via the Red Lake River, the Red River of the North, Lake Winnipeg and the Nelson River, it is part of the watershed of Hudson Bay.

Course

The Thief River flows from Thief Lake in Thief Lake Township of northeastern Marshall County and flows generally south-southwestwardly to Thief River Falls in northwestern Pennington County. The river flows through the Agassiz National Wildlife Refuge.

Tributaries

Thief Lake collects the Moose River, and the Thief River collects the Mud River in the Agassiz Refuge.

Name

Thief River Falls takes its name from a geographic feature, the falls of the Red Lake River at its confluence with the Thief River. The name of the river is a loose translation of the Ojibwe phrase, Gimood-akiwi ziibi, literally, the "Stolen-land river" or "Thieving Land river," which originated when a band of Dakota Indians occupied a secret encampment along the river, hence "stealing" the land, before being discovered and routed by the neighboring Ojibwe.[2]

See also

References

  1. U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline data. The National Map, accessed June 8, 2011
  2. William W. Warren, History of the Ojibway People, ch. 5


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