Beaver Creek (Polk County, Iowa)

Beaver Creek[2] is a tributary of the Des Moines River that rises at the northern border of Boone County in the U.S. state of Iowa, and then flows generally south and southeast through western Boone County, northeastern Dallas County, and finally northwestern Polk County before flowing into the Des Moines River approximately a mile south of the Saylorville Reservoir in Polk County. In total, the main channel is approximately 77 miles (124 km) in length,[3] and the watershed drains approximately 380 square miles (980 km2).

Beaver Creek
Location
CountryUS
StateIowa
Physical characteristics
Source 
 • locationBoone County, IA, US
Mouth 
 • location
Johnston, Polk County, Iowa, US
 • coordinates
41.6518°N 93.6683°W / 41.6518; -93.6683
Discharge 
 • locationGrimes, Iowa
 • average244 cu/ft. per sec.[1]

Significant tributaries to Beaver Creek include Middle Beaver Creek, East Beaver Creek, West Beaver Creek, Slough Creek, Beaver Branch, Jim Creek and two Little Beaver creeks. There are also numerous smaller unnamed tributaries.

History

Beaver Creek is an English translation of the Native American name.[4] The North American beaver was found on the stream until the 1850s.[5] Beaver Creek is the source of the names of two local townships: Beaver Township, Boone County, Iowa and Amaqua Township, Boone County, Iowa, "Amaqua" meaning "beaver" in an Indian language.[6]

See also

References
  1. "USGS Current Conditions for USGS 05481950 Beaver Creek near Grimes, IA".
  2. U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Beaver Creek (Polk County, Iowa)
  3. U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline data. The National Map Archived 2012-03-29 at the Wayback Machine, accessed May 26, 2011
  4. The History of Polk County, Iowa: Containing a History of the County, Its Cities, Towns, &c. Union Historical Company. 1880. p. 262.
  5. Chicago and North Western Railway Company (1908). A History of the Origin of the Place Names Connected with the Chicago & North Western and Chicago, St. Paul, Minneapolis & Omaha Railways. p. 42.
  6. Goldthwait, Nathan Edward (1914). History of Boone County, Iowa. Pioneer Publishing Company. p. 86.



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