White River (Missouri River)

White River
Near Crawford, Nebraska
Country	United States
States	Nebraska, South Dakota
County	Dawes, Oglala Lakota, Pennington, Jackson, Jones, Mellette, Tripp, Lyman
Source	Pine Ridge
- location	near Harrison, Dawes County, Nebraska
- elevation	4,861 ft (1,482 m)
- coordinates
Mouth	Missouri River
- location	near Chamberlain, Lyman County, South Dakota
- elevation	1,601 ft (488 m)
- coordinates
Length	580 mi (933 km)
Basin	10,200 sq mi (26,000 km2)
Discharge
- average	570 cu ft/s (0 m3/s)
- max	51,900 cu ft/s (1,500 m3/s)
- min	0 cu ft/s (0 m3/s)
White River watershed
Location of the mouth of the White River in South Dakota

The White River is a Missouri River tributary that flows 580 miles (930 km) through the U.S. states of Nebraska and South Dakota. The name stems from the water's white-gray color, a function of eroded sand, clay, and volcanic ash carried by the river. Draining a basin of about 10,200 square miles (26,000 km²), about 8,500 square miles (22,000 km²) of which is in South Dakota, the stream flows through a region of sparsely populated hills, plateaus, and badlands.

The White River rises in northwestern Nebraska, in the Pine Ridge escarpment north of Harrison, at an elevation of 4,861 feet (1,482 m) above sea level. It flows southeast then northeast past Fort Robinson and north of Crawford. It crosses into southwestern South Dakota and flows north across the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, then northeast, receiving Wounded Knee Creek and flowing between units of Badlands National Park. At the northern edge of the reservation, it flows east-northeast and southeast, forming the northern boundary of the reservation and the southern boundary of Buffalo Gap National Grassland. It receives the Little White River about 15 miles (24 km) south of Murdo, and flows east to join the Missouri in Lake Francis Case about 15 miles (24 km) southwest of Chamberlain.

The river sometimes has no flow, due to the dry climate surrounding its badlands and prairie basin, though thunderstorms can cause brief intense flow. The river near Chamberlain flows year-round. The White River has generally good-quality water.

See also

• White River Fauna (prehistoric)
• List of rivers of Nebraska
• List of rivers of South Dakota

Works cited

• Benke, Arthur C., ed., and Cushing, Colbert E., ed.; Galat, David L.; Berry, Charles R., Jr.; Peters, Edward J., and White, Robert G. (2005). "Chapter 10: Missouri River Basin" in Rivers of North America. Burlington, Massachusetts: Elsevier Academic Press. ISBN 0-12-088253-1.