Nodaway River#Tributaries

The river's name (as "Nodawa") first appears in the journal of Lewis and Clark, who camped at the mouth of the river on July 8, 1804,{{cite web|url=http://mdc.mo.gov/fish/watershed/nodaway/landuse/ |title=Nodaway River Watershed: Historic and Recent Use |publisher=Missouri Department of Conservation Online |accessdate=2009-04-25 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080829124505/http://mdc.mo.gov/fish/watershed/nodaway/landuse/ |archivedate=August 29, 2008 }} but who provide no derivation of the name. The name is an Otoe-Missouria term meaning "jump over water".{{cite book|last1=Thwaites|first1=Reuben|title=Early Western Travels - 1748-1846, Vol. 17|date=1905|publisher=The Lakeside Press|location=Chicago, IL|page=300|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pZA5AQAAMAAJ|ref=8}} The term would be spelled today in full as Nyi At'ąwe (nyi (water) + a- (on) + t'ąwe (jump)) and would be contracted in regular speech as Nyat'ąwe or Nat'ąwe.{{cite web|title=Otoe-Missouria Language|url=http://www.omlanguage.org/|accessdate=13 November 2014|ref=9|archive-date=7 May 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210507015747/http://www.omlanguage.org/|url-status=dead}} The earliest recording of the modern spelling of Nodaway is shown in an 1834 map.{{cite web|url=https://www.loc.gov/resource/g3700.rr000020/?r=0.09,0.306,0.166,0.079,|last=Loy|first=Amos|title=Map of the United States compiled from the latest and most accurate surveys by Amos Lay, geographer & map publisher, New York|website=Library of Congress|access-date=May 15, 2025}} Other variant spellings include, Naudoway.https://www.loc.gov/resource/g3700.rr000030/?r=0.005,0.402,0.277,0.132,0 and Nadoway https://www.oldmapsonline.org/en/maps/b87f7118-b456-5452-9e47-d37869fcbb3b?gid=52b204d6-c0ff-5123-9d49-b10c9747343e#position=5.0392/38.48/-93.16/6.91&year=1861

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Lewis and Clark camped at the river's mouth on Nodaway Island on July 8, 1804, by Nodaway, Missouri, on the border of Holt County, Missouri and Andrew County, Missouri and took note of the river.

Lewis and Clark liked the spot enough that they recommended it for the winter headquarters of Astor Expedition of 1810–12 that discovered the South Pass in Wyoming through which hundreds of settlers on the Oregon Trail, California Trail, Mormon Trail were to pass.

The river is navigable only by shallow fishing and row boats although steam ships navigated just inside its mouth. The river was the primary route for white settlers including Amos Graham and Isaac Hogan following the Platte Purchase of 1836 which opened northwest Missouri for settlement. Nodaway County, which derives its name from the river, was by far the biggest county in the purchase and the fifth largest in the state of Missouri.

The Nodaway begins near Shambaugh, Iowa at the confluence of the East and West Nodaway rivers. The West Nodaway River rises northeast of Massena in eastern Cass County, Iowa, and flows {{convert|73.8|mi}} south-southwest past Villisca and Clarinda, the largest town on the river, to its junction with the East Nodaway. The East Nodaway River rises just west of Orient in Adair County and flows {{convert|72.8|mi}} southwest past Prescott, Corning, Brooks, and Nodaway to its confluence with the West Nodaway. The Middle Nodaway River rises in Adair County south of Casey and flows {{convert|60.5|mi}} southwest past Greenfield, Fontanelle, and Carbon to join the West Nodaway just below Villisca, Iowa, {{convert|20.2|mi}} above the West Nodaway's juncture with the East Nodaway. The East and West Nodaway join to form the Nodaway River {{convert|4|mi|km|spell=in}} north of the Iowa-Missouri border, and the river travels south, passing Bradyville on its east, before entering Missouri.

Continuing from the Iowa border in Nodaway County, Missouri, the river travels south a mile west of Burlington Junction where it intersects US 136. Continuing southerly, the river passes west of Quitman and east of Bilby Ranch Lake Conservation Area before crossing Missouri Route 46. Afterward, the river passes by Skidmore and passes under Missouri Route 113 where it quickly becomes the border between Nodaway County and Holt County. Continuing southerly, it passes between Maitland to its east and Graham to its west, and reaches the tripoint with Andrew County. The river remains the boundary between Holt and Andrew counties to the Missouri River. The Nodaway River then passes through Nodaway Valley Conservation Area, where it is channelized and flows steadily until Interstate 29. Afterward, it passes west of Honey Creek Conservation Area and east of Monkey Mountain Conservation Area, and flows into the Missouri River Valley by Nodaway and joins the Missouri River.

Elevations in the Nodaway system range from just under {{convert|1400|ft}} above sea level at the source of the Middle Nodaway, to {{convert|950|ft}} at the beginning of the main stem, to {{convert|800|ft}} at its mouth on the Missouri River in Nodaway, Missouri in Andrew County, Missouri.

The Nodaway River is a sixth order river with a basin area of {{convert|1820|sqmi}}.

The Platte River basin is to the east and the Grand River and Des Moines River basins to the northeast, with the latter defining the boundary between the Missouri River and Mississippi River basins. The west side is bound by the Tarkio River basin and in the northwest by the Nishnabotna River basin.

The Nodaway River basin is prone to extensive flooding and can contribute as much as 20% of the flood crest of the Missouri River near its mouth.

At Graham, Missouri its normal flow is {{convert|1,011|ft3/s|m3/s}}. But during the Great Flood of 1993 the river was flowing {{convert|78,300|ft3/s|m3/s|abbr=on}} at Graham.{{citation needed|date=April 2025}}

File:LowerNodaway.png

The Nodaway River has 33 named direct tributaries, 3 of which are in Iowa and the other 30 in Missouri.

• List of tributaries of the Missouri River
• List of rivers of Iowa
• List of rivers of Missouri

{{reflist}}

• Bright, William (2004). Native American Placenames of the United States. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press.
• Thwaites, Reuben Gold (1905), Early Western Travels - 1748-1846. Vol. 17. The Lakeside Press.
• Trigger, Bruce, ed. (1978) Northeast. Vol. 15 of Handbook of North American Indians, ed. William C. Sturtevant. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution.

• [https://web.archive.org/web/20060929155341/http://www.mdc.missouri.gov/fish/watershed/nodaway/contents/280cotxt.htm Missouri Watershed report]
• [http://www.crh.noaa.gov/ahps2/hydrograph.php?wfo=eax&gage=brlm7&view=1,1,1,1,1,1 National Weather Service data on Nodaway River at Burlington Junction]

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Category:Rivers of Iowa

Category:Rivers of Missouri

Category:Lewis and Clark Expedition

Category:Tributaries of the Missouri River

Category:Rivers of Page County, Iowa

Category:Rivers of Holt County, Missouri

Category:Rivers of Nodaway County, Missouri

Category:Rivers of Andrew County, Missouri

Category:Missouri placenames of Native American origin