Powder River (Wyoming and Montana)

Powder River is a tributary of the Yellowstone River, approximately 375 miles (604 km) long in northeastern Wyoming and southeastern Montana in the United States. It drains an area historically known as the Powder River Country on the high plains east of the Bighorn Mountains.

Powder River
A view of the Powder River in northern Wyoming
Map of the Powder River basin
Location
Country	United States
State	Wyoming, Montana
Physical characteristics
Source	Confluence of Middle Fork and North Fork
• location	Near Kaycee, Wyoming
• coordinates	43°40′30″N 106°30′45″W[1]
• elevation	4,564 ft (1,391 m)
Mouth	Yellowstone River
• location	Near Terry, Montana
• coordinates	46°44′00″N 105°26′02″W[1]
• elevation	2,241 ft (683 m)
Length	375 mi (604 km)
Basin size	21,875 sq mi (56,660 km^2)
Discharge
• location	Locate, MT
• average	558 cu ft/s (15.8 m^3/s)
• minimum	0 cu ft/s (0 m^3/s)
• maximum	31,000 cu ft/s (880 m^3/s)
Basin features
Tributaries
• left	Crazy Woman Creek, Clear Creek, Mizpah Creek
• right	Wild Horse Creek (Wyoming), Little Powder River

It rises in three forks in north central Wyoming. The North and Middle forks rise along the eastern slope of the Bighorn Mountains. The South Fork rises on the southern slopes of the Bighorn Mountains west of Casper. The three forks meet on the foothills east of the Bighorns near the town of Kaycee. The combined stream flows northward, east of the Bighorns, and into Montana. It is joined by the Little Powder near the town of Broadus, and joins the Yellowstone approximately 50 miles (80 km) downriver from Miles City, Montana. The Powder River was so named (in the English language as well as in local indigenous languages) because the sand along a portion of its banks resembles powder or dust.[2][3]

See also

• Powder River Country
• Fort McKinney (Wyoming)
• List of Wyoming rivers
• List of rivers of Montana
• Montana Stream Access Law

Notes

1. "Powder River". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey.
2. Urbanek, Mae (1988). Wyoming Place Names. Missoula, MT: Mountain Press Publishing Company. ISBN 0-87842-204-8.
3. 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. 115.