The Skunk River is a tributary of the

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson Bay drainage system. From its traditional source of Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota, it ...

in the state of

Iowa Iowa () is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wiscon ...

in the

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Geography

The Skunk River rises in two branches, the South Skunk ( long) and the North Skunk ( long).U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline data
The National Map
accessed May 13, 2011 The headwaters of the South Skunk are in Hamilton County in north central Iowa. It flows roughly due southward, to the west of

Interstate 35 Interstate 35 (I-35) is a major Interstate Highway in the central United States. As with most primary Interstates that end in a five, it is a major cross-country, north–south route. It stretches from Laredo, Texas, near the Mexican border ...

, and passes through the city of

Ames Ames may refer to: Places United States * Ames, Arkansas, a place in Arkansas * Ames, Colorado * Ames, Illinois * Ames, Indiana * Ames, Iowa, the most populous city bearing this name * Ames, Kansas * Ames, Nebraska * Ames, New York * Ames, ...

, before turning southeasterly. In Keokuk County, it is joined by the North Skunk, which has its headwaters in Marshall County. It then proceeds southeastward and flows into the Mississippi about five miles south of the city of Burlington. The

Iowa Department of Natural Resources The Iowa Department of Natural Resources (Iowa DNR or IA DNR) is a department/agency of the U.S. state of Iowa formed in 1986, charged with maintaining state parks and forests, protecting the environment of Iowa, and managing energy, fish, wildl ...

has designated 33 miles of the Skunk River as a State Water Trail since 2020.

Etymology

The Sauk and

Meskwaki The Meskwaki (sometimes spelled Mesquaki), also known by the European exonyms Fox Indians or the Fox, are a Native American people. They have been closely linked to the Sauk people of the same language family. In the Meskwaki language, the ...

referred to the Skunk River as "Shecaqua". This name was probably mistranslated; one early settler wrote, "I was informed by Frank Labisner, United States interpreter for the Sac and Fox Indians, that the name of Skunk River was a wrong interpretation. The Indian name was Checaqua. Which, in their language is anything of a strong or obnoxious smell, such as onions. I think, that from the fact that the head waters of the stream abounded with wild onions, the interpretation should be 'Onion.'" This origin makes the river's native name a cognate of the name ''

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...

'', the Miami-Illinois name for the wild onion.

Habitat

Species of fish found in the Skunk River include smallmouth bass,

gar Gars are members of the family Lepisosteidae, which are the only surviving members of the Ginglymodi, an ancient holosteian group of ray-finned fish, which first appeared during the Triassic, over 240 million years ago. Gars comprise seven livin ...

walleye The walleye (''Sander vitreus'', synonym ''Stizostedion vitreum''), also called the yellow pike or yellow pickerel, is a freshwater perciform fish native to most of Canada and to the Northern United States. It is a North American close relat ...

catfish Catfish (or catfishes; order Siluriformes or Nematognathi) are a diverse group of ray-finned fish. Named for their prominent barbels, which resemble a cat's whiskers, catfish range in size and behavior from the three largest species alive, ...

carp Carp are various species of oily freshwater fish from the family Cyprinidae, a very large group of fish native to Europe and Asia. While carp is consumed in many parts of the world, they are generally considered an invasive species in parts of ...

, bluegill, sheephead, bullhead, and

largemouth bass The largemouth bass (''Micropterus salmoides'') is a carnivorous freshwater gamefish in the Centrarchidae ( sunfish) family, a species of black bass native to the eastern and central United States, southeastern Canada and northern Mexico, b ...

crappie Crappies () are two species of North American freshwater fish of the genus ''Pomoxis'' in the family Centrarchidae (sunfishes). Both species of crappies are popular game fish among recreational anglers. Etymology The genus name ''Pomo ...

, sunfish. The river features an abundance of birds,

deer Deer or true deer are hoofed ruminant mammals forming the family Cervidae. The two main groups of deer are the Cervinae, including the muntjac, the elk (wapiti), the red deer, and the fallow deer; and the Capreolinae, including the ...

beaver Beavers are large, semiaquatic rodents in the genus ''Castor'' native to the temperate Northern Hemisphere. There are two extant species: the North American beaver (''Castor canadensis'') and the Eurasian beaver (''C. fiber''). Beavers a ...

wood ducks The wood duck or Carolina duck (''Aix sponsa'') is a species of perching duck found in North America. The drake wood duck is one of the most colorful North American waterfowl. Description The wood duck is a medium-sized perching duck. A ty ...

, and

raccoons The raccoon ( or , ''Procyon lotor''), sometimes called the common raccoon to distinguish it from other species, is a mammal native to North America. It is the largest of the procyonid family, having a body length of , and a body weight of ...

. The Skunk River is lined with silver maples, sycamores, cottonwoods, and oaks along the shoreline. The "Skunk River Navy" was founded and led by

Iowa State University Iowa State University of Science and Technology (Iowa State University, Iowa State, or ISU) is a public land-grant research university in Ames, Iowa. Founded in 1858 as the Iowa Agricultural College and Model Farm, Iowa State became one of the ...

biology professor 'Admiral' Jim Colbert and biology advisor 'Admiral' Jim Holtz. The SRN operated from August 1998 to September 2017. The SRN focused on monitoring the biological diversity of the South Skunk River, and some of its tributaries, near Ames, Iowa as well as removal of trash from these streams. Participation in the SRN was primarily focused on students entering Iowa State in the biology major, though students in other majors, other ISU personnel, as well as other individuals participated. During the years of operation of the SRN approximately 2,400 volunteers participated and over 80 tons of trash were removed from the South Skunk River and some of its tributaries. The SRN also found, and reported, diesel fuel and sewage leaks into the South Skunk River, and its tributary Ioway Creek, respectively. These leaks were repaired by the City of Ames. Beginning in 2018 local paddling groups may use the name "Skunk River Navy", but the SRN is no longer under the auspices of the ISU Biology Program.

References

External links

Skunk River Navy Official Website
{{authority control * Rivers of Iowa Tributaries of the Mississippi River Rivers of Lee County, Iowa Rivers of Des Moines County, Iowa Rivers of Poweshiek County, Iowa Rivers of Henry County, Iowa Rivers of Jefferson County, Iowa Rivers of Washington County, Iowa Rivers of Keokuk County, Iowa Rivers of Jasper County, Iowa Rivers of Story County, Iowa

Geography

Etymology

Habitat

See also

References

External links