View source for Cannonball River

{{Short description|Tributary of the Missouri River}}
{{Expand language|topic=geo|langcode=de|langcode2=fr|date=September 2025}}
{{Use American English|date=July 2025}}
{{Infobox river
| name              = Cannonball River
| image             = File:Cannon Ball, North Dakota.jpg
| image_caption     = The Cannonball River
| image_size        = <!-- Unnecessary. Size is automatic. -->
| map               = <!-- no "file" or "image" prefix -->
| map_caption       = 
| source1_location  = [[Slope County, North Dakota|Slope County]] in [[White Lake National Wildlife Refuge]]
| source1_coordinates= {{coord|46.47|-103.2066667|region:US-ND|format=dms|name=Cannonball River origin}}
| mouth_location    = [[Confluence]] with Missouri River in [[Lake Oahe]]
| mouth_coordinates = {{coord|46.4291667|-100.5891667|region:US-ND|format=dms|name=Cannonball River mouth|display=inline,title}}
| progression       = Cannonball River → Missouri → Mississippi → Gulf of Mexico 
| source1_elevation = {{convert|2780|ft|m|abbr=on}}
| mouth_elevation   = {{convert|1611|ft|m|abbr=on}}
| length_mi = 135 
| discharge1_location=[[Breien, North Dakota|Breien]]
| discharge1_avg    ={{convert|250|cuft/s|m3/s|abbr=on}}<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://waterdata.usgs.gov/nd/nwis/annual/?format=sites_selection_links&search_site_no=06354000&agency_cd=USGS&amp;referred_module=sw|title = USGS Surface Water data for North Dakota: USGS Surface-Water Annual Statistics}}</ref>
| custom_label      = [[Geographic Names Information System|GNIS]] ID
| custom_data       = {{GNIS 4|1035898}}
}}
{{GeoGroup}}
The '''Cannonball River''' ({{langx|lkt|Íŋyaŋwakağapi Wakpá}}<ref>{{cite book |title=New Lakota Dictionary |edition=2nd |year=2011 |publisher=Lakota Language Consortium |editor-last=Ullrich |editor-first=Jan |location=Bloomington, IN |isbn=978-0-9761082-9-0 |lccn=2008922508 |page=877}}</ref>) is a tributary of the [[Missouri River]], approximately {{convert|135|mi|km}} long, in southwestern [[North Dakota]] in the [[United States]].<ref name=GNIS349>{{gnis|1035898|Cannonball River}}</ref>

It rises in the [[Little Missouri National Grassland]], in the [[badlands]] north of [[Amidon, North Dakota|Amidon]] in northern [[Slope County, North Dakota|Slope County]]. It flows ESE past [[New England, North Dakota|New England]], [[Mott, North Dakota|Mott]], and [[Burt, North Dakota|Burt]]. It is joined by [[Cedar Creek (North Dakota)|Cedar Creek]] approximately {{convert|15|mi|km}} southwest of [[Shields, North Dakota|Shields]] and flows northeast, past Shields, forming the northern border of [[Sioux County, North Dakota|Sioux County]] and the [[Standing Rock Sioux Reservation]]. It joins the Missouri in [[Lake Oahe]] near [[Cannon Ball, North Dakota|Cannon Ball]]. The [[Concretion#Cannonball concretions|cannonball concretions]] found in the vicinity of this river are the source of its name.<ref>{{cite book|author=Federal Writers' Project|author-link=Federal Writers' Project|title=North Dakota, a Guide to the Northern Prairie State|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dCGVnMUdNqMC&pg=PA313|year=1938|publisher=WPA|isbn=978-1-62376-033-5|page=313}}</ref>

==See also==
*[[List of rivers of North Dakota]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Rivers of North Dakota]]
[[Category:Tributaries of the Missouri River]]
[[Category:Bodies of water of Slope County, North Dakota]]
[[Category:Bodies of water of Sioux County, North Dakota]]

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