Pomme de Terre River (Missouri) facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Pomme de Terre River |
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Map of the Osage River watershed showing the Pomme de Terre River
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| Other name(s) | Potato River |
| Country | United States |
| State | Missouri |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Main source | Marshfield, Missouri 1,454 ft (443 m) 37°20′24″N 92°56′43″W / 37.34000°N 92.94528°W |
| River mouth | Truman Reservoir Hickory County, Missouri 709 ft (216 m) 38°00′35″N 93°18′59″W / 38.00972°N 93.31639°W |
| Length | 130 mi (210 km) |
| Basin features | |
| Basin size | 840 sq mi (2,200 km2) |
| Watersheds | Pomme de Terre-Osage-Missouri-Mississippi |
The Pomme de Terre River (pronounced pohm de TEHR) is a 130-mile-long (210 km) tributary of the Osage River in southwestern Missouri in the United States. Via the Osage and Missouri rivers, it is part of the watershed of the Mississippi River.
Pomme de terre is French for potato, a food Indians harvested in the area. Before the French explorers, the Osage people, who were historically indigenous to the region, had called it a name meaning Big Bone River, referring to the fossils of mastodons and other ancient creatures which they found along its eroding banks.
Course
The Pomme de Terre River is formed in Greene County in the Ozarks by the confluence of its short north and south forks, which rise in Webster and Greene counties, respectively. The river flows generally northward through Dallas, Polk, Hickory and Benton counties, past the town of Hermitage. In Polk County it collects the short Little Pomme de Terre River, which rises in Greene County and flows generally northwestwardly. In Hickory County a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers dam causes the river to form Pomme de Terre Lake. It enters the Osage River as an arm of Truman Lake, which is formed by a dam on the Osage.
