Dead River (Michigan)


The Dead River is a river in Marquette County, Michigan. Its watershed is approximately in size. The river flows southeasterly from western Marquette County to its mouth on Lake Superior.
, five dams existed on the river: Silver Lake Dam, Hoist Dam, McClure Dam, Forestville Dam, and Tourist Park Dam. Hoist and McClure are hydroelectric dams. On May 14, 2003, the fuse plug spillway in the Silver Lake Dam failed, unexpectedly releasing nine billion gallons of water to flow down the Dead River. The dam at the Tourist Park failed, but the other upstream dams held. Remarkably, no lives were lost and no major injuries occurred. Property damage was estimated at about $100 million. The Silver Lake and Tourist Park dams were rebuilt and are now back in operation.
Historically, its name is derived from the Ojibwe Gaa-waakwimiigong-neyaashi-ziibi or Ne-waakwimiinaang, both referencing its mouth being near Presque Isle Point, a cape on Lake Superior. Additionally, earlier maps record this river either in French as "Rivière des Morts", "Rivière du Mort", or "Rivière au Paresseux", or in English as "Deadman's River". The current name for this river in Ojibwe is either Giiwe-gamigong-neyaashi-ziibi or Niboowaagaming.