MyWorld - Wapsipinicon River

Hey, kids......guess what.......its time for MyWorldTuesday, where bloggers showcase sights from their own local worlds! This weekly event is brought to you by the talented SkyWatch team of Tom, Sandy, IMAC, Klaus, Ivar, Wren, and Fishing Guy.

*

About five miles from our northeast Iowa farm flows the Wapsipinicon River.......known by locals as simply "The Wapsi" (whop-see). The Wikipedia link in the previous sentence shows a map of the Wapsi's course and offers the following information about the origin of the river's unusual name:

"The name of the river in the Ojibwe language is Waabizipinikaan-ziibi ("river abundant in swan-potatoes"), on account of the large quantity of arrowheads or wild artichokes, known as "swan-potatoes" (waabizipiniin, singular waabizipin), once found near its banks." That meshes quite well with another source I once found which said that Wapsipinicon means "white potato water". When I was a kid, the story was going around that the name came from the romantic legend of two star-crossed lovers from warring native tribes who lost their lives in the river. I did once write that into a story for an English assignment back in high school.

*

At any rate........let's take a look at the Wapsi. These photos were taken two days ago, Sunday afternoon, around 2 p.m.

This bridge over the Wapsi is on a lonely gravel road northeast of Dunkerton, Iowa.



The next scene is looking south from the bridge........the sun cooperated for a few minutes, peeking bashfully through the gray clouds. If you would climb up the riverbank on the left (east), you would reach some farmfields where people have found many Native American arrowheads and other artifacts over the years. I had a friend back in grade school whose father had a display case full of arrowheads he had found in this area.

The next photo looks north from the bridge, towards a railroad bridge in the distance. Looks like someone's had some fun with an ATV on the sandbar! In the foreground are autumn leaves floating on the water.

Here's looking at you, X!

Leaves on the water.........as I typed that phrase the song Smoke on the Water came to mind. Yes, my mind wanders too easily!

More of the bridge structure:

Well, we can't stay here all afternoon.......so, around the bend in the road we'll go. Good-bye, Wapsi River!!

*

Here's another interesting tidbit from the Wapsipinicon Wikipedia page:

"It (the river) defines the western boundary of the Driftless Area. While the Wapsi has a soft, recent catchment, the Driftless, to the east and north, tumbles down to the Mississippi in rugged canyons."

*

Thanks for stopping by and be sure to travel to other MyWorldTuesday sites!! Its a great, inexpensive way to see the world!

*

*