The Dead River is a river in Marquette County, Michigan

Marquette County, Michigan

-National protected areas:* Hiawatha National Forest * Huron National Wildlife Refuge* Ottawa National Forest -University:Northern Michigan University is a four-year university, established in 1899, located in Marquette, Michigan, on Michigan's Upper Peninsula...

. Its watershed is approximately 400 square miles (1,036 km²) in size. The river flows southeasterly from western Marquette County to its mouth on Lake Superior

Lake Superior

Lake Superior is the largest of the five traditionally-demarcated Great Lakes of North America. It is bounded to the north by the Canadian province of Ontario and the U.S. state of Minnesota, and to the south by the U.S. states of Wisconsin and Michigan. It is the largest freshwater lake in the...

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, five dams existed on the river: Silver Lake Dam

Silver Lake Dam (Michigan)

Silver Lake Dam was a dam located on the Dead River upstream of Marquette, Michigan. It was the farthest upstream of five dams on the river and had no electricity generating facilities. The dam failed on 14 May 2003 and forced the evacuation of 1800 people...

, Hoist Dam, McClure Dam, Forestville Dam, and Tourist Park Dam. Hoist and McClure are hydroelectric dams. Silver Lake and Tourist Park failed in May 2003.