The Leaf River is a tributary

Tributary

A tributary or affluent is a stream or river that flows into a main stem river or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean...

 of the Crow Wing River

Crow Wing River

The Crow Wing River is a tributary of the Mississippi River approximately in length. The river arises in a chain of 11 lakes in southern Hubbard County, Minnesota and flows generally southeast, entering the Mississippi at Crow Wing State Park, northwest of Little Falls, Minnesota. Its name is a...

, about 50 mi (80 km) long, in west-central Minnesota

Minnesota

Minnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...

 in the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. Via the Crow Wing, it is part of the Mississippi River

Mississippi River

The Mississippi River is the largest river system in North America. Flowing entirely in the United States, this river rises in western Minnesota and meanders slowly southwards for to the Mississippi River Delta at the Gulf of Mexico. With its many tributaries, the Mississippi's watershed drains...

 watershed

Drainage basin

A drainage basin is an extent or an area of land where surface water from rain and melting snow or ice converges to a single point, usually the exit of the basin, where the waters join another waterbody, such as a river, lake, reservoir, estuary, wetland, sea, or ocean...

.

Course

The Leaf rises from the Leaf Lakes chain (West, Middle and East) in northeastern Otter Tail County

Otter Tail County, Minnesota

Otter Tail County is a county located in the U.S. state of Minnesota. As of 2010, the population was 57,303. Its county seat is Fergus Falls.-History:...

 and flows generally east past the town of Bluffton

Bluffton, Minnesota

Bluffton is a city in Otter Tail County, Minnesota, United States, along the Leaf River. The population was 207 at the 2010 census.-Geography:According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , all of it land.U.S...

 into southern Wadena County

Wadena County, Minnesota

As of the census of 2000, there were 13,713 people, 5,426 households, and 3,608 families residing in the county. The population density was 26 people per square mile . There were 6,334 housing units at an average density of 12 per square mile...

. It joins the Crow Wing River from the west in Thomastown Township

Thomastown Township, Minnesota

Thomastown Township is a township in Wadena County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 714 at the 2000 census.-Geography:According to the United States Census Bureau, the township has a total area of 42.0 square miles , of which, 41.0 square miles of it is land and...

, about 10 mi (16 km) north-northwest of the town of Staples

Staples, Minnesota

As of the census of 2000, there were 3,104 people, 1,278 households, and 732 families residing in the city. The population density was 684.5 people per square mile . There were 1,436 housing units at an average density of 316.7 per square mile...

 and about 1 mi (2 km) upstream of the mouth of the Partridge River

Partridge River (Crow Wing River)

The Partridge River and its tributary the Little Partridge River are small rivers in rural west-central Minnesota in the United States. The Partridge is a tributary of the Crow Wing River, via which it is part of the Mississippi River watershed....

. On the Crow between the Leaf and Partridge Rivers are sites of pre-settlement fur trading posts.

The Leaf's largest tributaries are the Wing River

Wing River (Leaf River)

The Wing River is a tributary of the Leaf River in west-central Minnesota in the United States. Via the Leaf and Crow Wing Rivers, it is part of the Mississippi River watershed...

 and the Redeye River

Redeye River

The Redeye River is a tributary of the Leaf River, 73 miles long, in central Minnesota in the United States. Via the Leaf and Crow Wing Rivers, it is part of the watershed of the Mississippi River, draining an area of 222 square miles in a rural region...

, both of which join it in Wadena County.

Culture

Leaf River serves as land-cession boundary for the 1847 Treaty of Washington, signed between the Pillager Chippewas and the United States, and the for the land-cession boundaries for the 1855 Treaty of Washington, signed between the Mississippi Chippewas, Pillager Chippewas and the United States. The land ceded to the United States by the Pillagers in 1847 was sold to the Menomini, but the Menomini refuted removal out of Wisconsin and subsequently sold the land to the United States in 1854.