The Yellow Bank River is a 12.0mi tributary of the Minnesota River in western Minnesota in the United States. It is formed by the confluence of two longer streams, the North Fork Yellow Bank River and the South Fork Yellow Bank River, which also flow in northeastern South Dakota. Via the Minnesota River, the Yellow Bank River is part of the watershed of the Mississippi River, draining an area of approximately 460 square miles (1,190 km²) in an agricultural region.The river was named for yellowish glacial drift in bluffs along the river. Its name was translated from the Sioux language as "Spirit Mountain Creek" by William Keating in his account of Stephen Harriman Long's expedition to the region in 1823. It was labelled as "Yellow Earth River" on an 1860 map of Minnesota.
