Muskingum River

Last updated
Muskingum River
Muskingum River Marietta.jpg
The Muskingum River near its mouth in Marietta, Ohio
Location
CountryUnited States
Physical characteristics
Source 
 • location Confluence of the Tuscarawas and Walhonding Rivers
Mouth  
 • location
 Ohio River at Marietta, Ohio
 • elevation
582 ft (177 m) [1]
Length111 mi (179 km)
Basin size8,051 sq mi (20,850 km2) [2]
Discharge 
 • locationmouth
 • average9,459.49 cu ft/s (267.863 m3/s) (estimate) [3]
Map of the Muskingum River watershed Muskingumrivermap.png
Map of the Muskingum River watershed
Aerial view of the Ohio and Muskingum Rivers at Marietta, Ohio Ohio and Muskingum Rivers at Marietta, Ohio.jpg
Aerial view of the Ohio and Muskingum Rivers at Marietta, Ohio

The Muskingum River (Shawnee: Wakatamothiipi) [4] is a tributary of the Ohio River, approximately 111 miles (179 km) long, in southeastern Ohio in the United States. An important commercial route in the 19th century, it flows generally southward through the eastern hill country of Ohio. Via the Ohio, it is part of the Mississippi River watershed. The river is navigable for much of its length through a series of locks and dams.

Contents

Course

The Muskingum is formed at Coshocton in east-central Ohio by the confluence of the Walhonding and Tuscarawas rivers. It flows in a meandering course southward past Conesville and Dresden to Zanesville, and then southeastward past South Zanesville, Philo, Gaysport, Malta, McConnelsville, Beverly, Lowell, Stockport and Devola. It joins the Ohio at Marietta.

Along its course the Muskingum collects Wills Creek near Conesville; Wakatomika Creek at Dresden; the Licking River at Zanesville; Moxahala Creek at South Zanesville; and Wolf Creek near Beverly. [5]

History

The name Muskingum derives from the Shawnee word mshkikwam 'swampy ground'. [6] In Lenape Muskingum was taken to mean 'elk's eye' (mus wəshkinkw) by folk etymology, as if < mus 'elk' [7] + wəshkinkw 'its eye'. [8] Moravian missionary David Zeisberger wrote that the Muskingum River was called Elk's Eye "because of the numbers of elk that formerly fed on its banks, these animals being found there even at the present time [1779-1780]..." [9] Historically, it was also the name of a large Wyandot town along the river.[ citation needed ]

As part of an expedition to assert French dominance throughout the entire Ohio valley, on August 15, 1749, a leaden plate claiming the region for France was buried at the confluence of the Muskingum and Ohio rivers by Pierre Joseph Céloron.

Noted frontier explorer Christopher Gist reached the Big Sandy Creek tributary of the river on December 4, 1751. Traveling downriver, he recorded arriving on December 14 at the western Wyandot town of Muskingum, at present-day Coshocton. There he remained for the following month. [10]

Marietta was founded in 1788 as the first permanent American settlement in the Northwest Territory, at the mouth of the Muskingum River on the Ohio River. The Big Bottom Massacre occurred along its banks in 1791.

Zanesville was settled by European Americans in 1799 at the site where Zane's Trace crossed the Muskingum at the mouth of the Licking River. In the mid-19th century the Muskingum was an important commercial shipping route, with dams and locks controlling the water level to allow boats to travel up and down the river. With the decrease in use of water-based transportation in Ohio by the 1920s, the locks fell into disrepair.

Since the 1960s, the locks have been repaired to enable pleasure craft to travel the entire navigable length of the river. The Muskingum waterway is one of the few remaining systems in the US to use hand-operated river locks. The navigation system has been designated a national Historic Civil Engineering Landmark. In 2006, it was designated "An Ohio Water Trail;" this designation provides for increased canoe access on the river.

Located north of the Mason–Dixon line, from around 1812 to 1861 the Muskingum River was a major Underground Railroad route used by fugitive slaves escaping from the South on their journey north to Lake Erie and Canada.

Nonprofit organizations

The Friends of the Lower Muskingum River is a 501 (c) (3) nonprofit land trust based in Marietta, Ohio, concerned with protection of the Muskingum River and adjacent lands. [11] The Muskingum Watershed Conservancy District is a quasi-governmental entity concerned with flood control on the river. [12]

Variant names

According to the Geographic Names Information System, the Muskingum River has also been known as:

See also

Related Research Articles

Allegheny River River in Pennsylvania and New York, United States

The Allegheny River is a 325-mile (523 km) long headwater stream of the Ohio River in western Pennsylvania and New York, United States. The Allegheny River runs from its headwaters just below the middle of Pennsylvania's northern border northwesterly into New York then in a zigzag southwesterly across the border and through Western Pennsylvania to join the Monongahela River at the Forks of the Ohio on the "Point" of Point State Park in Downtown Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The Allegheny River is, by volume, the main headstream of both the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers. Historically, the Allegheny was considered to be the upper Ohio River by both Native Americans and European settlers.

Muskingum County, Ohio County in Ohio, US

Muskingum County is a county located in the U.S. state of Ohio. As of the 2010 census, the population was 86,074. Its county seat is Zanesville. Nearly bisected by the Muskingum River, the county name is based on a Delaware American Indian word translated as "town by the river" or "elk's eye".

Gnadenhutten massacre 1782 killing of Christian Lenape by American soldiers during the Revolutionary War

The Gnadenhutten massacre, also known as the Moravian massacre, was the killing of 96 Christian Lenape by U.S. militiamen from Pennsylvania on March 8, 1782 at the Moravian missionary village of Gnadenhutten, Ohio, during the American Revolutionary War. More than a century later, Theodore Roosevelt called the massacre "a stain on frontier character that the lapse of time cannot wash away."

Tuscarawas River river in Ohio, United States

The Tuscarawas River is a principal tributary of the Muskingum River, 129.9 miles (209 km) long, in northeastern Ohio in the United States. Via the Muskingum and Ohio rivers, it is part of the watershed of the Mississippi River, draining an area of 2,590 square miles (6,700 km2) on glaciated and unglaciated portions of the Allegheny Plateau.

Walhonding River

The Walhonding River is a principal tributary of the Muskingum River, 23.5 miles (37.8 km) long, in east-central Ohio in the United States. Via the Muskingum and Ohio Rivers, it is part of the watershed of the Mississippi River. It drains an area of 2,252 square miles (5,830 km2).

Licking River (Ohio)

The Licking River is a tributary of the Muskingum River, about 40 mi (65 km) long, in central Ohio in the United States. Via the Muskingum and Ohio Rivers, it is part of the watershed of the Mississippi River.

Killbuck Creek

Killbuck Creek is a tributary of the Walhonding River, 81.7 mi (131.5 km) long, in north-central Ohio in the United States. Via the Walhonding, Muskingum and Ohio Rivers, it is part of the watershed of the Mississippi River. It drains an area of 613 mi² (1588 km²).

Wills Creek (Ohio)

Wills Creek is a tributary of the Muskingum River, 92.2 mi (148.4 km) long, in eastern Ohio in the United States. Via the Muskingum and Ohio Rivers, it is part of the watershed of the Mississippi River. It drains an area of 853 mi² (2,209 km²).

Moxahala Creek

Moxahala Creek is a tributary of the Muskingum River, 29.2 miles (47.0 km) long, in southeastern Ohio in the United States. Via the Muskingum and Ohio Rivers, it is part of the watershed of the Mississippi River, draining an area of 301 square miles (780 km2)

Wakatomika Creek

Wakatomika Creek is a tributary of the Muskingum River, 42.6 mi (68.6 km) long, in central Ohio in the United States. Via the Muskingum and Ohio Rivers, it is part of the watershed of the Mississippi River, draining an area of 234 mi² (606 km²)

Mohican River

The Mohican River is a principal tributary of the Walhonding River, about 40 miles (64 km) long, in north-central Ohio in the United States. Via the Walhonding, Muskingum and Ohio Rivers, it is part of the watershed of the Mississippi River, draining an area of 999 square miles (2,590 km2).

Muskingum Township, Washington County, Ohio Township in Ohio, United States

Muskingum Township is one of the twenty-two townships of Washington County, Ohio, United States. The 2000 census found 4,627 people in the township.

Muskingum Township, Muskingum County, Ohio Township in Ohio, United States

Muskingum Township is one of the twenty-five townships of Muskingum County, Ohio, United States. The 2010 census found 4,520 people in the township.

Duncan Falls, Ohio

Duncan Falls is a census-designated place in southeastern Wayne Township, Muskingum County, Ohio, United States, located on State Route 60 south of the city of Zanesville. It has a post office with the ZIP code 43734. Duncan Falls has a public library, a branch of the Muskingum County Library System.

East Central Ohio League

The East Central Ohio League (ECOL) is an athletic conference of high schools in Ohio sponsored by OHSAA. Its ten member schools are located in Guernsey, Coshocton, Muskingum, Tuscarawas, and Washington Counties.

Netawatwees was principal chief of the Delaware Delaware (Lenape) chief of the Unami also known as the Turtle Clan which is the head clan of the Lenape. His name, meaning "skilled advisor," is spelled in a variety of ways in colonial records. Depending on the language of the recorder, it was transliterated as Netawatwees, Netahutquemaled, Netodwehement, and Netautwhalemund. In English, he was known as the Newcomer.

Muskingum (village) Historic Native American village in Ohio

Muskingum was a Wyandot village in southeastern Ohio from 1747 to 1755. It was an important trade center in the early 1750s, until it was devastated by smallpox in the winter of 1752. The town was repopulated for a short time afterwards, then abandoned again as a new community was established by Netawatwees a few miles to the east at Gekelukpechink. The city of Coshocton, Ohio was founded close to the site of the village in 1802.

References

  1. ↑ U.S. Geological Survey. Marietta quadrangle, Ohio. 1:24,000. 7.5 Minute Series. Washington, D.C.: USGS, 1994.
  2. ↑ "Map of Ohio watersheds". Archived from the original on 2007-03-11.
  3. ↑ United States Environmental Protection Agency. "Watershed Report: Muskingum River". watersgeo.epa.gov. Archived from the original on 2021-07-03. Retrieved 2021-07-03.
  4. ↑ "Shawnees Webpage". Shawnee's Reservation. 1997. Archived from the original on May 2, 2013. Retrieved April 26, 2013.
  5. ↑ DeLorme (1991). Ohio Atlas & Gazetteer. Yarmouth, Maine: DeLorme. ISBN   0-89933-233-1
  6. ↑ Mahr, August C. (1957). "Indian River and Place Names in Ohio". Ohio History. Ohio Historical Society. 66 (2): 137–158. Retrieved May 22, 2012.[ permanent dead link ]
  7. ↑ "mus". Lenape Talking Dictionary. Archived from the original on 2012-03-15. Retrieved May 22, 2012.
  8. ↑ "wëshkinkw". Lenape Talking Dictionary. Archived from the original on 1 February 2016. Retrieved May 22, 2012.
  9. ↑ David Zeisberger (1910). David Zeisberger's History of Northern American Indians. Press of F.J. Heer. p.  44.
  10. ↑ Darlington, Journal of Christopher Gist
  11. ↑ "Friends of Lower Muskingum River – Help us save our land, water, and wildlife in the Lower Muskingum by volunteering, donating, or offering land".
  12. ↑ District, Muskingum Watershed Conservancy. "Muskingum Watershed: Ohio Lakes, Camping, and Water Conservation". www.mwcd.org.

Coordinates: 39°24′33″N81°27′22″W / 39.40917°N 81.45611°W / 39.40917; -81.45611

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.