Saline River (Kansas)
The Saline River is a 397-mile-long (639 km)[3] tributary of the Smoky Hill River in the central Great Plains of North America. The entire river is in the U.S. state of Kansas in the northwest part of the state. The river got its name from the French translation of its Native name Ne Miskua. It refers to how salty the river is.[4]
| Saline River Ne Miskua[1] | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Saline River near Russell, Kansas | |
 Map of the Smoky Hill drainage basin including the Saline River | |
| Location | |
| Country | United States |
| State | Kansas |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Source confluence | |
| - location | Sheridan County, Kansas |
| - coordinates | 39°09′38″N 100°42′50″W / 39.16056°N 100.71389°W[1] |
| - elevation | 2,864 ft (873 m) |
| Mouth | Smoky Hill River |
| - location | New Cambria, Kansas |
| - coordinates | 38°51′28″N 97°30′22″W / 38.85778°N 97.50611°W[1] |
| - elevation | 1,171 ft (357 m) |
| Length | 397 mi (639 km) |
| Basin size | 3,419 sq mi (8,860 km2) |
| Discharge | |
| - location | USGS 06869500 at Tescott, KS[2] |
| - average | 214 cu ft/s (6.1 m3/s) |
| - minimum | 0 cu ft/s (0 m3/s) |
| - maximum | 47,600 cu ft/s (1,350 m3/s) |
| Basin features | |
| Tributaries | |
| - left | North Fork Saline River |
| - right | South Fork Saline River |
| Watersheds | Saline-Smoky Hill-Kansas-Missouri-Mississippi |
Geography
changeThe Saline River starts in the High Plains of northwestern Kansas. The south tributary of the river rises near the Sherman County-Thomas County line. The north tributary rises in central Thomas County.[5][6][7] The confluence of the two rivers are in Sheridan County roughly 5 miles (8 km) northwest of Grinnell, Kansas.[1] From this confluence, the Saline River goes east for 397 miles (639 km) through the Smoky Hills region of north-central Kansas. It joins the Smoky Hill River about 1 mile south of New Cambria, Kansas in Saline County.[6][8] The Saline is slow and can't be used for transportation. It has no major tributaries. It has a riverbed of sand and mud.[8][9]
The Saline River goes through these counties:
History
changeThe first recorded reference to the Saline River was on October 18, 1724, by French explorer Etienne Venyard de Bourgmont. He wrote that he found a "small river where the water was briny."[8] Bourgmont was on his way to discuss a peace treaty with the Padouca. Their "Grand Village" was on the Saline River's banks.[10][11] In 1806, an American journey led by Zebulon Pike crossed the river on its way to visit the Pawnee. By 1817, the river was called the "Grand Saline."[8]
The Pawnee and the Kansa, who used the area for hunting, had land along the Saline River. This was until the 1850s when American settlers started coming. The Kansas–Nebraska Act of 1854 created the Kansas Territory, which included all of the Saline River. By 1873, the U.S. government had removed the Kansa to a reservation in the Indian Territory (now Oklahoma).[10]
In August 1867, Cheyenne warriors killed a group of railroad workers in Ellis County. This led to a battle between the Cheyenne and Buffalo Soldiers from Fort Hays. It became known as "The Battle of the Saline River."[12]
The Saline River flooded sometimes during the late 19th century. Particularly bad floods happening in 1858, 1867, and 1903.[8] In 1964, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers dammed the river in eastern Russell County for flood control, creating Wilson Lake.[13]
Related pages
changeReferences
change- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Saline River
- ↑ "Water-Data Report 2010 - 06869500 Saline River at Tescott, KS" (PDF). U.S. Geological Survey. Retrieved 2015-10-20.
- ↑ U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline data. The National Map Archived 2017-08-23 at the Wayback Machine, accessed March 29, 2011
- ↑ Aiken, Charles Curry (2004). The American Counties: Origins of County Names, Dates of Creation, and Population Data, 1950-2000. Lanham: Scarecrow Press. p. 266.
- ↑ U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: South Fork Saline River
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 "Smoky Hill-Saline Basin". Kansas Water Office. Archived from the original on 2009-01-07. Retrieved 2019-08-07.
- ↑ U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: North Fork Saline River
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 8.4 Root, George A. (May 1935). "Ferries in Kansas, Part VII -- Saline River". Kansas Historical Quarterly. 4 (2): 149–154.
- ↑ Blackmar, Frank W., ed. (1912). "Saline River". Kansas: a cyclopedia of state history, embracing events, institutions, industries, counties, cities, towns, prominent persons, etc. Vol. 2. Chicago: Standard. p. 639. Archived from the original on 2008-06-16. Retrieved 2019-08-07.
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 "Smoky Hill Air National Guard (ANG) Range". GlobalSecurity.org. 2005-04-26.
- ↑ Grinnell, George Bird (1920). "Who Were the Padouca?". American Anthropologist. 22 (3): 248–260. doi:10.1525/aa.1920.22.3.02a00050.
- ↑ Wilhelm, Bob (2009). "The Battle of the Saline River". LASR.
- ↑ Wilson Lake: The Clearest Lake in Kansas (PDF). U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-07-17. Retrieved 2019-08-07.