MUSKINGUM RIVER

The 'Muskingum River' is a tributary of the Ohio River, approximately 111 mi (179 km) long, in southeastern Ohio in the United States. An important commercial route in the 19th century, it flows generally southwardly through the eastern hill country of Ohio. Via the Ohio, it is part of the Mississippi River watershed.

Contents

Course

History

Variant names

See also

External links

References

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 southwardly past Conesville, Trinway and Dresden to Zanesville, and then southeastwardly past South Zanesville, Philo, 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.^[2]

History

The word 'Muskingum' derives from a similarly sounding Delaware (Native American) word, which some claim to translate as 'Eye of the Elk.'
The first permanent settlement in the Northwest Territory, Marietta, was founded in 1788 on the mouth of the Muskingum River along the Ohio River. The Big Bottom Massacre occurred along its banks in 1791. Zanesville was settled 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 in the 1920s, the locks fell into disrepair. Since the 1960s the locks have been repaired and now enable pleasure craft to travel the entire navigable length of the river. The Muskingum waterway is one of the few remaining systems to use hand-operated river locks in the U.S. The navigation system has been designated a Historic Civil Engineering Landmark. In 2006, it was designated "An Ohio Water Trail;" this designation provides for increasd canoe access on the river.
In the 1970s, boaters were occasionally allowed to operate the old-fashioned lock mechanisms themselves, with the permission of the lockmaster. The procedure appears to have become more formalized since then.
From around 1812 to 1861 the Muskingum River, located north of Ohio River Mason-Dixon Line, was a major Underground Railroad route used by fugitive slaves escaping from the South on their journey North to Lake Erie and Canada.

Variant names

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

★ Big Muskingum River

★ Elk River

★ Mouskindom River

★ Mushkingum River

★ Muskingham River

★ Riviere Chiagnez

See also

★ List of Ohio rivers

External links

★ Muskingum River State Park with information on the locks.

★ Muskingum River Information from The Marietta Times with information, maps and stories about the historical river.

References

1. Map of Ohio watersheds
2. DeLorme (1991). ''Ohio Atlas & Gazetteer''. Yarmouth, Maine: DeLorme. ISBN 0-89933-233-1