North River (Missouri)

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Portion of original Lewis and Clark 1814 map showing the major rivers in northern Missouri draining into the Mississippi along with the Treaty of St. Louis boundary line. There are six major rivers draining into the Mississippi between the Missouri River and the Des Moines. Those rivers are are the Cuivre River, Salt River, the North River, the Fabius River, the Wyaconda River, and the Fox River

The North River is a river, approximately 50 miles (80 km) long, in northeastern Missouri, the United States. It rises in Knox County approximately N40˚ 02’ W92˚ 15’ (southwest of Edina) and flows southeast and east through Shelby County and Marion County to the Mississippi River, just south of Quincy, Illinois. The North River drainage area is 373 square miles, with a median flow of 38 cubic feet per second (cfs) and a mean flow of 231 cfs based on 72 years of record at the USGS Palmyra gaging station.^[1] Record flow was on April 21, 1973 at 57,500 cfs. During droughts flow sometimes drops to 1 cubic foot per second or less.

1 Tributaries
2 History of Name
3 References
4 External links

[edit] Tributaries

Named tributaries of North River include Lazy Branch, Palmyra Branch, Lick Creek, Big Branch, Little North River, Hawkins Branch, Merrills Branch, Tiger Fork, Weldons Branch, Looney Creek, Clear Creek, Mesner Branch, Garnett Branch, and Owl Creek.

[edit] History of Name

The river is believed by some to be a candidate for the "river Jeffreon" that was referenced in the 1804 Treaty of St. Louis presided over by William Henry Harrison with the Sac and Fox. The river marked the northern border of Sac and Fox land ceded in Missouri (extending north from the mouth of the Gasconade River on the Missouri River and then down the river to the Mississippi. In the same treaty the tribes ceded much of northern Illinois and southern Wisconsin on the east side of the Mississippi.^[2]^[3]

There is also speculation that it derived its name from Palmyra, Missouri. The North River flows north of it and the South River flows south of it, with the outlets into the Mississippi being shared at times in the past and still within 1500 feet of each other. On some maps from the early 1800's, these rivers are labeled as "North Two Rivers" and "South Two Rivers".

[edit] References

^ USGS Missouri Water Science Center, USGS 05501000 North River at Palmyra, MO
^ Missouri and Missourians: Land of Contrasts and People of Achievement By Floyd Calvin Shoemaker - Published 1943 - The Lewis Publishing Company - page 59 (available on print.google)
^ The boundary line appears on the Lewis and Clark 1814 map. It goes to the next river north of the Salt River (which in some accounts was reported as the River Jefferon).