Muskingum River

Map of the Muskingum River watershed

Aerial view of the Ohio and Muskingum Rivers at Marietta, Ohio

The Muskingum River (Template:IPAc-en Template:Respell; Template:Langx)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> is a tributary of the Ohio River, approximately Template:Convert 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.

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.<ref>DeLorme (1991). Ohio Atlas & Gazetteer. Yarmouth, Maine: DeLorme. Template:ISBN</ref>

History

The name Muskingum derives from the Shawnee word Template:Lang Template:Gloss.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> In Lenape Muskingum was taken to mean 'elk's eye' (Template:Lang) by folk etymology, as if < Template:Lang Template:Gloss <ref>Template:Cite web</ref> + Template:Lang Template:Gloss.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> 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]..."<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Historically, it was also the name of a large Wyandot town along the river.Template: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.<ref>Darlington, Journal of Christopher Gist</ref>

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. Later, the National (Cumberland) Road crossed the Muskingum at Zanesville. 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.

In 1958, the Ohio Department of Natural Resources designated the entire river as Muskingum River State Park.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

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 was designated a national Historic Civil Engineering Landmark by the American Society of Civil Engineers in 2001.<ref name="marker">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="engi">Template:Cite web</ref> In 2006, it was designated "An Ohio Water Trail;" this designation provides for increased canoe access on the river. The navigable portion of the river was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2007 as the Muskingum River Navigation Historic District; the listing includes 12 contributing buildings, 32 contributing structures, and a contributing site.<ref name="nris">Template:NRISref</ref> It was the first such designated Navigation Historic District in the United States.<ref name="trail">Template:Cite web</ref>

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.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The Muskingum Watershed Conservancy District is a quasi-governmental entity concerned with flood control on the river.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

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 rivers of Ohio
• Muskingum River Power Plant
• Y-Bridge (Zanesville, Ohio)

External links

• A history-travel guide on the Ohio and Muskingum Rivers