Special Sub-Topic: Native American River Names Click Here To Play: Native American River Names

Muskingum River

Ohio. NB- The etymologies for these rivers are based on web research and are not definitive. Muskingum means "town by the river" in the language of the Delaware Indians. It flows southward through eastern Ohio, passing Zanesville before emptying into the Ohio River at Marietta.

Coosa River

Alabama. Coosa means "canebrake" in Muskogean languages. It rises in northwest Georgia and flows southward through central Alabama, joining the Tallapoosa River near Montgomery to form the Alabama River.

Androscoggin River

Maine. Androscoggin supposedly means "fishing place for alewives". It rises near the New Hampshire-Maine border and curves through a bit of northern New Hampshire before flowing through southern Maine, past Lewiston and Brunswick, joining the Kennebec River at Merrymeeting Bay.

Sangamon River

Illinois. Sangamon, in Pottawatomie, means "where there is plenty to eat". It flows westward through central Illinois, passing through Decatur and Springfield before emptying into the Illinois River.

Lackawanna River

Pennsylvania. Lackawanna, in Algonquin tongues, means "where the streams meet". It is located in northeastern Pennsylvania, passing through Scranton before flowing into the Susquehanna River.

Yampa River

Colorado. Yampa means "big medicine" in the language of the Ute Indians. It flows westward through northwestern Colorado, emptying into the Green River.

Tippecanoe River

Indiana. The Miami and Shawnee Indians named this river Kithtippecanunk, or "place of the buffalo fish." The river flows through northern Indiana and empties into the Wabash River, near Lafayette. It was near this junction that territorial governor, Gerneral William Henry Harrison, defeated the followers of Tecumseh in 1811. Harrison later capitalized on his fame from this battle when he ran for president in 1840 with the slogan "Tippecanoe and Tyler too."

Niobrara River

Nebraska. Niobrara is an approximation of Omaha words for "spreading water". It rises in eastern Wyoming and flows across the northern tier of Nebraska before emptying into the Missouri River.

Chickahominy River

Virginia. The river takes its name from the Chickahominy tribe, the "coarse-pounded corn" or "hominy people" -- one of the five Powhatan tribes. The Chickahominy River flows past the outskirts of Richmond and empties into the James River. It played a crucial role in the Seven Days Battles outside of Richmond during the Civil War, in 1862.

Atchafalaya River

Louisiana. Atchafalaya means "long river" in Choctaw. It is a distributary of the Red and Mississippi Rivers, flowing south past Morgan City into Atchafalaya Bay on the Gulf of Mexico.